Playing with Fire... and Ice: Exclusive Interview with Ben Secrist of Brodbeck Ironworks

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Ben Secrist earned his title of Forged in Fire Champion in season 9, episode 5, when his Parang Nabur chopped, sliced, and diced its way to victory. Ben is also the bladesmith behind Fiery Ice Forge in South Carolina. By day, you can also find him representing Brodbeck Ironworks as a customer representative and salesman!

Ben sat down with us to talk about how he got involved with Brodbeck Ironworks, his home forge, and his time on the show.

Ben’s Foray into Forging

BRUTE de FORGE: How did you get into forging and bladesmithing?

BEN SECRIST: Well, my wife started collecting Lord of the Rings-type swords. We used to have them displayed in one of the apartments that we lived in. We had them all over the walls. Then we started watching Forged in Fire and enjoyed watching it. I started reaching out to people involved in bladesmithing, asking them how to get started. One of the first people that I reached out to was Josh Weston. He has become a really good friend of mine. I also reached out to some other people that had competed. I really drew on the community. There are a lot of cool smiths that are great to talk to. I like being a part of it. That's what drew me into forging, though. I started talking to people around 2017 and got involved in a blacksmithing guild, too. It has always been enjoyable. Bladesmithing and knife-making are very different from normal hobbies.

BDF: It's certainly not one of those hobbies that you hear about every day.

BS: Absolutely not. I wish I had been more interested in it when I was younger. I think I would have gotten hooked earlier. I'm in my mid-thirties now. But it's been cool!

My day job pays the bills. I work for Brodbeck Ironworks. You recently interviewed Vince and Ryan—those are my guys! I talked to them every day.

Ben joins the Brodbeck team

BDF: Yes, we talked to them a couple of months ago! How did you get involved with Brodbeck Ironworks?

BS: Vince and Ryan had had their thing going with the grinders, and at the time, a different Forged in Fire guy was involved, John Medlin—a great friend of mine. He and I started working on building a guild in South Carolina with the help of Dan Eastland. We had the guild going and set up in John’s shop, and Vince and Ryan came down. We all stayed up late for several nights making knives and chatting. It was a good time.

RELATED: THE BUSINESS OF BLADESMITHING WITH BRODBECK IRONWORKS

Then, they started telling me they needed some help with customer service. I had been working in shoe sales previously, which I had done for about fourteen years. When they mentioned that to me, I saw it as an opportunity to get into the industry I was already very interested in. So, that was a big draw for me, and I took the job.

BDF: How long have you been with Brodbeck Ironworks, then?

BS: This will be my second year. I did it part-time for the first year while working at the shoe store. Then, when we purchased our house and moved, I went full-time with them. It’s great! We are continuing to work on innovative stuff and going in new directions, which is cool. I get to talk to people about knives and grinders all day! It's pretty fun.

Ben’s videogame inspiration for his forge

BDF: Let’s talk about your forge. What's the name?

BS: My forge is Fiery Ice Forge. I have an Instagram and a website you can check out, but I don't have much work on there currently. I work on knives when I can, but I’m busy these days. I do get in the shop every once in a while, though.

BDF: What is the story behind the name?

BS: As a teenager, I made a Gamertag for Xbox, and it was “fieryice.” So, I kept my Gamertag and turned it into my forge’s name. It plays into knife-making, also, because you can heat treat stainless steel and then put it in cryo, which takes it to around sub-300 degrees. So, there's a hot element and a cold element to knives.

Ben’s forging style

BDF: Do you have a style for your blades?

BS: I'm still working on my style. I have only finished about twenty knives and one sword. So, I'm still working on my style, but I definitely take influence from many people. I try not to copy anything directly, but I put my spin on it.

Some amazing people are making cool stuff, and it's hard not to be slightly influenced by it because it's so awesome. Personally, I've been working on my handle shapes, which is important. A lot of more experienced knife makers have a really good handle design. It flows smoothly into the knife, and it just looks right.

Ben’s bladesmithing influences

BDF: You mentioned influences a couple of times. Are there any specific bladesmiths that you look to for inspiration?

BS: I mean anything Mareko Maumasi does, Salem Straub, and Joshua Prince. There are tons of guys and some great chicks, too, making incredible blades.

