Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Japanese Katana - full transcript

[dramatic music]

[Wil Willis voice-over] Since
the dawn of human civilization,

mankind has made weapons.

What began with sharpening
sticks and pounding stone

has evolved into a
highly complex skill

requiring the taming
of fire and steel.

Whoa!

[Wil voice-over] The secrets
and traditions of weapon making

have been kept alive by an
elite group of bladesmiths...

Heat up, heat up, heat up.

[Wil voice-over] Who have
honed and perfected their skills



over thousands of years.

[fire whooshes]

Now for the first time ever,

these men will go head-to-head

and put their skills
to the ultimate test.

Welcome to the Forge.

It starts with a
lump of raw steel

and a ticking clock...

Damn near impossible to
forge your blade in that time.

[Wil voice-over] And
by the end of two rounds,

the bladesmiths must
present a weapon

capable of cutting,
chopping, and slicing.

If the blades they create
don't make the grade,

they are eliminated.



[shouts]

[Wil voice-over] The
top two craftsmen

then move on to
the final challenge,

where they must create one
of the most iconic weapons

ever made by man.

From the Japanese katana

to the Viking battle axe,

each has its own unique history

as told through
the forging process.

I cut my finger open.

[Wil voice-over] The contestants'
weapons must be works of art

as well as deadly
instruments of war,

and they must survive a
battery of explosive tests,

as well as the scrutiny of
an expert panel of judges.

In the end, there
can be only one,

and he will take home $10,000

and be crowned a
Forged in Firechampion.

[dramatic music]

♪

[heavy metal music]

♪

[Joe] My name is Joe Waits.

I'm the head blade
maker at one of the largest

distributors of
swords in the world.

[Rich] My name
is Rich Greenwood.

By day, I work on
swimming pools,

and at night I'm a bladesmith.

[Matthew] My name
is Matthew Parkinson.

I've been a
blacksmith for 15 years.

[Billy] I'm Billy Hilton.

I'm a self-taught
blacksmith and bladesmith.

Welcome, and congratulations
on making it to the Forge.

[Billy] Getting our first glimpse
into the forging area is amazing.

Everything's picture-perfect.

[Wil] Between you, the title
of Forged In Firechampion,

and a check for $10,000

are three extremely
difficult challenges

designed to put your
weapon-making skills

to the test.

After each round, you will
give your work to the judges.

They will decide who
stays and who goes.

Two of you will
advance to a final,

where you will forge one
of the greatest weapons

ever made by mankind.

Now it's time to
meet our judges.

First up, solo
weapons-making expert

and internationally known
master bladesmith J. Neilson.

Next, world-renowned swordsmith

and rare weapons re-creation
specialist David Baker.

And finally edged
weapons specialist

and martial artist
Doug Marcaida.

It's time to get to work.

In front of you on
your anvil is a cloth.

Go ahead and lift that up.

That is a bar of
high-carbon steel.

From that lump of raw metal,

you must design and forge
a fully functioning weapon.

The blade itself should
be in your own style.

You have ten minutes
to work on your design

and three hours
to forge your blade.

[Rich] Normally, it takes me
three days to make a knife.

I don't know how
I'm gonna pull it off.

The blade must fall within
the following size parameters.

The length of the blade
should be at least 9 inches

but not more than 11 inches.

And just to spice
things up a little bit,

you must also include a
serrated edge into that blade.

The length of the serration
should be at least 4 inches.

[Matthew] I've done
some serrations in the past,

but it's much more
stressful in this situation.

[Wil] After three hours,

one of you will be asked
to surrender your weapon

and go home.

Good luck, gentlemen.

Your ten-minute design
window begins now.

[fast-paced music]

I specialize in doing
a lot of historical work.

I'm basing this knife
off of Continental Seax.

It's a German war knife.

Historical stuff
always fascinates me,

'cause it's like being able
to pull this idea of history

into the modern age.

[Billy] I specialize in
practical, everyday knives,

so my design is a
drop-point bowie.

It's typically a camp knife.

It's for everyday chores.

It'll chop a tree down

and still be able
to cut your apple

when you're ready for dinner.

My inspiration comes from
Japanese blade making.

I'm going with a Tanto blade,

because it fits
the style of knife

that I enjoy making...

Hunting, fighting-style knives.

I grew up with a
family of craftsmen

and blue-collar workers.

