Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 1 - Champions Edition - Scottish Claymore - full transcript

- Over the last year,

the best bladesmiths in America

have put their skills
to the test...

- Hot metal!

- By going head-to-head here

here on "Forged in Fire."
- Oh.

- To this day, only 18 men have
earned the title of champion.

- Yes!

- Tonight,
for the first time ever

four of these elite craftsmen
return

for the ultimate competition.



- Oh, my God.
- Very short amount of time

for everything we got to do.

- Only one will take home
$10,000

and emerge the title

"Forged in Fire"
champion of champions.

- My name is Matthew Parkinson,
and I won the first episode

of "Forged in Fire."

I'm back in the Forge

because I want to test my skills

against people who have
also won.

I think I'm one of the best
in the world,

and I want to see
if I'm as good as I think I am.

- I'm Burt Foster.

I am a "Forged in Fire"
champion from season two.



It's easy to sit at home
on your couch

and watch the show and say,
"I can do better than that guy."

And there's no better challenge

than going up against guys

who have already won themselves.

But putting yourself here,

you take a risk.

'Cause you could come off
looking like a fool.

- My name is Ben Abbott.

Since I won "Forged in Fire,"

I have a lot more
Facebook friends.

I'm more nervous this time
because I know I'm up against

other people who have won
their shows.

That just means that the game
is gonna get harder.

Plus I didn't get
much sleep last night,

so it's all kinda dreamy.

- My name is Salem Straub.

I am a sixth grade
spelling bee champ

and a "Forged in Fire" champ.

After my win in season two,
if I have an advantage

going into this competition,
it's gonna be mind-set.

I am focused entirely
on the task at hand.

My skills can pull me through
and get me a win.

- Bladesmiths,
welcome back to the Forge.

Each of you has won
his respective competition

to become
a "Forged in Fire" champion.

Now we want to see
who stands out

by engaging you in
another three rounds

of edged weapon-making
competition

specifically designed to push
your skills even further.

And as usual,
at the end of each round,

you will present your work
to our panel of expert judges:

ABS Mastersmith
J. Neilson,

historic weapons re-creation
specialist David Baker,

Kali martial artist
Doug Marcaida.

Ultimately, they decide
which of you

is the "Forged in Fire"
champion of champions

and leaves here with another
check for $10,000.

If you thought your first visit
to this forge was tough,

you haven't seen anything yet.

This season,
our challenges are bigger

and even more complicated.

In our first round,

you'll be using these.

Each of you will have
a thin bar of high carbon steel

and a length
of lower carbon steel.

Your first round challenge
is to combine those two steels

using an inlay technique
to forge a signature blade.

Keep in mind
in the second round,

you will have to craft a handle
and attach it to your blades,

turning them into fully
functional weapons

that will then be tested
in a rope slice,

and hammering through
a 12-inch nail.

- We need to inset
the high carbon steel

into the round steel,

so you start by making
kind of a knife,

and then you inset the steel

and then you continue
making a knife.

So it's quite a process.

I'm terrified.

- Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your ten-minute
design period starts...

now.

- This should be fun to watch.

- This is gonna be
an interesting challenge.

- So what makes this challenge
so complicated?

- It's the way
you proceed with it.

When these guys
do their heat treat,

if their welds
aren't set properly,

they could literally pop that
whole high carbon steel edge

right out of there
if the welds fail.

- Golly.

You will need to forge
a locomotive,

so we're gonna make sure
we give you enough steel.

So I decide to make
this Appalachian camp knife.

I designed this long,
tapered point

because this isn't an ax.
This isn't a chopper.

This is gonna be
a light, fast knife.

I usually don't make knives
for cutting nails.

- Yeah.
- So I'm not sure

what that design is.

You could buy bolt cutters.

If this knife actually works,

this is gonna cut
somebody's hopes and dreams

of going on to the next round.

- I'm about 12 inch.

I'm assuming that's length,
not width,

- You're my hero if you can make
any of these 12 inches wide.

- I'm gonna make
a competition-style chopper

with a full tang.

Not a lot of point,
a lot of choppiness.

It seems well-suited
to the tasks

that are gonna be asked of it.

- So Matt was our season one
episode one winner

with a katana.

- Split bullets.
- Engage.

- His katana,
absolutely beautiful work.

