Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 2, Episode 9 - The Khanda - full transcript
The competition piles on as our bladesmiths are asked to forge a weapon in their signature style from a large pile of mixed metal that is welded together. Only two will return home to forge the mysterious Khanda, a legendary blade...
- 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]
♪
- My name is Nathan Zimmerman.
I'm 25 years old.
I think I'm a bit of an outlier
in the knife-making community.
I tend to be the youngest one
and I take a lot of inspiration
from video games
and fantasy novels.
- My name is Ben Abbott.
I've been making blades since
I was about 13 years old.
I was born
in Worcester, England.
When I saw all the cool
armor and weapons and stuff,
I just decided to start
making it for myself.
- My name's Tom McGinnis.
I'm 73 years old
and I love knife-making.
I made my first knife in 1958.
I'm an old duck,
but I'm gonna hang tough.
- My name is Brent Stubblefield.
I made my first knife
about eight years ago.
What I get out of
being a bladesmith
is the satisfaction of knowing
I'm making a piece that could be
passed down for generations.
- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the Forge.
You are here to engage
in three rounds of competition,
specifically designed
to test every aspect
of your edged weapon-making
capabilities
from design to the forge
to fit and finish.
After each round,
you will present your work
to our panel of expert judges.
Internationally known
Mastersmith J. Neilson.
Next, world-renowned swordsmith
David Baker.
And last, edged weapon
specialist Doug Marcaida.
They will decide which of you
is the "Forged in Fire" champion
and leaves here
with a check for $10,000.
In your first round
of competition,
you'll be using...
this.
It's a welded pile
of various metals.
Your challenge is
to salvage the metal you need
from this pile
to forge a signature blade
of your own design,
turning them into
fully-functional weapons.
- It's just a pile of junk.
Not just a pile of junk.
It's welded together.
I don't know what kind
of steel these things are
and what they were used for.
- Your weapons
will then be tested
chopping through a dowel,
and slicing fish.
The blades themselves must fall
within the following parameters:
the length of the blade,
not including the tang,
must be between
11 and 13 inches.
The overall length
of your weapon
must not exceed 22 inches.
♪
You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to salvage your steel
and forge your blades.
Bladesmiths,
your time starts now.
[upbeat music]
- This challenge,
it's really all about the edge.
Your edge geometry
and your edge retention.
- Well, it'd be nice to see some
well defined choppers here.
That truly hacking,
slashing shape.
- I decided to go with
a BladeSports-style
chopper sort of thing.
I know it's gonna be
cutting that's needed
instead of thrusting,
so I don't see the point
of putting a tip on the knife.
♪
- Ah-ha.
I'm making a camp blade/seax.
A seax was a fighting weapon
from the Vikings or Saxons.
Pretty much does exactly
what I'm hoping what mine will
which is cut and slash and tear.
I decide to do
the San Mai construction.
San Mai construction
is essentially
two pieces of softer steel
on either side of a center core
of hardened steel.
I think it'll be
a little something special.
- I'm making
a big competition knife.
It's designed
for heavy chopping,
and it'll also cut
real thin material
like playing cards.
♪
The best advice I have
for anyone wanting
to get into knife-making
is don't quit your day job.
- I draw out a bowie and a seax
because I really feel like
they're gonna be great
in the testing,
but I'm just gonna let
the forging process
take me in the direction
that the knife wants to go.
For me, the hardest part
of this challenge
is going to be
to decide what to use
and then turn it
into a nice billet.
- Bladesmiths,
your ten minute design period
is now closed.
Your three hour forge time
starts... now.
[rock music]
♪
- There's a lot
of steel there, J.
How much of that is
actually usable in a blade?
- It's probably at least
30, 35% of what's there.
- There's a square pipe,
there's a ball bearing,
powdered metal,
but I'm thrilled there's
a piece of lawn mower blade.
- Look at that.
Tom knocked a piece of steel out
in about half a second.
- Oh, yeah. Bing, bang, boom.
- I know how to work it.
I know how to harden it.
- I'm very worried about getting
the right amount of steel
to use for my knife.
I know the lawn mower blade's
gonna give me enough steel,
and it pops right off.
- Aside from just
the hardenable steel,
we've got some wrought iron,
we've got some mild,
we've got some horseshoes.
- I pick the lawnmower blade.
[clangs]
Nice.
- Ben's going for
multiple pieces of steel here.
- I also take the angle iron
so that I can weld
the lawnmower blade
inside the angle iron to make
a San Mai construction.
- I decide to use
the lawnmower blade.
You know, it's a nice, big slab.
I know I'll plenty.
If anything,
I'll have to cut some off.
- So, every single one
of our smiths
has chose a mower blade.
- I mean, it's good,
harden-able steel.
It's... that's the safe choice.
It is semi-flat already.
But a lot of metal to move.
- It might be a challenge
to draw it out,
and shape a blade out of it.
- Aah, crap.
Oh.
- Tom has a chunk of steel.
Tom's got the entire blade.
- I got started out
like a monkey.
Aw, [bleep].
Hot steel on the floor.
But there's no excuse.
A good knife maker ought
to be able to walk in any shop
and make a blade.
♪
- Yeah!
My strategy
going into this challenge
is not spend too much time
on one thing.
The first thing is just
turning this big honking blade
into a knife billet.
- Now, Brent looks like he's
got some pretty good control
on Big Blu there.
- I've never used
a power hammer before,
and it is wonderful.
It enables you to move steel
at a superhuman level.
It is just like hammering,
but you can do it
at the speed of Superman.
♪
- We're going now, man.
- Ben's going the extra mile
by adding some angle iron
to create what you call
a San Mai,
which is basically sandwiching
unhardenable outer steel
onto a hard core.
- I do the San Mai construction
because it is
a sexy-looking blade,
makes a very tough blade.
You will never
crack the whole thing.
It'll never break in two.
- Ben's taking that angle iron,
folding it into,
like, a metal taco,
and he's gonna insert the good
steel core inside that way.
All right, here we go.
Just open the taco.
- Oh!
Oh, you don't want
to touch that.
♪
- Damn.
Your giant brass balls
are showing.
- [giggles]
♪
- My strategy
going into this competition
is forge thick, grind thin.
- Nathan has
a large chunk of steel
to be playing with.
- Big piece of steel.
- I'm doing a basic shaping
at this point.
I'm going back and forth between
hammers and the press
and the power hammer
and trying to get
this big piece of steel moved
to where I need
to get it moved to.
I figure I can fix
the rest of it on the grinder,
and just rip all the material
off of that
where I'm more comfortable.
- Bladesmiths!
You have only two hours left
to finish your work.
- Whoo!
Brother.
Only two hours.
To forge
the world's greatest blade.
- We've got
a lot of sparks flying.
- Oh!
- I got sparks reaching
all the way over here.
Awesome.
I'm ready.
- [laughs]
- San Mai technique allows me
to quench before everybody else.
After I harden it,
it makes it easier
to finish the blade
because the softer outsides
are easier to sand.
[rock music]
- Oh, come on.
That's beautiful.
Put your name on it yet?
[giggles]
- Got the oldest smith
and the younger smith
right next to each other,
chatting it up a little bit,
hurling sparks across the shop.
That's great.
[dramatic music]
- I'm gonna harden this blade
with a torch.
- Tom's got the cutting torch
out there.
- Yes!
First time we've seen this
in competition.
- That's great.
I've been waiting
for somebody to do this.
- So have I.
- That's gonna give Tom
a hard edge
and a soft spine.
- I'm gonna do
a differential heat on it,
and I'm gonna harden
only the cutting edge.
Thataway,
if it's used to chop with,
it won't break.
- Great technique.
- When your hair's that color,
you know stuff.
[clanging]
- Bladesmiths!
You have one hour remaining.
[rock music]0
♪
- Plenty of time.
I feel great as soon
as I get to the grinder.
Put a rough profile on the blade
and remove scale
from the sides of it.
I'm really looking towards
the quench and the heat treat.
- Whoa.
- Whoa.
In the oil.
So Nathan has quenched.
- Not in the wa... don't do it in
the w... don't do it, don't do it.
