The Modern Forge is an award winning blacksmith team consisting of Cliff Dufton, John Erianne, Carrie Savage,Jesse Savage and Me . This episode was to pregame the upcoming Maker Camp event- at the last minute Cliff was unable to be on the podcast and the great Ben Snure took his place. The Catskill Mountain Maker Camp is located in East Durham, NY at Blackthorne Resort. It’s an event with Blacksmith’s, woodworkers, artists, makers and suppliers. This episode we discussed the upcoming weekend, an...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 72
Julia Sexton is the writer I want to be. We met a few years ago when she wrote an article on me for Edible Hudson Valley. When the piece came out I was floored at how accurate she was down to the smallest of details. How did she paint such a vivid and complete picture when we only spent a couple of hours together? Julia’s writing has the distant echoes of Hunter S. Thompson gnashing his teeth into her words; a visceral and satisfying portrayal of her subject. Most of her work revolves around the...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 71
I’ve always wanted to do a comic book episode and think how comics characters established generations ago translate though history. I had my friend Keith Decent stop by and we explored the real origins of some of these iconic characters and looked into the parallels between comic companies attracting young fans and how social media is introducing young people to the maker community. We talked about Keith’s evolution in his new work and can there be TV that represents the maker community? Is some...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 70
Leah Aripotch returns to the podcast fresh on the heels of being on the Netflix Show: Metal Shop Masters. This is the premier season where 7 Metal Artists & Fabricators compete against each other for $50,000. Leah was awesome and we shed some light on what it was like filming a television show in the fall of 2020 while Covid19 was raging. How does that change the mindset behind the scenes. We had a very enlightening conversation about putting yourself out in the public eye and stepping out o...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 69
Believe it or not it’s hard to meet an actual born and raised New Yorker. When 2 meet there are a lot of stories, with lives briefly crossing paths unknowingly. At one time I lived 14 blocks from Jimmy Diresta in the East Village of Manhattan. That’s a little over half a mile. Most places in America that makes you neighbors. We had an incredible conversation about living in NYC and witnessing the same things from different physical vantage points. As we approach the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 we b...
Sep 10, 2021•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 68
Tony Aiazzi is my business partner at Feder Knives. Ive known him for 20 years and he’s one of the smartest guys I know. From his early days making submarine sandwiches in Reno, Nevada to becoming the executive Chef at Aureole in Manhattan, Tony has had some amazing experiences. We talked about his time Cooking in France, what it takes to be the Chef on a cruise ship and how we met working together at a restaurant. It was a fun conversation and hopefully he’ll be on more regularly. He has a podc...
Sep 03, 2021•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 67
Steve Schwarzer is one of the longest serving Master Bladesmiths of the American Bladesmith Society (The ABS). He has pioneered canister damascus and pattern welded technologies that are being used today. In addition to that he’s a world record record holder in weightlifting, a martial artist and Airboat racing champion. Where did this all come from? We covered a lot of his youth, with a father in the aeronautics industry and the vast drive to make bold decisions. Steve is also one who loves to ...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 66
Niko Tavernise returns for another installment of the Downward Spiral Podcast, a podcast series he & I did over 10 years ago. Every so often, when Niko isn’t on a Film set, he stops by and we pick up where we left off. All the previous and future episodes with the title ‘The Downward Spiral…’ is us getting together and recapturing the misery that is the DSP. This episode was recorded the day after recording episode 62. “Full blast with Onur & Ben”. Niko got a hold of me right after a med...
Aug 20, 2021•2 hr 9 min•Ep. 65
Fingal Ferguson is a fifth generation farmer at Gubbeen, one of Ireland’s most sought after Smoked Meat and Cheese Makers in West Cork. He’s also a world class Knifemaker and all around charming guy. Anytime his name comes up, its followed by: “is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet”. This is true. Fingal’s parents made a shift in the direction of the farm where they slowly started producing cheese from the cows and smoked meats from the pigs that they raised. The direct connection to customers a...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 64
Ilya AKA @slavicsmith is an artist, sword maker and scholar who just won the 2021 “Best Sword” Award at this year’s Blade Show in Atlanta. He also has a Youtube Channel with Matt Stagmer and Chris Cash called That Works. (both I had interviewed previously) We talked about his winning sword “The Heretic” and its relevance to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, how growing up in Russia prepared him for high school in Florida and his transition from metalwork to being a Television and Youtube pe...