- It's always exciting and
prideful to win something,

but I want to be known as
the "Forged in Fire"

champion's champion.
That'd be pretty cool.

- I want my design to stand out,

so I go with a bolo-style knife.

A little bit light at the tip,

but a forward curve and some
forward weight in the belly.

Doug is Pinoy, so, you know,

this is like
a Filipino knife style,

so maybe I'm just sucking up
to the judge, who knows?

- Here's what I remember
about Salem:

smooth, doesn't get rattled,

and he just maintains
that nice, even pace.

- Do you remember the task,
whacking into those femurs?

- Oh, yeah.

- His Khopesh was just throwing
bone chips left and right.

And at the same time,
it felt good in my hand.

A nice, forward weight like you
want in a chopping blade.

Excellent.

- I decide to make
a competition cutter.

I think that it's gonna
do well on the rope cut

and if I put a correct edge
on it,

it'll do all right
cutting through a big nail.

- If you recall, Ben,
last season,

did an inlay of softer steel

and hardened steel on the edge.

- And Ben can say,
"Been there, done that,"

in competition.

- Bladesmiths, your design
window is now closed.

Your three-hour forge time
starts...

now.

- Oh.

The evil clock has begun again.

- Yes, it has.

- Going into this challenge,
my confidence level

is pretty high.

I need to take that big piece
of low carbon steel

and I need to flatten it out
and widen it out

so that I can eventually
fold it around,

sort of like a taco shell,

and then insert that high carbon
piece into the center of it.

- Last season,
Burt made that Shotel

with the lateral Damascus
pattern.

- Burt's blade, to me,
was one of the most balanced,

sharp weapons I've ever wielded.

- That blade was perfect.

- You waiting on the hammer,
Burt?

- We all are.
- Yeah.

- I end up having to use
a lot of different tools.

I ended up having to do
some of it in the press

'cause the power hammer
was pretty well occupied.

It's a dance, it's a bit
of a dance between everybody.

Especially when there's only
one pretty girl to dance with

and it's blue.

- This time around in the Forge,

is a much harder challenge.

There's a lot
of stiff competition.

Everybody else I felt like
I had a fair chance against,

but I'm not sure with Burt.

- Come on, heat up, darn it.

The method that I'm using is,
like, wrapping the core

in a u-shaped, kind of, taco.

The tortilla of this taco
has gotta be the mild steel.

I'm making a Japexican taco.

It's like a fusion food.

You know, it's a Japanese style

with, like,
a Mexican construction.

It's like the sushi burrito
of knives.

- You can see Matthew,

he's got his forge
all blocked off.

So he's maximizing the heat
in there.

- Yeah, and that's what
you want to do.

I mean, you only got
three hours on that clock.

You want to take advantage
of every second you can.

- As soon as that steel's
up to temperature,

I run to the hammer
and I start, you know,

drawing it out and get it down
as thin as I can

as fast as I can.

I definitely feel like
we're all neck and neck here.

It's turn for turn
on the hammer and press,

and that's a little bit tight.

- How are we feeling, man?
- It's coming along.

- Right on.

- Everyone else is doing sort of

the same thing that I did
on the first show I was on.

I decided on
a different strategy.

I'm trying to actually
cut the channel

and insert the steel that way.

- Interestingly, Ben is not
doing the taco technique

like the other three are, right?
- Right.

- Does that put him
at a disadvantage?

- It's slowing him down.

Whether it puts him
at a disadvantage or not,

we gotta see how he proceeds
from here.

I love tacos,
but three tacos is enough.

I don't want to see four.

I want to see something
different.

- I think there'll be less
carbon migration,

so the edge will end up harder

because it's not touching
the mild steel.

It makes me a little nervous
to look around

and see everyone finish
their forge welds

and are starting to make a knife

and I still haven't set my weld.

What's the name of the show?
"Floor On Fire"?

- Gentlemen,

you have two hours remaining!

- I'm gonna spray an ungodly
amount of spark.

- Oh, we got sparks
flying today.

- I like this.

- I feel going up against Burt,

it's more than likely I'm gonna
get my ass handed to me,

but it's a challenge.

Challenge accepted.

- Now Ben just set his weld,
he goes to the hammer.

How's it going?

- Good, man, how are you doing?
- I'm warm.

- Yeah.
- Does it feel warm in here?

- No, it's just you.
- Just me?

- Yeah.
- Hot flashes.

