Bloomington bladesmith and knife sharpener Taylor Mathews is a competitor on the History Channel show Forged in Fire. His episode airs Wednesday night at 9 p.m.
Mathews is co-owner of his family-owned shop, Edge of Normal Workshop, which just moved to a new location near Downtown Bloomington.
Edge of Normal Workshop does bladesmithing, woodworking, glassblowing and sharpening everything from kitchen knives to landscaping equipment.
Local business to national stage
Mathews said he is looking forward to the opportunity of bringing his local business to the national stage.
Being on the show allowed Mathews to “take the jump” and start his full-time family business back in 2021, which is around when his Forged in Fire episode was filmed.
He said the show has been hugely influential in his craft and has brought a lot of attention to bladesmithing.
Competition show
Being on a competition show was a slightly different working environment than Mathews’ everyday experience
“It’s hot, you’re running around like crazy, and you’re doing a lot of work in a very small amount of time,” Mathews said.
Going in, competitors were not told what the challenge would be, and Mathews said that limited the preparation.
Mathews still did what was within his control, and said he watched a lot of old episodes and talked with former competitors to get ready for the show.
The advice Mathews said he received from former competitors was: “Just focus on what you’re doing. You’re there to make a knife, make the knife, do what you do. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Don’t worry about the cameras.”
Mathews said his favorite part about being on the show did not have much to do with the show at all; it was hanging out and talking shop with the other competitors.
“We spent every spare minute talking about what we do, sharing stories and sharing techniques,” Mathews said. “That was a real good time.”
Mathews said being part of the Forged in Fire production was a cool experience and he is looking forward to sharing that with the Bloomington-Normal community.
There is a watch party for Mathews’ Forged in Fire episode at Joe’s Station House Pizza Pub in Normal on Wednesday, Aug. 27, night at 9 p.m.
