Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Washington National Guard civilian Tim Louk forges his blade for the History Channel...... read more read more
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A thousand-degree flame burns from the kiln, the glowing tip of the metal blade is ready to be shaped. A bladesmith removes the metal, and begins to forge the blade with an anvil and a hammer. This is Washington National Guard civilian Tim Louk’s passion and when he isn’t at the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site, he can be found in his Selah, Wash. shop, forging blades that are truly pieces of art.
“When I was in high school, we had a medieval class, a group came in to do a demonstration of a medieval fight and read literature,” said Louk, an employee at the Washington Army National Guard’s MATES. “I immediately fell in love with it.”
Louk served as a mechanic in the 181st Brigade Support Battalion and 792nd Chemical Company for nine years before being medically separated, all the while honing his skills in bladesmithing.
“I have been doing this for 15 years,” Louk said. “I have made so many products; it is tough for me to keep a count.”
When you see the finished products, Louk’s skills and craftsmanship are undeniable. His friends and family all agreed he needed to apply for the reality competition series “Forged in Fire.” In each episode, four of the nation’s finest bladesmiths come together to put their skill and reputations on the line, trying to avoid elimination and win a cash prize.
“I was told by many to apply for the History Channel show ‘Forged in Fire,’ so I went to their site, submitted my application and waited,” Louk said. “I waited so long, I almost forgot that I had submitted an application for the show.”
Louk was finally contacted by the Forged in Fire producers, and after a short Skype interview, he submitted a three-minute video with examples of his work. He was selected to participate in the show and was flown to New York for filming of episode 15, season five, “The Kelewang.” The episode aired in June, but can be found in repeats and online.
“Meeting the other guys was fun; we all got together in the van and within five minutes are talking shop,” he said.
The show is an elimination style competition, competitors have three hours to forge the shape of their blade before the judges compare each and decide who will move on to the next round. After narrowing the field to three competitors, they get another three hours to complete their first knife. The two top finishers will move on to the final round.
“I had a lot of doubts in my ability, but my wife was more the one that thought I would win.”
In the final round, the competitors are shown a historically significant (and technically difficult) weapon and are given five days to create a version of it. They return to their home forges to do the work. For his final blade Louk had to create a Kelantanese kelewang , a style of kelewang originating from Kelantan, Malaysia in the 18th century.
“There were so many little things that you could tweak,” Louk said. “Up ‘til the final decision, you are sitting there on pins and needles hoping you got it perfect.”
During the final round, Louk’s kelewang blade survived the stress tests and was named winner of that episode, earning him $10,000 and the title of “Forged in Fire Champion.”
“It helped erase a lot of the doubts I had in my own abilities,” he said.
It’s not just a hobby, as Louk has created his own business and continues to make custom blades for his clients. He credited bladesmithing with helping him post deployment as well.
“I love it; it’s a great way to pass time, I call it my medicine,” said Louk. “For anyone that is interested in this, I say just do it, don’t stop, just try it out and never be afraid to ask questions. There is a lot of us.”
| Date Taken: | 10.24.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.24.2018 14:05 |
| Story ID: | 297552 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 790 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, MATES employee shows off bladesmithing skills on TV show, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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