Full Blast

I’m back from another amazing trip from Barcelona teaching a workshop with my brother Tomer Botner from Florentine Kitchen Knives. We had a fantastic time with the students as it’s a different style of class structure. Tomer called in to recap the workshop and all the aspects of making people who have never made knives before get the experience of what it takes to bring one home. Every part was ex...

Josh Prince is on my MT. Rushmore of Bladesmiths and Artists. Marching to the beat of his own drum, his work evolves and it’s awesome to watch. The son of a RISD Art Professor Josh grew up in a home filled with Art making and self exploration and it’s great to see how those experiences informed his work today. we compared notes on a lot of things like the evolution of artistic decisions, traveling...

Ben is back fresh off getting a Trebuchet. We talked about that and the future of Trebuchet Skeet Shooting possibilities, answered Japan questions from my trip and came for a landing with a few Uncle Rick stories. Ben is the man. Always fun Many thanks and talk soon.  Follow Ben on IG  https://www.instagram.com/bensnure?igsh=OGZoaTgyaTg1cHhp Follow Full Blast on Instagram and join the party pal: h...

This week was a recap of our trip to Tokyo to visit our daughter who’s studying abroad. It was an incredible time and a new perspective on the connection between the culture, government and city itself.  The food was better than expected, people were so polite and the infrastructure supporting everything was clean, efficient and top of the line. It was amazing seeing our daughter create a life the...

Chris Zeppieri is the guy behind Make Everything Shop- a full service fabrication shop and content maker. I’ve known Chris for a while and he’s become a great friend who builds literally everything including his family! We had a great conversation about the birth of his newest addition, fatherhood and the fun part of the different stages of raising daughters. We also talked about how Chris’s early...

A conversation came up on Knife Talk podcast about Lego and if the world renowned company changed direction by minimizing  the creativity for the user and pushed for instruction/ kit based focus. It jogged some memories of the great Lego Riot of 1981 and the violence that ensued in my first grade class. I also covered a very vivid and traumatic event in the time when Lego introduced the coveted bl...

This was going to be the Mother’s Day massacre but I don’t think I was ready for that smoke. I definitely had some mother’s day issues with a couple mothers very dear to me. Hopefully I can fix things. We swerved into maker talk with my experience as a latchkey kid and how it informed my forged Butterfly knives. Wrapped it all up and came in for a nice landing. Thanks for the support   Follow Full...

Leah Aripotch is back! Fresh off teaching her “Conjuring Creatures” Workshop at Center for Metal Arts. We talked about what went into the class, the preparation and execution of a very well received first outing as an instructor. We told some stories including how all her tools were stolen right before she left for the class. Leah rules and definitely someone to keep an eye on. More classes at CMA...

Riley Kirkpatrick is a competition Farrier, Blacksmith and co-host of the podcast Forging Brains. He’s back and we talked more in detail about the World Championship Blacksmiths, what it takes to compete and how the show “Yellowstone” has been amazing for the farrier business.  Follow Riley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirkpatrickforge?igsh=MTZsdnJsaXhjMHRkbA== Follow the World Champion...

I just got back from staying with Ben Snure and his family on the Texas Ranch he works on and it was an incredible time. West Texas is beautiful & wild with moments of terrifying desolation. The Snure family are incredibly resourceful, self reliant and fantastic. We ate extremely well, forged, drove around and I watched as Ben tended to the cattle. Then we went to the World Championship Blacks...

My daughter Lila is doing a semester abroad in Japan and she called in to talk about it. We talked about the famous lines at JFK, the Odyssey of getting to Japan and how she’s settling in. It was so much fun touching base with her and we’ll definitely check up on her as the months go on. (I’ll try to equalize the volume next ep for sure. Sorry my bad.) it was a lot of laughs and I’m very proud of...

My man Jesse Savage is back and we had a great conversation. Not only is Jesse a great blacksmith but he’s on a fantastic Podcast called “The Blacksmith’s Pub” with our guy Rick Barter. The last episode they talked bout the 2 year passing of our friend Dave Kurdyla. It was a great listen and in this episode, we were able to add some more stories of Dave and CMA  before their change in direction. I...

My man Jesse Savage is back and we had a great conversation. Not only is Jesse a great blacksmith but he’s on a fantastic Podcast called “The Blacksmith’s Pub” with our guy Rick Barter. The last episode they talked bout the 2 year passing of our friend Dave Kurdyla. It was a great listen and in this episode, we were able to add some more stories of Dave and CMA  before their change in direction. I...

