A Conversation with Jennifer and Jody Lyddane of JL Forge

Jody and Jennifer Lyddane are the owners, operators, and artists of JL Forge in Versailles, Kentucky. This husband and wife duo have both competed on Forged In Fire, with Jody appearing on Season 5 of the show and Jennifer following in Season 7. Jennifer was called back again in Season 8 for the “Second Chance Tournament”, where her Rams Head Pommel Flyssa earned her the coveted title of Forged In Fire Champion.

Recently, Jody and Jennifer sat down to talk with us about their time on the show, their home forge, and what it’s like to forge as a married couple.

How they got their start in bladesmithing

BDF: How did you both get into forging?

Jody: I'll start, I guess. Where to begin? So, at 19, I was partying my way out of college so I decided to take a break and go home to work on the farm. I started talking to our farrier—we had horses—and she asked me to ride with her and see if I would like to be a farrier. I did that and enjoyed it, so I got into that trade. And then, about 2015, we were building a house, the house we live in right now—

Jennifer: How many years were you a farrier?

Jody: Around 20 years or so.

Jennifer: Can you believe he'd never fired up his forge? He had one and was interested in it, but he had never actually forged anything.

Jody: I had said for ten years that I wanted to get into that side of the business. The artsy knifemaking side. So anyway, we were building this house in 2015, and we were living in a townhome while we were building it, and I got really bored one day. I went out to the parking lot and just fired up the forge, got my hammer out and my anvil, and hammered out this small little knife. I ran in and said, “Look what I just completed!” She was like, “Oh my gosh, that's so cool!” And now here we are.

Jennifer: We have two young children, and Jody is full-time military. He's with the Kentucky National Guard and is full-time every day. He wears a uniform every day. He's wearing his uniform shirt right now! But when he got back from his last deployment, that's when we were building the house. So, on top of building a house, two young children, and then being married to me, he just had to have an outlet. He wanted to do that, and I didn't even know that was in his heart, so when he came busting through our little townhome door with this railroad spike knife, I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I didn't even know people made knives. I just thought they were made in a factory or something! I was like, why would you make a knife? That's my funny story. But that’s how he got into it.

Getting connected with Forged In Fire

Jody: It was about two years after I started doing it that some friends said, “Hey, there's a show on the History Channel, and they do this. You should look into that.”

Jennifer: They told him he should be on Forged In Fire, and he said what’s that? We didn't have cable; we didn't watch television. If there were Smart TVs then we didn't have one.

Jody: We looked it up, and we were like, ok, let’s do it.

Jennifer: I encouraged it. I said, “You should totally do it! Who cares? It'll be fun!” He went on his interview, and they asked him, “Does anybody ever forge with you?” He said, “My wife does.” I was just like, why would you tell them that? Because, at the time, I had gone to one hammer-in with him to support him. It was actually one of our anniversaries. That's how we celebrated! The kids went to the grandparents, and we went to this big hammer-in!

Jody: (laughing) I’m very romantic!

Jennifer: I can tell you it hit all my senses: the coal and the hammering. It was loud, and it was very raw.

Jody: She's a barber, so she saw a straight razor at that show, and she said, “I think I could do that.” That's when she kind of got into it.

Jennifer: I thought the event was exciting and cool. I thought I could probably do that, but I still was not totally interested. This was all before Forged In Fire. I was still just supporting him, and I thought it was a cool date. I made a two-prong fork for the grill and a steak turner. I was proud of myself! I thought it was pretty good for what a girl could do. Not to sound like I’m putting the women down, but there aren’t many women out there who do it.

Jody: It is a very male-dominated trade.

Jennifer: Yes! And there's a reason because your hands go through hell. I mean, you can't keep manicured hands, your skin gets burned, and you get scars. My friends think I'm crazy!

But when he initially went for the big leap of Forged In Fire, that’s a big reason why I got into it. He was interviewed, and they asked him if he forged with anyone else, and he said, my wife. I'm thinking, I've made a steak turner and, maybe, two knives, and one of them was a railroad spike knife that wasn't even heat-treated!

Jody: The question was, had you forged with me, not ‘how many years had you been forging?’ And you had forged with me!

Jennifer: Well, I guess it’s my personality type because I was like, “Okay, let's do it. And it'll be fun!”

Jody: So, my interview led into, “Hey, how about we schedule something for next week and you and your wife interview?” They were potentially going to do a couple's episode where we would compete against three other couples. We were accepted, and they created that show.

Jennifer: They said they were doing a family episode or a couple's episode. And so we got everything ready, and I was just excited to be on TV. I'm not going to lie. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just going to ride on his coattails, and I'm going to be on TV, and my kids might think I'm cool after that! We were both so excited, but I was mostly excited for him. Because it's his passion and he's good!