Aug 06, 2021•2 hr•Ep. 63
Ben Snure and Onur Caglar are two funny guys from completely different backgrounds: A Texas Cowboy and an English Fighter who’ve both have taken the Maker world by storm. Ben had told me months ago that he and Onur had been messaging about how no one would be able to understand them if they were on a podcast together. I said we’d do it here and the first episode was hilarious! But unfortunately the audio was lost and it was never aired. A little time passed we did it again and it easily more fun...
Jul 30, 2021•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 62
Niko Tavernise, Hollywood set photographer and long time friend, joins me for the fourth installment of The Downward Spiral Podcast. This was a podcast we started over 10 years ago. Now he comes back on Full Blast every often to fool around. This episode Niko tells his time traveling with bands and recounts a crazy story meeting the Dalai Lama with some other famous musicians. The image we talked about is on The Full Blast Podcast Instagram page. As always we discussed the depravity of humanity,...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 61
Aaron Gough is a Knifemaker & content creator who has used his skills as a web developer in the evolution of his process. Aaron started making high performance knives with hacksaws, hand files and plumbers torches- transitioning to Grinders, Heat Treat Kilns to now implementing CNC milling machines and top of the line manufacturing processes. He has devoted years on his premier knife: The Resolute MKIII. Refining and making slight adjustments to meet his unquenchable desire for perfection. W...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 60
Keith Decent is a maker, artist, content creator and overall fun guy. As a young man he learned coding on his own to build websites and after being disillusioned by the corporate direction of art school he struck it out on his own. His YouTube channel is a fun foray into his style- flush with humanity and spontaneity. Reclaimed and upcycled projects, using rusty tools found in the bottom of buckets Keith brings you on a journey where the end result is not perfect but sincere. I really enjoyed ou...
Jul 09, 2021•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 59
My friend Ashley Childs joins me on a particularly hot day in The United States. We talked about the building of her new project Elk & Hammer, which will be a gallery filled with artists, craftsmen and quality made things. Ashley’s time as a jeweler has shaped this vision to prioritize the artists she will represents and tell their story so the buyer gets an experience. We talked about her time with Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, being put in dicey situations with shady jewelry companies and h...
Jul 02, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 58
This solo episode wasn’t my fault. A perfectly juvenile & hilarious episode with Onur & Ben was snatched away from all of us. And who’s here to make sure there’s something to listen to? That’s right… at the last minute too. I recounted the heartache, explained my side of this kick in the nuts and apologized that it happened. I also answered some listener questions and connected some dots from my youth that holds true today. I talked podcasting, a pivotal radio bit and maybe the world’s l...
Jun 25, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 57
Nick Rossi is arguably one of the best bladesmithing teachers in the United States. He is one of the foundational pillars of the growth of The New England School of Metalwork and has taught some of the best Bladesmiths around. Nick is also one of my favorite knife makers because the direction and evolution of his work is based on his sincere love of knives and the process of forging. At 15 he got a job at Casco Bay Cutlery selling a wide variety of knives. That’s where he met Mudd Sharrigan, a c...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 56
Mark Peacock is a custom furniture and fine woodworker in North Wales. He builds beautiful furniture and creates an experience for his customers. Mark has a great Youtube channel that shows the building of the work and his direction on the channel is different than most content creators: he’s not telling you how to do it. I love the fact that you watch what he’s doing and that’s it. That means his audience isn’t the DIY crowd; it’s his customers who ask him to do videos about their commissions a...
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 55
Jordan LaMothe has an extraordinary family. His father is a Pianist and composer and his mother was a Harvard professor and prolific writer. They moved from Boston to an old dairy farm in Hebron, NY after his 7 year old sister found it for sale on the internet. The Farm became a place for the celebration creativity and self expression and the history of the dairy farm informed Jordan of his personal direction. Learning old skills that were utilized in the upkeep of the farm, Jordan learned Black...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 54
Niko Tavernise and I had a podcast called the Downward Spiral a number of years ago and now every so often Niko will come back and we’ll spiral. This is the third episode of DSP’s return and its way more fun. This episode we talked about the movie industry and all the hurtles of dealing with Covid19 while trying to make films. Niko is a Hollywood set photographer and we dive into what its like on set and how he got to work with some of the best film makers on Earth. Niko has taken iconic images ...