- Going through menopause?
- Yeah.

- The temperature is insane.

So down there
next to those forges,

it has to be exhausting.

- Every time I put the steel
in the forge,

I have to step back
about ten feet

because all four of those forges
lined up right there,

it's about 50 degrees
hotter there

than it is anywhere else.

If I had to do this
every day in my shop,

I'd be dead in a year.

I mean, there's no way
I could maintain this pace.

- I absolutely feel like I need
to be on the top of my game

and then just try to go
a little bit past that

in order to compete
with these guys.

- Salem has just done something
very interesting.

He just laddered all the way
down his billet.

What's his intention?

- He's patterning
his forge weld.

- Okay.
- Which is a really nice touch.

- What I want to do
is make the actual line

where the core steel
meets the jacket steel

be more dynamic.

You know,
trying to kick it up a notch.

- These guys know
they're up against

"Forged in Fire" champions.
- Right.

Everybody's game gets elevated.

One hour.

Bladesmiths, you have only
one hour remaining.

- I'm looking at Matt, and
Matt's looking pretty worn out.

- Yeah, Matt looks like somebody
threw a bucket of water on him.

- I feel like I'm getting
super hot and I'm overheated

and I'm starting
to get fatigued.

This is the worst forge weld
I've done in years.

I'm not pushing the steel

nearly as fast as I normally do.

- He's trying to lance
that bubble

on the side of his blade.

Steel's on the floor.

You can just see the exhaustion
starting to build up.

- I'm a little bit worried
about Matt.

- I'm not feeling so good.

I'm start to have trouble
breathing.

And I feel like
I can't catch my breath.

- Matt's, like,
almost white right now.

- This competition means a lot
to me,

but I don't want to die.

- Matt has been out
well past ten minutes now.

- Yeah.
- I'm concerned.

- Yeah, so am I.

- As I sit outside,
all I can think of is

this is gonna cost me
the competition.

I need to get back inside.

I need to... I need to go finish
that knife.

I need to get it ground.

- With Matt not being here
and that much time lost,

it could affect him.

If the other blades here are
finished and his blade isn't,

it could count against him.
- Right, right, absolutely.

- I feel the precursors
of asthma.

- Yeah.
- It's, like, heavy.

So bad.
I have problems breathing.

- Burt is quenched.

- Burt's quite ahead
of the game.

He's already shaped his blade.
- Any concerns?

- Not with Burt.

- Matt's coming back in.
- There he is.

- Hey!
- All right.

- Which is good,
that's what I want to see.

- There you go, a little bit
of a smile and an eye raise.

- I'm just hoping that
that doesn't cost him

this competition.

- My whole life I've had asthma.

You have to just grind through
and do whatever I need to do

to finish the knife.

I'm behind
and I need to move fast.

- Bladesmiths,

you have only
five minutes remaining!

- The clock is running out,
and I looked up

and noticed the cutting edge
came out super crooked.

And I just go right back
in the forge,

heat it back up again,
put it back on the anvil,

try to straighten it.

Get it back in the forge,
heat it back up,

quench it again.

- So Burt's in the oil
for his second quench.

- In doing so,
do you run the risk

of warping your blade again?
- Oh, yeah.

You run the risk of warping it.

You run the risk
of delamination.

- Huge risk.

- You just hate to see somebody
come this far along

do a second quench and something
goes terribly wrong.

- Yeah.

- Bladesmiths, 15 seconds.

Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Stop your work.
Stop your work.

- Ooh.
- Yeah, buddy.

- Wow.
- Oh, man.

- Once it's over,
the thing that concerns me

is looking at my competitors
and realizing

that the knives
that they finished

are really good-looking.

I wish I could just throw
this away and start over,

but the red clock on the wall
says I can't.

- It was a bit more
of a challenge this time,

but almost dying's a pretty
good excuse for not, like,

you know, doing my best work.

- Bladesmiths,
it's now time for the judges

to evaluate your work.

Salem, please present your
weapon to the judges.

- I love the recurve on this.
It worked really well.

It's very clean.

- Salem, you've turned in
beautiful work.

The lines, very clean.

And it's got a really good feel
to it.

- Ben, please present your work
to the judges.

- Ben, you had us
sweating at a point,

but you got it in there.

You got it set up,
and your steel's beautiful.

Everything's nice and tight.

- Burt, please present
your blade.