There we were at dinner 36 hours before we were to board our plane. We took our children to dinner, and Jody got a phone call. He said, “I better take this; I think it's a producer.” And when he came back, I could see it on his face. I was like, “Oh, no, what?” The network called and said they just canceled it, and this had never happened before, but they canceled the episode. I was just devastated for him. I ended up calling the producer, and I had a ‘Jennifer Moment.’ And I was like, “Listen, I don't care about being on the show. I was doing this for him.” I went back into his childhood, and the poor guy on the phone—I think his name was Dan—I bet he was terrified. But Jody has worked hard his whole life; he deserved this.

Jody was born into a very low-income family. His mother was 15 years old, and his dad was 17 when they had him. They did not take any handouts from family, the government, or anybody. They struggled their entire life, but they had a very good family, and they had love. I get emotional talking about where Jody came from and where he is now. He had just worked so hard in life.

I laid all that on the poor producer, and he said, “Okay, Jennifer, we really do want him on the show. We want Jody.” They contacted Jody, did another interview, and got him on the show!

Jody: In the meantime, I went off to Germany for an exercise, and while I was in Germany, they called and said, “Hey, we really want to film your episode now.” My commander at the time said, “you know, we're almost wrapped up here in Germany. Why don't you take off a few days early? It’s an important and significant event for you. Just go home, and we'll finish up here.” I get home, I hit Chicago airport, and my phone starts to populate with messages from the producers. They didn’t cancel this time, but they did move the dates. So, it ended up that I came home early for nothing.

“It was all totally worth it. Just being on the show, the friends I made there I’m still friends with.”

Jennifer: If anything, it shows that you’ve got to be really flexible in show business. Anything can happen.

Jody: It was all totally worth it. Just being on the show, the friends I made there I'm still friends with. Shawn, who won my episode, I’m still friends with. He has actually visited us, and we have visited him. So the notoriety that comes from the show and the friendships you make it's all worth it.

Jennifer: He went on the show, and he didn't win. His blade broke. I was really frustrated. It wasn't that he didn't win; it was a frustration that it didn't bother him that he didn’t win!

Jody: It was a blade I made in three hours. It was what it was. It was time to go back to work!

Jennifer: That's him, though. He's dedicated not just to his family but to his work. All that, though, led me to compete on the show. The guy who won his episode, Shawn, we are all friends, and we were messaging one night, and he sent me a screenshot that David Baker had sent out looking for female bladesmiths. He said I should do it, and I said that I wasn’t good enough. I just play around. But he just kept pushing. I asked Jody what he thought, and he said, “Jen, it is so hard I would be worried about you.” The problem is that I don't sweat. I just get sick and pass out. He was genuinely concerned for me. And I was just like, “Well, he [Shawn] keeps saying I should do it.” Then Jody said, “Well, just do it then!” He knew that I just wanted to be on TV.

Jody: The more you tell her no, the more she will want to do it.

Jennifer: Tell me I can’t do something, and I’ll show you I can! So, I went on season seven and discovered that I was terrible at handles. And I lost.

Jody: Her episode, though, they did a keyhole guard. Most knife makers would never make a keyhole guard. Like I, personally, have no desire ever to make a keyhole guard.

“Tell me I can’t do something, and I’ll show you I can!”

BDF: I was going to say your episode seemed particularly intense. First, you had to forge a key and then make that guard!

Jennifer: I was great at the key! We're very fortunate. Actually, I just took our daughter down to our neighbor’s house, and he's a veterinarian and blacksmith. I was helping him on the farm, and he said, “hey, let's do some forging.” So, he taught me a lot about blacksmithing, which is why I could make that key.

I wasn't upset at all, though. I was super proud of myself.

A shot at redemption

Jody: Then they called her back to come onto the tournament episodes. It was meant to be.

Jennifer: Yeah, it was like 2020, and they asked if I would like to come back for a second chance tournament. It was right when the kids returned to school, and I was like, “Oh, my goodness, yes!” The kids were in and out of school, and we had been doing virtual learning. I was dying inside. I know that sounds terrible, but everybody would understand if you were living in 2020! Nobody was themselves. We all went rogue.

But my family and everybody was very supportive. I just had the mindset at the time that I had been forging and needed to redeem myself from the last episode. Meanwhile, Jody's just burning up the forge making knives. He has a big client base within the military. He does a lot of awards.

Jody: I do a lot of retirement gifts and departure items, things like that.