Agh.
- And he's in the water.
- No, no, no, no, no.
♪
Ugh.
Nathan doing that quench
in the oil
and then going
right into the water
does not bode well.
Not letting it cool off enough,
putting it in the water,
there's a good possibility
he put a bunch of stress
fractures in that right now.
- Oh.
I think I'm [bleep].
- Huh?
- I think I'm [bleep].
- Got some head-shaking from
Nathan going on in the corner.
- I think I got cracks
all over mine.
There's like a [bleep] billion.
- So Nathan has a crack
almost all the way across
the edge of the blade.
- I certainly don't have time
to forge another blade
at this point.
Bunch of cracks.
So I had this idea
that I can just grind it out
and leave a chunk at the edge.
It might grind out.
I don't know.
- Yeah, grind 'em out.
You'll be all right.
♪
- As I'm grinding the blade,
I'm having an internal argument
of whether or not
I want to etch it.
Etching it
will really make it pop,
but I'm also a little bit
nervous that if I etch it,
it will really show off
any weld flaw.
Finally I decide
I'm just going to go for it.
- So, Ben is etching his blade.
- I pull it out.
I look at it, and you can see,
clear as day,
the weld line is solid and nice.
I'm very happy.
- You have 15 minutes
to finish you work.
♪
- Getting pretty hot
in the kitchen.
♪
- Brent is now doing some
little finish clean-up sanding.
I wish he'd just get done
with it and quench.
♪
- I quench.
I pull out the blade
from the quench,
and it's warped.
This is not good.
I just have to go with it.
I want to get it cleaned up
before it's time
to submit it for judgment.
[dramatic music]
- Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Bladesmiths, stop your work.
Your time is up.
♪
- I need a beer.
- Yeah, right? Okay.
- I'm kind of worried that
the cracks that have formed
are gonna not even
give this blade a chance.
- I definitely think it's
gonna be a tight competition.
You never know what
the judges are gonna see.
I think it's
gonna be interesting,
and right now I have no idea
who's standing out
and who's going home.
♪
- Bladesmiths,
your first round challenge
was to salvage steel
from a pile of welded scrap
to forge a signature blade
of your own design.
Now it's time for the judges
to inspect your work.
Brent, please present
your weapon to the judges.
[upbeat music]
- You got this nice and lean
before you went to a grinder.
You've almost got
an edge on there,
and the style design...
It looks great.
- J.
- Well, Brent, you got
quite a warp in this blade.
- Did not have time
to take it out.
- Went back to the grinder
after the heat treat
and clean this up as opposed to
trying to fix that warp
in that amount of time.
- That's right.
- Okay.
Why?
- I didn't want to present
a dirty, scaly, greasy blade.
- I don't mind
dirty and greasy...
- Mm-hmm.
- But I like straight blades.
- Indeed.
- All right, thank you.
- Tom, you're up.
♪
- Well, Tom, you've
definitely got a chopper here.
And I know Dave and I
have been dying to see
somebody actually doing
an edge quench with a torch.
You want to tell me
what your mindset with that?
- Well, I made it tough enough
to cut a quarter-inch bolt
in two.
[soft laughter]
- Thank you.
- Saw you do a lot of hand work.
Wound up putting just
a little bit of a curve in there
and fighting that one spot,
but, altogether,
looks good, feels good.
- Ben.
Please present your blade
to the judges.
- You know, Ben,
you decided to go more complex
than everybody else
on the round one challenge.
Kudos for that.
And you still had time
to acid etch it,
bringing up these layers.
Beautiful.
- Thank you.
- Well done, sir.
- Dave.
- Now, you've got a bit
of a bend in that blade.
- Yeah, a tiny bit, yeah.
- Why didn't you deal with
that bend at all?
- To be honest,
as I kept looking at it,
it was straight and then
I was just grinding it,
and I think I actually
ground a belly in it.
- Oh, you... you dished it?
Okay.
Looks good.
- Thank you.
- Nathan, you're up next.
- Well, Nathan,
quite a large chunk of steel
to work with right off the bat.
But you did work it down nicely
and you got it moving
quite well,
but apparently we had
an issue here.
- Yeah, a pretty large crack
showed up.
[dramatic music]
- You did one of the things
that gives all of us
the chills up here.
You quenched in oil,
and then went pretty much
immediately to the water
with steel that was still hot
and that's where
the cracking issue happens.
I can see two large cracks
going across the spine.
A few smaller ones,
and plus, we've actually got
lateral cracking
going right down here.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- That's... that's
a very big issue.
- Doug.
- Well, Nathan,
you knew what the test was,
you built something for that.
- Mm-hmm.
- But you can't deny
that the cracks are in there
on this particular blade.
There are so many,
I would not feel comfortable
testing this weapon.
- Please retrieve your blade.
♪
Judges, are we in agreement?
- Yeah.
- J.?
- Yes.
- Nathan,
you did not make the cut.
- Nathan, I loved what
you were doing with that design,
that purpose-built bush cleaver,
but with that one mistake
going to the water
on your quench,
you put so many
structural flaws in that blade
that we cannot test that blade.
- Nathan,
please surrender your weapon.
[rock music]
- I'm disappointed that I'm not
winning a big chunk of money,
but, uh, I'm gonna continue to
do this for the rest of my life
and make it
my chosen profession.
Definitely walking out
of this forge
a smarter bladesmith.
- Bladesmiths,
you've made it to round two.
Good job.
Your next challenge
is to fashion and attach
a handle to your blades
using the range of materials
provided to you
to turn your blades
into fully-functional weapons.
Your finished weapons
will then be tested
for strength and durability
in a dowel chop
and their ability
to hold an edge
slicing through a fish.
You will have three hours
for this challenge.
You can use that time
to address any flaws or issues
that the judges identified
in your blades
but keep in mind,
the time runs out,
one of you must
surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your time starts now.
♪
- [imitates gunshot]
And they're off to the races.
- All of our smiths
have already pre-drilled
holes onto their tang,
so I really want to see some
beautiful, finished handles
on these blades.
- I choose the red micarta.
It's a really strong material.
I know it's going to be
a really strong handle.
But first thing I want
to get out of the way
is to fix the issues
that the judges had
with the knife.
♪
- Looks like Ben might actually
be addressing his blade issue.
- I could kill two birds
with one stone.
I could grind it more straight
and I could also
take off some of the weight
that they had issue with.
- Very nice to see him
take that down.
Right now, it is
really blade-heavy.
- Yeah.
- As it gets
a little trimmed down,
it starts to feel
racy and sexy and fast.
I really think it's gonna be
a heck of a chopper.
- Gonna make
a pretty handle here.
All about the fit and finish.
- Brent's got
the alternative ivory
plus a blue piece
of spacer material.
- And brass, too, it looks like.
Put a brass guard on.
- Yeah.
- When it comes
to fit and finish,
I'm kind of a little bit
of a perfectionist.
I've decided to make
a composite handle
out of more than one material
so that I can show the judges
what I'm worth.
- Oh, that would be nice.
The black brass,
the blue, the white.
- But Brent has such an extreme
curve, and that blade,
I want to see him
straighten that out.
- I know it's a gamble
to heat the blade again
in order to straighten
the blade.
I'm a little concerned,
but I know I have to push it
to get to the next round.
♪
- Have you noticed the color
in the center of Brent's blade?
- Yes, I did. Yeah. Yeah.
- [laughs]
There's little to no hardness
right in the center
of Brent's blade now.
- Grays and blacks
you really don't want to see.
- I... I just can't look
at Brent's blade anymore.
Ugh.
- I know, it's a worry.
And Tom is shaping right there.
- Yeah. Tom's moving
right along.
- There's a lot more
to knife-making
than just heating
a piece of steel,
sticking it in oil.
- I see a lot
of sparks over there.
- I hope he's keeping it cool.
♪
There he goes.
Good, he's cooling it.
What we've seen throughout
this competition
with Tom is smart work.
- Well, when you've got
that many years experience,
you learn to work smarter
instead of harder.
- Bladesmiths, you have
90 minutes remaining.
