James Helm

And a couple more bush swords in 80CrV2 steel, with integral socket handles, black paracord, and 16" blades. And black Kydex.

I had a couple of finished up tantos go out to a good customer recently. He's been waiting for the shorter one for a while, and picked up the longer one, which I had forged as a demo of using my power hammer dies, when I posted as available on Instagram. The shorter one is forged from 80CrV2, with a 9 1/2" blade. The longer one is 5160, with a 12 1/2" blade. I did a bit of a variation on my usual wrap with these, matching a wrap I had done on a chopper for him last year. Over a foundation of neoprene is an underlay wrap of white bleached hemp cord, with tan paracord for the overlay. And, of course, tan Kydex. [/url] He sent me a video of him hacking up a large pumpkin with the longer tanto. Made short work of it. And this bush sword was one that I had forged a while back and had the customer disappear on me. It was kicking around the shop for a while until another customer bought it as his first custom blade. It's forged from 5160, with a blade length of around 15" - 16" and an integral socket handle. I had made a Kydex sheath for it, but the customer also got a leather sheath with baldric rig for it from fellow knifemaker Luke Swenson. Nice little detail on the leather, Luke!

I don't have a whole lot of experience using a variety of grinders, and don't yet have much time running the AmeriBrade. That being said, it is worlds ahead of the step pulley KMG I've been running up until now. It has almost no vibration, and I would not buy a grinder that only has one tool arm slot these days. It can hog the metal! Which is what I mostly want out of my belt grinder. I do have to say that their customer service has been awesome. I had only bought a 12" contact wheel from them prior to ordering my grinder. But with my dealings with them, they have treated me like I have bought 30 machines from them. Whatever you go with, I would say to not try to cheapen out on buying a good quality grinder. It's your workhorse. Even if you're a hobbyist, it's going to be a lot less frustration working with a grinder with the power, control, and flexibility to make your skill be a bigger factor than working around tool inadequacies. And if you're selling blades, at an average of $220, it would take 8 knives to pay for the kind of setup I got from AmeriBrade.

Thank you! Alan - You're more right than you may realize. This is the last of my FiF stuff. It's dominated my week, but now I need to get back to working on Blade Show inventory. A washed-out look at the push knives I did for the first challenge. They can actually be seen better in the reflections. The katzbalger in its hideous glory: My second take on the guard. Didn't like how the first one fit, so abandoned it before I finished out the quillions. And my second take on the handle since I ground through the side into the channel for the tang on the last day. So many things had to be done several times on this that I named it "der doppleschwert". The pommel was forged from a piece of pipe with the end cap oxy/acetylene welded on. The TeroTuf of the handle fits down into the pommel and the flared tube rivet goes through pommel, TeroTuf, and tang. And finally, a YouTube video featuring myself and fellow FiF champion Tobin Nieto (season 2, episode 8, Cutlass) reflecting on the show, our experiences with it, and answering common questions and criticisms. It's as long as an episode of FiF, but I think it's both entertaining and informative.

Geoff - Gotcha. Part of the design parameters we were given was that the tang had to be a full tang and we had to use scale handles. Jason - Catch up on bills and shop upgrades so I can make more knives. Looking at a second, purely stock removal line for higher production while keeping the forging creative.

Thanks, guys! This is seriously the best part of the episode. I laugh to the point of tears every time. I had forgotten I did this until I saw it on international television. What got left out was after I took a bite of watermelon and said this, I followed up with, "...and sharpening oil." Geoff - It may just be because it's 1:00 a.m., but I'm not following what you mean. Could you explain? Are you talking about the push knife challenge or the katzbalger?

Thanks! #snackbreak Jesse is ok. It wasn't just heat exhaustion that knocked him down, it was also a heart condition he didn't know he had and a lack of sleep. It's a good thing he stopped and sat down when he did!

Watch the episode tonight and you'll see who won! A show that was perfect for knifemakers would not necessarily be as perfect for the average viewer. Within that limitation and the even bigger limitation of their 43 minute run time, they do a pretty good job. It at least gives a taste of bladesmithing to the general public, and we knifemakers can sit there and appreciate the ingenuity and nitpick over the mistakes each contestant shows.

Caleb- Knifemakers have a love/hate relationship with this show. I agree to an extent with both sides. Overall it's a positive thing for our craft, I think, otherwise I wouldn't have competed on the show.

Tomorrow night! (Tuesday, April 18, 8:00 CST) Here's the episode description: "For the first time ever, the competitors are challenged with creating not one, but two blades in the first round. With double the pressure and double the work, the bladesmiths are pushed to their limits, which leads to another first–a hospital trip. After a grueling second round, the two remaining smiths have just five days to create an iconic 15th century combat sword–the Katzbalger. Which bladesmith has what it takes to burn through the obstacles in their way and become the next Forged in Fire champion?"

Beautifully done!

Don - Whoever he is, he needed a haircut before he went on international TV. Thanks, guys! They're now showing commercials for my episode (next Tuesday, 8:00 CST), and it's interesting to see myself on the TV screen. The cuts are edited so quickly, that by the time I realize I'm looking at myself, I'm already off the screen. It should be an entertaining episode.

New season starts this week. And on the 18th:

I like where this is going.