Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 3 - Forged in Fire - full transcript

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- For two seasons,

America's
most talented bladesmiths

have faced off
in the ultimate competition...

- Getting pretty hot
in the kitchen.

- Making some of history's
deadliest weapons.

Now, with the stakes
higher than ever,

a new batch of bladesmiths
entered the Forge

to test their skills.

- Whoa, whoa, watch out,
watch out, watch out.

- Only one will take home
$10,000...

- Whoo!



- And be crowned
"Forged in Fire" champion.

- My name's Harry Burdett.

I've been forging blades
for 15 years.

I teach jewelry and
metalsmithing classes.

It's important to remember
the original technology,

learning with our hands,

and passing on a craft is
kind of a responsibility.

- My name is Michael Hoops.

I've been bladesmithing
for about seven years.

I'm a big consumer
of "Dungeons and Dragons."

I think that is probably
one of the big reasons

that I went to bladesmithing.

- My name's Andy Alm.
I'm 27 years old.

I've been bladesmithing
for about 12 years.



As well as bladesmithing,
I worked in radio

for about seven years
as a news broadcaster.

Weather on the eights,
guaranteed.

- My name is Shayne Carter,
I'm 55 years old.

I started shoeing horses
at the age of 13 with my father.

Once you learn how to forge
a piece of iron,

it's endless where
that journey will take you.

- Good morning, bladesmiths,
and welcome to the Forge.

You're here to engage
in three rounds of competition

specifically designed to test
every aspect

of your edged weapon-making
capabilities,

from design to forge
to fit and finish.

At the end of each round
you'll be presenting your work

to our panel of expert judges.

First up, joining
our "Forged in Fire" family

for the first time

while J. Neilson recovers
from hand surgery

is a man known the world over
for his exceptional blades...

Mastersmith Jason Knight.

Next, historic weapons
re-creations specialist

David Baker,

and last, edged weapons
specialist Doug Marcaida.

They decide which of you will be
the "Forged in Fire" champion

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

Today's challenge,
you'll be working with these.

Brand-new tools.

What do you think, Shane?

- It's looking
a little rough there.

- Right, it's not rough enough,
'cause this is "Forged in Fire."

- Now we're talking.

- What the hell am I
supposed to do with this?

- Your first challenge
is to take

at least one
of these old materials

and combine it
with one of these new tools,

and to forge a blade
in your signature style.

Keep in mind
that in the second round

you'll be putting handles
on your blades,

turning them
into fully functional weapons

that will then be tested
for strength and durability

in a bone marrow chop,

and for sharpness
in a sandbag slice.

The blades themselves must fall
within the following parameters.

The length of the blade,
not including the tang,

must be between 10
and 12 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 forge your blades.

Your ten minute design window
starts now.

- Many bad things.

I'm gonna grab a canister.

It's gonna be
on the outside of the blade.

The inside is gonna be
all band saw blades.

All right, where's my paper?

I'm designing a camp knife.

I need to make a knife
to perform.

It has to look good,
but it's more important

that it performs well.

- For my blade, I've decided
to use a crowbar, a chisel,

and some old band saw blades.

I'm gonna make a kopis.

This is an ancient Greek weapon.

It's got a big belly that
leans forward into the cut.

That's the main part

that's gonna be doing
all the chopping,

and that should leave
plenty of tip

in order to stay sharp enough
for the slicing test.

- I'm watching these guys,
and he's got a lot of...

I don't know what all he's...
He's got a crowbar.

I don't know if he wants
to break into a place

or make a knife out of it.

I'm gonna take the crowbar,
which is new steel,

and I'm gonna take
the coiled springs,

which is old steel.

So I've chosen a
recurve design for the fact

that it's a great chopper
and it slices well.

- I'm designing
a camp style knife.

I'm going for the axe

and a couple
of broken band saw blades.

- Your ten minute design window
is now closed.

Your three hour forging time
starts...

now.

- And here we go.

