Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - Khopesh - full transcript
Four smiths have the challenge of creating hardened knives from six inch section of steel cable. Welding up the cable ends and achieving high quality forge welds between the strands is the first task. Fascinating efforts. I was re...
- Last year
a competition was created
to test
the nation's best bladesmiths.
Thousands responded,
and this year
craftsmen
from all over the country
and all walks of life
have come forward
for their chance
to claim the title.
- I'm gonna be the next
"Forged in Fire" champion.
- I want to win!
- It would be
a life-changing moment.
- Welcome to the Forge.
- Now the Forge returns
with challenges unlike
anything ever seen before.
- You'll be using this.
- Skill and ingenuity
will be pushed to the limit.
Some will rise to the challenge.
Some will fall.
But only the best
will be crowned
"Forged In Fire" champions
and take home $10,000.
[dramatic music]
♪
- I'm Chris Marks.
I've been making blades
for 35 years.
Growing up, I was
an avid outdoorsman...
Hunting, fishing.
There was always a need
for a knife,
so we made our own.
- My name is Zack Jonas.
I've been making knives
for about eight years now.
I am currently
a full-time bladesmith,
operating out of my own studio.
I don't have a violent bone
in my body,
but I just love knives.
- My name is Salem Straub.
I've been making blades
for about 12 years now.
I'm a part-time bladesmith
in my own shop.
I find bladesmithing
to be tremendously satisfying,
in that at the end of the day,
I have something
absolutely quantifiable
to show for my efforts.
- My name is Craig Turnka.
I've been making
blades and swords
for most of my adult life.
I've never had a real job.
I've done this.
I don't have to take a vacation
'cause I'm vacation
every day of the week.
- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the Forge.
You're here to engage
in three rounds of competition
designed to test every aspect
of your edged-weapons-making
capability,
from design to forging
to fit and finish.
At the end of each round,
you will hand over your work
to our panel of expert judges...
Internationally known
master smith J. Neilson...
next, historic weapons
re-creation specialist
David Baker...
last, edged weapons specialist
Doug Marcaida.
They will decide which of you
will be
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and leave here
with a check for $10,000.
♪
On your anvils in front of you
is a cloth.
Go ahead and lift that cloth up.
♪
That's a pretty solid piece
of cable steel.
Your challenge
is to take that cable steel
and forge it into a blade
of your own design
in your signature style,
turning them into fully
functioning weapons.
Your weapons will then be tested
in a log split...
and their ability to slice
through a pork shoulder.
The blades themselves must fall
within the following
size parameters.
The length of the blade,
not including the tang,
must be between
10 and 16 inches.
The overall length
of your weapon
must not exceed 22 inches.
You must also include a fuller
that runs half the length
of the blade.
- I've never done anything
like this in three hours.
In fact, I've never done
a fuller before or cable.
- You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to forge your blades.
Your time starts now.
♪
- I draw like a third grader,
so I don't know.
My style of knife-making
would be just straight lines
and nice, clean edges.
I'm sketching a bowie
with a finger holder
so it doesn't slide
forward or backward.
I'm a very tenacious competitor.
I mean, if there's
only two shopping carts
left at the Walmart
and one's got a wobbly wheel,
I'm getting it.
♪
- I am drawing
a Greek Kopis-style blade.
It has enough of a point
to stab or slash,
but still
an able chopping knife.
Winning "Forged in Fire"
would be somewhat improbable
and absolutely incredible.
♪
- I'm making, basically,
a bowie camp knife.
I like forging and blade-making
because it basically
brought the human race
out from the era of throwing
sticks and rocks at each other.
- I decided to design a
competition cutter/camp knife.
It's gonna be
real thick and beefy.
It's designed
to go through that wood
and the hambone as well.
I've never worked
with cable before.
The thing that concerns me most
is definitely gonna be getting
that cable welded up.
Once I've got that, I can
grind a blade, no problem.
- Bladesmiths, your ten-minute
design window is closed.
Your three-hour
forge time starts now.
- Get going.
Start cooking some steel.
- Ah, this is pretty decent.
- These guys have to be careful
that cable steel
doesn't unravel.
- What's the proper way
to actually work this cable?
- You take your cable,
weld the ends
so it's all closed up
so they don't fray,
'cause when you put it
in the fire,
it's gonna expand with the heat.
- I have a fair amount
of experience
working with cable.
With the ends welded,
the prudent thing
to do is to heat it up
and twist it tighter.
- Getting ready for a twist.
- You want to go with
the twist of the cable.
Now, you'll get
a much tighter weld.
♪
- My name, Salem,
is an Americanization
of the Hebrew word "shalom,"
which is, "peace."
My parents are very
peace-loving, anti-conflict,
and even anti-weapon,
but I've chosen
to walk my own path.
- My strategy is to utilize
my time the best
in prepping my forge
with extra bricks
so I was ready
to go in the fire.
♪
- Look at all the flames coming
out of the side of that forge.
That is insane.
- Well, he's got his forge
closed up tight with bricks,
so he is maintaining
as much heat
inside that forge as he can.
- I'm competing for myself
and everyone else
in this country
to show that we are a country
of skilled people.
♪
- To get the cable welded up,
I know I have to heat it,
and I know I have to twist it.
- Zack's going right
into the fire.
He hasn't even closed up
the ends of that cable
or anything.
- Yep, he should've welded
the ends closed.
♪
- Ah, he's twisting.
He's twisting it closed.
- Oh, oh.
He's lost two whole rounds
off that cable.
- That's not good.
- Oh, great.
His cable is falling apart.
- It just fell apart.
Putting that in there without
the ends welded together,
the heat made 'em expand.
It pushes 'em apart.
- Is this a disaster
that that thing
fell apart just now?
- This is really, really,
really, really bad.
- I'm thinking I may have made
a critical error early on here.
If I can't get these bars
welded up, I'm screwed.
♪
- Oh.
So Craig is trying
to twist on the press.
- To forge and get that welded
as quickly as possible,
you have to think
of packing it like a snowball.
Now we get to the fun stuff.
[metal clanging]
- Wow.
- Craig is setting some welds.
- He's doing the music.
He's doing the tap
to keep his rhythm going.
- Things you should know
about weapons...
they rule the world.
- Bladesmiths, you
have two hours remaining!
♪
- Having fun yet?
- Oh, I'm having a ball.
- Me too.
- Two whole hours?
I can at least make a bar
of steel in two hours...
maybe.
- Zack... he's just traveling
on a different road right now.
- The strands of cable
are not forge-welded together.
It's just not working for me.
I'm having
a really hard time with it.
- Finally on that hammer.
It looks like the end
is spreading out
- Fraying again.
- Oh, no.
- He's killing me.
- No, no, no.
- It looks like the end
of Elmer Fudd's gun right now
after Bugs Bunny
has stuck his finger in it.
[blades humming]
- But no giving up.
♪
- Chris is setting his fuller.
- Power stroke, baby.
- He's going
for the fire stroke.
- The anvil
was not of sufficient weight
to sink a fuller depression
into the blade.
I just have to grind
the fuller in.
♪
- Chris is a bad mama jama
with an angle grinder.
- I'll tell you.
He's going to town.
♪
- Time is flying by.
I could use a little more time.
I'm a ancient master bladesmith,
not a current one.
[chuckles]
♪
- And then we've got Craig
over here on the end
who's making a monster.
- I'm checking for straightness
'cause I'm one-eyed.
I'm left-eyed.
Most people think
your eyeballs are ambidextrous,
but they're obviously not.
I'm definitely
left eye dominant,
which means that
I like long walks on the beach
with Kenny G
and things like that.
This is what it's about.
It's about having fun.
♪
I just go to stamp in the fuller
and kind of clicked it
along there.
Obviously, when you stamp it
on one side,
it reverses on the other side.
- He'd better hope he has
everything lined up straight.
Otherwise, those fullers
are gonna be offset.
- So that wasn't
the smartest thing
I've done in my entire life.
- One hour, bladesmiths!
You have one hour remaining!
- One hour.
One hour!
- And two hours in, I have
something shaped like a bar.
