Thomas Nelson was raised in the great state of Iowa. He was very active, athletic and participated in many sports, but he was also very artistic. Growing up he enjoyed drawing, building models and assembling/disassembling things to see how they worked. Throughout Tom's school years he signed up for every art class, photography class, woodworking shop, machining, welding, drafting, carpentry, auto mechanics and other classes he could get his hands on.

 

Tom joined the Air Force and was trained in the maintenance career field, which gave him the opportunity to continue to work with his hands for the next 22 years. When he retired from the Air Force he continued working for the Federal Government working as a C130 mechanic at Hill AFB, UT. 

 

Tom made his first knife out of old saw blade and taught himself the way of knife making by reading, researching and just getting his hands dirty and making knives. He always had a fascination with knives because of their functionality, durability, sleekness, and beauty. While in the military working in the maintenance field, he always carried a heavy duty work knife and with that he decided to start making knives to give people the opportunity to have a usable and beautiful work knife. The feeling of warm organic materials and the cold of the steel was the perfect combination that Tom knew were meant to be and so knives were made. He finds making knives therapeutic, relaxing and at the same time feeling the sense of accomplishment by making beautiful and functional knives.

 

The name Tatanka, which means bison, comes from his Native American heritage. Tatanka Custom Knives compliment the strength, grace and ruggedness of the docile yet powerful American bison.