Brooklyn-based knife maker Chelsea Miller can barely keep her handmade knives in stock. She works all day in her 100-square-foot Brooklyn studio to fill orders for her loyal customers. Her knives have a $800 price-tag, but restaurants, like highly acclaimed Eleven Madison Park, fight to order her bespoke products.

Some of Miller’s most popular knives are made from farrier’s rasps. A farrier’s rasp is a farm tool used to trim horses’ hooves. She takes these old rasps, which are rusted and dulled from use, and she transforms them into bespoke kitchen knives. Miller takes an oxyacetylene torch to grind it down and to blast it smooth in her smithy, which is located down the street from her apartment in New York City.

Initially, she moved to New York to pursue a career as an actress, but her father fell ill, which meant she suddenly started spending more time at home at her family’s farm in Vermont. She found some old rasps on the property, and she turned them into her first set of rugged knives. Her handles are made from beautiful maple trees that are found on the property of the farm.

When she started her business in 2011, she sold her knives for around $250 at the Brooklyn Flea. Now a 10-inch knife costs around $800 online. Knife-making is no longer a hobby; it is her job.  However, her love of acting has not faded, and she continues to use that skill to land impressive marketing/press opportunities. She still appears in short independent films, and on wide range of different media outlets for her unique craft. Chelsea Miller uses all her skills to grow and shape her business, which is a mark a successful entrepreneur.