Full Blast

Onur Caglar and Ben Snure are back for another fun filled episode. Both guys are super talented makers from totally different sides of the world who have a similar sensibility that transcends borders. We talked shop a little and went in to a list of awful jobs, dumb criminals and funny stories. I love having these guys on just to laugh and get nothing done…zero….its the best, we just laughed and l...

After a big weekend at Catskill Mountain Makers Camp, the Modern Forge Team is back with the entire roster: Cliff Dufton, John Erianne, Jesse & Carrie Savage. We talked about all the fun we had, people we saw, and projects we worked on. It was a great weekend and we also covered what we’d do differently next time. There was a lot of chop busting and we had a terrific time. Many thanks to all t...

The Modern Forge is an award winning blacksmith team consisting of Cliff Dufton, John Erianne, Carrie Savage,Jesse Savage and Me . This episode was to pregame the upcoming Maker Camp event- at the last minute Cliff was unable to be on the podcast and the great Ben Snure took his place.  The Catskill Mountain Maker Camp is located in East Durham, NY at Blackthorne Resort. It’s an event with Blacksm...

Julia Sexton is the writer I want to be. We met a few years ago when she wrote an article on me for Edible Hudson Valley. When the piece came out I was floored at how accurate she was down to the smallest of details. How did she paint such a vivid and complete picture when we only spent a couple of hours together?  Julia’s writing has the distant echoes of Hunter S. Thompson gnashing his teeth int...

I’ve always wanted to do a comic book episode and think how comics characters established generations ago translate though history. I had my friend Keith Decent stop by and we explored the real origins of some of these iconic characters and looked into the parallels between comic companies attracting young fans and how social media is introducing young people to the maker community. We talked abou...

Leah Aripotch returns to the podcast fresh on the heels of  being on the Netflix Show: Metal Shop Masters. This is the premier season where 7 Metal Artists & Fabricators compete against each other for $50,000.  Leah was awesome and we shed some light on what it was like filming a television show in the fall of 2020 while Covid19 was raging. How does that change the mindset behind the scenes. W...

Believe it or not it’s hard to meet an actual born and raised New Yorker. When 2 meet there are a lot of stories, with lives briefly crossing paths unknowingly. At one time I lived 14 blocks from Jimmy Diresta in the East Village of Manhattan. That’s a little over half a mile. Most places in America that makes you neighbors. We had an incredible conversation about living in NYC and witnessing the...

Tony Aiazzi is my business partner at Feder Knives. Ive known him for 20 years and he’s one of the smartest guys I know. From his early days making submarine sandwiches in Reno, Nevada to becoming the executive Chef at Aureole in Manhattan, Tony has had some amazing experiences. We talked about his time Cooking in France, what it takes to be the Chef on a cruise ship and how we met working togethe...

Steve Schwarzer is one of the longest serving Master Bladesmiths of the American Bladesmith Society (The ABS).  He has pioneered canister damascus and pattern welded technologies that are being used today. In addition to that he’s a world record record holder in weightlifting, a martial artist and Airboat racing champion.  Where did this all come from? We covered a lot of his youth, with a father...

Niko Tavernise returns for another installment of the Downward Spiral Podcast, a podcast series he & I did over 10 years ago. Every so often, when Niko isn’t on a Film set, he stops by and we pick up where we left off. All the previous and future episodes with the title  ‘The Downward Spiral…’ is us getting together and recapturing the misery that is the DSP. This episode was recorded the day...

Fingal Ferguson is a fifth generation farmer at Gubbeen, one of Ireland’s most sought after Smoked Meat and Cheese Makers in West Cork. He’s also a world class Knifemaker and all around charming guy. Anytime his name comes up, its followed by: “is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet”. This is true. Fingal’s parents made a shift in the direction of the farm where they slowly started producing cheese...

Ilya AKA @slavicsmith is an artist, sword maker and scholar who just won the 2021 “Best Sword” Award at this year’s Blade Show in Atlanta. He also has a Youtube Channel with Matt Stagmer and Chris Cash called That Works. (both I had interviewed previously) We talked about his winning sword “The Heretic”  and its relevance to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, how growing up in Russia prepared...