- A nice feel to it.
Nice weight to it.

But there's a couple of things...

Teeny little delamination
right there.

And then another one
on the other side

right here that in the
tempering just opened up

a little bit more.

- I needed to leave something
to do in the second round.

- That's what I thought.

Just to throw a little jeopardy
into the mix.

- Matt, please present
your blade.

- I like the design.

Do you notice down here
in the choil...

- Yeah, there's a little
delamination there.

- That's the junction between
the blade and the handle.

That's the spot
that would concern me

more than anything else.

- The steel passes through

and since it's just
the outer lamination,

I'm not as concerned about it.
- Okay.

- Bladesmiths,
because you're all champions

and have done
such fantastic work,

the judges need some time
to make a final decision.

- It's a fun challenge, though.

- It wasn't fun.
What, are you crazy?

That was awful.
- Well.

- I really have no idea
who's going home.

- We have to send
one of these guys home.

Are there blades here
that are moving forward?

No doubt in your mind.
- Ben and Salem.

Just by looking at them,
you can see there aren't

any structural issues
with Ben or Salem's steel.

- Okay, let's go ahead
and take a look at Burt's blade.

- Burt's got a nice blade here.
He's got some wiggle.

And we saw he was having
some issues.

Looked like he had
some delamination issues

or something like that.

- Is that a...
Is that a crack right there

on the spine of Burt's blade?

- Oh, yes, it is.

That's a big problem.

A good three to four inches
down the spine.

- Wow.

- I wonder if it's from
constantly heating

and going back into the fire
trying to fix those inclions.

- Right.

And then finally, Matt's blade.

I know that Matt
had some issues.

He left the Forge floor
for 15 minutes,

but he turned in
a finished blade.

- I felt so awful so early on.

Just getting that done and
putting that knife on the table

is like a victory.

- There was some possible cracks
right here.

Is that a fatal flaw?

- So I think that might just be
a delamination.

I don't see it coming through,

and I don't see it
on the other side,

so that could be removed.

- All right, judges,
one of these bladesmiths

has to go home.

Doug, have you made a decision?

- Yes, I have.
- Dave?

- Yes, sir.
- J.?

- Yes.

- Lets go tell our smiths.

Gentlemen, the judges have
poured over the details

and made a final decision.

It's time for one
of you champions to go home.

Burt, your blade
did not make the cut.

- I can't believe
we're sending home Burt Foster.

You know, Burt,
you do fantastic work.

You've been doing fantastic work
for years.

I mean, you always impress.

But when we looked
a little closer,

you've got a large crack going
down the clip of your blade.

We have to let you go.

- Burt, you'll always be
a "Forged in Fire" champion,

but today, I have to ask you
to please surrender your weapon

and leave the Forge.

- I didn't lose so much
as I got beaten.

I mean, the other three guys
had cleaner knives

with fewer problems than I did,

so I would have made
the same decision.

I knew this was gonna be
a tough competition,

so I gave it everything I had
and I got no regrets.

When I came here
the first time, as I left,

I said, "Kids, don't
be afraid to take risks."

But that's easy to say
when you win.

So I'm going home
in the first round,

and I'll still say it,
kids, take risks.

It's worth it.

- Champions, congratulations.

You made it through
the first round

and you're on to round two.

As you know, in this round,
you must attach a handle

to your blades using the range
of materials provided to you,

turning them into
fully functional weapons.

You may use this time
to address any flaws or issues

you have with your blades
that remain from round one.

What you don't know

is that you will be
required to use

two separate handle materials
on your blades.

In addition to that,
you will also have to provide

an acid-etched design
on the surface of your blades.

Acid-etching is a process
where a smith exposes

portions of their blade's
surface to an acid bath,

leaving a pattern burn
directly into the metal itself.

- Acid etching
is a laborious process

and there's not a lot of time.

- Your finished weapons
will then be tested

for strength and sharpness

by cutting through
a two-inch rope

and hammering through
a 12-inch nail.

You will have three hours
for this round.

Your time starts... now.

- And here we go.

- Black Micarta.

- Sa-weet.

- I'm feeling much better.

I'm not having
any asthma issues right now.

- I think Matt's trying to clean
up his mistakes on that blade.

- Well, you know that 15 minutes
that he lost in round one,

he's gotta somehow bring
his blade quality up.

