The Unassuming Alabama Artist Who Hand Forges Authentic Swords and Props For Film and Television

Great Big Story visited with the very talented yet unassuming Kenneth Spivey of Fire and Brimstone Forge in Vestavia Hills, Alabama who learned how to forge swords and all of the closely related crafts associated with blacksmithing so that he could realize his dream of being a propmaster for film and television.

The idea dawned on me that there’s a lot more that goes into this than just the blacksmith’s job, so the most logical thing I could think of doing was to master all of these crafts. I had to learn blacksmithing for the blade, leather work for the sheath and the handle, engraving, labradori for cutting the stone, setting the stones. I traveled all across the U.S. I was trying to learn as much as I could.

Spivey currently works with Pinewood Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia. When not being a propmaster, Spivey teaches classes at MASS Collective and is a part time craftsman at Artist On The Bluff.