- Harry's the only guy
that's throwing steel

into the fire right away.
- That's a good idea.

- If you're gonna use
that crowbar,

you're gonna have to turn it
into bar stock.

- Shayne went over and
spark-tested that metal.

- That's a good idea.
The more complex the spark,

the more likely you have
a high carbon steel.

- My biggest weakness is
is I'm color-blind,

so a lot of times I have

a little bit of trouble
with the heat treat,

but after 42 years
of being a farrier,

my biggest strength
is experience

and the ability to forge.

- Shayne is like a machine.

- I'm able to look
through that piece of steel

and see a finished project.

- Look at this guy go to town
over here.

Who needs a power hammer?
I got a Shayne.

- Mike has just pulled out
that entire axe head.

- Clean out the inside,
switch something in there,

weld that all up, and you got
a nice chunk of metal.

- I haven't done
this big of a forge-weld

of two different materials.

I'm worried a little bit
about the time,

just because of prepping
all the material,

but if this weld goes good,
I should be clean

to just hit the hammer
and sail on.

When my fiancée proposed to me,
I told her

that we couldn't get married
until I made a suit of armor.

If I win the $10,000,
I would make

an actual full
medieval plate mail...

The helm, the pauldrons,
the whole shebang.

- Chisel, crowbar... crowbar.

The most important part
about using recycled materials

is to get that forge weld,

so I'm most nervous
about that crowbar.

I have no idea
what that is made out of.

- We have a prepped billet.

- Heading for the fire.
- All right.

- When you're working
in metal, you're working

in this time-honored,
timeless material.

Making something
for somebody else

is really irrelevant.

You're making it for yourself.
You're extending yourself.

- Having fun yet?

- You know,
as soon as you get here,

all of a sudden you realize
you're in a hurry.

- Welding.

- It looks like Andy might be
doing a canister Damascus.

- One canister might not be
enough for a knife of this size,

so I'm grabbing two and
I'm gonna weld them together.

- The problem with have a weld
in the middle of your canister

is when you start
to squeeze that,

the first thing that pops
is a weld.

- I try to put all my stuff
inside the canister

and weld it up
with some powdered steel.

That's gonna be badass.
Now I just need to find

a little bit
of something flammable

so I can do dangerous things.

I'm putting some of this WD-40
in this canister,

and that's gonna
hopefully burn out

any of the excess oxygen
before I weld it.

The downside to this is

I'm basically making
a pipe bomb.

Oh!

This is the first time
I've attempted

a canister weld like this.

We will find out if Andy Alm
is up to the task.

What the hell did I do
with those files?

- Bladesmiths!

You have only two hours
remaining to finish your work!

- Cool as a cucumber, this guy.

- Once we get it prepped,
get it welded,

then we can start
making a blade.

Fish guts, I hate that
when that happens.

Can you weld 'em
without cleaning 'em off?

Yes, you can, but that's
even a greater risk.

- He's kicking butt and
being cool about it.

That's what I like, you know,
it's experience.

- How's your billet?
It looks really good.

- We'll know when we go
in the oil bath.

- You're the boss, man.

- Now that I've got
the mild steel bit

inside the axe, I'm willing
to try forge welding

with the power hammer
to draw it out faster.

I really don't want this
to go squirrely on me.

I think I was a little premature
jumping on the power hammer.

That was a separation.

As I'm drawing this billet out,

I cannot get the damn thing
to stay.

The ends keep separating.

I'm forced to re-weld
and lose material,

and re-weld over and over.

- He doesn't have enough steel
to make a knife.

It's not too late to start over.

- I'm gonna wait for it to get
hot enough to weld,

but I'm kind of putting
my eggs in this basket.

Hopefully we get the canister to
seal up and weld.

- Like, here we go.
- He's got the hammer.

- Here we go.

- Oh, so that's how you set
the Forge weld on the hammer?

- That's not how I would do it.

I would actually stand
in front of the hammer...