- As I start grinding the blade,
I'm like,

"Just please don't find
any more voids."

As I grind the blade, I start
seeing the little telltales

and find a couple of voids.

I am pretty certain that if
I wasn't feeling so awful,

that wouldn't have happened.

None of them are in
a critical spot,

but they're not ideal.

You have to accept
that you can't go back

and fix everything.

Just keep grinding and get it
as far as I possibly can

in what time I have left.

- It's a very short amount of
time for everything we gotta do.

I chose black paper Micarta
for the front of the grip

and burl wood
for the rest of the handle.

- I like, you know,
lighter woods contrasting

with black up front.

- Who is it?
- How can you joke

at a time like this?

- Bladesmiths,
one hour has elapsed.

You have two hours remaining
to finish your work.

- Not enough time.

- There's never enough time.

- We'll take an extra hour,
please.

Right now,
I'm opening up the hole

to try to get the tang
of the knife in it.

I'm gonna do a through-tang,
which means the tang

goes all the way through
the knife, out the back.

So I decided to go with
a brass guard,

a wooden handle,
and a brass butt cap.

Get your together.

- He's doing a butt cap,
won't be connected to the tang,

but it'll be a part of the
handle that'll counterbalance

the weight of the blade.
- Okay.

- Nice, man.
- Giggity.

- That's gonna be good.
- It'll be something.

Some of the things you can use
for resist from acid

include nail polish.

All right, so I'm certainly
never gonna be a manicurist.

When it dries,
it will resist the acid

and leave a shiny spot
where it was,

and the rest of the blade
is gonna go dull gray.

Hey, guys, I can't do any work
for five minutes.

I just did my nails.

I pull it out of the etching

and I can clearly see
the pattern that I had drawn

with the nail polish.

The rest of it
was a little bit muddied.

I'd rather have seen a hamon
line a little bit more clearly,

but it looked pretty good
and I was happy with it.

- Bladesmiths, you have just
one hour remaining

to finish your work.

- Come on.

- This is where my lack
of ability in spelling

is a detriment to my career.

I'm not feeling real confident
about how that knife looks,

so I decided to etch
"homeward bound"

across the other side
of the knife

'cause it's got
a double meaning.

I'm either going home

to spend five days on a project

or I'm going home with nothing.

I grab Micarta
and some Kirinite.

It was about the same thickness

and I kinda liked
the way it looked.

Beautiful.
Perfect.

I can't fix the things
that I really want to fix

because I'd have to go back
in time,

but I can at least
clean the rest of the epoxy off

and, you know, add a
little bulk to the handle

with a handle wrap.

- You are down to your last
30 minutes.

- I'm just grinding, like,
way more aggressively

than I normally would because
this round is really hectic.

And, like, every time
I turn around,

the clock is short on minutes.

- Get it etched, get it etched.
- Damn.

- Go, go, go.
- Ten minutes.

You have ten minutes remaining.

- Oh, crap.

If I don't get the acid-etch
thing nailed,

the judges are gonna cut me.

You using this torch, man?
- Nope, help yourself.

- Thanks, man.
- Yeah.

- You are down to your last
five minutes.

- Sharp knife coming through.

You can do it.

90 seconds left on the clock,
and, you know,

maybe I should be thinking
that I'm screwed, I just...

I can't go there
because fear is the mind-killer.

- Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Stop your work.
Your time is up.

Drop the mic.

- Oh, my God.

I think at this point,
it's anybody's game.

The whole thing is gonna come
down to who can cut a nail

with the least amount
of damage to their blade.

- Bladesmiths, welcome to
our strength test, the nail cut.

What I'm gonna do is take
each of your knives,

and I'm gonna hammer them
into these 12-inch spikes

three times in three different
points on the blade edge.

Not only gonna test
the strength and durability

of your blade's edge,
but the overall strength

of your blade in general.

Salem, you're up first.
Are you ready?

- Yeah, buddy.
- Let's get to i

- Salem, you're up first.
Are you ready?

- Yeah, buddy.
- Let's get to it.

- Well, Salem, we had a little
handle malfunction here.

There's a lot of shock
traveling through this blade.

So that stress traveling down

just fraured it off right there.

But on the plus side,
your blade held up beautifully.

- Thanks.
- Nice.

- Ben, you ready?
- I guess.

- Ben, it held up very well.

Everything's still solid,
still sturdy.