♪
- Man, that went faster
than the hot rakes round.
- As long as I can
get this handle on,
I'll have a functional weapon,
and that's what I'm looking for.
- That's a cool-looking handle,
if he contours that correctly.
- Mm-hmm, that'd be very nice.
- I've got to get
the handle shaped
so that I can smooth it out
and polish it
so I can move on to get
the blade looking better.
I got the bend out
earlier, which I was
really excited about.
I feel like
it's quite straight now.
- [laughter]
Looks like a very sporty handle.
- We'll see
if the blade's still soft,
it's gonna be a sporty car
without any tires.
- It's coming out pretty.
- I just find it
hard to comprehend
that Brent has no idea
that he's got a soft center.
- Ah.
That's what I was afraid of.
That ain't gonna work.
- Yeah, Tom's been
mucking around with these pins
for a while now.
I think he's trying
to get them out.
It's hard to read Tom
because he doesn't
get flustered.
- Punch 'em out with these.
- It's all hidden
under the moustache.
It's there, though.
- I had a pin grind off.
I'm having to change 'em out.
May not go.
That looks like crap.
This is not working out
very well.
There's no knocking
the front one out
without ruining
the whole handle,
and I don't have enough time
to start over.
Whoa.
- I had a pin, uh, grind off.
I'm having to change 'em out.
There's no knocking
the front one out
without ruining
the whole handle,
and I don't have
enough time to start over.
Whoa.
- Oof, and thank God
that was just a screwdriver,
Not a knife or a finger.
- Hope we got on that...
Got that on slo-mo.
- That ain't coming out, I know.
That front one
may just have to be...
I choose to just go ahead
and leave one bolt in it
without the head
of the screw showing.
It'll be functional
and everything,
but it won't be
like I wanted it.
I'm anxious to see
how it holds up.
♪
- It's gonna get
a little dusty, y'all.
♪
- I want the handle to feel like
you're not gonna lose control
of it if you start swinging.
- It worries me a little bit
that Ben's handle is so small
compared to his knife.
Hopefully he's taken
a lot of weight off of that.
- I paid attention when
I shook the hands of the judges
and tried to size up
what kind of hands they had,
so I think if it feels
comfortable to me,
it'll feel comfortable to them.
- Five minutes!
- Whoo, Lord.
♪
This is a lot of blade
to sharpen.
I want to just put
a final sheen onto the handle,
so I decided,
ah, I know
where there's some grease.
- Ah, love it.
- I just took some
from inside of my nose
and put it on the handle
and it made a nice polish.
- Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Time's up, gentlemen,
please stop working.
- It's a hell of a time.
[laughs]
- I don't know.
- I'm not feeling
as confident as I was
that I'll go to round three.
I hope they're really
blown away by the handle,
but they may be
a little concerned
that it's a little light
or lighter than the others.
[dramatic music]
- Smiths, welcome
to our strength test,
the dowel chop.
I'm gonna take
each of your blades
and attempt to chop through
these three
different-sized dowels.
I'll be doing ten chops
for each blade.
Ben, you're up.
Are you ready?
- I hope so.
I'm extremely nervous
to see how it's going to do
in the test.
I've seen J.
Swing a knife before,
and he can really
hurt some stuff.
[rock music]
♪
[inquisitive music]
- You did blow through that
first dowel pretty easily,
and you got about halfway
through the second one as well.
You do have
a couple burrs on your edge,
so maybe it's not quite as hard
as we would have liked,
but it did perform very well.
[rock music]
Tom, you're up.
You ready?
- I'm ready, sir.
♪
- Your edge held up beautifully.
Got right through
that first dowel no problem,
and I'd say probably
a third of the way
through the second one.
Good job.
- Thank you.
[inquisitive music]
- Brent, it's your turn.
Are you ready?
- Let's do it.
- Brent, it's your turn.
Are you ready?
- Let's do it.
My blade came out more thin
than the other blades,
so I'm a little concerned
my blade will bend or break.
[rock music]
♪
- Nice.
- Brent, you went through
that first dowel no problem.
Bit nicely into the second one,
but we definitely
have waves in the blade.
Your edge
is not straight anymore.
You got some serious ripples.
I'm gonna pass you off to Doug.
- Bladesmiths, to see
if your weapon held its edge,
I will cut through this fish.
Ben, you're up.
You ready?
- Let's make sushi.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Well, Ben, as you can see,
it sliced nicely
all the way through.
Your handle construction,
a little on the smaller side
but it felt good.
This, sir, will cut.
- Awesome.
- Tom, it's your turn.
You ready?
- I feel like my blade
will hold up real well.
It'll cut
what it's supposed to cut.
♪
- Well, Tom, cut nicely.
You actually got also a very
good recovery on your blade.
For this test, sir, it will cut.
- Thank you.
- Brent, you're up. You ready?
- Yes, indeed.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Brent, sliced through cleanly.
The balance feels good
'cause it's a lighter blade.
Your handle construction,
though beautiful,
a little bit
on the slippery side, though.
Overall though, it will cut.
- Yes.
[tense music]
- Bladesmiths,
unfortunately only two of you
may move forward
in to the final round
of competition.
It's time for one of you
to leave the forge.
♪
Brent, your blade
did not make the cut.
♪
- Brent, you came
into the second challenge
with an extreme warp
in your blade.
When you went to straighten,
you heated up the center section
and you lost
a lot of your hardness.
It's a cardinal sin.
When heating that spine,
you let that heat travel
all the way to the edge,
and that really puts
the strength of your blade's
edge in question.
You can see it compacting on
the edge from the strength test,
and that's why
we have to let you go.
- Brent,
please surrender your weapon.
♪
- I'm pretty disappointed
that I'm eliminated,
but ultimately, I agree
with the judges' decision.
My blade took the most damage
during the testing,
and that cutting edge
is the most important,
critical part of the blade.
♪
- Ben, Tom, congratulations.
You've made it to
the "Forged in Fire" final.
When you came here,
we asked you to use
our equipment and our tools
to forge a signature blade
of your own design,
and now we're sending you
back to your home forges
to re-create
an iconic weapon from history:
the khanda.
- Whoo!
- The khanda is a sword
that gained popularity
in medieval India
during the Gupta period
between 320 and 550 AD.
The word khanda is derived
from the Sanskrit wordkhand,
meaning to break,
divide, cut, or destroy.
Its wide, thick, straight blade
was not only used for thrusting,
but also as a hacking weapon.
When a Rajput warrior
was surrounded by the enemy,
he would pull out the khanda
and fight to the end
while swinging the blade
with both hands,
taking down as many enemies
as he could
in an honorable last stand.
It has to be an authentic,
working replica
of that deadly weapon.
- The mystery weapon's a khanda.
I think it's
a real do-able blade.
I believe I can produce one.
- The blades themselves
must fall within
the following parameters:
the length of the blade
must be between
29 and 31 inches,
and they must also
include a khanda guard.
- I'm extremely nervous having
to do a sword of that length,
knowing that they're gonna
put it through its paces
and I have to make something
pretty, tough,
and... tough.
- Gentlemen, you will have
five days at your home forge
to complete this challenge.
After the five days,
you will return to this forge
and present your khandas
to our judges
who will then put them through
a series of brutal tests.
Only after those tests
are completed
will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and the recipient
of the $10,000 check.
Bladesmiths, good luck.
[rock music]
♪
- So it's day one.
My strategy going into
building this blade
is that I'm going to make
a couple of test blades.
We're just making a smaller
billet of the same Damascus
so I can test out
some heat treating options
and see how tough I can make it,
'cause if anything breaks
I'd rather it be
this than the real one.
The most crucial part
of this build
is whatever I have to do
to get it through the testing.
I can make the prettiest thing
in the world.
If it snaps in two,
I'm gonna lose.
♪
[bleep]
That's horrible.
Perfectly horrible.
See the size of those grains?
They're like grains of sugar.
That's what we don't want.
And you saw how easily
it snapped.
See if we can fix it.
♪
- It feels good to be back home
where I have my own equipment.
There we go.