Time crunch for me
is excitement.
I work really well
under pressure.
It's a certain kind of focus
that just sort of snaps
into place,
and even when everything's
going to hell,
I like working
against a deadline.
I should be able
to make something.
- I suck, man.
To fix my fuller,
I go to the grinder,
and I'm a fish out of water.
I just don't feel comfortable.
I'm not really
getting things done.
I'm just not making
very good lines on my blade.
Thank God you can't look
at both sides at the same time.
- 15 minutes remaining!
- Zack is over there
throwing some sparks.
- Zack's putting his fuller
in the blade,
coming from behind.
- He can pull something out.
- Yeah.
- I really got
to get something going,
so I hit the grinder.
I'm just trying to get something
done to meet the parameters.
♪
Both:
Zack quenched his blade.
- First one in the fire.
- Good for him.
♪
Chris is in the oil.
- Okay.
- Salem and Craig
still have to quench.
- Ah!
Quench is not the last thing
you do on a blade.
- No.
- Give yourself
that little safety net.
If you've got a warp,
you can fix it.
♪
- Quench, quench, quench.
- You have
five minutes remaining!
♪
- There you go!
Thank you.
♪
- Three little bladesmiths
that are quenched,
and then we've got Salem.
- I'm finishing up grinding
and the fuller
and becoming ready
for heat treat,
and I feel a voice saying...
"Hopefully you still
got enough time to do that."
♪
I might not have
a heat-treated knife
coming out of this thing.
♪
- I might not have
a heat-treated knife
coming out of this thing.
- When you rush your quench,
you can wind up
with all kinds of problems.
We've seen that be
the deciding factor before.
- 20 seconds!
- Now, now!
There he goes, right now.
Oh, my God.
See? See?
- It's got a warp.
- Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one,
stop working!
Your forging time is now over!
- I'm interested to see whether
that blade hardened fully.
I think the edge hardened fully,
but it's just possible
that it's binded
and fully hardened.
- I look down at my blade,
and it is unequivocally
the ugliest blade
I've ever made,
but it's a blade.
I finished something,
and given my critical errors
early on,
I'm excited
that I got something.
- Bladesmiths,
your first-round challenge
was to take a piece
of cable steel
and forge a signature blade
of your own design
that was between
12 and 16 inches long.
That blade must also
have included a fuller
that ran at least half
the length of the blade.
Craig, let's start with you.
♪
- Well, Craig,
it's a good design.
My concern is
there's still too much meat
on the blade here,
which affects
my feel for balance.
Beautiful, though.
Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.
- You were swinging
that hammer great,
but maybe a little more familiar
with the hammer
than the grinder?
- Yes, sir.
- Big camp bowie.
It should work well.
- Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.
- Salem, please present
your blade to the judges.
- Nice shape, altogether.
Your fuller...
Nice, clean, beautiful work.
It's gonna be interesting
to see whether or not
this blade has hardened enough.
- Salem, it's very nice work,
but I got to tell you,
we were sitting over here trying
to do the Jedi mind trick
to get you to quench that blade.
What was going through your head
with that?
- I was just trying to do
the best job possible.
Barely made it.
- Yeah, barely.
- Zack, please present
your blade to the judges.
- Your fuller's not
overly developed,
but it's there.
When you see a knife
that's been ground
and you can still
see those wobbles
climbing through that grind,
it kind of tells me
that some of this metal
is still not one piece.
- Now, tell me
about your design here.
- Very little survived
from my original design.
I had to cut off
a lot of my material
that just was really
not welding.
- Congratulations for finishing
and turning in a good blade.
- Thank you.
- All right, Chris,
please present your blade
to the judges.
- Chris, I love
the traditional design.
The welds look nice and tight.
You had that time issue.
I like the fact that you
didn't deal with the handle
and stuck with the blade...
Very nice.
- Thank you.
- Classic design.
Nice and clean.
I'm looking forward to see
what this would look like
if you get to round two.
Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.
- Well, bladesmiths, only three
of you can move forward,
and one of you must go home,
and the judges need some time
to make that decision.
Thank you.
Leave your blades.
♪
- Yeah.
That was... that was rough.
- Yeah, I was sweating it
a little there.
- So, let's start with
Craig's blade down on the end.
Doug?
- It's a good-constructed blade.
He put a finger weld
on the handle,
but the weight
is too forward on this,
so how he balances this out
will actually tell us how well
that grip is gonna work.
- One of these fullers
is higher than the other,
and I have a feeling that when
he evens those fullers out,
he might blow through.
- It ought to split wood.
- I know,
but it might go big and go home.
[laughter]
- Let's move on
to Salem's blade.
- Well, Salem's
just got an elegant design here.
I mean, the lines
on this knife...
It's beautifully straight.
At this point,
he could put a guard
and a handle on this
and have a finished piece.
- J.?
- My big thing
is the rushed heat treat.
I mean, I keep saying
over and over,
the heart and soul of the blade
is in the heat treat,
and that two-minute quench
always worries me.
- I wish I'd been able to get,
like, a cleaner finish on that.
- That's all right.
If it's hardened,
grind it clean later.
- Let's move on to Zack's blade.
- There are
so many unwelded sections,
and they're traveling
all the way down the spine,
even in the fuller,
so it's not one solid
homogenous piece of steel.
- The ends kept splaying out.
- Yeah, yeah.
- I just cut my losses,
literally.
- The good thing
is he never gave up.
He kept on trying
to fix the problem,
and he turned in a blade.
- So let's take a look
at Chris's blade.
- This is
a very great foundation
for a high-performance blade.
The welds are nice and tight,
and the blade is even.
This is one solid piece
of steel.
- Dave?
- There's a lot
of work to do here,
but it's a great foundation.
It's well on its way.
Nice work.
- It's a good-looking knife.
- Oh, I think so.
- All right, judges, it's time
for you to make a decision.
Doug, have you decided?
- Yes, I have.
- Dave?
- I have.
- J.?
- Yes.
- All right,
let's go tell our smiths.
♪
Well, bladesmiths, in this first
round of competition,
we asked you to turn
in a finished blade
of your own design
in your signature style,
and you've all done that.
Congratulations.
But now, unfortunately,
it's time for one of you
to leave the Forge.
♪
Zack, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Zack, you had that problem
at the very start.
Your wire blew apart,
and you came up
with a good solution,
but you were chasing
that for so long,
it really hurt you.
There were too many open welds
throughout the blade
for us to let it go through.
- Zack, please surrender
your weapon.
♪
- Given the mistakes
that I made early on,
I sort of shot myself
in the foot
in terms of the opportunity
to really show off my skills,
so I have no one
to blame but myself.
I didn't really demonstrate
what I'm capable of,
and, ultimately,
it's just not a good blade.
I wouldn't trust it
to cut butter.
♪
- Bladesmiths, congratulations
on making it through
to the second round.
Your round-two challenge
is to finish your blades
by attaching a handle
from the range of materials
provided to you,
turning them
into fully functioning weapons.
You will have three hours
to finish your blades.
You can use that time
to address any flaws or issues
that were identified
with your blades.
When the time runs out,
your blades will be tested
in a log split...
and ham-shoulder slice.
Keep in mind
that after this round,
one of you will be asked
to surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.
Good luck.
Your time starts now.
♪
- The single most
important thing
is getting your knife
sharp enough to cut something.
A very close second to that is
getting a handle on your knife
so that it can be handled
as weapon.
If I do both of those things,
I might conceivably make it
through the next round,
even if I fail
at everything else.
- I'm gonna have to go
with this.
♪
The strategy is to put
a nice handle
with a finger groove in it
and keep as much strength
in the blade part as possible.
- He's working on his handle,
but, to me, he's got to thin
that entire blade out.
That thing is huge.
- Some of the criticism
of the knife
was that it was big and heavy,
and so the nicer you can make
it fit in your hand,
the lighter it will become,
and I think that that offsets
some of the weight.
♪
- I feel I have a sound blade.
It's just a matter
of completing it
and getting it
balanced and sharpened.
- So I like Chris's grinding.
