“There’s good and bad, but the good outweighs the bad.” “We’re still gaining members, though,” he allowed. He added that the ABS has also seen a lot more turnover lately, with people joining up for a year only to never be heard from again. “It’s not a spike-I’d call it a steady rise in membership since the show started.” An ABS journeyman smith and treasurer of the ABS, Bill Wiggins said the ABS has enjoyed a steady rise in membership ever since FIF’s debut episode seven years ago. “I don’t know what to call it,” he pondered. Such interest has had a measurable effect on ABS membership, according to ABS journeyman smith, board member and treasurer, Bill Wiggins. “People like me hold fast to it, and I want to share it as art.” “It’s important in our culture,” Knight added. He agreed that the show’s primary value lies in inspiring its audience to appreciate, and perhaps pursue, a craft that ties together history, art, science and technology from an ancient world. Hughes Award winner and guest FIF judge during portions of seasons three and four. “The men and women who compete on this show are engaging in an arena of gladiators,” described ABS master smith Jason Knight, B.R. At left is “Dan the cameraman.” (Tammy Randall image) Randall holds his spadroon sword, the one he made to win the International Competition episode of FIF.
For them, witnessing the process of manipulating steel into a knife, sword or axe using fire, a hammer and other assorted machinery and instruments, while facing the adversity of time constraints and random surprises, is at once exciting and inspiring. Indeed, the fiery furnaces easily translate into a burning interest among many of the show’s viewers. “It appeals to a lot of people because it’s an old craft, and it’s been brought back, in a sense.” “It’s brought the public’s awareness around to hand- crafted items, and that’s a good thing,” Randall observed. Randall, veteran ABS master smith and winner of FIF’s 2017 international championship (season four, episode 19). More important is the awareness such publicity has brought to the craft, according to J.W. While its list of participants is far from a comprehensive Who’s Who of bladesmiths, one would be hard-pressed to spend more than an hour at the next BLADE Show without encountering a first- person recollection of pounding steel on the small screen.
For starters, it has introduced the general viewing public to a cast of characters that constitutes a realistic cross section of the knifemaking community.
#Forged in fire knife review tv#
The long-running TV competition undoubtedly has been an asset to the forging community. At 19, Josh Smith was the youngest smith to ever achieve ABS master smith status when he did so in 2000. And ask we did-two contestants, a former FIF guest judge and a member of the board of directors of the American Bladesmith Society-with the goal of shedding light on where the hit show lands on the spectrum between the two.
Be that as it may, History Channel’s hit show, Forged in Fire, has been on the air for seven seasons, which proves its staying power.įIF is characterized as both inspirational and gimmicky depending on who you ask. Such treatment has ups and downs regarding its effect on the knife industry. THOSE WHO KNOW DISSECT TV’S LONG-RUNNING FORGED IN FIREīladesmithing enjoys the same treatment as motorcycle building got in the mid- 2000s-that is, it has become a well-established reality show competition on cable television.
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