Today I'm gonna try and get
the shapes of the guard
and gettin' the blade ground.
The blade we had to make
is designed
for fightin' double-handed
and it had a big D-guard on it
and I'd never done that.
It's quite a awesome blade.
This blade is
a lot about balance
and not being heavy,
but being strong.
I've got to lighten
this blade way up.
♪
This is perfect.
A flaw in the steel.
That's bad news for this.
[dramatic music]
- So it's day three.
Yesterday was hot
and sweaty and tiring.
I got the sword drawn out
and shaped.
I got a lot of things
I have to get done,
and it's crucial that
all of them get done today
because I'm
running out of tomorrows.
[exhales sharply]
I'm gonna quench the sword.
♪
[giggles]
The quench went really well.
Very excited about that.
That makes for
a very tough blade.
Now I have to dive into
the handle.
The handle is nothing like
I've ever seen before.
There's a lot of parts and they
all have to fit together
and they're confusing handle.
♪
- It's day four.
I've got the blade ground.
Seems to be going real good,
and I'm gonna try
and get the handle
all put together before noon.
I'm gonna have to look
at a picture again
to see what kind of handle
I'm gonna end up
putting on this blade.
It's all I got to go by.
♪
I just noticed its D-guard
is turned the wrong way.
♪
Big mistake.
The D-guard should be here,
and I got it over here.
I don't know if I've got
enough time to change it.
[dramatic music]
I sure didn't dream
I'd be doing this.
[rock music]
- Today's day five.
My last ten hours
working on the sword.
I've just got to finish
grinding the blade.
After that I have to put
together a nice-looking handle
in a style that
I've never even seen before,
let alone made before.
Hardest part
of making this handle
is to get it all
to fit just right,
'cause it is a complex handle.
It's a lot of parts
that have to angle just right.
It's a lot more difficult
than I thought it would be.
I wrapped the handle in leather.
It'll bulk out the handle
and make it more comfortable
so that it really kind of
holds your hand snugly
and feels really good.
Holy cow.
What a long journey.
I am super proud of this weapon.
I don't know how big
of a bag of tricks Tom has,
but mine's pretty full,
and I've... I emptied it today.
♪
- That's correct.
I had several things wrong
with the D-guard yesterday.
I got it fixed,
and I hardened
and tempered this blade
but today I'm grinding my blade
and I notice it's way too soft.
I'm gonna have to
re-harden this.
There's a lot can go wrong
with the quench.
Your blade can crack.
[dramatic music]
I'm gonna ask God
to help me with this one.
♪
God answered my prayer.
It's pretty straight
if it'll just cool down.
I know this blade's gonna cut.
It's ready for the judges.
Ben is gonna contend
with a tough old dog.
♪
♪
- Tom, Ben,
welcome back to the Forge.
You've had five days at home
to work on your khandas.
Ben, how did it go?
- It's the longest blade
I've ever made,
and the grinding
was challenging,
but, uh,
I'm pretty happy
with the heat treat.
I'm excited to see...
Well, some of the testing.
- Tom, how'd it go?
- Well, it was more
than a challenge.
I spent a lot of time
on the guard.
The artwork isn't what
I'd like for it to be,
but I was thrilled to get
to bring a blade back to test.
- Well, gentlemen,
your weapons look fantastic,
but looks are secondary
to performance.
We will now be putting
each of your weapons
through three tests.
Doug?
- Bladesmiths,
this is a kill test.
To test the lethality
and function of your weapon,
I will take your weapon
and deliver three vertical chops
and then a slice.
Ben, you're up.
You ready?
- Guess so.
Let's do this.
I'm a little bit nervous.
There's a lot of bones in there,
but the sword is made to cut,
so let's see it cut.
♪
- Well, Ben, the damage
that your blade did
cut about six inches deep
into both shoulders,
and right through the spine.
On the horizontal slice,
it pretty much cut
all the way through.
It's got a good feel.
This, sir, will kill.
- Thank you.
- Tom, it's your turn.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
I don't like losing at all.
I like to win.
In the kill test,
I think it's do-able.
I really do.
♪
- Tom, it definitely cut in
about six inches deep
on the shoulders
and about eight inches
into the spinal column.
It cut halfway through
into the carcass.
Also feels good in balance
with the downward
vertical slice.
There was a slight bend
that's happening to your blade,
but...
it will kill.
Bladesmiths,
this is the sharpness test.
I will slash across
these bungee cords.
If your blade is sharp,
it should cut
all the way through.
If not, it may just push it
aside or bounce off.
Ben, you're up.
Are you ready?
- Sure.
At this point, I'm nervous.
I don't know.
I don't know if I'm gonna
cut through all of them
or if I'm gonna bounce off.
I have no idea.
♪
[bleep]
- Well, Ben,
your sword started to cut.
It cut a little bit,
but it did not cut through.
It feels good on the slice.
The handle is
very comfortable in the hand,
but once again,
it didn't cut through,
so it brings into question
the sharpness.
Tom, it's your turn.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Let's do this.
- I really feel comfortable
going into the test,
and I know this blade's
gonna cut.
I'm ready.
- Ooh.
- Well, Tom,
it did cut a little bit
into the bungee cord,
but then, as you can see...
- Yeah.
- The transference of energy
went all the way
back to the blade.
It wasn't sharp enough
to cut through,
and it bent your blade
which brings to question
the heat treatment
you did on your blade.
- Cut around corners now.
- It'll cut around corners
this time, right?
But, this particular case,
it will not cut, sir.
- When you don't have your
hardening and tempering right
on the blade,
you don't have anything.
- Gentlemen,
both of your weapons failed
in the sharpness test.
♪
Historically in battle,
blades bend.
Tom, we'd like to give you
the opportunity
to straighten your blade,
so that you can continue
with this fight.
However, we will be taking
that bend into consideration
when it comes to final judging.
- I understand.
Shoulda left it thicker,
but I'm not a quitter.
I'm gonna fight to the end.
[dramatic music]
- Okay, Tom,
you've straightened your blade.
We can continue with testing.
Dave.
- Gentlemen,
this is the strength test.
I'm gonna take five chops
into these copper pipes
and see how far through
we can split.
Ben, are you ready?
- Not at all. Yes.
The last thing I would bring
to a plumbing job is a sword,
so I'm just nervous that, uh,
the blade'll break,
just snap in two.
[exhales sharply]
[dramatic music]
♪
[exhales]
♪
- Well...
Ben, it's still one piece,
but barely.
And the... the dimensions
of your guard here
on my hand are perfect.
Your blade,
it's held up beautifully.
Nicely done.
- Thank you.
- So, Tom, your turn.
- Okay.
- All right.
- I'm really nervous
about the pipe cut.
I should have spent more time
on my blade,
'cause that's what counts
in the end.
- Now Tom, we do have
that bend in your blade
and we know there's at least
a soft section of that.
- Yeah.
- So as I'm cutting,
if I feel that there's
a point where it's unsafe,
I'm just gonna stop, all right?
- Okay.
♪
- So Tom,
what happened is we lost
a piece of the guard
right there.
- With the broken guard
and the bend earlier,
I feel it's unsafe to continue.
All right, thank you, Tom.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm disappointed.
I know I could do better,
but that's what happens
when you don't
use your time right.
♪
- Gentlemen, in just five days,
you've both done
an amazing amount of work
on your khandas,
but in this arena,
there can only be one
"Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
Ben...
you are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.
[upbeat rock music]
Tom, unfortunately,
your weapon
did not make the cut.
- Tom, as I said before,
your attention to detail
was spot-on.
It's just
that heat treat problem,
with that blade
bending the way it did,
well, that's why
we have to let you go.
- Tom, please surrender
your weapon.
- Well, I got to meet
some real nice craftsmen,
and, uh, I learned.
Don't let your age
slow you down.
You don't know how long you got.
- Ben, congratulations.
You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving
a check for $10,000.
Good job.
- Thank you.
- Most people get
guard sizing all wrong,
and the khanda has
a deceptively small guard.
You just hit it out of the park.
- Thank you.
It feels amazing to be the
"Forged in Fire" champion.
