The bladey bunch: Some bladesmiths in South Texas find success, TV show fame

Tobin Nieto checks the lines of a creation as he teaches a class in bladesmithing July 17, 2018, at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio.
Tobin Nieto checks the lines of a creation as he teaches a class in bladesmithing July 17, 2018, at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO-Pulling into the driveway of James Helm's rural Wilson County home, one can easily hear the forge that heats the steel he hammers into knives.

The San Antonio Express-News reports the roar, like a far-off jet engine, makes it easy to track him down in the open-sided barn where he works.

With large, beefy arms and a long beard, Helm looks perfectly at home hammering glowing orange metal into blades. The barn is sticky-hot even after he turns off the propane-fueled forge. And things aren't helped by the wafting stench Helm said is a dead dog on his neighbor's property.

"Yeah, that'll be gone in a couple of days," he said with a laugh.

Such is the life of this bladesmith, the term for those who use blacksmith techniques-heat, steel, hammer-to craft knives, swords, daggers and other cutting tools. It's an age-old art that is enjoying something of a renaissance, especially in Texas.

One can take bladesmithing classes at the Southwest School of Art. And the San Antonio bladesmith community has exploded from perhaps five makers a decade ago to what Tobin Nieto, owner of Stonehaven Knife Works, estimates is more than 100 today.

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JOHN SYKES JR.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JOHN SYKES JR. - Top Six - 11340 Rivercrest Drive

There's also a bladesmithing reality show "Forged in Fire," airing on the History channel. In each episode, four bladesmiths vie for a $10,000 prize awarded for crafting the best bladed weapon.

Three local bladesmiths-Nieto, Helm and Alex Ruiz-have won the competition already. Two more from Houston, Don Halter and Guy Harries have also won, as have three others from the Austin area.

Asked why there've been so many Texas winners, the show's casting director Jodi Friedman said in a statement, "We encourage folks from all over the country to apply and don't target specific regions, so we must simply assume there are many talented bladesmiths in Texas!"

Most bladesmiths have their own specialties. Nieto, for example, makes blades he said that are meant to be used.

"You can take them into the bush or into battle," he said. His most popular item is the impishly named tactical elvish short sword. Basically a machete, it sells for $425.

Like other bladesmiths, Nieto and Helm sell their knives online, posting pictures of their wares on Instagram or Facebook.

Helm specializes in camp knives and military knives. He recently posted an image of a bush knife that sold within a day for $600, including a sheath. He estimated that materials account for only 10 percent to 20 percent of the final price.

"Material cost is the smallest part of the price," he said. "It's the effort in shaping those materials that's the main factor of the cost."

He said he has a backlog of orders stretching out at least a year.

"And if I get an order from someone who is active-duty military, they go to the head of the line," he said.

Charles Cooper specializes in kitchen knives. He opened his Cooper's Forge blacksmith shop in 2010 and now crafts everything from a small, $190 cheese spreader to a hefty meat cleaver, which sells for $330 at The Sporting District in the Pearl.

"As every cleaver is hand forged," the store website warns, "the cleaver you receive may vary slightly compared to the product shown."

The store also sells smaller, locally made folding and fixed-blade knives from JB Knife and Tool that sell for $165 to $300. Store owner Daniel Meek said the handmade, one-of-a-kind blades fit the store's distinctive offerings.

"We try to offer provisions for all sorts of manly pursuits, and these handmade blades fit the bill," he said. "And they occupy prime real estate in the front counter right below the register."

Chef John Brand regularly uses one of Cooper's bespoke blades-about $200-in the kitchen at Supper, the Hotel Emma's flagship restaurant.

"It's 7, maybe 8 inches long, and it fits beautifully in my hand," said Brand, who serves as culinary director of the hotel. "We probably have four other of his blades that are regularly used in the kitchen. Working with Charles, I can tell him what I want and he'll keep coming back until you're satisfied."

The attraction of handmade blades often lies in the artistry of the maker. At its most basic, forge-finished blades sport a dull gray finish and the original hammer marks-sufficiently fancy for, say, a machete that's going to be used to clear brush.

More decorative designs can be physically added to a blade several ways. Some bladesmiths do file and chisel work. Others rely on an Italian process called intaglio that involves etching a pattern into a wax-covered blade and then immersing it into an acid bath for several hours. This results in the design engraved into the metal.

Then there's Damascus steel, an ancient technique that blends different grades of steel that are forged, folded over itself and the reforged up to several hundred times.

"You get patterns, ladders and other designs, depending on the technique," said Nieto, who added that he's been experimenting with the technique himself. "It's a way for the bladesmith to distinguish himself and personalize his work."

As for blade handles, these can range from can range from decorative wood and animal to more utilitarian composite materials and lightweight parachute cord wrapped tightly around the tang.

"Wood is pretty and works for chef knives," Helm said. "But with knives that are being taken into wet, humid environments, it can swell and shrink. I prefer mostly paracord because it's more grippy and feels good in the hand."

One of Helm's repeat customers is Matt Menefee, who teaches high school forensics in Waco. Menefee bought a shank (sometimes called a hatpin shank) from Helm for $100, including a sheath, that he uses in class.

"I use it on pig skin to demonstrate the difference, say, between a puncture wound and a slash," he said. "It's a high-quality product that has stayed sharp since I got it."

During an early evening class at the School of Art, Nieto tutored about a dozen would-be bladesmiths on the physical art of pounding steel. While this class was made up exclusively of men, he said that in the past there's been a mix of men and women.

Three of the men there that night were members of the same family: Grandfather Dale Douglass, father Sy and grandson Cooper are learning to forge knives as a hobby.

The two elder Douglasses built a knife-making shop on Sy's property in Bulverde. Most of their work is done by what's known as stock removal, which involves cutting blades from sheets of metal and then using tools such a bench grinder, belt sander and file to finish and sharpen the blade.

But, said Dale Douglass, they also want to learn the old-school, unplugged way of forging and moving steel.

"We can now incorporate the knowledge we have gained into our shop as we build our own style of knives," he said. "We're hoping to start making and selling our own blades in the next few months but in the meantime we're having a lot of fun doing this together."

The family that blades together, stays together.

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