Ben Snure and Onur Caglar are two funny guys from completely different backgrounds: A Texas Cowboy and an English Fighter who’ve both have taken the Maker world by storm. Ben had told me months ago that he and Onur had been messaging about how no one would be able to understand them if they were on a podcast together. I said we’d do it here and the first episode was hilarious! But unfortunately th...

Niko Tavernise, Hollywood set photographer and long time friend, joins me for the fourth installment of The Downward Spiral Podcast. This was a podcast we started over 10 years ago. Now he comes back on Full Blast every often to fool around. This episode Niko tells his time traveling with bands and recounts a crazy story meeting the Dalai Lama with some other famous musicians. The image we talked...

Aaron Gough is a Knifemaker & content creator who has used his skills as a web developer in the evolution of his process. Aaron started making high performance knives with hacksaws, hand files and plumbers torches- transitioning to Grinders, Heat Treat Kilns to now implementing CNC milling machines and top of the line manufacturing processes. He has devoted years on his premier knife: The Reso...

Keith Decent is a maker, artist, content creator and overall fun guy. As a young man he learned coding on his own to build websites and after being disillusioned by the corporate direction of art school he struck it out on his own. His YouTube channel is a fun foray into his style- flush with humanity and spontaneity. Reclaimed and upcycled projects, using rusty tools found in the bottom of bucket...

My friend Ashley Childs joins me on a particularly hot day in The United States. We talked about the building of her new project Elk & Hammer, which will be a gallery filled with artists, craftsmen and quality made things. Ashley’s time as a jeweler has shaped this vision to prioritize the artists she will represents and tell their story so the buyer gets an experience.  We talked about her ti...

This solo episode wasn’t my fault. A perfectly juvenile & hilarious episode with Onur & Ben was snatched away from all of us. And who’s here to make sure there’s something to listen to? That’s right… at the last minute too. I recounted the heartache, explained my side of this kick in the nuts and apologized that it happened.  I also answered some listener questions and connected some dots...

Nick Rossi is arguably one of the best bladesmithing teachers in the United States. He is one of the foundational pillars of the growth of The New England School of Metalwork and has taught some of the best Bladesmiths around. Nick is also one of my favorite knife makers because the direction and evolution of his work is based on his sincere love of knives and the process of forging. At 15 he got...

Mark Peacock is a custom furniture and fine woodworker in North Wales. He builds beautiful furniture and creates an experience for his customers. Mark has a great Youtube channel that shows the building of the work and his direction on the channel is different than most content creators: he’s not telling you how to do it. I love the fact that you watch what he’s doing and that’s it. That means his...

Jordan LaMothe has an extraordinary family. His father is a Pianist and composer and his mother was a Harvard professor and prolific writer. They moved from Boston to an old dairy farm in Hebron, NY after his 7 year old sister found it for sale on the internet. The Farm became a place for the celebration creativity and self expression and the history of  the dairy farm informed Jordan of his perso...

Niko Tavernise and I had a podcast called the Downward Spiral a number of years ago and now every so often Niko will come back and we’ll spiral. This is the third episode of DSP’s return and its way more fun. This episode we talked about the movie industry and all the hurtles of dealing with Covid19 while trying to make films. Niko is a Hollywood set photographer and we dive into what its like on...

Cliff Dufton, John Erianne, Jesse Savage joined me on the one year anniversary episode and we talked about the origin of the highly decorated Modern Forge team. How it started, won 7 editors choice blue ribbons at Maker Faire and what our plans are for the up coming Catskill Mt. Maker’s camp this coming October. These guys are some of the most talented people I know and some of my favorite people...

Joshua Prince is a Bladesmith with a deep Background in Art. His father was a distinguished professor of Art at The Rhode Island School of Design and just having that influence made art an everyday part of Josh’s life.  His work blurs the lines between Art and craft and when we spoke of his knives it was hard not to talk about his decisions as a sculptor rather than an artist. This episode was a l...

Justin Morrell is the owner of Morrell Metalsmiths in Colrain MA,  and the President of the New England Blacksmiths. We had a great time talking about growing up as the son of a blacksmith and how his father Leigh (current President of ABANA) encouraged Justin in a very positive way. It was a great story of family and trust, and faith in your child as well as the responsibility to your employees d...