Mastersmith in the American Bladesmith Society and judge on the History Channel's "Forged in Fire" TV Show, J. Neilson is this week's guest on The Knife Junkie Podcast.

Bob "The Knife Junkie" DeMarco talks with Neilson about the television show as well as what it takes to become a Mastersmith, which according to the History Channel's show webpage, is a title held by less than 115 people worldwide.

Forging blades professionally, out of his “shop in the woods” in the endless mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, has made J. an expert in “sole authorship” blade-making, a total mastery of every element of weapon design and manufacture. His internationally recognized experience and credentials mean that no one is better suited to assess the process of edged weapon making.

The History Channel

"Forged in Fire" airs on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The History Channel.

Swords may not be the weapon of choice for many people nowadays, with more advanced weaponry readily available, but that doesn’t stop some from continuing to work as bladesmiths. “Forged in Fire” tests some of the best in the field as they attempt to re-create some of history’s most iconic edged weapons. The contestant who survives the elimination rounds and wins the episode’s contest earns $10,000 and the title of Forged in Fire champion.

Be sure to listen to this episode of the podcast to hear about how the show came about, what it was patterned after, and what "similar" show Bob likes! Like Jim, you might be surprised!!

Wow! J. Neilson, Mastersmith and Judge on Forged in Fire is this week's guest on The Knife Junkie Podcast. Super excited to talk to him!!Click To Tweet

Call The Knife Junkie listener line at 724-466-4467 or email [email protected] and let us know what you thought about this week's podcast, what you like -- or don't like -- about "Forged in Fire" or any other comment or question you have about knives. The guys would love to hear from you.

Show Notes

Read Full Transcript

Mastersmith in the American Bladesmith Society and History Channels Forged in Fire Judge J. Neilson

0:00 - 05:03

These guys are under a time constraint. They're rushing their butts off trying to make the best weapon they can and sometimes small things get neglected or missed or overlooked. So, and I hate it. I tell people all the time, I don't wanna break your stuff. I really don't. Welcome to the nice junkie podcast. You're weekly ghosts of knife, news and information about knives and knife collecting. Here's your hosts, Jim person involved, the knife junkie DeMarco. Hello junkies and welcome to episode number thirty four of the knife junkie podcast. I'm Jim person, and I'm Bob DeMarco from the knife junkie dot com. Hey, Jim happy, Father's Day. Hey, Bob happy, Father's Day to you. And the reason we say that is that today's episode drops or comes out is published on Father's Day. So if you're listening on Father's Day, happy, Father's Day, if you're listening on any other day of the year, just any other day of the year, right, Bob. That's right. But if you're a father be proud of it could be enjoy your Father's Day. Whatever day. Yeah. Because, you know it only comes around once a year, so we need to take advantage of it. I like to say in my family, you know that it's Father's Day week or Father's Day weekend. Whatever I can do to kind of stretch it out a little that, that sounds good and, and, you know, every day, it's like Father's Day, my kids say this morning. Father's Day wins kids day. And of course, I used to, to my parents in the never ending refrain is every day is kids day. This is for me. Today's that's right. That's right. Where's my steak? Ooh. I like that steak speaking of Father's Day, if you didn't catch last week show episode number thirty three. That was Bob's. Father's Day fantasy knife list.