Nice two inches
of sparks flying down.
- Kind of a Zen moment.
You get in the zone,
and you have to focus.
Oh!
We're doing it.
We're making fire!
♪
- I am making
a fighter-style handle
and a guard, given my design.
- Every time
they're making the guard,
it's a filing of that guard
to make it fit.
- We've seen people fight
that until they give up,
grind a hole,
pour a bunch of glue.
- Which is what
you don't want to see.
- I am now stuck
making a knife with a guard,
and that takes time.
- Bladesmiths, you have
90 minutes remaining!
- Okay, so that smell.
- Oh, that epoxy is burning up.
- It's losing
all its tensile strength.
♪
- Craig's not happy.
- He's waiting on his handle.
- That's 'cause
his epoxy's let go.
They're not fun to clean up
once you start having problems
with 'em.
- [bleep], [bleep], [bleep],
[bleep], [bleep].
Once you start having problems
[bleep], [bleep].[bleep],
- Craig's not happy.
- He's waiting on his handle.
- That's 'cause
his epoxy's let go.
- I had warped it whenever
I heated up the rivet.
- Craig should've worked
on the blade
and gotten all that stuff done
before he started
working on the handle
and setting it up.
♪
- Well,
I'm just gonna re-epoxy it,
and hopefully it'll set.
♪
I think my handle's
gonna be just fine.
- Chris is still
over on the grinder.
What about the handle?
- I'm assuming he's planning
on doing a very quick
and efficient handle.
- From past experience,
I've found that if you rush,
sometimes you'll either
injure yourself
or have to redo the process.
- He's a real
old-school bladesmith,
but he needs time to sharpen
and put a handle on that blade.
- Well, running kind of tight,
but we'll see what'll happen.
- You have 30 minutes remaining!
30 minutes, bladesmiths!
- With the handle epoxy,
every minute counts out there
on the floor.
- Salem's got... still has
an entire handle to shape.
- I start really
hogging in there.
Time is beginning to run down.
I'm just trying
to roughly sculpt it
into a comfortable shape.
♪
- Look, it's Chris.
- I told you
he's our sleeper, man.
- I noticed the clock
was counting down on me,
so I needed to get
the handle together.
- Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Bladesmiths, shut down
your machines,
stop all your work,
and please return to your anvils
with your finished weapon.
- I didn't make the best knife
in the whole wide world,
so let's just see
if I can motor on with it,
and maybe someone else
sucks worse than I do.
- It's really
up to the testing now.
It just depends on
how tough that ham is.
[chuckles]
- All right, smiths,
welcome to our strength test...
The Log Split.
I'm gonna take
each of your knives
and baton them
through these logs,
and it's gonna test
how your edge geometry
and your edge retention
holds up.
Craig, are you ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Let's do it.
♪
You got a good split on there.
Wedged it right apart
in one shot.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- Salem, you're up now.
Are you ready?
- Yeah.
Let's do it up.
I'm feeling a little tense,
but not in a bad way.
It's exciting.
I feel like my knife
is gonna work well.
♪
- Blade looks perfect...
No deformation on the edge,
no chips,
just a hair away from splitting
all the way down.
Nicely done.
- Thank you.
- Chris, you're up.
You ready to go?
- Ready to go.
I feel pretty confident
with the blade I've produced.
I know have the weight
that's proper
for a chopping weapon.
♪
It really doesn't do
much of anything.
- Oh, Chris, we had a little bit
of an issue.
It's a really thick edge here.
I mean, it's almost like a V.
So it wasn't getting
the penetration and splitting
quite as well as I was hoping.
Other than that,
the edge held up fine...
Still sharp.
Nicely done.
Now I'm gonna pass you on
to Doug
for the sharpness test.
- To test the sharpness
of your blade,
I will run the edge
of your blade three times
against this ham shoulder.
Craig, you ready?
- Let's make some bacon.
♪
- Well done, Craig.
When I dragged it across,
the finger weld
in the handle feels good.
That is a sharp knife.
It will cut.
Salem, it's your turn.
- I know I got that knife sharp,
so I feel like it's probably
gonna do pretty good
on that pork.
♪
- Well, Salem,
your blade is very sharp,
as you can see.
Excellent balance... it will cut.
- Thank you.
- Chris, you're up.
- Let's do it.
Their knives
performed really well.
Unless I slice the hide
of a hog very well,
I think my chances are slim
to none on moving forward.
♪
I think my chances are slim
to non-Let's do it. .ward.
♪
- Well, Chris,
it'll graze the blade
and cut a little bit through,
but the edge
is not sharp all the way,
even at the top here.
♪
- Bladesmiths, each of
your blades performed admirably.
However, based
on the testing alone,
the judges have made a decision.
Chris, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Chris, I appreciated watching
you forge-weld that cable.
You did a great job,
but you had a very thick edge,
and it didn't perform as well
as the other blades.
- Chris, please
surrender your weapon.
♪
- I'm going home because
I did not complete the knife
as efficiently as I could have.
I've been in this art form
and trade
long enough to see my downfall.
♪
- Salem, Craig, congratulations.
You've made it
into the final round
of "Forged in Fire."
Now we're sending you back
to your home forges
to create an iconic blade
from history...
♪
The Egyptian Khopesh.
- Cool.
- Dating back to 2,500 B.C.,
the Khopesh
was a curved sickle sword
adopted by Egyptians
from the Canaanites.
It was used
to execute their enemies,
as an infantry weapon,
and also as a symbol of
the authority of their nobles.
The unique shape
of their curved blades
meant they could be used
to hook a shield,
snag an opponent's leg
and attempt to trip them,
or even tangle
an opposing weapon.
The weapon's distinctive design
makes the Khopesh
easily recognizable
in television series
such as "Game of Thrones."
♪
It must be an effective,
working version
of that North African weapon.
- Looks like a Hot Wheels
race track all bent up.
I've never made
a blade like this.
- The blade itself must fall
within the following parameters.
The length of the blade must be
between 28 and 32 inches,
and the blade must have a curve.
- I haven't done a sword with
a curved edge of this length.
I'm gonna have to throw
all my resources at this.
- You will have five days
at your home forge
to work on your Khopesh.
You will deliver
your finished Khopesh
to our panel of judges.
They will submit those weapons
to a series of dynamic
and strenuous tests.
♪
Only after those tests
are completed
will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and the recipient
of a $10,000 check.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
♪
- It's day one.
I am working on design.
I have never tried
making a Khopesh before.
This is out of my wheelhouse.
This is a Khopesh
from the tomb of Ramses II.
This was another Khopesh
found in Tutankhamen's tomb...
Absolutely gorgeous.
The judges are gonna be looking
for historical accuracy.
A lot of these,
historically, are, like,
25 inches in length or less,
so I got to scale it up
to have a 30-inch blade.
Traditionally, the Khopesh
was a one-handed weapon,
but I'm imagining swinging
this long sword with one hand,
and I don't think
it's gonna work,
so I need to stretch
the handle out
so you could fit
two hands on there.
So do you want to fall
towards historical accuracy,
or do you want to give a nod
to modern-day wieldability?
I'm struggling
with making decisions
in the design process,
and it is taking forever
and wearing me down.
♪
- I'm excited about getting
back to the comforts of home
and knock out
a really nice weapon.
Job number one...
It's got to be strong,
because a Khopesh
is the original battle axe.
We're gonna use
the floor of the shop
to get the vision going.
That's what we're gonna build.
Those Egyptians, man...
They had their act together.
I didn't like 'em
wearing dresses,
but other than that,
they seem pretty cool.
Today I would like to get
the profile of the Khopesh done,
and making that first bend
is pretty much
gonna be the moment of truth.
♪
Most weapons, whether it be
a knife or a sword,
is a straight-line draw,
but this has got a bend.
So, once the bend is put there,
you can't straighten it out
and move the bend
because you've compromised
the material too much.
♪
I think it's too long.
I'll shorten it up.
♪
- Last night I was able
to finalize my design.
If I can catch up and forge
my profile this morning,
that'll be great.
I need to restrict my habit
of losing track of the time
when I'm working on something.