I think that just
gave me the ability

to not worry about
getting my hands dirty.

My interest in swords
began at an early age

after seeing Conan
The Barbarian.

It's one of the
most iconic movies

and has one of the
most iconic swords.

I'm gonna make a bowie.

It's a classic
design, clip point.

It'll stab right through
whatever they test.

If some great character
like Conan had it,

I think he would
feel comfortable

cutting a giant
snake's head off with it.

[Wil] Bladesmiths, your
ten-minute design window

is closed.

You may start forging
your blades now!

[rock music]

[Matt] The clock starts.

I toss my bar into the forge
as soon as the bar's hot,

and then I knocked
the bar down a little bit.

The actual definition of forging

is when you use the plastic
state of metal to deform it,

using blows from a hammer
or pressure from a press

for it to be where I
want and need it to be

for whatever shape
I'm trying to make.

[Billy] So you ever
cooked your beard?

[Matt] A couple times.

It never gets longer than this,

'cause I'm always
burning it back.

I try not to shave,

'cause I look like a
perverted Boy Scout.

[laughs]

[Billy] My strategy
for this competition

is to simply get 'er done.

I'm forging right now,

trying to get a little
bit of swag in it,

trying to make it
look a little bit purdy.

What I'm going to do with
this prize money when I win is,

I'm gonna build a bigger shop.

My wife does engraving.

I do knife making.

We're combining the
two into one comfy shop.

Oh, yeah.

♪

[J.] Joe's chugging right along.

[Joe] My main goal
in this competition

is to crush my enemies, to
see them driven before me,

and to hear the
lamentations of their women.

Everything's going
according to plan,

which is slow and easy.

He's being very meticulous.

[Wil] He may be the kind of guy

that he figures
he's got three hours.

He can do a work of art.

Yeah? We'll see what happens.

Coming behind you
with a hot piece of steel.

During my career, I've
made over 6,000 blades,

and I do not believe
that anybody else

can even approach that
number in this competition.

[David] It seems that Joe's
doing some thermocycling.

He's brought it up.

He's let it cool a
couple of times now.

[Wil] He's still got that
forge going full-bore.

You don't want to keep
overheating that tip.

[Wil] What happens
if you burn the steel?

You're gonna weaken
the structure of the steel.

[pounding and thudding]

[Rich] As I'm watching everybody
bang on their steel and forge

and mine's still
heating up, I'm thinking,

"I may have chosen just
a little too large of blade."

I'm really kind of
worried about Rich.

I'm starting to fall behind.

Am I the only one
that's sweating or what?

[Wil] Gentlemen!

You have 90 minutes remaining!

♪

[J.] He's putting on
his bandolier of belts.

[Billy] I start getting my
geometry correct on my blade

to make sure everything
is perpendicular, in line.

This is what you call
getting up close and personal,

getting your spark on.

[David] Look at those
sparks coming off of that.

[Billy] ♪ Getting hot
up in here tonight ♪

♪

Matt has definitely
jumped ahead.

He's already got a tip
worked out on that sucker.

I got a good
amount of time left.

I'm basically there.
It's all finish work now.

My grandfather was a welder,

and his level of metal working

kind of influenced
me as a child.

I actually named
my son after him.

I'm gonna win this for my son.

I'm gonna win this
for my grandfather.

Once this is down to,
like, almost touchable,

I quench it in water
just so I can handle it

and start filing
the serrations in.

Matt just went in for a quench.

[J.] Oh!

He's got some heat on there yet.

I'm still trying to figure out
what Rich is trying to do.

[J.] I don't think Rich is
comfortable with his pace.

Proving a little more
difficult that I thought it'd be.

I'm looking around,
and I'm seeing progress

that the other
contestants are making.

How's it going?

Kind of close to done.

It's kind of making
me panic. [bleep].

[Wil] Man, we got
a blade on the floor.

I'm very concerned.

[David] The more tired
and frustrated you get,

the more drops
you'll wind up with.

And it's like trying
to pick up a dime

without fingernails.

I'm just falling behind,
and it's looking like

I'm just not gonna be
able to get this done.

I think I may bit off
more than I can chew.

[Matt] Part of the
requirement was that

it had to be at least
4 inches of serration,

so I drew the serrations
in a 4 1/2 inch section

just to make sure
I had a little extra

and not just 4 exactly.

