About The Blacksmith Broadcast

Staff

• Astrid Holm

  Founding Editor

  Danish contrarian and ABS Mastersmith who built her reputation arguing that pattern-welding is the most overrated technique in modern bladesmithing. Astrid's 'Against the Grain' column exists to take the craft's sacred cows to the grinder. She once wrote a 4,000-word defense of railroad spike knives and meant every word.

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  Danish contrarian and ABS Mastersmith who built her reputation arguing that pattern-welding is the most overrated technique in modern bladesmithing. Astrid's 'Against the Grain' column exists to take the craft's sacred cows to the grinder. She once wrote a 4,000-word defense of railroad spike knives and meant every word.

• Benny 'Clinker' Watts

  Standards Correspondent

  Stand-up comedian and weekend bladesmith from Atlanta who covers the culture, community, and absurdity of the forge world. Benny's 'Hot Takes' column has been called 'if a blacksmithing forum had a roast comedian' and he considers that the highest compliment. He has been banned from two hammer-ins for unauthorized comedy sets.

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  Stand-up comedian and weekend bladesmith from Atlanta who covers the culture, community, and absurdity of the forge world. Benny's 'Hot Takes' column has been called 'if a blacksmithing forum had a roast comedian' and he considers that the highest compliment. He has been banned from two hammer-ins for unauthorized comedy sets.

• Cormac Brennan

  Civic Affairs Desk

  Irish-American historian and former museum conservator who can trace the provenance of a pair of tongs by the rivet pattern. Cormac writes the Broadcast's 'From the Slag Heap' column, excavating forgotten techniques from medieval guild records and Viking-age forge sites. He has strong feelings about the word 'Damascus.'

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  Irish-American historian and former museum conservator who can trace the provenance of a pair of tongs by the rivet pattern. Cormac writes the Broadcast's 'From the Slag Heap' column, excavating forgotten techniques from medieval guild records and Viking-age forge sites. He has strong feelings about the word 'Damascus.'

• Dr. Elias Varga

  Culture Columnist

  Materials scientist with a PhD in ferrous metallurgy from MIT who moonlights as the Broadcast's resident killjoy. Elias writes the 'Grain Truth' column, where he puts folk wisdom under a scanning electron microscope—sometimes literally. He has ruined at least three forum arguments by posting micrographs.

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  Materials scientist with a PhD in ferrous metallurgy from MIT who moonlights as the Broadcast's resident killjoy. Elias writes the 'Grain Truth' column, where he puts folk wisdom under a scanning electron microscope—sometimes literally. He has ruined at least three forum arguments by posting micrographs.

• Greta Ironforge

  Field Reporter

  Third-generation metalworker who insists the only real temperature measurement is the color of the steel.

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  Third-generation metalworker who insists the only real temperature measurement is the color of the steel.

• Hank Prichard

  Letters Editor

  Third-generation coal smith from West Virginia who learned at his grandfather's leg bellows before he could read. Hank covers traditional techniques and is the Broadcast's self-appointed guardian against what he calls 'the gas-ification of the craft.' His columns read like sermons delivered over an anvil, and he has never once acknowledged that propane has a legitimate use.

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  Third-generation coal smith from West Virginia who learned at his grandfather's leg bellows before he could read. Hank covers traditional techniques and is the Broadcast's self-appointed guardian against what he calls 'the gas-ification of the craft.' His columns read like sermons delivered over an anvil, and he has never once acknowledged that propane has a legitimate use.

• Margaux Fontaine

  Institutional Memory Desk

  French-Canadian sculptor with gallery shows in Montreal and Berlin who came to blacksmithing through large-scale metal art installations. Margaux covers the intersection of forge work and fine art, and her reviews of decorative ironwork have been described as 'brutally gorgeous.' She does not care about your knife's edge retention.

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  French-Canadian sculptor with gallery shows in Montreal and Berlin who came to blacksmithing through large-scale metal art installations. Margaux covers the intersection of forge work and fine art, and her reviews of decorative ironwork have been described as 'brutally gorgeous.' She does not care about your knife's edge retention.

• Priya Deshmukh

  Weekend Editor

  Started blacksmithing eighteen months ago after a decade as a pastry chef and won't shut up about how tempering chocolate and tempering steel are 'basically the same thing.' Priya's 'Green Coal' column chronicles her learning curve with a self-awareness that makes seasoned smiths wince in recognition. She asks questions that sound naive until you realize nobody else thought to ask them.

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  Started blacksmithing eighteen months ago after a decade as a pastry chef and won't shut up about how tempering chocolate and tempering steel are 'basically the same thing.' Priya's 'Green Coal' column chronicles her learning curve with a self-awareness that makes seasoned smiths wince in recognition. She asks questions that sound naive until you realize nobody else thought to ask them.

• Roy Tran

  Public Records Fellow

  Vietnam-born, Texas-raised farrier and general smith with forty years of forge time and two rebuilt shoulders to show for it. Roy writes the 'Anvil Hours' column—terse, opinionated dispatches from a man who's made more horseshoes than most people have seen. He types with two fingers and edits with a hammer.

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  Vietnam-born, Texas-raised farrier and general smith with forty years of forge time and two rebuilt shoulders to show for it. Roy writes the 'Anvil Hours' column—terse, opinionated dispatches from a man who's made more horseshoes than most people have seen. He types with two fingers and edits with a hammer.

• Suki Nakamura-Wells

  Copy Chief

  Former robotics engineer who quit her job at Boston Dynamics to build hydraulic press forges in her garage. Suki covers tooling innovation, CNC-assisted bladesmithing, and anything that makes purists clutch their tongs. She once 3D-printed an anvil stand just to see the comments section burn.

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  Former robotics engineer who quit her job at Boston Dynamics to build hydraulic press forges in her garage. Suki covers tooling innovation, CNC-assisted bladesmithing, and anything that makes purists clutch their tongs. She once 3D-printed an anvil stand just to see the comments section burn.