Fans of the History Channel may recognize a contestant on "Forged in Fire” as a familiar Bronx face.
By day Woodlawn Heights resident Frank Sausto is a plumber at the Bronx Zoo, but at night he's sharpening a different skill as an up-and-coming knife artist.
“It's really my passion and besides my family, it's all I think about,” says Sausto.
For nearly seven days a week for the past four years, the 38-year old bladesmith has been turning up the heat on his passion, taking a onetime hobby and hammering it into a custom business called F.S. Blades.
“I always loved to do art and artwork and was always a collector of blades, and one day I tried to just combine them and one day, I just started making them,” says Sausto.
The melting point for Sausto came a little over a year ago when a call from the History Channel landed him on the show “Forged in Fire.”
“I was fortunate to do great on it and it brought a lot of attention and pretty much after that my career in this industry sky rocketed,” says Sausto.
After finishing runner up, the Bronx native is headed back for season three.
“They're used to having guys from the country and horseshoe farriers and stuff like that. A guy from the Bronx making blades in the basement is something different,” says Sausto.
Sausto is set to appear in the upcoming third season of "Forged in Fire,” where he will personally be using his blades in a knife-cutting obstacle course. He can't reveal how he did but says he was satisfied with the results.