I want to make
kind of a distinctive Damascus
for this Khopesh.
It's similar
to what you would term
a "Merovingian twist pattern,"
and it's something
that you might've found
in the ancient swords made
by the Merovingian Franks.
♪
I'm gonna be trying
to twist it up
to make the powdering cooler,
but I've never tried it
with a bar this thick.
This is the difficult part.
I got to twist,
but not past the point
where it's gonna
rip apart on me.
♪
- This morning
I had to go back to the forge,
and I readjusted the blade.
We have a curved blade, right?
Just the sheer weight
of that long of material,
just heating it up
is gonna warp it.
The quench is
the make-or-break moment.
A lot can go wrong.
You know, it's, like,
you guys are gonna hear
either major cussing
or "yippee."
[hissing]
If this warps bad,
I have to start over.
Come on, baby.
I'm afraid to wipe it back
and see if I got it or not.
Yes.
Yippee.
[metal clanking]
- Because I twisted
the steel billet for this blade,
it's possible that it may
untwist in the quench.
I hope I'm not visited
by the Tink Fairy.
Now.
That's when
your blade goes, tink,
and you know it cracked
in the quench.
Fingers crossed.
Oh, that looks pretty good.
♪
- Today we just have to cross
your "T"s and dot your "I"s.
♪
I've sharpened my blade,
I got an edge on it,
and now I'm ready
to go for the test.
Let's see
if this thing will cut.
I've got a piece of lumber
all the way from Japan.
It was grown in an orchard
by a small samurai.
I thought, "One day, Craig,
this lumber will give its life
for you."
♪
There's no damage
to the blade, man.
It looks like that'll do.
I really liked the way
the sword turned out,
and I'm gonna give Salem
a run for his money.
♪
- Yesterday I finished my blade.
I feel like
the two most striking things
about this weapon
are the bold Damascus pattern
and the integral construction.
It's all forged
out of one piece of metal...
Very simple,
but hard to pull off.
Well, I'd hate
to shave my face with it,
but it's pretty darn sharp
for arm hair.
I hope that Craig's Khopesh
turned out really awesome
because my blade deserves
some stiff competition.
♪
Cool.
- Salem, Craig, welcome back.
You had five days
at your home forge
to work on your weapons.
Salem, how did it go?
- So I went with a twist
Damascus blade,
added a different billet to it
to make the contrast
a little bit more interesting.
I made it a two-handed handle,
'cause it's longer
than historical examples.
So that was a little bit
of a gamble.
Hopefully, that works.
- Great.
Craig, how'd it go for you?
- I had a bit of a problem
here and there,
but I got everything together.
You know, you try to calibrate
how long it's gonna take
to make something,
but five days was kind of hard
to get a grasp
of what I could get done
in five days.
- Well, gentlemen,
both of your weapons
look like lethal works of art...
but artistry is not
as important as performance.
We will now be putting
your weapons
through a series of three tests.
First up, the sharpness test.
Doug?
- Bladesmiths, it is said
that the historic design
of the Khopesh
evolved from a battle axe.
Its edge was so sharp
that it is said
it could cut through
just about anything.
To test the sharpness
of your weapon,
I will see how well
it cuts through a sandbag,
sugarcane, and a rope.
Salem, you're up. You ready?
- Yes, sir.
I'm feeling confident
that my blade
will chop well and hold up.
Will it slice things?
That remains to be seen.
♪
The rope...
My blade barely nicked it,
but I'll take two out of three.
- Well, Salem,
it definitely is easy enough
to cut through a sand bag,
cut through sugarcane,
but the forward weight being
a little bit tip heavy,
it was a little bit
harder to slice
through on the upward stroke,
but, definitely,
it's a very sharp weapon.
This, sir, will cut.
Good job.
- Thanks.
- Craig, you're up.
You ready?
- Yes, sir.
Going into the sharpness test,
I feel like I can do
all three of those tests
that I see in front of him,
and I'm excited to see
Doug work the blade.
♪
I'm just disappointed
that it wouldn't cut the rope.
- Well, Craig,
it cut through a sandbag.
It cut all the way
through three sugarcanes,
but the same idea...
On an upward swing for the test,
it did lacerate the rope,
but it didn't cut through.
But overall...
it will cut.
Now it's time to move on
to the kill test.
To test the functionality
and lethality for a blade,
I will attempt
to rip off the shields,
then deliver killing blows
on this ballistic dummy.
Let's see how much damage
your weapon can do.
Salem, you're up.
Are you ready?
- All right.
I'm not gonna lie.
My heart's pounding pretty good.
I'm a little nervous,
but mostly,
I'm just excited
to see him, you know,
go berserk with this thing.
♪
- The hook on your tip
does allow
to rip off the shield.
The edge you have right here
caused some serious damage...
Enough to cut all the way
through the belly here.
At the same time, I've cut
through all these bones,
from the clavicle
through the ribs.
♪
This, sir, will kill.
Craig, it's your turn.
You ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Let's do this.
♪
- Well, Craig, what I like
about your particular
hook design over here
is that as you puncture, twist,
and rip out,
everything that you have
in there
will hook and come out with it.
The edge cut all the way
into the bone
and broke these ribs,
the sternum.
This, sir, will kill.
- Thank you.
We're pretty much going at it.
It's tit for tat
the whole way through.
- Next up is the strength test.
Dave?
- Gentlemen,
what I'm gonna do to test
the strength of your weapons
is take seven blows
against these animal femurs.
Salem, you're up.
Are you ready?
- Great.
- Now, Salem,
in examining your weapon,
we noticed a small delamination
on the back of the blade.
- I was not expecting that.
I'm just hoping
that the edge stays hard.
- So we're gonna keep an eye
on that through the testing,
and we'll see if it opens up.
♪
[exhales sharply]
Well, Salem, that did a job
on those bones.
Now, there's a little bit
of deflection on your blade,
but that back mark didn't open
or split at all.
Now, you can see I went
through two of those bones
and was well into the third.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- So, Craig, it's your turn.
You ready?
- Let's do it.
Salem's blade just
smokes right through it.
I got to keep par.
I got to be able to do
the same thing.
♪
You ready?
- Let's do it.
- All right.
♪
[exhales sharply]
Well, Craig,
you can see a lot of chips
right there in the impact zone.
The first few blows
against those femurs,
it start cutting really nicely,
broke through the one,
but as we started
to lose edge here,
with those chips
and deflections,
it just stopped cutting.
It was more
of a bludgeoning impact blow.
But I felt it really cut well
when I was swinging it.
All in all, nice design...
I like
your handle construction...
And it's definitely a chopper.
So, gentlemen, good job.
♪
- Salem, Craig,
in just five days,
you have both delivered
your own unique versions
of the Egyptian Khopesh.
But in this arena
of competition,
there can only be one winner.
J.
- Well, Salem, I love
that twist-pattern Damascus
you put into your blade...
Nice and tight.
It looks really great,
but there is an issue.
You do have
a couple delaminations.
Between that and some
of the chipping
that showed up
during the strength test,
those are concerns I have.
- Doug.
- Craig, your Khopesh design
is made for killing.
The billet you have there
not only cuts,
but it crushes bone.
Having said that,
it's that very heavy balance
on the blade
that makes it very hard
to control
with a smaller handle.
- Bladesmiths...
you've both done fantastic work,
but there can only be
one "Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
Salem, you are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Congratulations.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
Good job to you too.
- Craig, unfortunately,
your blade did not make the cut.
- Craig, there were a few
little things that added up...
The shape of the handle,
the weight being so far forward.
But what really hurt you
were those chips in the blade.
- Craig, please
surrender your weapon.
♪
- Craig, thank you, man.
- This experience was harder
than I thought it was gonna be.
I need about
three gin and tonics...
[voice breaking]
And I'm just gonna make
the bad man in the back
of my head go away.
- Salem, it's safe to smile now
because you're
the "Forged in Fire" champion,
and the recipient of $10,000.
Congratulations.
[applause]
- The fullers on that blade
just really
bring that pattern out.
I think that's
a really nice touch.