It's a wonderful validation
of a long time of knife-making
and I made new friends.
I made ten grand, right?
What more could you ask for?
♪
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]
♪
- My name is Nathan Zimmerman.
I'm 25 years old.
I think I'm a bit of an outlier
in the knife-making community.
I tend to be the youngest one
and I take a lot of inspiration
from video games
and fantasy novels.
- My name is Ben Abbott.
I've been making blades since
I was about 13 years old.
I was born
in Worcester, England.
When I saw all the cool
armor and weapons and stuff,
I just decided to start
making it for myself.
- My name's Tom McGinnis.
I'm 73 years old
and I love knife-making.
I made my first knife in 1958.
I'm an old duck,
but I'm gonna hang tough.
- My name is Brent Stubblefield.
I made my first knife
about eight years ago.
What I get out of
being a bladesmith
is the satisfaction of knowing
I'm making a piece that could be
passed down for generations.
- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the Forge.
You are here to engage
in three rounds of competition,
specifically designed
to test every aspect
of your edged weapon-making
capabilities
from design to the forge
to fit and finish.
After each round,
you will present your work
to our panel of expert judges.
Internationally known
Mastersmith J. Neilson.
Next, world-renowned swordsmith
David Baker.
And last, edged weapon
specialist Doug Marcaida.
They will decide which of you
is the "Forged in Fire" champion
and leaves here
with a check for $10,000.
In your first round
of competition,
you'll be using...
this.
It's a welded pile
of various metals.
Your challenge is
to salvage the metal you need
from this pile
to forge a signature blade
of your own design,
turning them into
fully-functional weapons.
- It's just a pile of junk.
Not just a pile of junk.
It's welded together.
I don't know what kind
of steel these things are
and what they were used for.
- Your weapons
will then be tested
chopping through a dowel,
and slicing fish.
The blades themselves must fall
within the following parameters:
the length of the blade,
not including the tang,
must be between
11 and 13 inches.
The overall length
of your weapon
must not exceed 22 inches.
♪
You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to salvage your steel
and forge your blades.
Bladesmiths,
your time starts now.
[upbeat music]
- This challenge,
it's really all about the edge.
Your edge geometry
and your edge retention.
- Well, it'd be nice to see some
well defined choppers here.
That truly hacking,
slashing shape.
- I decided to go with
a BladeSports-style
chopper sort of thing.
I know it's gonna be
cutting that's needed
instead of thrusting,
so I don't see the point
of putting a tip on the knife.
♪
- Ah-ha.
I'm making a camp blade/seax.
A seax was a fighting weapon
from the Vikings or Saxons.
Pretty much does exactly
what I'm hoping what mine will
which is cut and slash and tear.
I decide to do
the San Mai construction.
San Mai construction
is essentially
two pieces of softer steel
on either side of a center core
of hardened steel.
I think it'll be
a little something special.
- I'm making
a big competition knife.
It's designed
for heavy chopping,
and it'll also cut
real thin material
like playing cards.
♪
The best advice I have
for anyone wanting
to get into knife-making
is don't quit your day job.
- I draw out a bowie and a seax
because I really feel like
they're gonna be great
in the testing,
but I'm just gonna let
the forging process
take me in the direction
that the knife wants to go.
For me, the hardest part
of this challenge
is going to be
to decide what to use
and then turn it
into a nice billet.
- Bladesmiths,
your ten minute design period
is now closed.
Your three hour forge time
starts... now.
[rock music]
♪
- There's a lot
of steel there, J.
How much of that is
actually usable in a blade?
- It's probably at least
30, 35% of what's there.
- There's a square pipe,
there's a ball bearing,
powdered metal,
but I'm thrilled there's
a piece of lawn mower blade.
- Look at that.
Tom knocked a piece of steel out
in about half a second.
- Oh, yeah. Bing, bang, boom.
- I know how to work it.
I know how to harden it.
- I'm very worried about getting
the right amount of steel
to use for my knife.
I know the lawn mower blade's
gonna give me enough steel,
and it pops right off.
- Aside from just
the hardenable steel,
we've got some wrought iron,
we've got some mild,
we've got some horseshoes.
- I pick the lawnmower blade.
[clangs]
Nice.
- Ben's going for
multiple pieces of steel here.
- I also take the angle iron
so that I can weld
the lawnmower blade
inside the angle iron to make
a San Mai construction.
- I decide to use
the lawnmower blade.
You know, it's a nice, big slab.
I know I'll plenty.
If anything,
I'll have to cut some off.
- So, every single one
of our smiths
has chose a mower blade.
- I mean, it's good,
harden-able steel.
It's... that's the safe choice.
It is semi-flat already.
But a lot of metal to move.
- It might be a challenge
to draw it out,
and shape a blade out of it.
- Aah, crap.
Oh.
- Tom has a chunk of steel.
Tom's got the entire blade.
- I got started out
like a monkey.
Aw, [bleep].
Hot steel on the floor.
But there's no excuse.
A good knife maker ought
to be able to walk in any shop
and make a blade.
♪
- Yeah!
My strategy
going into this challenge
is not spend too much time
on one thing.
The first thing is just
turning this big honking blade
into a knife billet.
- Now, Brent looks like he's
got some pretty good control
on Big Blu there.
- I've never used
a power hammer before,
and it is wonderful.
It enables you to move steel
at a superhuman level.
It is just like hammering,
but you can do it
at the speed of Superman.
♪
- We're going now, man.
- Ben's going the extra mile
by adding some angle iron
to create what you call
a San Mai,
which is basically sandwiching
unhardenable outer steel
onto a hard core.
- I do the San Mai construction
because it is
a sexy-looking blade,
makes a very tough blade.
You will never
crack the whole thing.
It'll never break in two.
- Ben's taking that angle iron,
folding it into,
like, a metal taco,
and he's gonna insert the good
steel core inside that way.
All right, here we go.
Just open the taco.
- Oh!
Oh, you don't want
to touch that.
♪
- Damn.
Your giant brass balls
are showing.
- [giggles]
♪
- My strategy
going into this competition
is forge thick, grind thin.
- Nathan has
a large chunk of steel
to be playing with.
- Big piece of steel.
- I'm doing a basic shaping
at this point.
I'm going back and forth between
hammers and the press
and the power hammer
and trying to get
this big piece of steel moved
to where I need
to get it moved to.
I figure I can fix
the rest of it on the grinder,
and just rip all the material
off of that
where I'm more comfortable.
- Bladesmiths!
You have only two hours left
to finish your work.
- Whoo!
Brother.
Only two hours.
To forge
the world's greatest blade.
- We've got
a lot of sparks flying.
- Oh!
- I got sparks reaching
all the way over here.
Awesome.
I'm ready.
- [laughs]
- San Mai technique allows me
to quench before everybody else.
After I harden it,
it makes it easier
to finish the blade
because the softer outsides
are easier to sand.
[rock music]
- Oh, come on.
That's beautiful.
Put your name on it yet?
[giggles]
- Got the oldest smith
and the younger smith
right next to each other,
chatting it up a little bit,
hurling sparks across the shop.
That's great.
[dramatic music]
- I'm gonna harden this blade
with a torch.
- Tom's got the cutting torch
out there.
- Yes!
First time we've seen this
in competition.
- That's great.
I've been waiting
for somebody to do this.
- So have I.
- That's gonna give Tom
a hard edge
and a soft spine.
- I'm gonna do
a differential heat on it,
and I'm gonna harden
only the cutting edge.
Thataway,
if it's used to chop with,
it won't break.
- Great technique.
- When your hair's that color,
you know stuff.
[clanging]
- Bladesmiths!
You have one hour remaining.
[rock music]0
♪
- Plenty of time.
I feel great as soon
as I get to the grinder.
Put a rough profile on the blade
and remove scale
from the sides of it.
I'm really looking towards
the quench and the heat treat.
- Whoa.
- Whoa.
In the oil.
So Nathan has quenched.
- Not in the wa... don't do it in
the w... don't do it, don't do it.
Agh.
- And he's in the water.
- No, no, no, no, no.
♪
Ugh.