BDF: You mentioned that you have done only one sword—

BS: Yes, I have only made one sword, and it was for a television show. I felt good about it because I had a friend, Matt Mittman, drop off a thirty-inch kiln, and I could fit that whole sword in there. So, I was fortunate I had that going. He also dropped off a quench tank that took fifteen gallons of oil. I felt really good about my heat treat.

I did a mono-steel blade, and my competitor did an amazing job on a Damascus blade. It looked really good. To be honest, if he had not had that pinch point, he probably would have won it.

Ben’s journey to Forged in Fire Champion

BDF: It was an excellent example of how prettier isn’t always better or more functional.

BS: Exactly. I was proud of it. Honestly, I would have been happy getting it back. I would have been completely fine with that. It was great to make my first sword for Forged in Fire, but I would have been happy to have it back if it didn't make the cut.

So, you’re officially on the wall of winners!

BS: Yes! They keep the winner's swords on the wall of Forged in Fire winners. The blades are all over the walls in the studio. They have a lot of knives that were made during the competitions displayed, too.

But I thought my episode was a fair representation of the show. They didn't smash my stuff into steel. It was a wooden log and a pot. I'm sure that part was extremely tough, but I didn't have to put it up against a steel rod or anything like that.

BDF: When the gelatin dummy was shown, you actually mentioned that you were relieved it didn't have any chain mail.

BS: I was. Overall, I was pleased with how my sword held up. It was such an incredible experience.

BDF: How did you get on Forged in Fire?

BS: I had a recruiting agent contact me on Instagram. I didn’t know if it was the right time. I had made a list of things I wanted to be able to do before going on the show. I'd already talked to people that had been on, and I wanted to be proficient in this whole checklist.

Plus, I had watched the show, so I knew I needed to know how to do different techniques or challenges. I hadn't even checked off half the stuff on my list. One example was the canister Damascus. I was interested in Damascus, but there are so many Damascus techniques that I wanted to focus on and put my energy into that I prioritized above canister. I made it, literally, once, and that wasn’t until after the interview process had begun. It was a month or two before we filmed.

I knew the fundamentals for it but had never taken the time to try it. I felt like I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn't at least try to do it once. I wanted to be proficient but didn't have time for that.

Ben’s preparations for Forged in Fire

BDF: Was there anything challenge-wise that you were dreading that they would give you?

BS: I had prepared myself mentally for anything. I didn't put any expectations on what they were going to throw at me because I didn’t want to psych myself out.

I was definitely stressed a good bit because I had a lot of people supporting me. At the time, I was still working at the shoe store, so my assistant manager and team held the fort down for three weeks.

“I guess they caught those vibes because they showed me laughing quite a bit. ”

When I made it to the finals, I had to go to my buddy’s shop, about an hour and forty minutes away. That's where I worked for four days straight. When the timer went off, I had the mindset that whatever happens, happens. I was on a TV show I had been watching for several years, and here I was, competing on that show myself. I guess they caught those vibes because they showed me laughing quite a bit.

BDF: Would you go back if they called you?

BS: I would definitely go back. I would want to check a lot more things off my list, especially returning as a champion. Otherwise, I would be doing myself a disservice.

Ben’s advice to his fellow bladesmiths

BDF: Do you have any advice for aspiring bladesmiths?

BS: Absolutely. Try to take a class. I know that's the cliche thing to say, but it helps you figure out whether you genuinely want to do it or not. It also helps identify some aspects of forging that you enjoy and some aspects of it that you don't.

“I learned so much just from being around those people and seeing what they were doing and how they were doing it.”

For example, the guild in South Carolina meets up with thirty to forty people twice a year, along with the Philip Simmons Artist Blacksmith Guild, which meets about six times a year and includes all kinds of hammer-ins where people can come swing a hammer. I learned so much just from being around those people and seeing what they were doing and how they were doing it. Often you learn new ways to do things as well.

Good equipment also helps, so if you need a grinder, be sure to let me know! [laughing] Realistically, it does make a difference.

To see more of Ben’s work, check him out on Instagram @fieryiceforge, Facebook, or at his website fieryice.us. Also, contact him if you’re interested in owning your own Brodbeck Grinder!