- It's just crazy.
It's gonna take a while
to sink in.
I'm kind of stunned right now.
♪
a competition was created
to test
the nation's best bladesmiths.
Thousands responded,
and this year
craftsmen
from all over the country
and all walks of life
have come forward
for their chance
to claim the title.
- I'm gonna be the next
"Forged in Fire" champion.
- I want to win!
- It would be
a life-changing moment.
- Welcome to the Forge.
- Now the Forge returns
with challenges unlike
anything ever seen before.
- You'll be using this.
- Skill and ingenuity
will be pushed to the limit.
Some will rise to the challenge.
Some will fall.
But only the best
will be crowned
"Forged In Fire" champions
and take home $10,000.
[dramatic music]
♪
- I'm Chris Marks.
I've been making blades
for 35 years.
Growing up, I was
an avid outdoorsman...
Hunting, fishing.
There was always a need
for a knife,
so we made our own.
- My name is Zack Jonas.
I've been making knives
for about eight years now.
I am currently
a full-time bladesmith,
operating out of my own studio.
I don't have a violent bone
in my body,
but I just love knives.
- My name is Salem Straub.
I've been making blades
for about 12 years now.
I'm a part-time bladesmith
in my own shop.
I find bladesmithing
to be tremendously satisfying,
in that at the end of the day,
I have something
absolutely quantifiable
to show for my efforts.
- My name is Craig Turnka.
I've been making
blades and swords
for most of my adult life.
I've never had a real job.
I've done this.
I don't have to take a vacation
'cause I'm vacation
every day of the week.
- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the Forge.
You're here to engage
in three rounds of competition
designed to test every aspect
of your edged-weapons-making
capability,
from design to forging
to fit and finish.
At the end of each round,
you will hand over your work
to our panel of expert judges...
Internationally known
master smith J. Neilson...
next, historic weapons
re-creation specialist
David Baker...
last, edged weapons specialist
Doug Marcaida.
They will decide which of you
will be
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and leave here
with a check for $10,000.
♪
On your anvils in front of you
is a cloth.
Go ahead and lift that cloth up.
♪
That's a pretty solid piece
of cable steel.
Your challenge
is to take that cable steel
and forge it into a blade
of your own design
in your signature style,
turning them into fully
functioning weapons.
Your weapons will then be tested
in a log split...
and their ability to slice
through a pork shoulder.
The blades themselves must fall
within the following
size parameters.
The length of the blade,
not including the tang,
must be between
10 and 16 inches.
The overall length
of your weapon
must not exceed 22 inches.
You must also include a fuller
that runs half the length
of the blade.
- I've never done anything
like this in three hours.
In fact, I've never done
a fuller before or cable.
- You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to forge your blades.
Your time starts now.
♪
- I draw like a third grader,
so I don't know.
My style of knife-making
would be just straight lines
and nice, clean edges.
I'm sketching a bowie
with a finger holder
so it doesn't slide
forward or backward.
I'm a very tenacious competitor.
I mean, if there's
only two shopping carts
left at the Walmart
and one's got a wobbly wheel,
I'm getting it.
♪
- I am drawing
a Greek Kopis-style blade.
It has enough of a point
to stab or slash,
but still
an able chopping knife.
Winning "Forged in Fire"
would be somewhat improbable
and absolutely incredible.
♪
- I'm making, basically,
a bowie camp knife.
I like forging and blade-making
because it basically
brought the human race
out from the era of throwing
sticks and rocks at each other.
- I decided to design a
competition cutter/camp knife.
It's gonna be
real thick and beefy.
It's designed
to go through that wood
and the hambone as well.
I've never worked
with cable before.
The thing that concerns me most
is definitely gonna be getting
that cable welded up.
Once I've got that, I can
grind a blade, no problem.
- Bladesmiths, your ten-minute
design window is closed.
Your three-hour
forge time starts now.
- Get going.
Start cooking some steel.
- Ah, this is pretty decent.
- These guys have to be careful
that cable steel
doesn't unravel.
- What's the proper way
to actually work this cable?
- You take your cable,
weld the ends
so it's all closed up
so they don't fray,
'cause when you put it
in the fire,
it's gonna expand with the heat.
- I have a fair amount
of experience
working with cable.
With the ends welded,
the prudent thing
to do is to heat it up
and twist it tighter.
- Getting ready for a twist.
- You want to go with
the twist of the cable.
Now, you'll get
a much tighter weld.
♪
- My name, Salem,
is an Americanization
of the Hebrew word "shalom,"
which is, "peace."
My parents are very
peace-loving, anti-conflict,
and even anti-weapon,
but I've chosen
to walk my own path.
- My strategy is to utilize
my time the best
in prepping my forge
with extra bricks
so I was ready
to go in the fire.
♪
- Look at all the flames coming
out of the side of that forge.
That is insane.
- Well, he's got his forge
closed up tight with bricks,
so he is maintaining
as much heat
inside that forge as he can.
- I'm competing for myself
and everyone else
in this country
to show that we are a country
of skilled people.
♪
- To get the cable welded up,
I know I have to heat it,
and I know I have to twist it.
- Zack's going right
into the fire.
He hasn't even closed up
the ends of that cable
or anything.
- Yep, he should've welded
the ends closed.
♪
- Ah, he's twisting.
He's twisting it closed.
- Oh, oh.
He's lost two whole rounds
off that cable.
- That's not good.
- Oh, great.
His cable is falling apart.
- It just fell apart.
Putting that in there without
the ends welded together,
the heat made 'em expand.
It pushes 'em apart.
- Is this a disaster
that that thing
fell apart just now?
- This is really, really,
really, really bad.
- I'm thinking I may have made
a critical error early on here.
If I can't get these bars
welded up, I'm screwed.
♪
- Oh.
So Craig is trying
to twist on the press.
- To forge and get that welded
as quickly as possible,
you have to think
of packing it like a snowball.
Now we get to the fun stuff.
[metal clanging]
- Wow.
- Craig is setting some welds.
- He's doing the music.
He's doing the tap
to keep his rhythm going.
- Things you should know
about weapons...
they rule the world.
- Bladesmiths, you
have two hours remaining!
♪
- Having fun yet?
- Oh, I'm having a ball.
- Me too.
- Two whole hours?
I can at least make a bar
of steel in two hours...
maybe.
- Zack... he's just traveling
on a different road right now.
- The strands of cable
are not forge-welded together.
It's just not working for me.
I'm having
a really hard time with it.
- Finally on that hammer.
It looks like the end
is spreading out
- Fraying again.
- Oh, no.
- He's killing me.
- No, no, no.
- It looks like the end
of Elmer Fudd's gun right now
after Bugs Bunny
has stuck his finger in it.
[blades humming]
- But no giving up.
♪
- Chris is setting his fuller.
- Power stroke, baby.
- He's going
for the fire stroke.
- The anvil
was not of sufficient weight
to sink a fuller depression
into the blade.
I just have to grind
the fuller in.
♪
- Chris is a bad mama jama
with an angle grinder.
- I'll tell you.
He's going to town.
♪
- Time is flying by.
I could use a little more time.
I'm a ancient master bladesmith,
not a current one.
[chuckles]
♪
- And then we've got Craig
over here on the end
who's making a monster.
- I'm checking for straightness
'cause I'm one-eyed.
I'm left-eyed.
Most people think
your eyeballs are ambidextrous,
but they're obviously not.
I'm definitely
left eye dominant,
which means that
I like long walks on the beach
with Kenny G
and things like that.
This is what it's about.
It's about having fun.
♪
I just go to stamp in the fuller
and kind of clicked it
along there.
Obviously, when you stamp it
on one side,
it reverses on the other side.
- He'd better hope he has
everything lined up straight.
Otherwise, those fullers
are gonna be offset.
- So that wasn't
the smartest thing
I've done in my entire life.
- One hour, bladesmiths!
You have one hour remaining!
- One hour.
One hour!
- And two hours in, I have
something shaped like a bar.
Time crunch for me
is excitement.
I work really well
under pressure.
