Caleb Oppelt, winner
of Mines’ 2020 Junior Bladesmithing Championship, forges a blade at his home
near Goodwin, SD.
South Dakota Mines annual Junior Bladesmithing
Championship is now
accepting applications. The competition is open to high school students across the
nation who can produce a blade by hand-hammering or trip-hammer forging.
The
competition is sponsored by the Department of Materials and
Metallurgical Engineering
at South Dakota Mines, which is led by Michael West, Ph.D. The department is
home to the 2017 grand prize
winning sword at The Mineral, Metals & Materials Society (TMS)
Bladesmithing Competition.
“The
Junior Bladesmithing Championship emphasizes the science that underlies the art
and craft of bladesmithing,” says West.
An
application form, competition rules and the scoring rubric for the Junior
Bladesmithing Championship can be found here. Applications for the 2022 competition must be
received by Nov 15, 2021 and blades and final report must be submitted by April
1, 2022.
The
winners of the inaugural 2020 championship were Caleb
Oppelt and Evan Oppelt of Goodwin, SD; Hunter Hollenbeck of Edgemont, SD;
and Thad Malsam, Brandon Valley, SD. More can be found on those winning entries
here.
Each
summer, South Dakota Mines also hosts a free workshop entitled “The Science of Swords” for high school students interested in
learning more about the craft of bladesmithing and blacksmithing. The weeklong
workshop, sponsored by Nucor Steel, is held in the university’s foundry and
instills concepts in materials science and metallurgical engineering alongside
hands-on bladesmithing and blacksmithing experiences overseen by experienced
faculty and mentors.
South Dakota Mines professors of materials and
metallurgical engineering will teach the science of metallurgical engineering
behind bladesmithing. This will include Jon Kellar, Ph.D., who will teach the
processing of raw materials; Brett Carlson, Ph.D., who will teach making steel
and forging; and Michael West, Ph.D., who will teach heat treating and hardness
testing of blades.