Chehalis Blacksmith Wins on History Channel Show

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Ethan Kempf, owner of Kempf Forge in Chehalis, was the champion on the April 24 edition of History Channel’s “Forged In Fire.”

Kempf, who was featured in the March 29 Life section of The Chronicle, flew to Queens, NY to compete in Season 5, Episode 7 of the show in October of last year. He was found by the producers of the show through photos of his work he had posted on Instagram. He signed paperwork to participate in the experience that barred him from revealing the outcome of the competition until after the show aired to the public.

“It was honestly very difficult, especially being at trade shows or festivals and people would say ‘have you seen that show?’ and I’d have to bite my tongue,” he said.

To win the honor, which comes with a $10,000 prize check, Kempf had to defeat three other blacksmiths in three total rounds of competition. Besides Kempf, the competition included Ron Gramza of Mishawaka, Indiana; Evan Griffith of Bethlehem, Georgia; and Liam Fuller, owner of Blackguard Customs in Liberty Hills, Texas.

In the first round of competition, the smiths were given two hours to forge a sprocket of non-hardened steel and a gear chain of hardened steel into one billet, or piece of steel that is suitable for forging, and then create the beginnings of a knife. Kempf said he was surprised to find that while the show appears in its one-hour screening time to take place in only one day, the actual competition took place over about five day’s time.

“It was really fun, really exciting, we’d all walk in and the producer would yell ‘smiths on set’ and everything would go silent,” Kempf said of his first experience on a television set. “What you probably don’t realize is that besides the smiths and the judges there’s probably 40 additional people on set doing things like lighting and sound. It’s pretty crowded on that set.”

In the first challenge, Kempf produced a blade that had a warp in it but Griffith was disqualified for failing to use both metals in his blade. Judge David Baker called Kempf’s first attempt “50 percent fire and 50 percent willpower.”

In the second round, the three remaining smiths were given three hours to create working blades from their first creations. Kempf used the first full hour of competition to work on the defects in his blade the judges had noted in the first round, then he moved on to creating a handle from wood and bone for his knife.



At the end of the round, the blades were tested for strength in an ice block chop and sharpness in a water bottle slash. However, the competition ended after the ice chop when Gramza’s knife suffered a catastrophic failure when the blade itself split in two.

Kempf and Fuller were then sent back to their home forges and given five days to create a historic weapon chosen by the judges, in this case the Polish Karabela, a sword favored by the hussars, or cavalry, in the 17th Century. Kempf used a leaf spring for his creation, decorated with an eagle pommel and eagle claw decorations on the guard.

During the same time, competitor Fuller suffered a devastating fire at his home forge when his quenching oil caught fire and then broke his first blade with only 10 hours remaining in his allotted forging time. In the first blade test, slicing a pig carcass, Fuller’s blade broke and Kempf won.

Kempf was quick to point out that each of his competitors are amazing blacksmiths and noted especially that Fuller was extremely gracious about his loss. Kempf said one thing he gained through the experience was some new colleagues.

“We actually became pretty close,” Kempf said of the three other competitors. “We’ve had a group text going since the filming. They’re all absolutely stand-up guys. We’re all planning to do some collaborative works together.”

As to his win, Kempf said he was excited to represent Lewis County on a national platform and win. With part of his winnings, he plans to purchase a hydraulic press, which he said will open him up to be able to utilize some forging techniques previously unavailable to him because he was forging by hand. In the future, Kempf said he would also love to return to “Forged in Fire” for a tournament of champions.

Kempf is a mostly self-taught blacksmith who says he has been interested in making blades and fire since he was young. He only started seriously studying the trade about two years ago. He started Kempf Forge out of his Chehalis-area home, offering custom-made blades as well as lessons. He also takes his trade to a number of Renaissance fairs. For more information about Kempf or his creations, go to https://www.kempfforge.com/.