May 28, 2021•2 hr 14 min•Ep. 53
Cliff Dufton, John Erianne, Jesse Savage joined me on the one year anniversary episode and we talked about the origin of the highly decorated Modern Forge team. How it started, won 7 editors choice blue ribbons at Maker Faire and what our plans are for the up coming Catskill Mt. Maker’s camp this coming October. These guys are some of the most talented people I know and some of my favorite people on the planet. We laughed told stories and I dropped some news about where I’ll be in 2022. Thanks a...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 52
Joshua Prince is a Bladesmith with a deep Background in Art. His father was a distinguished professor of Art at The Rhode Island School of Design and just having that influence made art an everyday part of Josh’s life. His work blurs the lines between Art and craft and when we spoke of his knives it was hard not to talk about his decisions as a sculptor rather than an artist. This episode was a lot of fun for me as we looked at his work from a critical standpoint and when you’re finished you can...
May 14, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 51
Justin Morrell is the owner of Morrell Metalsmiths in Colrain MA, and the President of the New England Blacksmiths. We had a great time talking about growing up as the son of a blacksmith and how his father Leigh (current President of ABANA) encouraged Justin in a very positive way. It was a great story of family and trust, and faith in your child as well as the responsibility to your employees during Pandemic. Justin is a great guy, very forward thinking and an important leader in the blacksmit...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 50
Chris Adelhardt is a sculptor, ceramicist martial artist and knife maker who owns Pariah Knives. His work is exact and when he talks about his philosophy and history, you can see the connection between his past and how it reverberate in what he’s doing today. There’s the same finesse and deliberacy in martial arts and ceramics that I see in the execution of Chris’s belt finished blades that are extraordinarily hard to accomplish at his level. We discussed his motivations, told some stories and h...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 49
Craig Lockwood of Chop Knives, Knife Talk and the CEO of The Makery Network returns to bail me out. We discussed our love of radio, the deluge of new podcasts and what other shows get wrong. This is a fun episode for behind the scenes stuff and how KTP has changed too. Craig is so fun to podcast with and a great friend give it a listen and leave a review where you listen. Follow Craig on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chopknives/ Follow the Makery Network: https://www.instagram.com/makeryn...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 48
Matt Stagmer was born into Sword and Knife making. Working for his older brother Kerry as a sword maker for Baltimore Knife & Steel he learned production metal work early producing swords for Renaissance fairs and acting productions. This gave him an opportunity to work with famed Hollywood Sword maker Tony Swatton and it all dovetailed into producing Man At Arms: Reforged. We talked about his beginnings, making TV, transitioning into his new project: The “That Works” Youtube Channel and how...
Apr 16, 2021•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 47
Ben Snure returns and we cover a lot of ground. From the rocky way he got his ranching job to how people incorrectly view New Yorkers. We had fun and Ben is quite a character- He was set up on a blind date with his wife from a criminal serving time for Pete’s sake. Great guy and will be back. Definitely listen to the first time he was on: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/full-blast/id1515894196?i=1000483996612 Follow Ben on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bensnure/ Buy his hammers at W...
Apr 09, 2021•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 46
It’s hard not to root for Chris Zeppieri. His instagram stories are amazing, Youtube channel is insightful and he’s a champion of History Channels new competition series: ‘Assembly Required’. We had a great conversation about the ups and downs of being a pro BMX rider, his hard work ethic and life after graduating college with an Art degree. Chris’s enthusiasm is infectious and his moral compass faces towards success. Coming up on the anniversary of the Pandemic hitting NY we talked about how th...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 46
Nick Anderson of Nanda Knives got the taste of supply & demand at an early age selling glassware he made to an eager market. This lead him down the elusive road of making art with the mindset of being in business. Hear how he ended up living in Thailand and immersed himself in learning to be a knifemaker with Chiang Mai’s famed Bladesmith Che Americano. After a lengthy stay he returned to study with friend of the show Salem Straub only to complete his stay at the beginning of the pandemic. T...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 44
Charile Ellis is a bladesmith out of South Carolina who make beautiful knives. Creative with a fascination for armor and fantasy, his parents supported his education by getting him to the New England School of Metalwork as a teenager. His education continued and at a young age he was exposed to ABS instructors and other prominent bladesmiths. Japanese style friction folders became one of his calling cards due to the economy of material and his love of mechanics. This gave way to him making his v...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 43
