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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is talking to people about their hobbies and lives for Peach Living. For the January edition, I visited Maplesville resident Steven Hunter at his forge to talk to him about making knives.

It was a story I had been anticipating for a while, ever since I had done a news article about Hunter competing on the History Channel show “Forged in Fire.”

“Forged in Fire” is one of my favorite shows on that channel. It’s one that my husband, and I have seen several seasons of. It was actually my husband Jeremy who first told me that a contestant from Maplesville was on the show.

Even as I interviewed Hunter about his time in the competition, I was already thinking about how I wanted to tour his home forge and do a feature article. Like so many other contestants that have been on the show, Hunter started making knives in his garage and driveway just using what he had on hand.

Seeing the steps first hand was a really neat experience for me as Hunter brought a piece of steel up to a temperature hot enough to begin hammering into shape. I enjoyed hearing about the little details of how Hunter works on a blade and the other items he makes out of metal.

I think part of the appeal in watching a blade smith is that it is something so different from anything else I have experienced. That, and they have some great judges. Some of the designs I have seen on the show boggle the mind as to how metal could ever be shaped that way. Each blade becomes a work of art. I love the pattern that shows in the steel when a smith chooses to do Damascus.

I definitely do not plan on ever giving it a try personally, but I definitely enjoy watching.

You can read all about Hunter’s knife making in the January edition of Peach Living available now at The Clanton Advertiser office, 1109 Seventh St. N.