A team of Colorado School of Mines students took the grand prize at the 34th Annual Forging TECHCON Forging Competition, hosted by the Forging Industry Research and Education Foundation (FIERF).
The competition, which included 140 students in 23 teams from schools across the country, involved forging a classic American Felling Axe, documenting the axe-making in a video, and writing a technical report detailing the metallurgy and engineering behind the process.
After submitting their axes to FIERF, teams were invited to join the judges – which included cast members from the History Channel’s “Forged in Fire” reality competition show – to test their axes against wood beams and logs, metal bars, and cow bones. Axes were graded based on how well they cut and how well they survived the testing.
The Mines team – nicknamed ‘Sorry, we only know about pick axes’ – won the grand prize, as well as the award for best performance in testing. This year marks the second time Mines has won the grand prize at the competition and the fourth time the team has been recognized with at least one award, which include Best Process and Best Performance.
“The coolest part of this competition isn’t actually swinging the axe or a hammer, but having fun as a team and showing ourselves that we know what we’re doing,” said team member Mason Weems, a PhD student in metallurgical and materials engineering. “We now have the confidence, alongside the blacksmithing skill and the metallurgical knowledge, to make something that really stands out.”
This year’s team brought together a multi-disciplinary crew of undergraduate and graduate students, including Weems, Rachel Chase (MME), Atlas Rhode (Physics), Jacob Beddome (Mechanical Engineering), Lauren Limburg (Civil Engineering), and Alex Lambert (Civil Engineering). Terry Lowe, Forging Industry Educational & Research Foundation Distinguished Chair Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, is the team’s faculty advisor. Nichols Tillage Tools in Sterling, Colorado was the industrial sponsor for the team.
In the competition, the judges were impressed by the construction, artistry and durability of the Mines team’s double-bitted axe.
“This axe, it’s got it all,” judge Ben Abbott of “Forged In Fire” said during the awards presentation. “It looks exactly like you would want it to look, it functions really well, and the edges held up really well to all of our testing.
About Mines
Colorado School of Mines is a public R1 research university focused on applied science and engineering, producing the talent, knowledge and innovations to serve industry and benefit society – all to create a more prosperous future.