- Yeah, me too.
- Not behind it.

- Andy has lost his handle.

- I'm watching
Andy's body language.

He's... he's freaking out
a little bit.

- What the hell?

- Look at Shayne.

- Cool.

- Look at Andy.

- Freaking out.

- Whoa!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Watch out, watch out, watch out.

- What just happened?

Me.

- We just almost had a branding.

Carry that metal down low

and do not go running
across the floor.

- Whew.

- Oh, that ain't good.
I got a big-ass crack in it.

That MIG weld in the middle
is starting to come apart.

- Half of that is
basically useless.

- I'm just banking on the fact

that one side of this will be
enough to make the blade.

- Son of a bitch!

- The blade I'm making, a kopis,

that's like the predecessor
to the falcata,

and the falcata,
well, doesn't have

the same kind of handle details.

What I really like
about the kopis

is the way it reaches
in between your fingers.

There it is.

- When you separate your fingers
it's not a good thing.

A good, solid grip is when
you have your fingers together.

When you separate them,
you weaken the grip.

- Aw, balls.
- Grinder kiss.

I'm extremely accident prone.

Oh, you gotta be
freaking joking me.

Aw, balls!

Cut it down into the cartilage.

I'm getting a bit
of the arthritis

going on here in this finger.

Thank you.

- You have just 20 minutes
remaining.

- So the initial quench,
being color-blind,

it's always an issue.

- I don't know what he's doing,
but he would...

- I'd quench right now.

- I've done it long enough
that I've learned the colors,

but not in a well-lit shop.

- There you go,
there's the quench.

- All right.
- Our first quench.

- The blade seems to be
fairly hard.

Now I have to be careful
not to overheat that

on the grinder.

- That's not taking off
a little bit of metal.

That's like,
"We gon' grind some things."

- Harry's blade's in the quench.

- Andy's blade looked
really cold

going into that quench.

- Whoo!

- The edge looked red
but there was a lot of grey.

- Mike might be
right in that ten-inch range.

Everybody else's blades
are so long

and he's got that smaller tang,
but he might make it.

- I've got it into knife shape,

but there's only
a handful of minutes.

- Mike has quenched.

- It flash burned.

I've lost the hardness,
it's self tempered.

- Put the lid on.

- I have to do this again
to finish.

- Five minutes!

- No, no!
- Oh!

- You have only five minutes
remaining to finish your work.

He lost his blade in it.

- Mike's blade is laying

at the bottom of the oil barrel
right now.

- It's too hot and too deep
for me to stick my arm in,

and I don't even know
if the thing broke

when it hit the bottom.

- Yeah.

- Seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one!

Drop your tools!

Your three-hour forging window
has closed!

- I'm actually pretty proud
I managed

to finish the damn thing at all.

- Pbbt.

- Bladesmiths,
your challenge was

to combine old steel
with new steel

to make a signature blade
of your own design.

Shayne, please present
your blade to the judges.

- I really like your process.
It shows experience.

You got a little bit of a hooey,

this dreaded 2-inch mark
on this side.

It shouldn't be too much
to get out.

- Feels good to the hands.

The process of watching you
was masterful.

Nicely done, sir.
- Harry?

- All right.

- Everything looks
nice and straight.

I like that kopis handle,

you know, something that
will not come out of your hand.

- But the handle
isn't really meant

for humans to hold onto it.

- I'm gonna touch it up
a little.

- Andy?

- Pretty bold choices,
going with the canister

and then trying to double
that canister up.

- My weld came apart, so...
- Right.

- I only ended up using
one of the canisters.

- You pulled it off,
but you were

kind of making me cringe
a little bit.

- Yeah.
- Mike, you're up.

- All right, so there was
a fight going on out there.

- Tooth and nail every second.

- Was there ever a point
that you thought,

"Maybe I should
just discard this

and start over with new steel"?

- What's the risk;
what's the reward?

- I'm also concerned
about the length of your blade.

