An award-winning knife blade made by Caleb Oppelt, a high school student
from Goodwin, SD.
The winners of South Dakota
Mines first ever Junior Bladesmithing Championship
are taking home cash prizes for knife and sword blades they crafted from
scratch.
The annual nationwide competition is hosted by
Mines’ Department of
Materials and Metallurgical Engineering and sponsored by the
university’s industrial partner, Nucor Steel. The championship challenges high
school students to use traditional blacksmithing and bladesmithing methods of
hand hammering or trip hammer forging to produce a blade. Students are also
tasked to write a technical report detailing the science behind their work. 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.
This year’s 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. The top three winners received cash prizes.
The winners were:
1) Caleb Oppelt, Goodwin, SD
2) Evan Oppelt, Goodwin, SD=
3) Hunter Hollenbeck, Edgemont, SD4) Thad Malsam, Brandon Valley, SD
Two brothers, Caleb and Evan Oppelt took home the top two places in the
event.
“I was introduced to this competition by a family member, who knew I had
been forging knives for a couple years. Because of the generous time frame that
was given, I was able to learn more techniques and skills that I hadn’t tried
before. I made a few different blades before deciding on the one to enter,”
says Caleb. The knife he chose for this
competition is a feather pattern Damascus steel blade, a twist Damascus guard
and frame handle with African blackwood handle scales secured with brass pins. “After
I completed the knife, I posted pictures of it on Facebook, and got an order to
recreate a similar knife. I really enjoyed and am thankful for the opportunity
this competition presented to challenge myself to experiment and grow in my skills as a
bladesmith,” says Caleb.
“I am so thankful to South Dakota Mines for offering this competition,”
Evan says. “I wanted to make a Damascus sword, but I needed to build a power
hammer to accomplish that. The Junior Bladesmith Competition was the
encouragement I needed to build the hammer and make the sword.” Evan’s sword is a straight-layer Damascus
blade and a walnut handle with an epoxy accent. It also includes a flared and
fullered guard and a faceted pommel. “This competition has been so rewarding in
so many ways, from pushing me out of my comfort zone to try new things,
learning new techniques, and the perseverance I needed for this build. Thank
you for this experience and to Nucor for sponsoring this event,” Evan says.
Entrants for the 2020 and 2021 Junior Bladesmithing
Championship were limited to South Dakota due to COVID-19 restrictions. All
future Junior
Bladesmithing Championship competitions are open to high school students
nationwide.