Nathan doing that quench
in the oil
and then going
right into the water
does not bode well.
Not letting it cool off enough,
putting it in the water,
there's a good possibility
he put a bunch of stress
fractures in that right now.
- Oh.
I think I'm [bleep].
- Huh?
- I think I'm [bleep].
- Got some head-shaking from
Nathan going on in the corner.
- I think I got cracks
all over mine.
There's like a [bleep] billion.
- So Nathan has a crack
almost all the way across
the edge of the blade.
- I certainly don't have time
to forge another blade
at this point.
Bunch of cracks.
So I had this idea
that I can just grind it out
and leave a chunk at the edge.
It might grind out.
I don't know.
- Yeah, grind 'em out.
You'll be all right.
♪
- As I'm grinding the blade,
I'm having an internal argument
of whether or not
I want to etch it.
Etching it
will really make it pop,
but I'm also a little bit
nervous that if I etch it,
it will really show off
any weld flaw.
Finally I decide
I'm just going to go for it.
- So, Ben is etching his blade.
- I pull it out.
I look at it, and you can see,
clear as day,
the weld line is solid and nice.
I'm very happy.
- You have 15 minutes
to finish you work.
♪
- Getting pretty hot
in the kitchen.
♪
- Brent is now doing some
little finish clean-up sanding.
I wish he'd just get done
with it and quench.
♪
- I quench.
I pull out the blade
from the quench,
and it's warped.
This is not good.
I just have to go with it.
I want to get it cleaned up
before it's time
to submit it for judgment.
[dramatic music]
- Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Bladesmiths, stop your work.
Your time is up.
♪
- I need a beer.
- Yeah, right? Okay.
- I'm kind of worried that
the cracks that have formed
are gonna not even
give this blade a chance.
- I definitely think it's
gonna be a tight competition.
You never know what
the judges are gonna see.
I think it's
gonna be interesting,
and right now I have no idea
who's standing out
and who's going home.
♪
- Bladesmiths,
your first round challenge
was to salvage steel
from a pile of welded scrap
to forge a signature blade
of your own design.
Now it's time for the judges
to inspect your work.
Brent, please present
your weapon to the judges.
[upbeat music]
- You got this nice and lean
before you went to a grinder.
You've almost got
an edge on there,
and the style design...
It looks great.
- J.
- Well, Brent, you got
quite a warp in this blade.
- Did not have time
to take it out.
- Went back to the grinder
after the heat treat
and clean this up as opposed to
trying to fix that warp
in that amount of time.
- That's right.
- Okay.
Why?
- I didn't want to present
a dirty, scaly, greasy blade.
- I don't mind
dirty and greasy...
- Mm-hmm.
- But I like straight blades.
- Indeed.
- All right, thank you.
- Tom, you're up.
♪
- Well, Tom, you've
definitely got a chopper here.
And I know Dave and I
have been dying to see
somebody actually doing
an edge quench with a torch.
You want to tell me
what your mindset with that?
- Well, I made it tough enough
to cut a quarter-inch bolt
in two.
[soft laughter]
- Thank you.
- Saw you do a lot of hand work.
Wound up putting just
a little bit of a curve in there
and fighting that one spot,
but, altogether,
looks good, feels good.
- Ben.
Please present your blade
to the judges.
- You know, Ben,
you decided to go more complex
than everybody else
on the round one challenge.
Kudos for that.
And you still had time
to acid etch it,
bringing up these layers.
Beautiful.
- Thank you.
- Well done, sir.
- Dave.
- Now, you've got a bit
of a bend in that blade.
- Yeah, a tiny bit, yeah.
- Why didn't you deal with
that bend at all?
- To be honest,
as I kept looking at it,
it was straight and then
I was just grinding it,
and I think I actually
ground a belly in it.
- Oh, you... you dished it?
Okay.
Looks good.
- Thank you.
- Nathan, you're up next.
- Well, Nathan,
quite a large chunk of steel
to work with right off the bat.
But you did work it down nicely
and you got it moving
quite well,
but apparently we had
an issue here.
- Yeah, a pretty large crack
showed up.
[dramatic music]
- You did one of the things
that gives all of us
the chills up here.
You quenched in oil,
and then went pretty much
immediately to the water
with steel that was still hot
and that's where
the cracking issue happens.
I can see two large cracks
going across the spine.
A few smaller ones,
and plus, we've actually got
lateral cracking
going right down here.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- That's... that's
a very big issue.
- Doug.
- Well, Nathan,
you knew what the test was,
you built something for that.
- Mm-hmm.
- But you can't deny
that the cracks are in there
on this particular blade.
There are so many,
I would not feel comfortable
testing this weapon.
- Please retrieve your blade.
♪
Judges, are we in agreement?
- Yeah.
- J.?
- Yes.
- Nathan,
you did not make the cut.
- Nathan, I loved what
you were doing with that design,
that purpose-built bush cleaver,
but with that one mistake
going to the water
on your quench,
you put so many
structural flaws in that blade
that we cannot test that blade.
- Nathan,
please surrender your weapon.
[rock music]
- I'm disappointed that I'm not
winning a big chunk of money,
but, uh, I'm gonna continue to
do this for the rest of my life
and make it
my chosen profession.
Definitely walking out
of this forge
a smarter bladesmith.
- Bladesmiths,
you've made it to round two.
Good job.
Your next challenge
is to fashion and attach
a handle to your blades
using the range of materials
provided to you
to turn your blades
into fully-functional weapons.
Your finished weapons
will then be tested
for strength and durability
in a dowel chop
and their ability
to hold an edge
slicing through a fish.
You will have three hours
for this challenge.
You can use that time
to address any flaws or issues
that the judges identified
in your blades
but keep in mind,
the time runs out,
one of you must
surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your time starts now.
♪
- [imitates gunshot]
And they're off to the races.
- All of our smiths
have already pre-drilled
holes onto their tang,
so I really want to see some
beautiful, finished handles
on these blades.
- I choose the red micarta.
It's a really strong material.
I know it's going to be
a really strong handle.
But first thing I want
to get out of the way
is to fix the issues
that the judges had
with the knife.
♪
- Looks like Ben might actually
be addressing his blade issue.
- I could kill two birds
with one stone.
I could grind it more straight
and I could also
take off some of the weight
that they had issue with.
- Very nice to see him
take that down.
Right now, it is
really blade-heavy.
- Yeah.
- As it gets
a little trimmed down,
it starts to feel
racy and sexy and fast.
I really think it's gonna be
a heck of a chopper.
- Gonna make
a pretty handle here.
All about the fit and finish.
- Brent's got
the alternative ivory
plus a blue piece
of spacer material.
- And brass, too, it looks like.
Put a brass guard on.
- Yeah.
- When it comes
to fit and finish,
I'm kind of a little bit
of a perfectionist.
I've decided to make
a composite handle
out of more than one material
so that I can show the judges
what I'm worth.
- Oh, that would be nice.
The black brass,
the blue, the white.
- But Brent has such an extreme
curve, and that blade,
I want to see him
straighten that out.
- I know it's a gamble
to heat the blade again
in order to straighten
the blade.
I'm a little concerned,
but I know I have to push it
to get to the next round.
♪
- Have you noticed the color
in the center of Brent's blade?
- Yes, I did. Yeah. Yeah.
- [laughs]
There's little to no hardness
right in the center
of Brent's blade now.
- Grays and blacks
you really don't want to see.
- I... I just can't look
at Brent's blade anymore.
Ugh.
- I know, it's a worry.
And Tom is shaping right there.
- Yeah. Tom's moving
right along.
- There's a lot more
to knife-making
than just heating
a piece of steel,
sticking it in oil.
- I see a lot
of sparks over there.
- I hope he's keeping it cool.
♪
There he goes.
Good, he's cooling it.
What we've seen throughout
this competition
with Tom is smart work.
- Well, when you've got
that many years experience,
you learn to work smarter
instead of harder.
- Bladesmiths, you have
90 minutes remaining.
♪
- Man, that went faster
than the hot rakes round.
- As long as I can
get this handle on,
I'll have a functional weapon,
and that's what I'm looking for.