Jennifer: When somebody is leaving or getting promoted, he gets a lot of calls. He's well-known in the military community, locally and nationally, too. But I was still trying to figure out this keyhole guard. I think, literally, 11 months later, I finally did one. It wasn't great, but I did it. But almost right after that, they called me, and I knew it was time to go back.

And I can remember Jody saying, “Would you give up on that keyhole? Just move on to something else.” I couldn’t, though. I needed to wrap my head around it because it bothered me that I couldn't finish it.

BDF: But you kept going! When you were struggling, you stopped and said, “I'm going finish this because I tell my kids all the time that we don't give up. We don’t quit.” I loved that!

Jennifer: I do tell them that! Not because it's what a mom is supposed to say to their kids or what parents are supposed to tell their kids. I tell them because I believe it. If you want it, you have to finish it.

“Constantly challenge yourself. Remove yourself from comfort, and you’ll grow from it.”

Jody: That and get out of your comfort zone. I'm always saying, ‘get out of your comfort zone.’ It’s the only way to grow. That's what the military has taught me if they've taught me anything. Constantly challenge yourself. Remove yourself from comfort, and you'll grow from it. I think we've both done that through this trade.

Jennifer: Agreed. But I think the second go around when I went to compete, I was a little bit more prepared. I had more experience in the shop, but other little things, like using the acetylene torch and learning things that are okay and things that are not okay and understanding the science behind the heat treatment of the blades, that sort of thing. So, it was actually a huge benefit. I wasn't at all the best smith that competed on those episodes, but what I did know got me through. I'm extremely grateful, and I still can't believe it. I still struggle with the thought that I don't deserve it, so I'm just going to keep trying for the rest of my life to earn that title. I don't feel like it's a deserved title for me. I did win, fair and square, but I will try to keep working for it.

Jody: I’ll tell you a funny story. When she went back up to film her finale episode, I didn't hear from her all day. Of course, she's probably filming for 16 hours or more. She calls me after they wrapped up filming and says, “Well, everything that I thought would happen happened. My sword was heavy. It did cut,” blah, blah, blah. She left it at that! Didn't say anything else. So, with that type of attitude and that type of verbiage, I assumed she didn't win. That night the kids and I get home, and we make a couple of signs and figure out what to say. “At least you made it to the finale! At least you made it to the final round!” All night. All that next day, we were all wondering how we were going to talk to mom when she got home. She walks in, sets her bags down, and screams, “Forged In Fire Champion!” All that worrying and wondering for days! (laughing) We wanted to punch her.

Jennifer: I said it went exactly how I thought. My blade was heavy, and it wasn't as sharp as James’, the other competitor. And it wasn’t, but his took damage. So, he’s on the phone saying, “We're so proud of you,” and meanwhile, I’m eating this huge burger and french fries for my celebratory meal.

Then when I got home, I walked in the door, they started consoling me, and I said, “Wait, I got something to tell you.” And they are all saying, “We're so proud of you. We're so proud of you.” I said, “Thank you, but I have something I need to tell you. You're looking at the newest Forged In Fire Champion!”

But I wanted to say it face to face!

BDF: You both enjoyed your time on the show, then?

Jennifer: Yes. The whole team that puts the show on they're super great to work with. They're a very diverse group of people. You would think it would be crazy and hectic, but it flows really well. It's all real-time, and you forget that they're there.

Jody: Going along with that, I have this little doll I've taken on trips. I've taken it on deployments and different things, and I took that with me when I competed. To this day, I wish I had set it up on my anvil as one of our tools. Her name is Dolly, and it’s my little girl’s doll from when she was younger. Each of the judges, and even Wil, held the doll and took a picture with me and the doll. Doug cradled it like a baby. I have a really cool group picture of me holding that doll with all of them. That meant a lot that they were willing to take that minute and do that for me. It was cool.

Life after Forged In Fire

BDF: Do you still talk to any of the judges?

Jennifer: Last year, I reached out to them. There was a young boy, I think he was turning 13, and he had special needs. His family said he was a fan of mine and asked if I would send a Happy Birthday message. I was going to do a video but then reached out to the judges and Grady to see if they would do something. So, J. Nielsen, Grady, and I did a compilation of Happy Birthday wishes to this young guy, and they were glad to help. Doug couldn't do the video, but he mailed a signed postcard to this young boy.

The kids make it worth everything. Their excitement and they make you feel so cool. It’s a positive show, and the judges are super down to earth. But you don't know who you're inspiring or encouraging. It opened up some doors for us to visit some high schools and talk to kids. The show, with its popularity, has drawn so many kids to the trade. It's just so cool to be someone who could encourage or inspire a young person to do even greater things than what we're doing now.

