The largest custom knife show in Texas offers more than the opportunity to shop for unique, hand-crafted knives made by over 150 individual exhibiting knifemakers from all across the country. The Texas Select Custom Cutlery Event welcomes two internationally recognized Forged in Fire Judges to the April 6-7 show at the Austin County Fairgrounds in Bellville, TX. Historic weapons recreation specialist and Forged in Fire Judge David Baker will be presenting for the first time this year. He is bringing some of the swords that he made for the Forged in Fire competition show, and telling the audience about their form and function.

Baker is a world-renowned swordsmith who specializes in recreating some of the world’s rarest edged weapons. David is constantly challenging his scholarship of weaponry, researching forgotten techniques and examining world-class collections to ensure his replicas are as close to and as functional as the originals. He is an authority on weapons history and an expert on replicating period-accurate weapons for both museums and films. He judges the weapons’ historical accuracy and aesthetic beauty. He is owner of Hollywood Combat Center & Baker Blades. Baker is coming from his home in Virginia, and will be presenting his swords both Saturday and Sunday at 12:30.

Returning to Bellville is ABS Master Smith and Forged in Fire Judge J. Neilson. While most people recognize him as the judge who breaks things on the popular History Channel competition show, Neilson will be working in the fires to demonstrate some lesser known techniques for forging canister Damascus on stage with his apprentice Shelley Jack both Saturday and Sunday. Last year Neilson and Shelley demonstrated the more traditional methods of forging, and are looking forward to sharing some new methods. He is coming to Bellville from his Mountain Hollow Forge in Pennsylvania, and will be forging on stage both Saturday and Sunday at 10:30.

Baker and Neilson have also set aside time to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans each day. (See the full Texas Select Event Schedule at TexasSelectEvent.com)

How did the largest custom knife show in Texas evolve in Bellville? In 2015 Cowboy Szymanski was invited to compete in the first season of the History Channel’s competition “Forged in Fire”. Through this experience, he gained new friends in the knifemaking industry. In 2018 he had the idea to invite the competitors from around the state to the Blacksmith Shop in Bellville so that fans of the show could meet them in person and watch them work and hear their stories. That first year he hosted 18 bladesmiths from 5 states at Texas Select from Forged in Fire Event and saw about 2,500 visitors come to the backyard event.

The Texas Select Event benefits the local community in many ways. Each year, Cowboy donates a custom knife to the local BEST Booster Club, which is raffled off to raise money for their scholarship program and summer science camp. To date, the knife raffle has raised $31,000 in scholarship awards for BHS graduates focused on science studies. Partnering with the Bellville Lions Club to be the primary

food/beer vendor for the event keeps those dollars in Bellville benefitting the Lions’ charities in our community. And Scout Troop 36 benefits from serving the Awards dinner to the knifemakers and selling coffee to the visitors. For more information go to TexaSelectEvent.com.