- That's a cool-looking handle,
if he contours that correctly.
- Mm-hmm, that'd be very nice.
- I've got to get
the handle shaped
so that I can smooth it out
and polish it
so I can move on to get
the blade looking better.
I got the bend out
earlier, which I was
really excited about.
I feel like
it's quite straight now.
- [laughter]
Looks like a very sporty handle.
- We'll see
if the blade's still soft,
it's gonna be a sporty car
without any tires.
- It's coming out pretty.
- I just find it
hard to comprehend
that Brent has no idea
that he's got a soft center.
- Ah.
That's what I was afraid of.
That ain't gonna work.
- Yeah, Tom's been
mucking around with these pins
for a while now.
I think he's trying
to get them out.
It's hard to read Tom
because he doesn't
get flustered.
- Punch 'em out with these.
- It's all hidden
under the moustache.
It's there, though.
- I had a pin grind off.
I'm having to change 'em out.
May not go.
That looks like crap.
This is not working out
very well.
There's no knocking
the front one out
without ruining
the whole handle,
and I don't have enough time
to start over.
Whoa.
- I had a pin, uh, grind off.
I'm having to change 'em out.
There's no knocking
the front one out
without ruining
the whole handle,
and I don't have
enough time to start over.
Whoa.
- Oof, and thank God
that was just a screwdriver,
Not a knife or a finger.
- Hope we got on that...
Got that on slo-mo.
- That ain't coming out, I know.
That front one
may just have to be...
I choose to just go ahead
and leave one bolt in it
without the head
of the screw showing.
It'll be functional
and everything,
but it won't be
like I wanted it.
I'm anxious to see
how it holds up.
♪
- It's gonna get
a little dusty, y'all.
♪
- I want the handle to feel like
you're not gonna lose control
of it if you start swinging.
- It worries me a little bit
that Ben's handle is so small
compared to his knife.
Hopefully he's taken
a lot of weight off of that.
- I paid attention when
I shook the hands of the judges
and tried to size up
what kind of hands they had,
so I think if it feels
comfortable to me,
it'll feel comfortable to them.
- Five minutes!
- Whoo, Lord.
♪
This is a lot of blade
to sharpen.
I want to just put
a final sheen onto the handle,
so I decided,
ah, I know
where there's some grease.
- Ah, love it.
- I just took some
from inside of my nose
and put it on the handle
and it made a nice polish.
- Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Time's up, gentlemen,
please stop working.
- It's a hell of a time.
[laughs]
- I don't know.
- I'm not feeling
as confident as I was
that I'll go to round three.
I hope they're really
blown away by the handle,
but they may be
a little concerned
that it's a little light
or lighter than the others.
[dramatic music]
- Smiths, welcome
to our strength test,
the dowel chop.
I'm gonna take
each of your blades
and attempt to chop through
these three
different-sized dowels.
I'll be doing ten chops
for each blade.
Ben, you're up.
Are you ready?
- I hope so.
I'm extremely nervous
to see how it's going to do
in the test.
I've seen J.
Swing a knife before,
and he can really
hurt some stuff.
[rock music]
♪
[inquisitive music]
- You did blow through that
first dowel pretty easily,
and you got about halfway
through the second one as well.
You do have
a couple burrs on your edge,
so maybe it's not quite as hard
as we would have liked,
but it did perform very well.
[rock music]
Tom, you're up.
You ready?
- I'm ready, sir.
♪
- Your edge held up beautifully.
Got right through
that first dowel no problem,
and I'd say probably
a third of the way
through the second one.
Good job.
- Thank you.
[inquisitive music]
- Brent, it's your turn.
Are you ready?
- Let's do it.
- Brent, it's your turn.
Are you ready?
- Let's do it.
My blade came out more thin
than the other blades,
so I'm a little concerned
my blade will bend or break.
[rock music]
♪
- Nice.
- Brent, you went through
that first dowel no problem.
Bit nicely into the second one,
but we definitely
have waves in the blade.
Your edge
is not straight anymore.
You got some serious ripples.
I'm gonna pass you off to Doug.
- Bladesmiths, to see
if your weapon held its edge,
I will cut through this fish.
Ben, you're up.
You ready?
- Let's make sushi.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Well, Ben, as you can see,
it sliced nicely
all the way through.
Your handle construction,
a little on the smaller side
but it felt good.
This, sir, will cut.
- Awesome.
- Tom, it's your turn.
You ready?
- I feel like my blade
will hold up real well.
It'll cut
what it's supposed to cut.
♪
- Well, Tom, cut nicely.
You actually got also a very
good recovery on your blade.
For this test, sir, it will cut.
- Thank you.
- Brent, you're up. You ready?
- Yes, indeed.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Brent, sliced through cleanly.
The balance feels good
'cause it's a lighter blade.
Your handle construction,
though beautiful,
a little bit
on the slippery side, though.
Overall though, it will cut.
- Yes.
[tense music]
- Bladesmiths,
unfortunately only two of you
may move forward
in to the final round
of competition.
It's time for one of you
to leave the forge.
♪
Brent, your blade
did not make the cut.
♪
- Brent, you came
into the second challenge
with an extreme warp
in your blade.
When you went to straighten,
you heated up the center section
and you lost
a lot of your hardness.
It's a cardinal sin.
When heating that spine,
you let that heat travel
all the way to the edge,
and that really puts
the strength of your blade's
edge in question.
You can see it compacting on
the edge from the strength test,
and that's why
we have to let you go.
- Brent,
please surrender your weapon.
♪
- I'm pretty disappointed
that I'm eliminated,
but ultimately, I agree
with the judges' decision.
My blade took the most damage
during the testing,
and that cutting edge
is the most important,
critical part of the blade.
♪
- Ben, Tom, congratulations.
You've made it to
the "Forged in Fire" final.
When you came here,
we asked you to use
our equipment and our tools
to forge a signature blade
of your own design,
and now we're sending you
back to your home forges
to re-create
an iconic weapon from history:
the khanda.
- Whoo!
- The khanda is a sword
that gained popularity
in medieval India
during the Gupta period
between 320 and 550 AD.
The word khanda is derived
from the Sanskrit wordkhand,
meaning to break,
divide, cut, or destroy.
Its wide, thick, straight blade
was not only used for thrusting,
but also as a hacking weapon.
When a Rajput warrior
was surrounded by the enemy,
he would pull out the khanda
and fight to the end
while swinging the blade
with both hands,
taking down as many enemies
as he could
in an honorable last stand.
It has to be an authentic,
working replica
of that deadly weapon.
- The mystery weapon's a khanda.
I think it's
a real do-able blade.
I believe I can produce one.
- The blades themselves
must fall within
the following parameters:
the length of the blade
must be between
29 and 31 inches,
and they must also
include a khanda guard.
- I'm extremely nervous having
to do a sword of that length,
knowing that they're gonna
put it through its paces
and I have to make something
pretty, tough,
and... tough.
- Gentlemen, you will have
five days at your home forge
to complete this challenge.
After the five days,
you will return to this forge
and present your khandas
to our judges
who will then put them through
a series of brutal tests.
Only after those tests
are completed
will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and the recipient
of the $10,000 check.
Bladesmiths, good luck.
[rock music]
♪
- So it's day one.
My strategy going into
building this blade
is that I'm going to make
a couple of test blades.
We're just making a smaller
billet of the same Damascus
so I can test out
some heat treating options
and see how tough I can make it,
'cause if anything breaks
I'd rather it be
this than the real one.
The most crucial part
of this build
is whatever I have to do
to get it through the testing.
I can make the prettiest thing
in the world.
If it snaps in two,
I'm gonna lose.
♪
[bleep]
That's horrible.
Perfectly horrible.
See the size of those grains?
They're like grains of sugar.
That's what we don't want.
And you saw how easily
it snapped.
See if we can fix it.
♪
- It feels good to be back home
where I have my own equipment.
There we go.
Today I'm gonna try and get
the shapes of the guard
and gettin' the blade ground.
The blade we had to make
is designed
for fightin' double-handed
and it had a big D-guard on it
and I'd never done that.