[Wil] Doug, what difference
does a serrated edge make

to combat?

[Doug] You don't have to time

to keep sharpening your blade.

Having that option gives
you the function to cut

without having to constantly
keep your blade sharp.

[laughs]

One hour, gentlemen!

You have one hour remaining!

Holy crap!

♪

Right now, it's
starting to feel alive.

The blade's starting
to move like it should.

For a fighting knife,
it's got to move,

and it's really starting.

♪

Oh, [bleep].

[David] Oh, no.

- Uh-oh.
- Oh, no.

Ah, come on.

[J.] He just broke the blade.

He just lost an inch
off the tip of his blade.

[J.] Joe's blade broke.

[David] Just when
you think you're done,

always something else pops up.

[Joe] I think I overshot
my temperature a little bit,

overhardened
the tip of my blade,

and it broke off.

[sighs]

[David] I'm hoping
he makes the length.

I'm hoping he didn't drop below.

9 to 11 inches,

and maybe 1 1/2 inches
of that thing came off.

I'm coming in
short, so it is over.

[groans]

I believe I've just
lost the entire thing.

- Can't quit.
- Don't quit.

[David] Don't quit.

- Hey, Joe.
- Yeah.

You can still finish that blade.

You can just grind it down.

It might be able to make
it into the final challenge.

Go for it, man.

Just do what you can
with the time you have left.

Don't walk out on it;
you've worked too hard.

He made a point.

I wouldn't have the
elegant look I was going for,

but I could have a
reformed tip on the grinder.

[Wil] He could
still pull it off.

As long as he's still got
9 inches of blade there,

he's good to go.

♪

[David] Look at the
difference in Rich's blade.

Winning this competition
is very important to me.

I would like to expand my shop

and make it larger
and easier to work in.

[Wil] He can pull this off.

[David] With a beard like
that, all things are possible.

Yes.

[Wil] 30 minutes!

You have 30 minutes remaining!

♪

So it looks like
Joe has ground a tip

back into that blade.

[J.] Yeah, and
it took him, what,

about a total of 6, 7 minutes?

I think I was able to recover.

I not only have a reformed tip,

but I still have a blade
that's lengthy enough,

and I may actually be
able to move forward.

It's how you
react to situations.

[David] I don't
know how you react.

I usually throw the
blade across the room.

Yeah, and if it
doesn't break again,

then it's okay.

♪

The serrated edge part is
throwing me out of whack.

I didn't get my serrated
edges deep enough,

and I washed 'em out
in the grinding process.

I'm trying to tweak
it the best I can

with the minutes
that I have left.

Every dog has its
day, and this ain't mine.

[Wil] 30 seconds!

30 seconds remaining!

♪

10, 9,

8, 7,

6, 5,

4, 3,

2, 1.

Set 'em down, gentlemen!

Time is up!

- Wow.
- Unreal.

[J.] I know; we can
all take a breath.

[David] Yeah.

[Joe] At this point, I
don't know if my blade

is good enough to
continue in the competition,

but I've already been through
the worst-case scenario.

Nothing worse than what
has already happened to me

can happen to me at this point.

It can happen again, but
that could only be as bad

as what's already happened.

♪

Your challenge was to
forge a 9-to-11-inch blade

out of a bar of
high-carbon steel.

The blade must have at
least 4 inches of serrations.

Now it's time for the judges
to take a look at your work.

Joe, please present
your weapon to the judges.

♪

Good job on sucking
it up and reworking it.

But the obvious question
is the tip issue you had.

You lost about
an inch of that tip.

How do you feel about
the rework that you did?

[Joe] I'm not
necessarily pleased

with the way the
tip structure is now

versus the way it was initially.

I think it's functional.

Yeah.

When that tip came
off and you decided

to finish what you started

is even more telling of what
a master bladesmith does.

You adapted, you
improvised, and you overcame.

It's still a functional weapon.

But is it the best weapon?
That remains to be seen.

But thank you for not giving up.

Thank you.

Rich, you're up next.

♪

It's definitely a beefy blade,

and it's definitely
got the scare factor.

I'm curious to see
how well it performs.

[David] As you were grinding
away, and we're going,

"He's got nothing.
He's got no serrations."

A minute later, you're
like... [imitates grinding]

Which actually is
kind of a neat look.

[Wil] Matt, it's your turn.

♪

Well, I really love what
you did with the serration.