So let's see.

Yeah, we're coming in at 8 1/2.

We're a little shy.

- You were given some problems,
but you didn't quit,

and for that I say, "Thank you
for finishing the blade, sir."

- Thank you.

- Mike,

the length of the blade must be
between 10 and 12 inches.

Your blade did not make the cut.

- Mike, sometimes abandon
a piece that's not working

and change your direction.

Your blade is under length,

so that's why we're
letting you go.

- Mike, it's time for you
to surrender your weapon

and leave the Forge.

- I'm obviously
a little disheartened

to have been eliminated.

It was
a great learning experience

of my own limitations

and my own
damn "headstrongness."

Now I'm gonna go home
and I'm gonna make

that suit of armor
so I can finally

get around to the wedding.

- Bladesmiths, you have
successfully forged your way

into round two.

In this round
of the competition,

you know you'll be attaching
a handle to your blades

to turn them
into fully functional weapons.

However, we've decided
to make things

a little bit more interesting.

You can only use
the recycled materials

on that table
in front of the pantry

to construct your handles.

- My heart just sank.

Here I've put all this effort
into this blade,

and I've got to use
inferior product on the handle.

- Your finished weapons
will then be tested

in a bone marrow chop
and a sandbag slice.

You will have three hours
for this round.

You can use that time to address
any flaws or issues

that were identified
with your blades

after the first round,
but keep in mind,

when time runs out and
your weapons have been tested,

one of you will
have to surrender his weapon

and leave the Forge.

Bladesmiths, your time starts...

now.

- I'm the first one at the table

looking for handle material,

so I thought, "You know what,

rubber makes
a great handle."

- We do have
three sufficient blades

going into this round.

It could all come down
to the handle.

- Yeah.

- So I find
a piece of furniture,

but the first thing I gotta do
is repair the issues

that they've got a problem with,
gotta re-sculpt that handle.

- Plan to make the handle
from a baseball bat.

- That guard
on that band saw blade

should come down.

- Whoa!
- That'll make your heart skip.

- I really need
to give the blade

a little more attention.

I want to make sure I've got
an edge on that blade

that I'm happy with
before I really fix the handle.

- Andy's got a technique
that just makes me nervous.

- Standing on a box
with a sharp knife.

This guy's a madman.

- Aw, what the hell?

- He's a madman.

So Shayne's taking the sole
off of that boot.

- Underneath that sole
they're hollow.

- He just found out
it's honeycomb.

- Yeah.

- Can you believe how cheap
these boots are made?

There's a hole
right down the middle of 'em.

- You have only 90 minutes
remaining to finish your work.

Harry's over here
drilling out his scales.

That strange swell is
still in that handle.

Looks like he took it down
a little bit,

but it's still there.

- His blade, the way it is,
if he sharpens that

it's should function,
but it's not gonna function

without a good handle.
- Right.

- So I lay down this epoxy,

and I'm pacing
like a lion in a cage,

just waiting my five minutes.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

- Two red caps.

They're both red,
they're the same thing.

- Oh, good Lord.
Oy!

- And it's the combination
of the resin and the hardener.

- The hardener's in the red cap

and the resin
is in the black cap,

so the chemical reaction
of the two

is what will glue that together.

With two hardeners,
nothing's gonna happen.

Nothing's gonna harden.

- Man, anytime this guy

gets next to anything with RPMs,
I get worried.

- I make 400 knives a year.

I stand right here.
I'll be fine.

- I'm really not liking
my choice of handle material.

I encountered some problems.

Every time I would go to peen
those pins, form a head on 'em,

the rubber would collapse,
and I really couldn't

get the pins set correctly.

- Shayne's pulling his pins
right now.

- Why?

- Probably because
they're not working out.

- I got most of the handle
ground to shape,

and then went back in and put
a whole new set of pins in it.

I had a couple that just
kind of bent over a little bit.

- He's putting the pins back in.