It's a certain kind of focus
that just sort of snaps
into place,
and even when everything's
going to hell,
I like working
against a deadline.
I should be able
to make something.
- I suck, man.
To fix my fuller,
I go to the grinder,
and I'm a fish out of water.
I just don't feel comfortable.
I'm not really
getting things done.
I'm just not making
very good lines on my blade.
Thank God you can't look
at both sides at the same time.
- 15 minutes remaining!
- Zack is over there
throwing some sparks.
- Zack's putting his fuller
in the blade,
coming from behind.
- He can pull something out.
- Yeah.
- I really got
to get something going,
so I hit the grinder.
I'm just trying to get something
done to meet the parameters.
♪
Both:
Zack quenched his blade.
- First one in the fire.
- Good for him.
♪
Chris is in the oil.
- Okay.
- Salem and Craig
still have to quench.
- Ah!
Quench is not the last thing
you do on a blade.
- No.
- Give yourself
that little safety net.
If you've got a warp,
you can fix it.
♪
- Quench, quench, quench.
- You have
five minutes remaining!
♪
- There you go!
Thank you.
♪
- Three little bladesmiths
that are quenched,
and then we've got Salem.
- I'm finishing up grinding
and the fuller
and becoming ready
for heat treat,
and I feel a voice saying...
"Hopefully you still
got enough time to do that."
♪
I might not have
a heat-treated knife
coming out of this thing.
♪
- I might not have
a heat-treated knife
coming out of this thing.
- When you rush your quench,
you can wind up
with all kinds of problems.
We've seen that be
the deciding factor before.
- 20 seconds!
- Now, now!
There he goes, right now.
Oh, my God.
See? See?
- It's got a warp.
- Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one,
stop working!
Your forging time is now over!
- I'm interested to see whether
that blade hardened fully.
I think the edge hardened fully,
but it's just possible
that it's binded
and fully hardened.
- I look down at my blade,
and it is unequivocally
the ugliest blade
I've ever made,
but it's a blade.
I finished something,
and given my critical errors
early on,
I'm excited
that I got something.
- Bladesmiths,
your first-round challenge
was to take a piece
of cable steel
and forge a signature blade
of your own design
that was between
12 and 16 inches long.
That blade must also
have included a fuller
that ran at least half
the length of the blade.
Craig, let's start with you.
♪
- Well, Craig,
it's a good design.
My concern is
there's still too much meat
on the blade here,
which affects
my feel for balance.
Beautiful, though.
Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.
- You were swinging
that hammer great,
but maybe a little more familiar
with the hammer
than the grinder?
- Yes, sir.
- Big camp bowie.
It should work well.
- Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.
- Salem, please present
your blade to the judges.
- Nice shape, altogether.
Your fuller...
Nice, clean, beautiful work.
It's gonna be interesting
to see whether or not
this blade has hardened enough.
- Salem, it's very nice work,
but I got to tell you,
we were sitting over here trying
to do the Jedi mind trick
to get you to quench that blade.
What was going through your head
with that?
- I was just trying to do
the best job possible.
Barely made it.
- Yeah, barely.
- Zack, please present
your blade to the judges.
- Your fuller's not
overly developed,
but it's there.
When you see a knife
that's been ground
and you can still
see those wobbles
climbing through that grind,
it kind of tells me
that some of this metal
is still not one piece.
- Now, tell me
about your design here.
- Very little survived
from my original design.
I had to cut off
a lot of my material
that just was really
not welding.
- Congratulations for finishing
and turning in a good blade.
- Thank you.
- All right, Chris,
please present your blade
to the judges.
- Chris, I love
the traditional design.
The welds look nice and tight.
You had that time issue.
I like the fact that you
didn't deal with the handle
and stuck with the blade...
Very nice.
- Thank you.
- Classic design.
Nice and clean.
I'm looking forward to see
what this would look like
if you get to round two.
Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.
- Well, bladesmiths, only three
of you can move forward,
and one of you must go home,
and the judges need some time
to make that decision.
Thank you.
Leave your blades.
♪
- Yeah.
That was... that was rough.
- Yeah, I was sweating it
a little there.
- So, let's start with
Craig's blade down on the end.
Doug?
- It's a good-constructed blade.
He put a finger weld
on the handle,
but the weight
is too forward on this,
so how he balances this out
will actually tell us how well
that grip is gonna work.
- One of these fullers
is higher than the other,
and I have a feeling that when
he evens those fullers out,
he might blow through.
- It ought to split wood.
- I know,
but it might go big and go home.
[laughter]
- Let's move on
to Salem's blade.
- Well, Salem's
just got an elegant design here.
I mean, the lines
on this knife...
It's beautifully straight.
At this point,
he could put a guard
and a handle on this
and have a finished piece.
- J.?
- My big thing
is the rushed heat treat.
I mean, I keep saying
over and over,
the heart and soul of the blade
is in the heat treat,
and that two-minute quench
always worries me.
- I wish I'd been able to get,
like, a cleaner finish on that.
- That's all right.
If it's hardened,
grind it clean later.
- Let's move on to Zack's blade.
- There are
so many unwelded sections,
and they're traveling
all the way down the spine,
even in the fuller,
so it's not one solid
homogenous piece of steel.
- The ends kept splaying out.
- Yeah, yeah.
- I just cut my losses,
literally.
- The good thing
is he never gave up.
He kept on trying
to fix the problem,
and he turned in a blade.
- So let's take a look
at Chris's blade.
- This is
a very great foundation
for a high-performance blade.
The welds are nice and tight,
and the blade is even.
This is one solid piece
of steel.
- Dave?
- There's a lot
of work to do here,
but it's a great foundation.
It's well on its way.
Nice work.
- It's a good-looking knife.
- Oh, I think so.
- All right, judges, it's time
for you to make a decision.
Doug, have you decided?
- Yes, I have.
- Dave?
- I have.
- J.?
- Yes.
- All right,
let's go tell our smiths.
♪
Well, bladesmiths, in this first
round of competition,
we asked you to turn
in a finished blade
of your own design
in your signature style,
and you've all done that.
Congratulations.
But now, unfortunately,
it's time for one of you
to leave the Forge.
♪
Zack, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Zack, you had that problem
at the very start.
Your wire blew apart,
and you came up
with a good solution,
but you were chasing
that for so long,
it really hurt you.
There were too many open welds
throughout the blade
for us to let it go through.
- Zack, please surrender
your weapon.
♪
- Given the mistakes
that I made early on,
I sort of shot myself
in the foot
in terms of the opportunity
to really show off my skills,
so I have no one
to blame but myself.
I didn't really demonstrate
what I'm capable of,
and, ultimately,
it's just not a good blade.
I wouldn't trust it
to cut butter.
♪
- Bladesmiths, congratulations
on making it through
to the second round.
Your round-two challenge
is to finish your blades
by attaching a handle
from the range of materials
provided to you,
turning them
into fully functioning weapons.
You will have three hours
to finish your blades.
You can use that time
to address any flaws or issues
that were identified
with your blades.
When the time runs out,
your blades will be tested
in a log split...
and ham-shoulder slice.
Keep in mind
that after this round,
one of you will be asked
to surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.
Good luck.
Your time starts now.
♪
- The single most
important thing
is getting your knife
sharp enough to cut something.
A very close second to that is
getting a handle on your knife
so that it can be handled
as weapon.
If I do both of those things,
I might conceivably make it
through the next round,
even if I fail
at everything else.
- I'm gonna have to go
with this.
♪
The strategy is to put
a nice handle
with a finger groove in it
and keep as much strength
in the blade part as possible.
- He's working on his handle,
but, to me, he's got to thin
that entire blade out.
That thing is huge.
- Some of the criticism
of the knife
was that it was big and heavy,
and so the nicer you can make
it fit in your hand,
the lighter it will become,
and I think that that offsets
some of the weight.
♪
- I feel I have a sound blade.
It's just a matter
of completing it
and getting it
balanced and sharpened.
- So I like Chris's grinding.
Nice two inches
of sparks flying down.
- Kind of a Zen moment.
You get in the zone,
and you have to focus.
