A few weeks ago, I did an Ask Me Anything on my Instagram.
I got a lot of great questions, and some I answered right away while working in the workshop. But a few of them deserved a bit more space to unfold.
This week’s Q & Ansø is one of those.
Martin from Denmark asked this question in a recent Instagram post.
Q: When did your journey as a craftsman and entrepreneur begin?
Ansø:
It started in my childhood in the countryside. I had free access to my dad’s workshop and was always helping when something needed fixing or making. As a kid, he gave me a box of old Popular Mechanics magazines from the late 1940s and ’50s. One article explained how to make a hunting knife. I later learned the maker featured was Bo Randall—something the Danish translation didn’t mention.
At 15, in 1989, I finished my first real knife using techniques from that article. I’d made a few crude attempts before, but age and a bit more shop experience made the difference. From then on, I was hooked. Over the next 8–9 years, I kept building knives and eventually set up a small basement workshop in my dorm apartment while studying industrial design at the School of Architecture in Aarhus, Denmark.
In the early internet years, discussion forums appeared. I quickly became an eager participant via the library computer at school. Wanting to reach international clients, I offered my knives at a discount in exchange for honest reviews. That’s how I began selling to the U.S. in the late 1990s.
When Tactical Knives magazine ran a piece on my work—especially the Ansø Sheepsfoot—everything accelerated. The article generated more than 100 orders. I used the order book to secure a bank loan and buy a house. This happened as I was finishing design school. I actually had no intention of becoming self-employed at that point. I figured I would keep making knives until I found a “real” job… but the rest is history.
I built my first dedicated workshop in 2001 in the house where I still live. The shop has been revised many times—expanding within the old 1886 dairy factory I live in and into the neighboring building, once a cheese warehouse and later a soda and juice factory.
Looking back, it’s been an amazing journey—but it also feels like it’s just getting started. I’m not one for status quo. I’m always evolving ideas and refining the craft, driven to move forward. Our recent Shop-Built line—building a small team in the shop and producing in higher numbers—fuels my creativity right now. And who knows what the next idea will bring.
