BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Bladesmith Kyle Farace, who is originally from Brattleboro and now owns a shop in Bellows Falls with his wife Kaila Cumings who is also a blacksmith, recently appeared on a television episode of the History Channel’s “Forged In Fire.”
The show is a competition that features four bladesmiths competing in a series of challenges to determine a winner – who receives a $10,000 prize. Farace, who had previously watched every episode of the show studying techniques and has only been refining his craft for less than two years, came out on top and took home the prize!
Two years ago, Farace began his craft simply as a hobby, with Cumings helping to teach him the finer points of the trade from her shop in Troy, N.H. “I first became interested in bladesmithing when I met my wife a little over two years ago,” Farace said in a recent interview.
“Kaila has been a bladesmith for about eight years, and she invited me out to her shop to teach me how to make my first blade. Not only did I fall in love with bladesmithing, but I also fell in love with her. I’ve been crafting knives ever since, for about a year and a half.”
As Ferace’s skills got better, however, he decided to make it his full-time job and the couple decided to join forces and relocate to a larger shop – called Kaila Cumings Knives – in Bellows Falls.
Always an artistic person growing up – and although Farace is still gaining confidence as a bladesmith – it was his wife who knew he had what it took to compete and encouraged him to pursue being on the show. After a successful interview via Skype, Farace traveled to Connecticut to film the one-episode show.
“Kaila was the one who signed me up to compete on ‘Forged In Fire’ last February, and about nine months later I got the call to compete. Filming took two weeks to create the episode, which ran on episode two of season eight.”
Farace stated that he wasn’t nervous and tried to treat the filming like “just another day at the shop.” He also took some advice from his wife, who has her own television experience from appearing on the Discovery Channel show “Naked And Afraid.” “Kaila told me that personality is everything and if you want more air time… just own it!” And own it he did…all the way to the grand prize.
Farace and Cumings create custom knives of all shapes and sizes, and their offerings range from small hunting knives and kitchen sets, to custom chef’s knives and even swords. Their shop is located at 154 Westminster St. in Bellows Falls and all their work is made to order. “We offer our custom, handmade knives through our Instagram and Facebook profiles, as well as Kaila’s website at www.kailacumingsknives.com.”