Get 'em evened out,
leave 'em alone.

- So we're coming
down to the wire,

waiting for this stuff
to set up,

and I'm checking it,
I'm checking it,

I'm checking, check, check,
check, check, check,

and it's still not hardening.

Oh, you've got to be me.

I realized that I have
hardener and hardener.

That's never going to set up,

so I had to scrap
that whole thing,

wipe everything off
and start over again.

And I'm really screwed
if that doesn't bloody harden.

- 15 minutes, bladesmiths.

You have 15 minutes remaining
to finish your work.

- It ain't hardening up.

Oh, great.

This stuff kills me.

- You're testing tomorrow,
right?

- No.

- That sucks.

- Shayne points out
it's 24-hour epoxy.

I felt like a dumbass,
but I'm gonna use my pins

to hold the handle together.

- He's actually
mechanically attached

that handle to the tang,
so when we go into testing,

regardless of if
it's wet or not,

those scales should stay
on the side of the blade,

right, Dave?

- Should.

- Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one.

Bladesmiths, shut down
your machines, drop your tools.

- Time's up. I'm just hoping
that my blade performs well,

because my handle sucks.
Might be going home.

- Bladesmiths, this is
the bone marrow chop.

I'm gonna be testing
the strength

and durability of your knife

by chopping into this bone
seven times.

Shayne, are you ready?

- Yes, sir.

- All right.

- Pray for me.

- One chop.

- Whoo!

One chop through that cow bone
and the test was finished.

- That's your new name.

- "One Chop" Shayne.
- Yeah.

- I was totally shocked,

and I think Jason was
shocked as well.

- That's gonna be tough to beat.
- Yeah.

- No, I don't see any damage.

Rubber turns out...
Even though it's unsightly,

it is comfortable.
You did well.

- Thank you.

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

- Yes, sir.

- All right.

There is a little bit
of edge damage.

Not very significant,
but I can still feel it.

At the end of the day,
you made it through the bone,

and that's all we asked.

- Thank you.

- All right, Harry, you're up.

Two chops.

There is a little bit
of edge damage.

In the first challenge,
we pointed out to you

that your handle's shape
was not fit for human hands.

It's just nowhere
to comfortably hold it.

But you made it through the bone
in two chops, and I commend you.

- Thank you.

- Next up, I'm gonna
turn it over to Doug

for the sharpness test.

- Bladesmiths,
this is the sharpness test.

I will take your blade
and I will glide it

across these sandbags.

If it's sharp, it should cut
cleanly and easily.

Shayne, you're up.

The balance feels very good
on this blade.

Now let's see how sharp it is.

As you can see, sir,

that blade just glided
easily through the sandbag.

It maintained its edge
and it is sharp.

This, sir, will cut.
Good job.

- Thank you.

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

- Yes, sir, I'm ready.

- Now let's see how sharp it is.

- Bit a little bit into the bag,
but then again,

it did cut all the way through
in slicing.

That's what we're looking for,
it maintained its edge.

This, sir, is a sharp blade.
It will cut.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Harry, you're up next.
You ready?

- I am.
- Let's try it.

- Nicely done.
- Thanks.

- Nice.

This, sir, is a sharp blade.

It's the handle I have
a little issue with.

There's so much gap right there
that it gives the blade

too much movement
and it's not balanced,

but it'll cut.

- Thanks.

- Bladesmiths,
the judges need some time

to make a final decision.

Thank you.

- All right, judges,
let's go ahead and start

with Shayne's blade on the end,
please, Doug.

- Shayne's blade looks
beautiful.

I like the profile,
I like the way

he designed it for the test.

- I've used rubber once before

but had a lot of trouble
with the pins.

- Having a collapsible material
like that

and then putting
hard pins in it,

you kind of wind up
when you really squeeze this

with pins that can
dig into your hand.

- Let's move on to Andy's blade.

- I think it's beautiful.

The wood looks nice,
the pins look nice,

but the handle is the same width

this way as it is this way.