You do have deflection,
a little deformation,

a little wiggle there,
but nothing broke loose.

And everything's still sharp,
still sturdy.

Nicely done.
- Thank you.

You ready, Chuckles?

Break it.

- Matt, the edge held up
for the most part,

but it looks like a mouse
was nibbling on it a little bit.

Overall though,
everything stayed together.

It felt comfortable in hand,
so nicely done.

All right, smiths, well done.

Next we're gonna move on
to the sharpness test.

What we're gonna do
is take each of your blades

and I'm gonna do three strikes
through this two-inch rope.

And this is really gonna test
how your edge held up

from the strength test.

Salem, you're up first again.

- Let's slice and dice.

- Well, Salem, you made it
about halfway through the rope.

I mean, we got a good cut
from the length

and the weight of the blade
striking,

but it wasn't biting as much
as I would have liked.

Ben, what are you thinking?
- I'm ready.

- Sounds good.
I like hearing that.

- Get it.
Aww!

Come on.

- Ben, so close.
Aww.

- One more hit.
- The blade feels good.

It felt good swinging through.

Since it's so wide on the spine,

it would get part of the way
through

and just start slowing down
and dragging somewhat.

But that's really close.
Nicely done, that was good.

- Thank you.

- And you.
- Yeah.

- Nice.
- Hell, yeah!

- Well, Matt,
I gotta say nice job.

I can even see some of the fiber
from the rope

caught in that first chip.

It felt good.

It was light, it was thin.
It bit in very well.

Overall, nicely done.
- Thank you.

- Bladesmiths, the judges
have made their final decision

and unfortunately, it's time
for one of you to go home.

- Salem, your blade
did not make the cut.

- Salem, I think your knife's
design is fantastic.

The steel you made, beautiful.

But between the failure
in the handle,

And that polished edge
not being able to cut the rope,

well, that's just adding up
to send you home.

- Salem, I have to ask you
to surrender your weapon

and leave the Forge.

- I never consider a loss
to be a complete wash

because I've learned something
and, you know,

it's just another
necessary experience.

I'm gonna go home, and I have to
turn around and fly to Texas

and officiate
a friend's wedding.

I'm a man who forges
weapons and tools.

From here I will be going forth
to forge a union

between two people.

- Matt, Ben,
you've been here before.

You know the deal.

We're sending you home

to recreate an iconic weapon

from history.

However, there's a twist.
- Of course.

- You knew there would be.

Because you are both
"Forged in Fire" champions,

we have decided to bring back
an extremely challenging weapon.

The Scottish Claymore.

- Claymore! Yay. Joy.

- This massive two-handed sword was wielded

by Scottish Highlanders
as early as 1490.

Made famous
in modern pop culture

by the film "Braveheart,"
its impressive size and length

made it a fearsome weapon.

The Claymore is easily
recognizable

by its quatrefoil cross guard
and angled arms.

Due to its large size,
the heavy sword

was usually swung
with two hands.

It was so deadly, it was
nicknamed the slaughter sword

by the English who faced it
on the battlefield.

Because of its prowess,
the Claymore was a mainstay

of the Scottish army
for nearly two centuries.

Bladesmiths, this is an
extremely difficult sword

to make, as proven last season
when both of our finalists

suffered catastrophic
blade failure.

- We want you to make something
unique and creative

that only you can make
that shows us

the work of a champion
amongst champions.

Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.

- Good luck, man.
- Good luck, man.

Today I'm starting on
the Scottish Claymore.

I've built these before, I'm not
worried about building it.

I'm worried about building it
in the time.

This is a lot of sword to make
in five days.

Today I'm gonna start
forging the blade out.

And I'm gonna start forging
out my billet

for my Damascus fitting.

I figured that
I can make Damascus

for the guards and fittings,
and it'll be a beautiful sword

that's still gonna outperform
pretty much anything else

that can be put next to it.

The only thing
I'm really worried about

right now is the heat.

It was 90, 100 degrees
in the shop today.

I could have another
asthma attack,

and I'm really actually
kinda fearing that.

- Today I plan to get two
billets of Damascus welded up.

Hopefully twisted,
may be welded to each other.

It'll be a good day if I can get
all three of those things done.

The big forge just wasn't
working right.

It was coughing and spitting,
so I had to retire it

and just do everything
in the smaller forge.