Jody: After my show, right after we got done, Ben Abbott brought me a napkin with something in it. He handed it to me, and I unwrapped it, and it was a piece of the chain—that boat anchor chain that we used. He said, “You go home and try it again because you were on the right path.” It was the heat treatment that got me on the forge weld. I still have that little piece. I can't bring myself to forge it down. One day I will, but it's just too good of a story. It sits in the forge now.

Keeping the door open for a possible return to the show

BDF: Would either of you do another episode if they called you back?

Jennifer: I would!

Jody: I would. In fact, they called me for a military episode to represent the Army. At the time, we were getting ready for a major exercise at work. The timeline for it was ridiculous. I needed to be back in like three weeks.

I think they picked Jon Nagle instead of me for the Army. I know him. I’ve run into him at Fort Knox before. He is a great guy and an amazing smith. I believe he went on to win that one. But yeah, I would go.

Jennifer: I know that Grady wants Jody to come on.

Jody: Yeah, he’s messaged us a couple of times.

Jennifer: I would do it just because I had so much fun. Win or lose, you meet awesome people, and it's just a ton of fun. I just need my own TV show; I think I just like being on tv. I'm an entertainer!

Building a business

BDF: I would definitely tune in because I think that would be very entertaining. Do you have unique forging styles?

Jody: I have a specific hunter style that I go after. Like an eight-inch hunter. I will say that once you master Damascus, you can't go back to mono-steel. Every mono-steel blade I make now, I want to throw it. I don't like it. But a Damascus blade, when you pull it out of the ferric chloride, coffee etch, there's just something about it. It's like Christmas when you pull it out and don't know what that pattern will look like. But I don't have a specific style. There's a particular handle I like. I like a big bulbous type of pommel. I'm still growing to where I'm trying to find that niche, the perfect style that I'm super happy with. I think I'm almost there; I just haven't found that yet.

Her philosophy is that she makes it, and if you like it, you buy it. My philosophy, my business plan, is that you send me a request, and I take that order and run with it. I think her philosophy is better. This is supposed to be a hobby. It's really not supposed to be a business. My site has turned into a business. She is still more in the hobby, where she can be an artist and let her juices flow. I'm over here still meeting parameters.

Jennifer: But your blades end up looking a lot better than mine. Sometimes my creativity is messy, and I’m like, ‘what is that?’ Sometimes it works. But I don't have a style at all. I'm still learning. We did join the American Bladesmith Society last year. This is my second year with them, and I'm getting there. I've actually got my first integral guard hammered out. I was working on that today. I want to refine, fit, and finish because that's one of my biggest struggles. I love forging. Like today I was down there all day hammering on stuff, but nothing got finished.

Jody: I could count five blades on this table right now that are forged and need handles or need to be finished. She gets them to a certain point and moves on.

Jennifer: I enjoy handles; I just have to have the vision. I think having a 14-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy keeps us busy. Plus, taking care of our six acres. So, when you go to make a knife, which is also like a piece of art, you have to be into it mentally. I've talked to full-time bladesmiths who do this for a living, and they're like, “If you go down to the shop and things aren't working out in the first hour, just walk out because nothing's going to work.” It's true.

“I think it’s just the artist mentality that it has to come from you. If it doesn’t come from you, then it’s not really your work.”

Jody: We have a wall of shame in the forge. It's a big piece of Barnwood with all of our failures on it, and most of them are because of that. We just weren’t in the right frame of mind or inspired enough.

BDF: I completely agree. I draw, and I can’t tell you how many half-finished pieces I have because I started and couldn’t get back into that frame of mind.

Jennifer: Exactly. You’re better off leaving it unfinished until you're mentally prepared. When you have that mentality and can see the end of the rainbow, that’s when it's going to be golden. But if we can't see it, you might as well wait, or you're going to ruin it. I think it's just the artist mentality that it has to come from you. If it doesn't come from you, then it's not really your work.

Jennifer and Jody’s advice to aspiring bladesmiths

BDF: Do you have any advice for aspiring bladesmiths?

Jennifer: I would say surround yourself with people who are more advanced than you and also people who may not be as advanced as you. People you can be with, share ideas and advice, and grow together.

I feel very fortunate that Jody is way ahead of me, and I'm married to him. I think I have advanced a little faster than others, maybe because of that. So also, if you're not married, I would say marry or date a bladesmith! It’s cheaper.

Jody: We are a rare breed, though. Hard to find!

Jennifer: I know with social media, there are groups all over the country, and even worldwide, where you can find a little guild, a page, or a group that gets together, and you can learn some things for free. I love when I get to share my knowledge with somebody. It just makes me feel good. But also, when people show me little tips and tricks, it makes us both happy. It’s just that type of community. You can find a group that you feel comfortable with.