You took a lot of time just
laying that in nice and slow,

and so it's got a
really clean look.

Thank you.

You did stretch
it out quite a bit,

and your tip is a
lot more tapered

than your original drawing.

How do you think
that's gonna hold up?

I think this will be all right.

Leaving myself just a
little bit short on material,

and I wanted to make
sure I had the length.

It's always a fine line.

It's a very fine line.

[Wil] Billy, you're last up.

♪

I like the overall
design of the knife.

It's a good point, good profile.

You also got hung
up on the serrations.

Actually, what I did
was, on the grinder,

I dug in too deep on one side,

and I had to work on that.

Okay.

[Doug] I like the design.

Did you measure the
length of this serration?

I did.

4 1/8 is what I came up with.

Thank you.

♪

Obviously, the judges
have much to discuss.

They'll need some time
to make their decision.

Thank you.

♪

Wow.

That was rough.

[Wil] We have a lot to discuss.

I hope they don't chop a
finger off in there or something.

[Wil] Let's start
with Matt's blade.

[J.] I mean, he seemed
like he knew what he's doing.

He gave us a clean blade.

It's a little thin on
the tip to thrust.

[David] And it's nicely
done for handwork

on a three-hour job.

Let's take a look at
Rich's zombie killer.

[David] You know, if he
had designed this and said,

"I'm going to make the
most badass post-apocalyptic

zombie killing
machine I ever could,"

I mean, he's almost right there.

But it wasn't what
he was shooting for.

He was shooting for
more of a classic Tanto

with a large blade
and a long handle.

Beauty is in the
eye of beholder.

In terms of calling it crude,

once again, let's
see the function.

Worst-case scenario, you could
beat somebody to death with it.

Let's look at Joe's blade.

[David] He broke a tip
off, and he reground.

He gets credit for that.

But...

you got multiple
fractures up the tip.

I'm counting two,
three, four, five.

We've already seen
that tip break once,

so we know how
brittle this tip is.

Let's go ahead and
measure Joe's blade.

The overall length
of the blade is...

just shy of 9 1/2 inches,

and the length
of his serrations...

Yeah, by 1/8th of
an inch, he's under.

That is unfortunate.

Let's take a look
at Billy's blade.

[J.] Well, again, I like
Billy's overall profile.

[David] Can we
get a measurement?

So on the serrations, we have...

Wow. Oh, he's way short.

He's almost 1/2 inch under.

[J.] We got more cracks too.

There is one, two,
three big cracks.

[Wil] So we've got two guys
who didn't meet the specs

for the length of the serration,

but we can only remove
one of them this round.

So it all comes down to quality.

Have we made our decision?

Yeah. Yes, we have.

- Yeah.
- We're all in agreement?

- I think so.
- All in agreement.

Okay, let's go tell
our bladesmiths.

♪

[Billy] I'm freaking out.

I have a big possible mistake.

I may be going home today.

[Joe] I know my
blade's not up to par.

My only hope at this point is,

somebody made a
worse blade than I did.

[tense music]

♪

[Wil] Gentlemen, the judges

have made their decision.

♪

All of your blades made
the size parameters

for this challenge.

However, two of your blades

did not meet the required
length of serration.

Rich...

Matt...

you are safe.

Well done.

Billy... and Joe,

one of you will be going home.

The judges have
made their decision.

♪

Joe...

you did not make the cut.

[J.] Well, Joe,

we had a few different
issues to work with.

You were 1/8th of an inch
short on those serrations.

And, actually, if you had
had one more serration,

you'd have made the
parameters we asked for.

Also, when we saw the tip break,

we also saw the grain structure.

It was very coarse

from overheating in the forge.

And we saw the lines
from the stress fractures

up on the blade.

I don't think that
tip would hold up.

[Wil] Joe?

Please surrender your weapon.

[light music]

[Joe] I overheated my steel,

and there's no excuses for that.

Right now, I wish I'd have
been a bit more cautious

with my temperatures.

I did well with the forging.

I did well with the
design, I believe.

It's just what should
have been my strengths,

I allowed to become
my weaknesses.

♪

[tense music]

Gentlemen, you've made
it through to round two.

Your second challenge

is to turn your blades

into fully functioning weapons.

There are three
hours on the clock.

You must design
and fabricate a handle

from the materials
provided for you.

You can use that time to do

any further work on your
blade if you feel the need.