It's tougher to work
with a smaller forge

'cause it's not as hot.

I'm five hours in, I haven't
even gotten the metal

to start making the sword yet,
so...

It's just one of those setbacks
that could really bite you.

- The plan today, first thing is
to profile it, grind it,

get that thing into heat
treat as fast as possible.

I just grind. I'm grinding
and grinding and grinding,

and I'm trying to get as much
done as I can.

And then I run into
a major issue.

- I just grind.

I'm grinding
and grinding and grinding,

and I'm trying to get as much
done as I can.

And then I run into
a major issue.

There is a little thin spot that
I didn't mean to put in there.

I'm just chasing it.

It's getting thinner and thinner
and thinner.

Just gonna have to go with it,
though,

'cause it's not
flexing weird there.

It just looks weird.

But when you're under
a time crunch and you rush,

it's what happens.

Let's just say I made that
traditionally thin.

- So it's the beginning
of day three,

and I finally got the blade
drawn out

and ready for heat treat.

This is the largest quench
I've ever done.

It's making me quite nervous.

I'm adding salt to make sure
it's the right height

when I put the sword in.

My major concern
with the quench today

I have to watch for warping
and any kind of twisting.

You know, it's a big,
long blade.

A tiny, little twist, you can
almost corkscrew the thing.

So I just have to be
really careful.

I'm very happy. The quench
seemed to go really well.

Sword is still straight.
It's a good day.

- So yesterday, I got the sword
rough assembled.

I got the handle core fit
and guard cropped out.

I'm feeling pretty confident
I'm gonna get done

and I am exhausted.

There's two ways to
become rich as a knifemaker.

Start with a small fortune
or start with a large one.

And I'm not a rich person, so...

$10,000 would definitely help.

That was me.

So I suck cutting
with a two-handed sword.

I think my sword is capable

of cutting much better
than that.

We'll see what happens.

- It's day five.
At the end of last night,

I was very, very happy
with my progress.

Pulling a sword out of etch
for the first time

is one of my favorite parts.

I hose it down
and I get my first glimpse

of the pattern
that's in that blade.

Absolutely gorgeous.

And I've got a long list
of things that I need to do.

It's just time to get to work.

I kinda feel like
a surrogate mother.

I spent an entire week
making this thing,

and putting my blood, sweat,
and tears into it.

But I think
I made something amazing.

Can't imagine
what would beat it.

- Ben, Matt,
welcome to the Gun Range.

- I'm thinking Ben is terrified

with the idea of somebody
shooting his sword.

I was the first time, too,
so I understand.

- Matt, tell us a little bit
about your sword.

- So I did a 57 1/2-inch
Claymore, 43-inch blade.

There's full takedown
construction

with a carnelian inset.

- Ben, tell us a little bit
about your Claymore.

- It's a 40 1/2-inch blade
of maiden hair Damascus.

The cross guard and pommel
are wrought-iron anchor chain.

And I inlaid a little bit
of 24-karat gold

for some panache.

Nice.

Well, bladesmiths,

your weapons will now
be subjected to three tests.

First up is the strength test.

As you can see,
we've brought back a test

worthy of a champion's blade;

bullet splitting.

Each of your blades
will be locked into a vice,

then we'll fire a single round
at your blades

to test their edge retention
and strength.

If your weapons are strong,

it should split the bullet
no problem.

If they're not strong, well,

your blade
could shatter entirely.

Good luck.
Matt, you're up first.

- I'm feeling pretty good
about my sword.

This is exactly the same
heat treat I did last time,

and it held up perfectly fine.

- Three, two, one, engage.

- , yeah.
- Nice.

- You got a couple of little
dimples on the edge there.

Just a little bit dulled, but
everything help up beautifully.

Good job, Matt.
- Thank you.

- Ben, you're up.
Are you ready?

- Sure, let's do it.
- Let's get it ready.

- I can hear my heart beat.
It's terrifying.

I just don't want this thing
to snap in two.

- Three, two, one, engage.

- Nice.
- There we go.

- Yeah, that sucker
just fragmented.

- Well, Ben...

the only problem I can see
is, uh,

it rubbed a little bit
of your etch off.

Did nothing at all to the blade.

Edge is still perfect.
- Thank you.

- All right, next up
is the sharpness test.

And I'm gonna hand you over
to Dave for that.

