On the screen, Parrella told the national audience: "This test is brutal. It all came down to the final test: smashing the blades as hard as possible against a bank of wooden ammunition boxes. Weston's blade, though, performed just as well, and received equal praise. "Overall, sir," Marcaida said with a smile, "it will kill." Parrella's blade made quick work of the expired swine, and drew much praise from the host. The first trial pitted the axes against hanging hog carcasses. "If I can't fix it, I may not finish," Parrella said, just as the show cut to a commercial.īut he did finish, and when Parrella and his competitor returned to the show's set after three days in their home shops, the two Zulu war axes looked very similar, and the show's hosts admired them both.ĭoug Marcaida was again ready to test the blades. The only problem was that Parrella's welder kept tripping the circuit breaker. Camera crews videoed him cutting open the side of his forge so that he could fit the entire blade inside, then try to weld a tank large enough to dunk the entire blade in once it came out of the fire. Parrella completed his project in his garage in Lexington. Weston's work was done in a large shop using big pieces of equipment designed for heavy steel work. For the final round, producers visited each man's shop where they were to make a Zulu war axe to specifications provided by the show's hosts. The show came down to Parrella and a man named Weston who lives in Colorado Springs. Fortunately for the hometown crowd, Parrella's was one of the two that advanced. Two of the blades make clean slices, but one could not slice through the entire fish. The next test featured Doug Marcaida, a combat specialist on the show, using the blades to slice through hanging fish. His nata held up, as did the other two, although one of the other contestant's blade suffered severe denting because he beveled the sharp edge a little too steeply. The crowd again cheered when Parrella's blade was put to the test. "Dustin, you're up first," said Wil Willis, the show's host. Most of the contestants did a fine job on the first phase, but one man layered his hard steel on the top of the blade, rather than the cutting edge. On the television, judges were ready to examine the four blades. The two talked about metal work - Elkins has never made a knife of his own, but has commissioned custom projects in the past. "It's cool to have a guy from this close on the show."Įlkins introduced himself to Parrella before the show. "We watch this show all the time," Elkins said. He and his wife, Shareen, collect knives and stop to watch blacksmiths and other type of metal workers they see. Elkins spent 18 years working for AK Steel before taking a job with the Ohio Department of Transportation. The nata needed to have a little give, but with hard steel near the cutting edge.Īs the four contestants forged their blades on the television, Dave Elkins, of Ontario, voiced his admiration for Parrella's craftsmanship. "Yeah, Dustin!" came shouts as the national show flashed clips of Parrella forging a nata, a Japanese machete used for chopping. In the past year, he was contacted by the History Channel and his episode of "Forged in Fire" was filmed over the summer. He's been a steelworker for 13 years, and started doing blacksmith work about four years ago. “God doesn’t intend us to be spectators.LEXINGTON - Dozens of friends, family and fans who gathered Wednesday night at The Local at 97, a restaurant in Lexington, cheered when Dustin Parrella appeared on television.Įveryone was so happy because the local man was also on TV screens across the United States as a contestant on the History Channel's show "Forged in Fire." “That means do something with what you’ve learned,” he said. An oversized sign in his barn lists the stages of making a knife, starting with leveling and shaping the blank metal through shaping and hardening the blade to removing the brittleness and sharpening the edge. It will show new footage of the four contestants as they tried to craft reproductions of the Austro-Hungarian Hussar saber, a centuries-old cavalry sword.Įvelich is hoping it will help spread the word of using knifesmithing as a way to mentor youth. The “Cutting Deeper” program is scheduled to air Wednesday at 10 p.m. With his second-place finish, Evelich expects he’ll be a part of the History Channel’s follow-up to its Hussar saber episode. A stranger recognized Evelich in a local bank based just on the promo and asked to get a photo with him. Just the ad alone brought some notoriety, he said. Producers of “Forged in Fire” were intrigued by Evelich’s cause as a way to promote the show a promo ad began with him saying “I’m a minister” as he worked on his project in front of TV cameras. “Start with what’s corrupted, rusted and discarded - it’s redeemed and recommissioned,” he said.
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