A blade smithing team from South Dakota Mines has won second place in a global knife and sword making competition. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) hosts the competition about every two years. The 2019 competition was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team is comprised of seven undergraduate students: Antonio Romero, Christopher Mercado, Connor Heath, Isaac Hammer, Emma Soehl, Nicholas Stogdill and Tyler Reinarts.
Their submission is inspired by the United States model 1860 light cavalry saber, a sword used in the time period of the American Civil War. Every component was hand-made by the undergraduate team. You can view the team's detailed sword making process video on the Society for Minerals, Metals and Material's YouTube page.
In 2017, South Dakota Mines won first place for the construction of a 34-inch single-edged blade forged based on the Arhus Farm sword from 10th Century Norway. The second place team that year was from the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology replicating a Norwegian sword from the country’s late iron age.
Past winners are listed in detail on the TMS webpage.