Actually, it's
a little skinnier this way.

So the indexing's off.

- Yeah, the handle, like,
I want to hold it like that.

- Let's take a look
at Harry's blade.

Dave?
- Great design.

The execution went wrong
on the handle.

So you see this on the falcata
or the Greek kopis

where there's a hook back here,

and it's wonderful
when it's done properly,

'cause it's not coming
out of your hand,

but this is gonna come
out of your hand

and probably take a finger
with it.

- The blade is supposed to
injure your opponent,

not the person holding it.

- Since there isn't a single
straight line on the human body,

so too should there not be
a straight line on a knife.

- All right, judges,
it's that time

to make a final decision.
Doug, have you made yours?

- Yes, I have.

- Dave?
- Yeah.

- Jason?
- I have.

- All right,
let's go tell our smiths.

You have been challenged
in two rounds of competition

like no other bladesmiths
before,

and you've all done
an excellent job,

but now it's time for one of you

to surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.

- Bladesmiths, you've all done
an excellent job,

but now it's time for one of you

to surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.

- Harry, your blade
did not make the cut.

- Harry, we all really liked

the entire concept
and design of your blade.

The execution
of that finger notch

and the sharp edge
on the inside of the hook

created a weapon
that's potentially unsafe.

A blade that's dangerous
to its user

is not a functional weapon.

That's why we have to
let you go.

- Harry, it's time for you
to surrender your weapon

and leave the Forge.

- Thanks, fellas.

When we are seeking excellence
in craftsmanship,

we are hunting down
the small flaws in ourselves.

I've been thinking and dreaming
about knives my entire life,

so this is
a disappointment for me,

but seeing my blade perform

just as well as other
professional bladesmiths'

was really validating.

- Good job, buddy.
- You too, brother.

- Andy, Shayne, congratulations,

you've made it
into the final round.

When you arrived here, you used
our tools and equipment

to forge signature blades
of your own design.

Now we're sending you back
to your home forges

where you will re-create
an iconic blade from history.

Butterfly swords.

- Badass.

- The butterfly sword,
orHudiedao,

is a Chinese weapon developed
in the mid-19th century.

Short and slim,
two of these blades

could be carried
in a single scabbard.

Their small profile
also allowed them

to be concealed in a boot
or the sleeve of a robe.

The butterfly sword was forged
with a wide belly,

which made it
an ideal chopping weapon.

Chinese militiamen
in the late 1830s

were outfitted
with butterfly swords,

which allowed for deadly
close-quarters combat.

Due to its versatility,
it became a common weapon

among many in China,
including sailors,

private guards,
and martial artists.

These weapons are also featured

in one of the most popular
kung fu films of all time,

"The 36th Chamber of Shaolin."

Your final challenge is
to forge not one,

but a matched pair
of butterfly swords.

It's very, very difficult
to make a pair of anything.

To duplicate two things
exactly the same

will be
a very, very tough challenge.

- The blades themselves
must fall

within the following parameters.

Their handles must include
a D-guard.

They must be authentic,
working versions

of those deadly weapons.

However, we want you to show us
something unique

that can only come
from your forge.

- I'm a little scared going up
against "One Chop" Shayne.

I mean, that guy's got
some kung fu going on,

and it's a bit intimidating.
It really is.

- You will have five days
at your home forge

to accomplish this.

At the end of those five days,
you will return

and present
your butterfly swords

to our panel of expert judges,
who will then put them

through a series of rigorous
and dynamic tests.

Only after those tests
are complete

will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion

and hand you a check
for $10,000.

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

- Welcome to my shop.

I'm kind of an overachiever,

so I've set myself
some high goals today.

I want to get
a lot accomplished today

and run this race
on the front end.

My game plan for these weapons
is try to stay

as close to history as possible.

This butterfly sword
has a flat side,

and then it has a taper
on this side,

So that when they pack 'em,
the flats would lay together.