“Surround yourself with people who are more advanced than you and also people who may not be as advanced as you. People you can be with, share ideas and advice, and grow together.”

Jody: If you're getting into it, take more of the Thomas Edison philosophy. I've seen a lot of people get into this and go out and buy a few things thinking they're going to love it, and they either don't like it or can't figure it out—even after watching YouTube and attending meetings. But Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” I've got so many blades on the Wall of Shame. One, the forge weld didn't take. One, the handle cracked. One, the shape is wonky. The list goes on, but I can stare at the wall and remember the day I did each and the exact mistake I made. Also, I can remember how far I have come.

So, if you get into it, keep pushing. I could not have dreamed of doing Damascus when I ran into the house with that little spike knife. I would have never thought I could do a 500-layer billet. The other day I did a gun barrel knife for a friend of mine. If you think about a gun barrel, I had to split down the middle, flatten it out, and stack it with 15 and 20 for Damascus. I was able to make a 21-inch billet, 128 layers, and make two knives for that guy. And it was successful, but if you had told me eight years ago that I would have been able to do that, I'd have thought you were crazy. So, keep going, keep pushing.

A day in the life of a forging couple

BDF: Do you recommend couples forging together? (This question earns laughs from both of them)

Jody: Jennifer says that the couple that forges together stays together—which is not true.

Jody and Jennifer Lyddane holding tomahawks. — (Image credit: JL Forge)

Jennifer: It’s not true at all. We’ve almost split up!

Jody: We fight. I’m really stingy. When she's going for a 36-grit belt, I'll say, “That is my belt. Where's your belt?” or “That’s my drill bit.”

Jennifer: We have been married for almost 18 years! I'll bring this up to some of the other bladesmiths—instead of talking about bladesmithing, I'll bring up marriage—and I ask, ‘What do you think about his and hers verse mine and ours? Aren’t his belts my belts?’

Jody: In all seriousness, we have a really good time, and we have learned from one another. For example, I hated coal at the beginning. You couldn't bring coal within 10 feet of me. I didn't want to deal with coal. It’s dirty, it is gross, and it was hard to keep a fire going. But she mastered coal, and now that's all I use for Damascus! So, you can learn from the most novice to the most educated. We bounce ideas off of one another. I'll show her something I forged, and she'll show me something that she's forged.

It was almost my way of getting away in the beginning. A lot of men go hunting, and a lot of men go to the bars with their buddies, but I go to the forge. And then when she follows me and I'm just like, ‘what are you doing?’

Jennifer: I know when to give you space!

Jody: She does. She can read my face.

Jennifer: He was down there all day Sunday, and I was cooking dinner; I had to go to the grocery and pick up kids, and he's said, “Just put it down, come down and play with me.” I’m so glad he encourages me. I miss it. I don't get to do nearly as much work in the shop as he does.

Jody: I initially taught her how to make metal roses, and now she makes better metal roses than me.

A photo of a forged steel rose. — (Image credit: JL Forge)

She's got the patience. She's a barber by trade, and barbers are known for their patience. You have to have patience and an eye for detail. Her roses are just ridiculous.

We did a little competition between us about three years ago. We both did a rose, and we didn't tell people who did which one. It was just ‘Rose A’ and ‘Rose B.’ There must have been 200 people who responded, and about 198 picked her rose because of the detail she had. I thought that was funny.

BDF: Those are beautiful. I saw them on your Instagram. They are so pretty!

Jennifer: Thank you!

What’s next for Jody and Jennifer

BDF: Do you have anything coming up in the forging world that we should be on the lookout for?

Jody: This weekend, she is going to do an all-female veteran class called Warriors Way Forward. David Bates runs that. He helps a lot of wounded warriors. He's a veteran and does a lot of reaching out to PTSD groups and nonprofits. We've been out there to do a grudge match before. They're awesome! Check them out.

Jennifer: There's an upcoming Mega Hammer-in at SOFA, the Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil, in Ohio. That's August 24 through the 27th, 2023. Burt Foster is going to be there, and some other Master Smiths from the American Bladesmith Society, so check that out if you’re in the area. I can't wait. I'm hoping that I can make that!

Also, Jody is now part of International Blade Sports. He got certified this past year. So, watch for that!

Jody: It’s a chopping competition. Look it up on YouTube sometime, it’s a lot of fun.

Jennifer: They are advocates for using knives as tools, not weapons, and there are obstacle courses that you go through with big chopping blades. It's a lot of fun. We had a blast! I enjoy just watching him. Be sure to check it out!