Phenix Knives — Attraction in Bellville

We went to Newman’s Castle today for a tour and saw a sign for this blacksmith, and my daughter (11) gave me the “can we go there PRETTY PLEASE” smile…so of course we went😂. She had a great time and our blacksmith was super helpful, friendly, and so knowledgeable!! I learned a ton just standing in the sidelines! Like, the boiling point of steel, the different colors of heat, the different types of hammering strokes, how quickly you have to work to get the look you want (and where the phrase, “striking while the iron is hot” hails from), and so much more!

The whole process took about 20-25 minutes. My kiddo helped with the hammering, while the blacksmith took care of the heat manipulation and fine tuning (sanding, grinding, polishing) of the final blade. All in all, it was a really awesome one-on-one experience for my kid, and an awesome keepsake (that now we get to talk about knife safety about at home!😊)! Definitely recommend! We started with half of an iron horseshoe and turned it into a knife!...

Small towns in Texas sometimes have the most unique shops. We entered Phenix Knives - The Blacksmith Shop in Bellville expecting a counter of familiar items. Boy were we wrong.Many of the knives in the shop are forged on the premises, and are beautiful, functional, heirlooms items. Co-owner Ilena gave us a tour of the workshop while her husband Cowboy (yes—that's his name) conducted a class on knife making. Just like blacksmiths of Olde, he pulled a red hot soon-to-be blade from the forge, and his student hammered it into shape. Tours, classes and even party events are regular features of Phenix Knives. The last owner of the building left behind an inventory of horseshoes which are on sale. We had no idea what a variety of horse shoes are available We learned a great deal during our...

My 12 year old son had a wonderful experience spending some of his birthday money at Phenix Knives! He originally wanted to forge his own knife at the Renaissance Festival. Unfortunately, the power went out while we were there and he couldn’t do it. He was super disappointed. But, Dad came through and found Phenix Knives, which is about an hour’s drive from us. What a fun experience! He did the “Come and Make It” knife forging to make a large Tactical Drop Point knife out of a horseshoe and absolutely loved it! It even came with a leather pouch to carry it in around his neck! 5 stars for this business — they really gave him a personal experience! My son is already asking when we can go back so he can make...