It's difficult to make
two identical blades

for the fact
of all the elements involved.

See, this blade right here
has a bow in it,

so you can kind of see
the daylight out on that tip.

This blade's not straight.

I still got
just a little bit of bend,

and I'm... I think I might just do
a little bit of grinding.

The next thing I'm gonna do is
go in for the heat treat.

We're gonna go in for the quench
and give this blade some life.

Blade seems to be hard.
It took on a good hardness.

So we want to duplicate
what we did on the first one.

This one took a real bad bow.

Today will be my best day.

Ooh.

I'm really good at forging.

One blade is
just a little bit thicker.

When it comes to fit and finish,

the pace will have to slow down.
That's my weak area.

- Day one, I'm gonna start
coming up with my design.

The two grooves there,
hopefully I'll be able to get

a little bit lighter weight
to the blade, help the balance.

If I can get the two blades
forged on day one,

I'll be happy.

I can hammer
the blades out quick.

It's the handle work
that's gonna be tricky.

The other challenge is the fact
that once I've made one,

I gotta do the whole thing
again.

I'm not real happy
with the width

of what I'm working with.

Really pushing the limits
of how much metal

I can stretch out of it.

I need something beefier,
thicker at the spine.

I started out and I wasn't
liking the size of it,

so I decided to go
with a couple of pieces

of 5160 leaf spring steel.

It's a big-ass piece.

Only trouble is, I've never
worked with 5160 before.

We'll see what happens.

- Day two of the challenge.

I have a lot of goals today.

The D-guard is the main focus
this morning.

I think I'll still round it
a little bit,

but that's the brass knuckles,
so we want that

to be able to put an opponent
out of commission.

So after the D-guards,
we'll have to cut

some wood for the handles.

African blackwood is
a very hard, dense wood.

It's hard to cut,
it's hard to drill a hole in,

but it will take a nice finish.

Oh, it's gotta be dry-assembled.

I want to test these blades.
I want to know they'll perform.

The blade's hard.

It's chipping a little bit,

'cause I had
a pretty fine edge on it.

I'm gonna have to change
the edge geometry.

Still a lot of work left to do.

- I need to make myself
a quench tank.

It does not have to be pretty,
it just needs to hold the oil.

This is for making horses poop.

It's good for quenching
spring steel too.

Gee, this is really safe
next to a propane tank.

Come on!

Frickin' inferno here.

That heat treat went
very well for me.

Success.

No cracks in those blades.

They're straight, they're true,
and they are hard.

But I want to test the strength
of this blade.

Made very short work of that.

- It's time to quit fighting
and just get her done.

Day five, I need
to get the handles

sanded out and finished
I need to get

the D-guards
sanded out and finished.

Ah.

I have to sharpen the blades
and do a little more testing.

Now what I'm working on
is the finial nut.

This will cinch everything
up tight when we glue it up.

Close only counts in
horseshoes and hand grenades.

It's a constant battle.

That's the first time
I've encountered that.

That was a mess.
I'm feeling a whole lot better

now that they are
actually assembled.

- I'm gonna build
the handles today,

I'm gonna fit everything up.

I need to make a pair of nuts

that I can use to cap
the ends of the handle.

It'll add a little bit
of counterweight,

and it will also...
Well, it'll just look cool.

Mother!

Holy.

I knew that I would cut myself
on these blades

before I was done, and...

sure enough, I...
cut my thumb pretty bad.

It's not a sword
until it's drawn blood,

so right now, painter's tape
and paper towels

will have to do the trick.

As you can see,
my shop is very sanitary,

so I'm not worried about it.

Where are my nuts?

I can't have nuts
that are too big

and I can't have nuts
that are too small.

My nuts need to be
just the right size.

Could've just slapped
a hardware store nut on there,

but... decided
to make my own.

Hopefully, this will be
the difference

between badass and extra badass.

Man, it's time for a beer
for me.