Oh!
We're doing it.
We're making fire!
♪
- I am making
a fighter-style handle
and a guard, given my design.
- Every time
they're making the guard,
it's a filing of that guard
to make it fit.
- We've seen people fight
that until they give up,
grind a hole,
pour a bunch of glue.
- Which is what
you don't want to see.
- I am now stuck
making a knife with a guard,
and that takes time.
- Bladesmiths, you have
90 minutes remaining!
- Okay, so that smell.
- Oh, that epoxy is burning up.
- It's losing
all its tensile strength.
♪
- Craig's not happy.
- He's waiting on his handle.
- That's 'cause
his epoxy's let go.
They're not fun to clean up
once you start having problems
with 'em.
- [bleep], [bleep], [bleep],
[bleep], [bleep].
Once you start having problems
[bleep], [bleep].[bleep],
- Craig's not happy.
- He's waiting on his handle.
- That's 'cause
his epoxy's let go.
- I had warped it whenever
I heated up the rivet.
- Craig should've worked
on the blade
and gotten all that stuff done
before he started
working on the handle
and setting it up.
♪
- Well,
I'm just gonna re-epoxy it,
and hopefully it'll set.
♪
I think my handle's
gonna be just fine.
- Chris is still
over on the grinder.
What about the handle?
- I'm assuming he's planning
on doing a very quick
and efficient handle.
- From past experience,
I've found that if you rush,
sometimes you'll either
injure yourself
or have to redo the process.
- He's a real
old-school bladesmith,
but he needs time to sharpen
and put a handle on that blade.
- Well, running kind of tight,
but we'll see what'll happen.
- You have 30 minutes remaining!
30 minutes, bladesmiths!
- With the handle epoxy,
every minute counts out there
on the floor.
- Salem's got... still has
an entire handle to shape.
- I start really
hogging in there.
Time is beginning to run down.
I'm just trying
to roughly sculpt it
into a comfortable shape.
♪
- Look, it's Chris.
- I told you
he's our sleeper, man.
- I noticed the clock
was counting down on me,
so I needed to get
the handle together.
- Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Bladesmiths, shut down
your machines,
stop all your work,
and please return to your anvils
with your finished weapon.
- I didn't make the best knife
in the whole wide world,
so let's just see
if I can motor on with it,
and maybe someone else
sucks worse than I do.
- It's really
up to the testing now.
It just depends on
how tough that ham is.
[chuckles]
- All right, smiths,
welcome to our strength test...
The Log Split.
I'm gonna take
each of your knives
and baton them
through these logs,
and it's gonna test
how your edge geometry
and your edge retention
holds up.
Craig, are you ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Let's do it.
♪
You got a good split on there.
Wedged it right apart
in one shot.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- Salem, you're up now.
Are you ready?
- Yeah.
Let's do it up.
I'm feeling a little tense,
but not in a bad way.
It's exciting.
I feel like my knife
is gonna work well.
♪
- Blade looks perfect...
No deformation on the edge,
no chips,
just a hair away from splitting
all the way down.
Nicely done.
- Thank you.
- Chris, you're up.
You ready to go?
- Ready to go.
I feel pretty confident
with the blade I've produced.
I know have the weight
that's proper
for a chopping weapon.
♪
It really doesn't do
much of anything.
- Oh, Chris, we had a little bit
of an issue.
It's a really thick edge here.
I mean, it's almost like a V.
So it wasn't getting
the penetration and splitting
quite as well as I was hoping.
Other than that,
the edge held up fine...
Still sharp.
Nicely done.
Now I'm gonna pass you on
to Doug
for the sharpness test.
- To test the sharpness
of your blade,
I will run the edge
of your blade three times
against this ham shoulder.
Craig, you ready?
- Let's make some bacon.
♪
- Well done, Craig.
When I dragged it across,
the finger weld
in the handle feels good.
That is a sharp knife.
It will cut.
Salem, it's your turn.
- I know I got that knife sharp,
so I feel like it's probably
gonna do pretty good
on that pork.
♪
- Well, Salem,
your blade is very sharp,
as you can see.
Excellent balance... it will cut.
- Thank you.
- Chris, you're up.
- Let's do it.
Their knives
performed really well.
Unless I slice the hide
of a hog very well,
I think my chances are slim
to none on moving forward.
♪
I think my chances are slim
to non-Let's do it. .ward.
♪
- Well, Chris,
it'll graze the blade
and cut a little bit through,
but the edge
is not sharp all the way,
even at the top here.
♪
- Bladesmiths, each of
your blades performed admirably.
However, based
on the testing alone,
the judges have made a decision.
Chris, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Chris, I appreciated watching
you forge-weld that cable.
You did a great job,
but you had a very thick edge,
and it didn't perform as well
as the other blades.
- Chris, please
surrender your weapon.
♪
- I'm going home because
I did not complete the knife
as efficiently as I could have.
I've been in this art form
and trade
long enough to see my downfall.
♪
- Salem, Craig, congratulations.
You've made it
into the final round
of "Forged in Fire."
Now we're sending you back
to your home forges
to create an iconic blade
from history...
♪
The Egyptian Khopesh.
- Cool.
- Dating back to 2,500 B.C.,
the Khopesh
was a curved sickle sword
adopted by Egyptians
from the Canaanites.
It was used
to execute their enemies,
as an infantry weapon,
and also as a symbol of
the authority of their nobles.
The unique shape
of their curved blades
meant they could be used
to hook a shield,
snag an opponent's leg
and attempt to trip them,
or even tangle
an opposing weapon.
The weapon's distinctive design
makes the Khopesh
easily recognizable
in television series
such as "Game of Thrones."
♪
It must be an effective,
working version
of that North African weapon.
- Looks like a Hot Wheels
race track all bent up.
I've never made
a blade like this.
- The blade itself must fall
within the following parameters.
The length of the blade must be
between 28 and 32 inches,
and the blade must have a curve.
- I haven't done a sword with
a curved edge of this length.
I'm gonna have to throw
all my resources at this.
- You will have five days
at your home forge
to work on your Khopesh.
You will deliver
your finished Khopesh
to our panel of judges.
They will submit those weapons
to a series of dynamic
and strenuous tests.
♪
Only after those tests
are completed
will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and the recipient
of a $10,000 check.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
♪
- It's day one.
I am working on design.
I have never tried
making a Khopesh before.
This is out of my wheelhouse.
This is a Khopesh
from the tomb of Ramses II.
This was another Khopesh
found in Tutankhamen's tomb...
Absolutely gorgeous.
The judges are gonna be looking
for historical accuracy.
A lot of these,
historically, are, like,
25 inches in length or less,
so I got to scale it up
to have a 30-inch blade.
Traditionally, the Khopesh
was a one-handed weapon,
but I'm imagining swinging
this long sword with one hand,
and I don't think
it's gonna work,
so I need to stretch
the handle out
so you could fit
two hands on there.
So do you want to fall
towards historical accuracy,
or do you want to give a nod
to modern-day wieldability?
I'm struggling
with making decisions
in the design process,
and it is taking forever
and wearing me down.
♪
- I'm excited about getting
back to the comforts of home
and knock out
a really nice weapon.
Job number one...
It's got to be strong,
because a Khopesh
is the original battle axe.
We're gonna use
the floor of the shop
to get the vision going.
That's what we're gonna build.
Those Egyptians, man...
They had their act together.
I didn't like 'em
wearing dresses,
but other than that,
they seem pretty cool.
Today I would like to get
the profile of the Khopesh done,
and making that first bend
is pretty much
gonna be the moment of truth.
♪
Most weapons, whether it be
a knife or a sword,
is a straight-line draw,
but this has got a bend.
So, once the bend is put there,
you can't straighten it out
and move the bend
because you've compromised
the material too much.
♪
I think it's too long.
I'll shorten it up.
♪
- Last night I was able
to finalize my design.
If I can catch up and forge
my profile this morning,
that'll be great.
I need to restrict my habit
of losing track of the time
when I'm working on something.
I want to make
kind of a distinctive Damascus
for this Khopesh.
