Spijk Selby is a blacksmith and woodworker with a passion for traditional craftsmanship. His journey into metalworking started when he was 9 years old, and by 12, he started taking introductory blacksmithing classes at Prospect Hill Forge in Waltham, Massachusetts. At 13, Spijk began apprenticing at Hancock Shaker Village, where he learned the basics of the trade from master blacksmiths.
At 17, Spijk founded Rocky Hill Forge, a blacksmithing and woodworking shop in New York’s Hudson Valley. At 18, when a 40-knife order from a tech firm mandated an expansion, Spijk designed and built his workshop, a ten-sided building complete with a stacked reciprocating roof—a design inspired by Toby Wrench's book.
In 2020, he took his work on the road, launching a mobile whetstone knife sharpening service that sharpened around 2,500 knives annually at farmers’ markets and co-ops all over Upstate New York and Western Massachusetts.
In 2024, Spijk worked with Zoe McCormick to design and build a full blacksmith shop inside a shipping container—their solution to relocate Rocky Hill Forge from upstate New York to Copenhagen, Denmark.
The container shop was shipped from New York and arrived in Copenhagen in late 2024. In early 2025, Copenhagen's only traditional blacksmith shop lit its forge for the first time.
Since opening, Spijk has reestablished his traditional blacksmithing classes, resumed onsite whetstone knife sharpening services for businesses and individuals, and of course continued his craft of forging high-carbon steel chef's knives and hand-raised tin-lined copper pans.
Selby’s Rocky Hill Forge produces traditionally crafted chef’s knives and copper frying pans, with an emphasis on functionality, sustainability, and beauty. Spijk is one of the few artisans still making copper pans the traditional way by hand-raising the metal with hammers instead of using a lathe. It’s a time-consuming process, but the result is a beautiful, functional piece of art that stands out for its quality and craftsmanship.