You should really spend the next 10 minutes of your life watching the second installment in the Made By Hand video series.

It briefly tells the story of writer-turned knife maker Joel Bukiewicz and his Cut Brooklyn studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn — how he made the transition from the more abstract world creative writing (and not being able to sell his first novel) to the very tangible world of making handmade kitchen knives. Turns out he’s one of just perhaps five people in the US doing the entire process by hand.

Early on there’s something that really resonated with me. Joel talks about what really hooked him on knife making:

And later, near the end, he hits on something that, I hope, more people are coming around to understand:

If you liked this, the first episode was on Brooklyn’s first gin distillery since prohibition. It too is well worth you time to watch.

Great stuff, both from the perspective of filmmaking and the ethos being promoted. Beautiful. Next up, so the Made By Hand site says, is “The Beekeeper”.