It's similar
to what you would term
a "Merovingian twist pattern,"
and it's something
that you might've found
in the ancient swords made
by the Merovingian Franks.
♪
I'm gonna be trying
to twist it up
to make the powdering cooler,
but I've never tried it
with a bar this thick.
This is the difficult part.
I got to twist,
but not past the point
where it's gonna
rip apart on me.
♪
- This morning
I had to go back to the forge,
and I readjusted the blade.
We have a curved blade, right?
Just the sheer weight
of that long of material,
just heating it up
is gonna warp it.
The quench is
the make-or-break moment.
A lot can go wrong.
You know, it's, like,
you guys are gonna hear
either major cussing
or "yippee."
[hissing]
If this warps bad,
I have to start over.
Come on, baby.
I'm afraid to wipe it back
and see if I got it or not.
Yes.
Yippee.
[metal clanking]
- Because I twisted
the steel billet for this blade,
it's possible that it may
untwist in the quench.
I hope I'm not visited
by the Tink Fairy.
Now.
That's when
your blade goes, tink,
and you know it cracked
in the quench.
Fingers crossed.
Oh, that looks pretty good.
♪
- Today we just have to cross
your "T"s and dot your "I"s.
♪
I've sharpened my blade,
I got an edge on it,
and now I'm ready
to go for the test.
Let's see
if this thing will cut.
I've got a piece of lumber
all the way from Japan.
It was grown in an orchard
by a small samurai.
I thought, "One day, Craig,
this lumber will give its life
for you."
♪
There's no damage
to the blade, man.
It looks like that'll do.
I really liked the way
the sword turned out,
and I'm gonna give Salem
a run for his money.
♪
- Yesterday I finished my blade.
I feel like
the two most striking things
about this weapon
are the bold Damascus pattern
and the integral construction.
It's all forged
out of one piece of metal...
Very simple,
but hard to pull off.
Well, I'd hate
to shave my face with it,
but it's pretty darn sharp
for arm hair.
I hope that Craig's Khopesh
turned out really awesome
because my blade deserves
some stiff competition.
♪
Cool.
- Salem, Craig, welcome back.
You had five days
at your home forge
to work on your weapons.
Salem, how did it go?
- So I went with a twist
Damascus blade,
added a different billet to it
to make the contrast
a little bit more interesting.
I made it a two-handed handle,
'cause it's longer
than historical examples.
So that was a little bit
of a gamble.
Hopefully, that works.
- Great.
Craig, how'd it go for you?
- I had a bit of a problem
here and there,
but I got everything together.
You know, you try to calibrate
how long it's gonna take
to make something,
but five days was kind of hard
to get a grasp
of what I could get done
in five days.
- Well, gentlemen,
both of your weapons
look like lethal works of art...
but artistry is not
as important as performance.
We will now be putting
your weapons
through a series of three tests.
First up, the sharpness test.
Doug?
- Bladesmiths, it is said
that the historic design
of the Khopesh
evolved from a battle axe.
Its edge was so sharp
that it is said
it could cut through
just about anything.
To test the sharpness
of your weapon,
I will see how well
it cuts through a sandbag,
sugarcane, and a rope.
Salem, you're up. You ready?
- Yes, sir.
I'm feeling confident
that my blade
will chop well and hold up.
Will it slice things?
That remains to be seen.
♪
The rope...
My blade barely nicked it,
but I'll take two out of three.
- Well, Salem,
it definitely is easy enough
to cut through a sand bag,
cut through sugarcane,
but the forward weight being
a little bit tip heavy,
it was a little bit
harder to slice
through on the upward stroke,
but, definitely,
it's a very sharp weapon.
This, sir, will cut.
Good job.
- Thanks.
- Craig, you're up.
You ready?
- Yes, sir.
Going into the sharpness test,
I feel like I can do
all three of those tests
that I see in front of him,
and I'm excited to see
Doug work the blade.
♪
I'm just disappointed
that it wouldn't cut the rope.
- Well, Craig,
it cut through a sandbag.
It cut all the way
through three sugarcanes,
but the same idea...
On an upward swing for the test,
it did lacerate the rope,
but it didn't cut through.
But overall...
it will cut.
Now it's time to move on
to the kill test.
To test the functionality
and lethality for a blade,
I will attempt
to rip off the shields,
then deliver killing blows
on this ballistic dummy.
Let's see how much damage
your weapon can do.
Salem, you're up.
Are you ready?
- All right.
I'm not gonna lie.
My heart's pounding pretty good.
I'm a little nervous,
but mostly,
I'm just excited
to see him, you know,
go berserk with this thing.
♪
- The hook on your tip
does allow
to rip off the shield.
The edge you have right here
caused some serious damage...
Enough to cut all the way
through the belly here.
At the same time, I've cut
through all these bones,
from the clavicle
through the ribs.
♪
This, sir, will kill.
Craig, it's your turn.
You ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Let's do this.
♪
- Well, Craig, what I like
about your particular
hook design over here
is that as you puncture, twist,
and rip out,
everything that you have
in there
will hook and come out with it.
The edge cut all the way
into the bone
and broke these ribs,
the sternum.
This, sir, will kill.
- Thank you.
We're pretty much going at it.
It's tit for tat
the whole way through.
- Next up is the strength test.
Dave?
- Gentlemen,
what I'm gonna do to test
the strength of your weapons
is take seven blows
against these animal femurs.
Salem, you're up.
Are you ready?
- Great.
- Now, Salem,
in examining your weapon,
we noticed a small delamination
on the back of the blade.
- I was not expecting that.
I'm just hoping
that the edge stays hard.
- So we're gonna keep an eye
on that through the testing,
and we'll see if it opens up.
♪
[exhales sharply]
Well, Salem, that did a job
on those bones.
Now, there's a little bit
of deflection on your blade,
but that back mark didn't open
or split at all.
Now, you can see I went
through two of those bones
and was well into the third.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- So, Craig, it's your turn.
You ready?
- Let's do it.
Salem's blade just
smokes right through it.
I got to keep par.
I got to be able to do
the same thing.
♪
You ready?
- Let's do it.
- All right.
♪
[exhales sharply]
Well, Craig,
you can see a lot of chips
right there in the impact zone.
The first few blows
against those femurs,
it start cutting really nicely,
broke through the one,
but as we started
to lose edge here,
with those chips
and deflections,
it just stopped cutting.
It was more
of a bludgeoning impact blow.
But I felt it really cut well
when I was swinging it.
All in all, nice design...
I like
your handle construction...
And it's definitely a chopper.
So, gentlemen, good job.
♪
- Salem, Craig,
in just five days,
you have both delivered
your own unique versions
of the Egyptian Khopesh.
But in this arena
of competition,
there can only be one winner.
J.
- Well, Salem, I love
that twist-pattern Damascus
you put into your blade...
Nice and tight.
It looks really great,
but there is an issue.
You do have
a couple delaminations.
Between that and some
of the chipping
that showed up
during the strength test,
those are concerns I have.
- Doug.
- Craig, your Khopesh design
is made for killing.
The billet you have there
not only cuts,
but it crushes bone.
Having said that,
it's that very heavy balance
on the blade
that makes it very hard
to control
with a smaller handle.
- Bladesmiths...
you've both done fantastic work,
but there can only be
one "Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
Salem, you are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Congratulations.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
Good job to you too.
- Craig, unfortunately,
your blade did not make the cut.
- Craig, there were a few
little things that added up...
The shape of the handle,
the weight being so far forward.
But what really hurt you
were those chips in the blade.
- Craig, please
surrender your weapon.
♪
- Craig, thank you, man.
- This experience was harder
than I thought it was gonna be.
I need about
three gin and tonics...
[voice breaking]
And I'm just gonna make
the bad man in the back
of my head go away.
- Salem, it's safe to smile now
because you're
the "Forged in Fire" champion,
and the recipient of $10,000.
Congratulations.
[applause]
- The fullers on that blade
just really
bring that pattern out.
I think that's
a really nice touch.
- It's just crazy.
It's gonna take a while
to sink in.
I'm kind of stunned right now.
♪