When the time runs out,

your blades will be tested
for strength and durability

and also their ability
to hold an edge

in a specially designed
sharpness test.

Only two of you will
move forward to the final.

Your time starts... now.

[Matt] Oh, yeah.

I run over to the
handle materials,

and I start looking
for something

that's hefty enough
for a knife this size,

antler or bone,

something that I can
use the natural material

as the finish,

'cause if I have to start
polishing out a handle,

I'm never gonna make the time.

God, that is an awful sound.

Antler is really
strong, but the pith,

where the blood flows
through it, is very weak,

and you just need
to remove all of it.

I think this deer had
a calcium deficiency.

So I drill out as much
as I possibly can,

and then I fit that
handle through the tang.

I have a hidden tang knife.

This is the classic system of
how swords were assembled

all the way through
medieval era.

[Billy] That's a
bad deal right there.

I chose to go with some
micarta handle material,

and it looks a little
bit sexy, if I don't say.

Wham.

Now I need to think about

how I'm gonna attach
my handle to the knife.

Or I can use
bolts and I can drill

appropriate-size
holes for these to fit in.

Hope my dentist don't
see that in my mouth.

And they actually screw together

and put complete tension
on the knife handle itself.

Now I'm cleaning up all
the epoxy that smooshed out

whenever I glued the handle on.

That kind of bothers me.

Ooh, doggies.

[David] What I'd like to see

is Billy work on a blade
that's got a crack on it.

[Wil] Those flaws in
his blade are fixable,

but he's wasting time.

It's almost like Billy worked
on his handle as a distraction.

You know, "I don't know exactly
what to do about this crack,

but in the meantime, I'm
gonna make a handle."

[J.] We're only a
half hour into this.

[Wil] It could be the most
beautiful handle ever created...

With the shortest,
squared-off, broken blade.

[Rich] I took a risk
in the first round.

I was overambitious.

So in this round,
I'm playing it safe.

I'm going with a fiberglass
handle material that I know.

On my handle, I use seven pins

in order to get a good
adhesion to the blade.

You lose your
handles on your knife,

the knife doesn't
function and you're done.

[Wil] That's a lot of pins.

Three more pins,
we could go bowling.

♪

[J.] Uh-oh. Oh!

That didn't work very well.

[J.] That was Matt

with the rotary tool.

My weakest part is finish.

Oh, that's not helpful.

It just takes me a long time.

So now I'm starting
to panic a little bit.

- Sorry.
- No, go.

I'm trying to rush too much,

and I'm gonna
break what I'm doing.

I need to stop panicking.

Oh, come on.

Sometimes bad stuff just
happens in knife making.

- You doing all right, Matt?
- I hate these belts.

[Wil] The clock's really
starting to get to Matt.

[Matt] I kind of
put myself behind.

I'm not sure I'm gonna
be able to put this together.

You have one hour remaining.

Put your respirators on.

Time's rattling away,

because I was concentrating
on a handle so bad,

I forgot I had time
to work on the blade.

All right, here's the money
shot where I stab myself.

[rock music]

[J.] I'm glad to see that he did

a bunch of blade work
on that, did clean it up.

How are you, man?

You know what?
I'm hanging in there.

How about yourself?

I think I'm doing well.

I'll find out in a little bit.

Looking sweet, buddy.

There's 21 minutes
left on the clock,

and they're chitchatting.

[Billy] I'm gonna
do hand sanding

and try to get some of the
rough grinds out of the blade.

[David] I think he's
finally on that blade.

[tense music]

[Wil] I think we need to
watch Billy very closely

for the next few minutes,

because what he does here,

it's gonna be critical.

[David] I'm hoping he doesn't
crack it off right there in the vise.

[Billy] You think you could
get me a Band-Aid? Thank you.

In the knife shop,
you're always getting cut.

The best thing's
a little Band-Aid.

You put it on there,
blow on it, hold it,

and you're ready to go again.

[Wil] 10! 9! 8!

7! 6! 5!

4! 3! 2!

1!

Time's up, gentlemen.

Time's up.

Get it off.

[Billy] I've done all
I can with the blade.

The handle looks really good.

Going to see what they say.

♪

[Wil] You've all made
some handsome blades,

but can they cut it
in the testing arena?

It's time to find out.

J. will be testing
your blades' strength

and durability against
these steel drums,

followed by a sharpness test

against these ropes.