It's quite a awesome blade.
This blade is
a lot about balance
and not being heavy,
but being strong.
I've got to lighten
this blade way up.
♪
This is perfect.
A flaw in the steel.
That's bad news for this.
[dramatic music]
- So it's day three.
Yesterday was hot
and sweaty and tiring.
I got the sword drawn out
and shaped.
I got a lot of things
I have to get done,
and it's crucial that
all of them get done today
because I'm
running out of tomorrows.
[exhales sharply]
I'm gonna quench the sword.
♪
[giggles]
The quench went really well.
Very excited about that.
That makes for
a very tough blade.
Now I have to dive into
the handle.
The handle is nothing like
I've ever seen before.
There's a lot of parts and they
all have to fit together
and they're confusing handle.
♪
- It's day four.
I've got the blade ground.
Seems to be going real good,
and I'm gonna try
and get the handle
all put together before noon.
I'm gonna have to look
at a picture again
to see what kind of handle
I'm gonna end up
putting on this blade.
It's all I got to go by.
♪
I just noticed its D-guard
is turned the wrong way.
♪
Big mistake.
The D-guard should be here,
and I got it over here.
I don't know if I've got
enough time to change it.
[dramatic music]
I sure didn't dream
I'd be doing this.
[rock music]
- Today's day five.
My last ten hours
working on the sword.
I've just got to finish
grinding the blade.
After that I have to put
together a nice-looking handle
in a style that
I've never even seen before,
let alone made before.
Hardest part
of making this handle
is to get it all
to fit just right,
'cause it is a complex handle.
It's a lot of parts
that have to angle just right.
It's a lot more difficult
than I thought it would be.
I wrapped the handle in leather.
It'll bulk out the handle
and make it more comfortable
so that it really kind of
holds your hand snugly
and feels really good.
Holy cow.
What a long journey.
I am super proud of this weapon.
I don't know how big
of a bag of tricks Tom has,
but mine's pretty full,
and I've... I emptied it today.
♪
- That's correct.
I had several things wrong
with the D-guard yesterday.
I got it fixed,
and I hardened
and tempered this blade
but today I'm grinding my blade
and I notice it's way too soft.
I'm gonna have to
re-harden this.
There's a lot can go wrong
with the quench.
Your blade can crack.
[dramatic music]
I'm gonna ask God
to help me with this one.
♪
God answered my prayer.
It's pretty straight
if it'll just cool down.
I know this blade's gonna cut.
It's ready for the judges.
Ben is gonna contend
with a tough old dog.
♪
♪
- Tom, Ben,
welcome back to the Forge.
You've had five days at home
to work on your khandas.
Ben, how did it go?
- It's the longest blade
I've ever made,
and the grinding
was challenging,
but, uh,
I'm pretty happy
with the heat treat.
I'm excited to see...
Well, some of the testing.
- Tom, how'd it go?
- Well, it was more
than a challenge.
I spent a lot of time
on the guard.
The artwork isn't what
I'd like for it to be,
but I was thrilled to get
to bring a blade back to test.
- Well, gentlemen,
your weapons look fantastic,
but looks are secondary
to performance.
We will now be putting
each of your weapons
through three tests.
Doug?
- Bladesmiths,
this is a kill test.
To test the lethality
and function of your weapon,
I will take your weapon
and deliver three vertical chops
and then a slice.
Ben, you're up.
You ready?
- Guess so.
Let's do this.
I'm a little bit nervous.
There's a lot of bones in there,
but the sword is made to cut,
so let's see it cut.
♪
- Well, Ben, the damage
that your blade did
cut about six inches deep
into both shoulders,
and right through the spine.
On the horizontal slice,
it pretty much cut
all the way through.
It's got a good feel.
This, sir, will kill.
- Thank you.
- Tom, it's your turn.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
I don't like losing at all.
I like to win.
In the kill test,
I think it's do-able.
I really do.
♪
- Tom, it definitely cut in
about six inches deep
on the shoulders
and about eight inches
into the spinal column.
It cut halfway through
into the carcass.
Also feels good in balance
with the downward
vertical slice.
There was a slight bend
that's happening to your blade,
but...
it will kill.
Bladesmiths,
this is the sharpness test.
I will slash across
these bungee cords.
If your blade is sharp,
it should cut
all the way through.
If not, it may just push it
aside or bounce off.
Ben, you're up.
Are you ready?
- Sure.
At this point, I'm nervous.
I don't know.
I don't know if I'm gonna
cut through all of them
or if I'm gonna bounce off.
I have no idea.
♪
[bleep]
- Well, Ben,
your sword started to cut.
It cut a little bit,
but it did not cut through.
It feels good on the slice.
The handle is
very comfortable in the hand,
but once again,
it didn't cut through,
so it brings into question
the sharpness.
Tom, it's your turn.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
- Let's do this.
- I really feel comfortable
going into the test,
and I know this blade's
gonna cut.
I'm ready.
- Ooh.
- Well, Tom,
it did cut a little bit
into the bungee cord,
but then, as you can see...
- Yeah.
- The transference of energy
went all the way
back to the blade.
It wasn't sharp enough
to cut through,
and it bent your blade
which brings to question
the heat treatment
you did on your blade.
- Cut around corners now.
- It'll cut around corners
this time, right?
But, this particular case,
it will not cut, sir.
- When you don't have your
hardening and tempering right
on the blade,
you don't have anything.
- Gentlemen,
both of your weapons failed
in the sharpness test.
♪
Historically in battle,
blades bend.
Tom, we'd like to give you
the opportunity
to straighten your blade,
so that you can continue
with this fight.
However, we will be taking
that bend into consideration
when it comes to final judging.
- I understand.
Shoulda left it thicker,
but I'm not a quitter.
I'm gonna fight to the end.
[dramatic music]
- Okay, Tom,
you've straightened your blade.
We can continue with testing.
Dave.
- Gentlemen,
this is the strength test.
I'm gonna take five chops
into these copper pipes
and see how far through
we can split.
Ben, are you ready?
- Not at all. Yes.
The last thing I would bring
to a plumbing job is a sword,
so I'm just nervous that, uh,
the blade'll break,
just snap in two.
[exhales sharply]
[dramatic music]
♪
[exhales]
♪
- Well...
Ben, it's still one piece,
but barely.
And the... the dimensions
of your guard here
on my hand are perfect.
Your blade,
it's held up beautifully.
Nicely done.
- Thank you.
- So, Tom, your turn.
- Okay.
- All right.
- I'm really nervous
about the pipe cut.
I should have spent more time
on my blade,
'cause that's what counts
in the end.
- Now Tom, we do have
that bend in your blade
and we know there's at least
a soft section of that.
- Yeah.
- So as I'm cutting,
if I feel that there's
a point where it's unsafe,
I'm just gonna stop, all right?
- Okay.
♪
- So Tom,
what happened is we lost
a piece of the guard
right there.
- With the broken guard
and the bend earlier,
I feel it's unsafe to continue.
All right, thank you, Tom.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm disappointed.
I know I could do better,
but that's what happens
when you don't
use your time right.
♪
- Gentlemen, in just five days,
you've both done
an amazing amount of work
on your khandas,
but in this arena,
there can only be one
"Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
Ben...
you are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.
[upbeat rock music]
Tom, unfortunately,
your weapon
did not make the cut.
- Tom, as I said before,
your attention to detail
was spot-on.
It's just
that heat treat problem,
with that blade
bending the way it did,
well, that's why
we have to let you go.
- Tom, please surrender
your weapon.
- Well, I got to meet
some real nice craftsmen,
and, uh, I learned.
Don't let your age
slow you down.
You don't know how long you got.
- Ben, congratulations.
You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving
a check for $10,000.
Good job.
- Thank you.
- Most people get
guard sizing all wrong,
and the khanda has
a deceptively small guard.
You just hit it out of the park.
- Thank you.
It feels amazing to be the
"Forged in Fire" champion.
It's a wonderful validation
of a long time of knife-making
and I made new friends.
I made ten grand, right?
What more could you ask for?
♪