Game Changers: The Conscious Culture 2019 Community Edition 45 Years of Community Servi | Page 15

We?re here at one of the satellite workshops of
DoktorEdge and I?m joined by Dr. Leif Rivera, CEO
and Founder of DoktorEdge Knives and Custom
Pens. If you haven?t seen his amazing work on social
media, well you?re about to have your mind blown.
So, w ait . Fir st of f , Dr h u h ? A Doct or of w h at ? t h at sou n ds in t er est in g. So w h at t ype of
m at er ials do you u se f or you r k n ives?
How does it all com e t oget h er .
Well, I?ve been shaping and sharpening as long as I
can remember. As a young child, I grew up in
Sweden with my Mom. It started with sticks and
pine cones, animal bones that I found in the woods,
or even small pieces of discarded metal that I would
hone and sharpen with rocks to a fine edge. Th at ?s am azin g. So par t n er in g w it h t h e
com m u n it ies, lever agin g w it h t h e local
popu lat ion s t o r aise t h eir in com e levels
an d in depen den t econ om y. Th at ?s
w assu p.
When I moved to the States around 7, the passion
was still there to make and shape things with my
hands. I knew that I could escape into my own
reality and abandon the world around me, quiet the
white noice of my parents arguing and everything
around me. I could change my immediate destiny. Yes, exactly. We all come up together. That?s how it
should work. That?s the only way it?s going to work.
But the clinching moment, and where the actual
idea for DoktorEdge Knives came about, was when I
was deployed with the Army to Afghanistan. I
learned so many useful techniques about the art of
blade smithing and took a lot of those principles
back. So, this was the epiphany moment for me, this
is when it all came together harmoniously. It was
around 2014-2015. It?s been smooth sailing since
then...well. an d h ow it applies t o you r k n ives.
well, to be honest, I travel all over the world in
search of the highest quality material and put them
on my blades. Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Honduras,
I'm a doctor of public health specifically
Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Belize, Malta,
epidemiology the study of diseases and issues and
Malaysia, Indonesia. Wherever the best source
trends within communities. Essentially I?m a public
material is, I?m there. I establish a genuine rapport
health researcher with an addiction to woodworking with locals in the region, show them what I do, and
and metal. I guess it?s more of therapy.
* BAM* The rest is history. I take pride in ecological
sourcing and building up their sustainable incomes.
So, h ow did you get in t o blade sm it h in g?
so w h at t ype of w ood do you w or k w it h ,
an d w h at exact ly is a bu r l?
I work with hundreds of exotic hardwoods from
throughout the world. African Blackwood,
Years later, in Junior High, Metal Shop became my
Canarywood, Honduran Rosewood, Amboyna,
playground. Years later, I used to mess around in
Chechen, Caribbean Rosewood. More specifically, I
my Dad?s shop, making small things from wood or
seek to work with the burls of those exotic woods.
metal.
A Burl is the large knots or unsightly growths that
occur on the trunks, limbs and at the root base of a
But it all came to fruition when I would visit my
tree. It?s basically a tree?s natural defense against
Army buddy in Colorado Springs, and we?d go to
insects, and even climate changes.The intricate
these things called ?Guilds.? It?s where people meet
patterns and swirls inside that Groth, are unique
to work on knives or woodworking or whatever
and extremely intricate, almost geometric inside. It
craft. I kept going back and learning and by then, I
is also very very durable being one of the hardest
had some basic tools and power equipment. So, the
parts of the tree. At its essence, it is a cancerous
fifth or sixth trip out there, I brought back two of my
growth on the tree.
knives and they sold at an Outpost for $375 each!
Well...that sealed the deal. I never knew that I could So t ell m e abou t som e of t h e dif f er en t
actually make $$$ with my hands.
species you h ave, w h er e t h ey ?r e f r om ,
So, for instance the Bloodwood Or Campeche as it?s
known locally, is a beautiful blood red tree. So
much that in Central America the Caribbean, they
used to use the sap as a dye for their clothes.
Anyway, I?ll take the Burl cut it, stabilize it and then
shape it and apply it to the knife handle.
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