♪

Fellow bladesmiths,

I'm gonna take
each of your blades,

and I'm going to
take three attempts

to pierce the steel
up to your serrations.

Rich, you're going to be first.

♪

[grunts]

♪

We do have a few
issues with the edge.

There's a small crack
up here towards the tip,

and we've got a flake
down towards the bottom.

[Rich] That's a
devastating blow.

I have no idea if I'm gonna
get through that sharpness test

with chips in the blade.

That's a thick-ass rope.

We're gonna do three
cuts on each rope.

I'm ready.

♪

With every slice,
I'm just hoping

it's going to make
it through that rope.

And if not, that
could be the end.

[suspenseful music]

[sighs] [bleep].

Had I given it more thought,

I probably would have changed
the geometry of the blade

to make it cut that rope easier.

[J.] Totally
different blade, Matt.

Are you ready?

Try to break it.

♪

[grunts]

Really?

You are kidding me.

I rode that thinness
down to the point

where I thought it was
just gonna go right through.

It just went in,
like, a half an inch.

I'm shocked.

[tense music]

♪

A thin blade should go
through with less pressure.

I don't understand
why it didn't go through.

So close.

[J.] Billy.

I think you've known
from challenge one

we've had a bit of an
issue with this blade.

A big issue.

[J.] We've got three
stress fractures

at the serrations.

Yes.

[J.] For safety reasons,

I really don't feel comfortable

thrusting this
into a steel drum.

What the [bleep]?

[Billy] He's not gonna
do the thrust test.

What the Sam Heck am I gonna do?

[J.] Though you did give
us a finished and sharp knife,

so I would like still to
do the sharpness test.

[Billy] I'm really thrilled

that J.'s gonna do the
cutting part of the competition.

I really want to see how my
blade cuts through that rope.

[suspenseful music]

♪

Well, Billy, it did
pretty well on the rope.

Got almost all the way through.

It performed well. Thank you.

[Billy] Even though the
flaws are in my blade,

my knife did really well
on the cutting competition.

Who knows? I may still
have a chance at this.

[dramatic music]

♪

[Wil] Gentlemen.

The judges have
made their decision.

♪

Billy,

you didn't make the cut.

[David] We all
loved your handle,

and you put a lot of
time in detailing a blade

that had some
real problems to it.

We all just kind of wish

you had addressed
those fractures

and given your blade

a chance to be put
through the punch test.

So, unfortunately,
we have to let you go.

[Wil] Billy?

Please surrender your weapon.

[Billy] I'm feeling
a little disappointed

that I didn't get to move on

to the next part
of this competition.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Appreciate it.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

[Billy] Do I wish I could
have won this thing?

Absolutely.

♪

[suspenseful music]

Rich, Matt, you've made
it to the Forged in Firefinal.

So far,

we've asked you to
design and produce

a weapon of your own choosing.

To claim the
Forged in Firecrown,

you must design and
forge our mystery weapon,

one of the most famous
and revered weapons

from history.

♪

The Japanese katana.

The katana is the traditional
weapon of the samurai,

the noble class of
warriors in feudal Japan

since around 800 A.D.

The katana was formed
from hundreds of thin layers

of the purest steel available.

The quicker draw of the
sword was well suited to combat

where life versus death

depended on the weapon
you carried into battle.

Over the centuries,

the katana has taken on
many mythical properties

in legend and culture,

from an ability to slice
through other swords

to splitting a hair.

And it is the sword of
choice for characters

in megahits like Kill Bill
and The Walking Dead.

You must create

an authentic, fully functioning
version of that weapon.

[Matt] I have mad respect to
the guys who make those things.

A katana is so just...
[sighs] not my thing.

[Rich] The challenge
of making a katana

leveled the playing
field a little bit,

because it was more in my style.

[Wil] You have five days
to complete this challenge.

And just to give you
the best possible chance,

we're sending you
back to your home forges

for the final round.

After the five days,
you will come back

and present your
sword to the judges.

They will put it
through a series

of high-impact,
high-velocity tests.

Once those tests are completed,

they will decide
who will be crowned

the Forged in Firechampion

and walk away with
a check for $10,000.

Nice.

Good luck, gentlemen.

We'll see you in five days.

♪

[rock music]

♪

[Rich] I am absolutely
amazed that I made it this far.

