SLO County teacher puts his knife-making skills to the test on History TV show
Nipomo teacher Cameron Alarcio got his first knife when he was “still in diapers,” he said.
It wasn’t a real knife, of course. But that simple wooden blade, whittled by Alarcio’s dad, inspired a lifelong fascination.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of sharp things,” joked Alarcio, a self-described bladesmith who crafts custom kitchen and chef’s knives in his Arroyo Grande workshop.
On Wednesday, Alarcio will show off his skills on “Forged in Fire.” Now in its seventh season, the hit History show features competitors making knives, swords, daggers and other blades the old-fashioned way — using a forge, hammer and anvil.
“Anyone can sharpen a piece of long steel and make it a sword,” Alarcio, 31, said. “But to do it the right way, that’s a whole ‘nother (deal).”
A love of knives
Growing up in Arroyo Grande, Alarcio loved learning about weaponry — from “Star Wars” lightsabers to Japanese katanas. But the collection of knives that his grandfather brought from the Philippines also caught his imagination.
“My grandfather would sharpen his knives every week — and they were ridiculously sharp,” Alarcio recalled.
Alarcio was a 17-year-old student at Arroyo Grande High School when his grandpa passed away, leaving him that collection of finely honed, handcrafted blades. His dad helped him build an “awesome” oak case to display them, he said.
“The tangible presence of (my grandfather) lived on through those knives. That really resonated with me,” Alarcio said. “It was a tangible sense that, while my grandparents were gone, I could still see the love and feel the love I had for them.”
“I always told myself I would make my own knives” like his ancestors, said Alarcio, who graduated from Arroyo Grande High in 2006 and San Diego State University in 2010.
How SLO County teacher became a bladesmith
Alarcio didn’t try crafting his own blades until 2012, while he was working in content marketing in San Diego.
After a couple months of blacksmithing classes, “I built my first forge out of a soup can and propane torch” perched on the tiny balcony of his San Diego condo, he recalled.
Alarcio kept practicing after returning to the Central Coast to get his teaching credentials at Cal Poly. (His father, Ed Alarcio, taught at Judkins Middle School in Pismo Beach for about 30 years.)
In 2014, Cameron Alarcio studied under mastersmith Jim Crowell during an intensive, 2-week-long course in North Carolina offered by the American Bladesmith Society.
Alarcio now balances his duties as an educator — he teaches seventh-grade social studies at Mesa Middle School in Nipomo and coaches track at Arroyo Grande High — with his job as owner and founder of Cameron Alarcio Knives.
“Originally, I thought, ‘I’m just going to make giant swords because everyone loves swords,’ ” he recalled.
He ultimately settled on something more compact: hand-forged kitchen knives.
“I wanted to make knives that people were going to use and enjoy using,” Alarcio explained, rather than “functional artwork.” “Here’s the best tool I can possibly give you to make (cooking) that much enjoyable for you.”
Alarcio sells the knives for prices ranging from $200 to $375 a piece, or $1,500
What is ‘Forged in Fire’ on History?
Alarcio’s lifelong love of knives makes him a good candidate for “Forged in Fire.” In fact, the bladesmith was recruited for the show by a casting producer who spotted photos of his knives on his website and Instagram account.
Hosted by weapons expert and military veteran Wil Willis, “Forged in Fire” challenges the nation’s finest bladesmiths to forge edged weapons and tools on the spot.
In addition to a battery of strength and sharpness tests, the blades must also withstand the scrutiny of expert judges David Baker, Doug Marcaida, J. Neilson and Ben Abbot.
There’s a $10,000 prize, but for many competitors, the real reward is hearing Marcaida’s signature phrase: “It will cut.”
On Wednesday’s episode, Alarcio and three other bladesmiths must create camp knives that include operational bottle openers using steel harvested from a barbecue.
Alarcio, who filmed the episode in July in Danbury, Connecticut, described the experience as “almost like an out-of-body experience.”
“It was the most nervous I’ve been in my whole life. I was more nervous for this (show) than when my daughter was born,” said Alarcio, father to 2 1/2-year-old Everette.
Fortunately, he said, the competition was “not cutthroat at all.” “It was almost a collaborative atmosphere” in which the bladesmiths worked together, he explained. “I definitely made some new friends.”
Alarcio will hold a viewing party at Rooster Creek restaurant in the Village of Arroyo Grande starting at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Although Alarcio can’t reveal the outcome of the episode until it airs, he said, “I’m proud of how I did.”
Tune in
Watch Cameron Alarcio compete on “Forged in Fire” on History at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 4:45 AM with the headline "SLO County teacher puts his knife-making skills to the test on History TV show."