My guy John Erianne of Sunset Forge NJ is back after too long a layoff. We had a great time telling stories of our weird overlapping lives. We talked sculpture and dispelled the bad reputation New Jersey gets. And hit weird news.  Follow John on IG  https://www.instagram.com/sunsetforgenj?igsh=aGs4c2h4dDZmdng0 Buy something from his website SunsetForgeNJ Follow Full Blast on Instagram and join the...

Justin Modica of Modica Knives is a resourceful young man.  After a childhood traveling as a professional skateboarder he started a small family business and transitioned into being a great knife maker. He transformed old broken skateboard parts into knife handles, breathing new life into his past history. It’s very fitting and I think he has a fearlessness on starting businesses that come from ye...

Fun Solo ep where I tell some weird self deprecating stories. Trying to incorporate more live interaction so follow FB on IG and I’ll give some details there. Thanks again. GF Follow Full Blast on Instagram and join the party pal: https://www.instagram.com/thefullblastpodcast?igsh=Nm5jbmFqYXJ2eHJo If you want to support Full Blast  Support  Feder Knives - ( go buy a shirt ) https://www.federknives...

Josh Prince of @princeworksforge is back. Josh’s childhood history of being surrounded by a family of artists informed his compulsion to create art and now beautiful cutting edge knives. We talked about his history and how childhood experience informed his outlook on life and we had a great time catching up.  Many thanks to my guy JP and he’ll definitely be back sooner rather than later! Follow Jo...

Ben is Back with big news! Very exciting for him and you’ll have to listen to find out what it is. We covered the weird news of bone smashing and where all those World War I ordinances end up.  Follow Ben on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bensnure?igsh=OGZoaTgyaTg1cHhp Follow Flat Land Forge for updates: https://www.instagram.com/flatland_forge?igsh=MTlpZHRxeDFmc2t6YQ== Follow Full Blast on Instagr...

I hate conspiracy theories. But this one is hard to dispute…. This week I explore the family tree of broadcasting and think about where all these voices came from. Couple stories and fun time recording live on Instagram.  Follow Full Blast on Instagram and join the party pal: https://www.instagram.com/thefullblastpodcast?igsh=Nm5jbmFqYXJ2eHJo If you want to support Full Blast  Support  Feder Knive...

Pat Quinn, Director of Center for Metal Arts is back We covered a lot of ground and look forward to doing more episodes. To get your questions answered, follow the Full Blast Podcast on Instagram and DM us there.  Many thanks to Pat again and as always I urge you to further your forging education at Center for Metal Arts. Classes available, housing and scholarships available too.  Go to CMA’s webs...

A little clarity and looking at past things a from older eyes is wild. A new look at the movie Fight Club and why most people don’t see what the movie is all about and some strolls down memory lane.  This was a fun episode I live streamed on instagram. You can follow along and interact with the show  Shout out to all the interaction on the live.  there: https://www.instagram.com/thefullblastpodcas...

Had a fun solo episode as we dig out from the snow storm. A little connection between all the podcasts I’ve hosted and stories that unite them all.   This was a fun episode I live streamed on instagram. You can follow along and interact with the show there: https://www.instagram.com/thefullblastpodcast?igsh=Nm5jbmFqYXJ2eHJo If you want to support Full Blast  Support  Feder Knives - ( go buy a shir...

Bob Morano from Everyday is Feast Day is back. Bob’s social media presence is truly one of the best things on the Internet. Thoughtful, approachable cooking content from a seasoned professional. We had a great time catching up talking about what he’s up to including his seamless transition into a full time content creator and he answered some questions. Sorry about the audio we had to do a phone c...

Paulie Beladino is by far one of the best guitarists and kindest people I know. His debut solo album: “Always” is a fantastic voyage captained by a Rock & Roll junkie. I Love this album and it was such an honor to talk to Paulie to get a behind the scenes look into what it takes to write songs, and how he was influenced. We had an awesome conversation about music and Paulie told stories about...

One of my favorite traditions is to start the new year with my friend Jessie Uyeda. She’s a super human being, maker, musician and fabulous friend. We caught up on what she’s doing with her brother Ben’s various projects and vented a little. Great way to start the new year. Many thanks Jessie! Here’s to a healthy and happy 2026.  Follow Jessie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ijessup/?hl=en...