Caleb and Evan Oppelt, the 2022 winners of the South Dakota Mines Junior
Bladesmithing Championship.
Caleb and Evan Oppelt from Goodwin, SD have landed
the top spots in South Dakota Mines Junior
Bladesmithing Championship for the second year in a row.
“Each of their blades were so exceptional that the
judges decided to make them co-champions,” says Michael West, Ph.D., head of
the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at Mines.
Caleb Oppelt forged a 10-inch hamon blade using W-2
tool steel. The blade has a spine of softer steel and a hardened edge. The
paper he wrote 
accompanying the blade entry, titled “The Science of
Differential Hardening,” outlines his process.
“I love the science behind bladesmithing. The
competition has encouraged me and made me excited about pursuing metallurgical
engineering as a career,” says Caleb. “Thank you to South Dakota Mines and to Nucor
for hosting and sponsoring this competition.”
Evan Oppelt smelted his own wootz type carbon steel in a homemade foundry and then forged a
Finish type hunting knife blade called a Puukko. The accompanying paper he
wrote, titled “The Wootz Puukko,” outlines his process.
“I am very thankful to South Dakota Mines for
hosting this competition,” says Evan. “It's an excellent excuse to try new,
experimental ideas and techniques. It's a chance to stretch the boundaries of
our skills. I love that Mines is encouraging young people to grow their skills.”
The Junior Bladesmithing Competition is open to high
school students around the nation who are challenged to craft a knife or sword
by hand hammering or trip hammer forging. Entrants are also tasked to write a
technical report detailing their fabrication efforts. The competition
encourages high school students to work with local blacksmiths or experts in
their own communities to build hands-on metalworking skills while engaging in a
learning process around the science of metallurgy.
Mines’ Department of
Materials and Metallurgical Engineering hosts the annual competition
thanks to a sponsorship from the university’s industrial partner, Nucor Steel.
Entries were judged by
former South Dakota Mines metallurgical engineering alumni Luke Shearer, Daniel
Nagel and Isaac Hammer, who led blacksmithing and bladesmithing activities as
students. Blades and technical reports are judged on the following four
criteria: scientific merit, technical communication, creativity, and difficulty
level.