At every stage
of the competition,

I thought, "This is
it. I'm going home."

With five days, I think I
can actually prove my worth.

♪

The next five days, for me,

are going to be a
little more stressful

than for Matt.

I've got no power
hammers, no presses.

Everything is by hand.

[dramatic music]

[Matt] The competition was hard,

but I did a good job,
and I went through,

and I'd like to
win 10 grand now.

That'd be nice.

I'm gonna go for a
full-hardened blade,

so strong and so fine-grained,

it should outperform
anything else

that anybody can
put on the table.

♪

[Rich] My goal is to get the
blade to where I can quench it.

So what I'm doing here is,

I'm breaking all
the sharp edges,

because if you got
any sharp edges,

you got a lot better chance
of cracking something.

♪

During the quenching
process, what will happen is,

the molecules in
the edge of the blade

will tighten up, and I'll
get a curve to the blade.

And that's very
important to the process

in this particular sword.

This is where it all happens.

It'll kill me, or it'll make me.

Here we go.

[whooshing noise]

[crackling noise]

[bleep] you.

About four seconds
into the quench,

I heard a loud tick.

[cracking noise]

I knew that was it
and it was all over.

Several cracks along the tip.

I just got the blade way
too hot before I quenched it,

and when you've
got too hot a blade

and you throw
it in cooler water,

then it's a crack.

I'm not gonna say
all is lost just yet.

With only having two
days, it's gonna be tough.

I'm gonna get to work.

[dramatic music]

♪

That's ready for heat treating.

I'm gonna slide my
blade down there.

About 600 degrees.

I'm just gonna bring
it up and let it cool.

♪

I'm doing this for my son.

I'm doing this so that
he can be proud of me.

See what Daddy's doing?

Setting the stone right now.

♪

Nice.

I like this sword a lot.

I'm still a little apprehensive

about what the judges
are going to be looking for.

I'm just going to cut
a couple water bottles

to make sure the
geometry is good.

♪

That was a successful test cut.

This is a really good sword.

♪

[tense music]

[Rich] I got one day to go,

so I'm gonna bust my ass,

and I'm gonna try and
get something made

that I'm proud of.

This is my final shot to
stay in the competition.

If this blade doesn't
survive, I'm out.

I'm getting ready.

I'm quenching now.

♪

♪

[Wil] Gentlemen,

I hope that your time at home

was productive and inspired.

Matt, can you tell us a
little bit about the process?

[Matt] I decided to go
for a performance blade,

so I did a pretty
good heat treat on it,

and then I did leather risers
and a leather wrap over the top.

It's a fairly traditional
European design,

but I have seen similar wraps

on katana.

It's not the fanciest
sword I've ever made,

but I'm very proud of the sword.

[Wil] Rich, what
was your thinking

beside the design in this sword?

[Rich] I went with a
modern-style full-tang handle,

which is not
traditional in a katana.

I actually had a
little bit of a problem

about three days in

and had to make an
entirely new blade,

so I was backed
off by about a day.

With that said, in the
end, it all came out all right.

[Wil] Great.

To measure how your
blades stand up against flesh,

Doug will cut through these fish

that are suspended

in a multiple-target
engagement pattern.

Making sushi.

[dramatic music]

[Doug] Rich, yours is up.

Let's put it to the test.

♪

Nice.

It will cut.

Yes, it will.

It felt good in the slice.

But the recovery
was a little heavier,

but it still felt like it'll
give me a close shave.

Good job.

Okay, Matt, you're up
next. Are you ready?

Yup.

[dramatic music]

♪

It doesn't cut, and I'm
a little confused by that.

I don't know why it didn't cut.

♪

[laughs]

It's got a very good feel to it.

It's very light.

It's got a very
nice balance to it.

And...

it'll cut.

[laughs]

Now for the kill test.

In this, we have
a ballistics dummy

that pretty much
simulates the human form,

organs and tissues.

The katana traditionally
has a razor-sharp edge.

That allows me to find the
gaps in between the armor.

I'm going to try
that with your blades

to see how well it does.

Rich, you're up first.

♪

[sword tings]

Let's take a look at the damage.

♪

Oh.

The thrust and the slice

went all the way into the
internal organs in here.

And the kill shot went deep
all the way into the liver.

I think, on the kill test,

this will kill.

Okay, Matt, you're up.