- Gentlemen, the Scottish
Claymore, as you know,

was a brutal weapon
on the battlefield.

So to test the sharpness
of your blades,

I'm gonna take a single blow
through both these front legs

of the horse,
simulated with sugarcane.

If your blades are sharp,
they should pass right through.

Matt, you're up.
Are you ready?

- Yeah.
Kill the horse.

- Matt, this weapon
is so amazingly light...

and flexible as well

that when I hit,
there was no resistance.

It literally passed
right through the legs.

I was through them
before I knew it.

Well done, Matt.
Really well done.

Ben, you ready?
- Let's do it.

- All right,
let's give it a try.

- Matt made a light, thin blade.

It cut through the sugarcane
like it wasn't even there.

My blade is a little heavier.

I'm pretty nervous
that it might get stuck,

but we'll see.

- Ben, you ready?
- Let's do it.

- All right,
let's give it a try.

- Oh.

- He's still down.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Well, Ben, it cut cleanly
through the first leg.

Kind of bogged down on
the second leg, unlike Matt's.

And I have a feeling it's the
width of the profile up here,

just slowing it down a bit.

But I don't think that horse
is running ever again.

Nicely done, Ben.

Next up is the kill test.

For that, I'm gonna
hand you over to Doug.

- Bladesmiths,
this is the kill test.

To see how lethal
your blades are,

I will take your Claymore,

and I will try to cut through
these pig carcasses

with one chop.

As you know last season,

both Claymores suffered
catastrophic failures

on this very test.

Let's see how much lethal damage
your blades can do.

Matt, you're up first.
Are you ready?

- Go for it.
- Let's do this.

- It didn't break.
That's the important part.

- Matt, I love the feel
of your blade.

It feels very comfortable
in the hands.

It's very easy to maneuver.

It was sharp enough
to cut through

in terms of lacerating,
but it's just so flexible,

it didn't go through.

For this test, sir,

it will not kill.

- I'm pissed at that pig
right now.

- Ben, you're up next.
Are you ready?

- Hope so.
- Let's do this.

- Ben, this blade just sliced

all the way through
that carcass.

It's flexible,
it's got a good feel to the cut.

This, sir, will kill.

- Thanks.
- Good job.

- All right, bladesmiths,

you've given the judges
a lot to talk about.

We're gonna have to go back
to the Forge and deliberate.

We'll see you there.
Thank you.

Matt, Ben, welcome back.

The judges have evaluated
your weapon's performance

and construction.

It was difficult, but they've
made their final decision.

Before I continue,
they have something

they'd like to say
to both of you.

Doug?

- Ben, from the fit and finish
of your blade,

the gold inlays,
the beautiful pattern Damascus

that's razor sharp.

It's only highlighted
with its performance

of strength in the kill test.

It cut right through

where in the past, that big
carcass has destroyed blades.

Well done.
- Thank you very much.

- J.?

- Matt, you're our very first
"Forged in Fire" champion ever.

And you keep bringing us
that championship quality

and especially in this piece.

I mean, every aspect of it
is beautiful.

That steel in that blade
is just incredible.

Having a blade that size
flexing 90 degrees plus

and coming back to true,
that's just amazing.

- Gentlemen, both of your
weapons are bulletproof,

they're sharp,
and they're deadly,

but today, there can only be one
"Forged in Fire" champion.

Ben, congratulations.

You are our first two-time
"Forged in Fire" champion.

Great job.

Matt, unfortunately, your
Claymore did not make the cut.

- Matt, your Claymore,
it's fabulous to wield.

The only issue was the flex
was so great

that it didn't transfer
the energy into the target.

And that's the reasony.

- Matt, I have to ask you
to surrender

your Scottish Claymore.

- I'm a "Forged in Fire"
champion.

That's never gonna go away.

I don't feel like I failed
in this.

I don't feel like I'm a loser
in this or anything.

I just feel like
Ben did slightly better.

And that's awesome.

- Ben, you are our first
and only

two-time "Forged in Fire"
champion.

You will also be receiving
that check for 10 grand.

- Your Claymore is a thing
of beauty,

not only to look at,
but to wield.

I'm at a loss for words.

- Thank you very much.
- Good job.

- Oh, my God!

I am the "Forged in Fire"
champion of champions.

I can't believe it.

The people I was competing
against are so good.

To actually come out
and win this thing,

it's absolutely amazing.