[dramatic music]

♪

[sword tings]

♪

Definitely through
the laceration,

he's disemboweled here.

A nice big puncture in here.

That definitely
will get the liver.

♪

I think it's passed
the kill test.

Thank you.

You both obviously
brought deadly implements

of war here.

But now it's time to lock
and load, gentlemen,

because for the strength test,

we're leaving the Forge

and we're heading
to the gun range.

What?

♪

[Wil] All right, gentlemen.

This is the final test

for the Forged in
Fire championship.

It's the strength test.

Your weapons will be tested

on their ability
to split a bullet.

Your swords are gonna
be locked into a vise.

Then we're gonna fire
a bullet at your blade.

Don't bring a
sword to a gunfight.

All I can think
of in my head is,

"You're about to destroy
two beautiful swords."

[rock music]

All right, Matt.

You ready?

Break it.

♪

3, 2, 1.

Engage.

[gunshot]

- Oh!
- Yes!

- Yes.
- Nice.

[gunshot]

[Matt voice-over] The gun fires,

and it breaks the
bullet in three pieces.

I don't even think
the sword moved.

It just... pfft!

Well, Matt, your
sword split a bullet.

There's no damage
on the edge at all.

Held up extremely well.

That is a real, true sign
of your craftsmanship.

- Thank you.
- Very well done.

All right, Rich, you're up next.

[Rich voice-over]
When I look at them

set the gun up and get
ready to shoot that blade,

there's a little bit of doubt
in the back of my mind

thinking, "It may
not survive this."

♪

[Wil] 3, 2, 1, engage.

[gunshot]

- Nice!
- Oh, yeah!

- Sweet.
- Ha ha!

[gunshot]

- Wow.
- Definitely got a split there.

- Nice.
- Yeah, that's a split.

- I like it.
- That blade didn't even move.

[Rich] It splits the bullet.

I couldn't have been happier.

My blade held up against Matt's

in every way, shape, or form.

There's no mark
on the blade at all.

Held up perfectly.

No chipping.
Everything looks great.

Thank you.

Congratulations, gentlemen.

You should be proud of
the work that you've done,

which only makes
the judges' decision

that much harder.

We'll see you back at the Forge.

[Matt] Both of us
passed everything.

Our swords performed
like they're supposed to,

and it's up to the judges.

[Rich] I think the judges have
a very tough decision to make.

♪

Matt, Rich...

♪

In just five days, you
have both forged elegant

and lethal Japanese katanas.

But in this competition,

there can only be
one winner of $10,000.

J.?

Well, Matt, your sword
blade performed beautifully.

It split the bullet
into three pieces,

and we know

it was still even sharp
where the bullet hit it.

That was a great job.

The concern I had, though,

is with the samurai armor,

it did not pierce nearly as
much as I thought it would.

I think there's a little
bit of drag on the blade,

which concerns me,

towards the tip there.

Comments for Rich?

[Doug] Rich, on the fish cut,

it did quite well.

It is top-heavy, so
it'll slice through.

But then I had to
pull back for recovery

and had to use my other hand.

But I needed it
for recovery also.

[J.] The creativity
of your handle set-up

was really nice,

but I have some issues
with the construction,

you know, the pins being
a little too close to the edge.

That's something
that concerns me.

♪

Unfortunately,

in this competition,

there can only be one winner.

♪

Matthew.

♪

You are the Forged
in Fire champion.

Congratulations.

[rock music]

Rich, you did not make the cut.

[David] I wish you had done
a little bit more finish work.

You let the handle
get a little bit skinny,

and it was almost the same
proportions on each side, so...

I know you ran into
a time constraint,

but it did split a bullet,

and that's truly
something to be proud of.

[Rich] I feel a
little disappointed,

but the better bladesmith won.

♪

[Wil] Well, Matt,
congratulations.

You are the Forged
in Fire champion.

You're gonna claim
a $10,000 check.

How do you feel?

This is awesome.

Your blade is beautiful.

Not only is it
beautiful, but it's fast.

It cut so cleanly
through the fish.

And on the ballistic dummies,

that just disemboweled
it for the kill test.

Great job.

Blade aside,

I was really impressed
with your handle setup.

Symmetrically, it was correct.

We could get good
control, good grip on it.

Very nicely done.

[Matt] This is such a rush.

I want to drive home
and kiss my son.

I am the Forged in Fire
champion.

♪