- Bladesmiths,
you've had five days

at your home forge to work
on your butterfly swords.

Shayne, how did it go for you?

- I had a few train wrecks,
but I managed to get around 'em.

The butterfly swords,
it was good for me

to go back and be a student,
to revisit history,

construct something
that I would've never

constructed otherwise.

Never made a D-guard,
and to actually make a pair...

- Andy, anything you'd like
to tell the judges?

- I never even knew
what a butterfly sword was,

so I learned a lot about it.

Quite a few things
that I did with these swords

I did for the first time.
I think it went pretty well.

It's all in your hands
at this point.

- Well, gentlemen,
both of your weapons look

like beautiful works of art,
but as we all now,

looks are secondary
to performance.

Your weapons will now be
put through a series

a strength test,

a sharpness test,
and a kill test.

First up is the sharpness test.
Doug?

- Bladesmiths,
the butterfly swords

were designed to be short swords

because they were
supposed to be maneuverable

in close-quarter combat,
and they were sharp.

To test the sharpness
of your blade,

I will attempt to puncture,
slash, and cut

this trifecta of sandbags,
sugar cane, and rope.

Let's see how well
your blades do.

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

- I am, sir.

- Nice.

- Shane, your blade
moves nicely.

It can definitely slash
and thrust.

For the sugar cane,
it's sharp enough to cut.

At the same time, on the rope,

I can shield
and then cut the rope.

This, sir, will cut.
Good job.

- Thank you.

- Andy, you're up next.
You ready?

- I'm ready.
- Let's do this.

- Good job.

- Whoa.
- Smoked 'em.

- Well, Andy,
definitely you've got

a nice point to puncture
and lacerate.

On the sugar canes,
nice cut on my weaker side,

and to use the blade
as a shield,

that feels good, so I can
deliver my power thrust.

And, it's sharp.

This, sir, will cut.
Good job.

- Thank you.

- Bladesmiths,
this is the kill test.

The butterfly sword
when sheathed

appears as one sword,

but the minute you unsheathe it,
you have two swords.

To see how lethal
your butterfly swords are,

I will deliver lethal blows
on these ballistic dummies.

Let's see how much damage
your weapons can do.

Shayne, you're up first.
You ready?

- I'm ready.
- Let's do this.

- Nice.

- Well, Shayne,
the lacerations in here

will go deep into the bone
and break it.

At the same time,
when you thrust,

it goes deep into the bowels

and cuts everything inside
on its way out.

This, sir, will kill.
Great job.

- Thank you.

- Andy, you're up next.
Ready?

- Yes, sir.

- Nice.

- Andy, the design of your blade

lacerated this ballistic dummy
deeply,

and that would puncture a lung,
and when I thrust the weapon,

I completely disemboweled
this dummy.

This, sir, will kill.

- Great job.
- Thank you.

- Gentlemen, your final test
is the strength test.

The butterfly swords come
from southern China.

Now, though they were used
by the military,

primarily they're
a civilian weapon.

Now, to test the strength
of your blades,

I'm going to take six chops
into this ice block.

If they're strong enough,
that edge should hold up.

Shayne, you're up first.
You ready?

- I'm ready.
- All right, let's do this.

- I've designed my blade
so that they will cut,

they will chop bone.
I'm pretty confident in 'em.

- All right, Shayne, well,
your edges held up beautifully.

The weapon still feels nice
and tight and well put together.

What I do like is
the fact that I can

hold this weapon in one hand.

A question for you.

You only sharpened
2/3 of that blade.

Is there a reason?

- The research that I did
said that only the bottom 1/3

of that blade would
not be sharpened

because of the monks
didn't want to kill somebody,

they would want to thump 'em
and not kill a person.

- I learned the same thing,
but it was when you reversed it

that that... so you don't put
a finger on that edge

when you reverse that blade.

But nice design.
Well done, sir.

- Thank you, sir.

- Andy, you're up.

- Yes, sir.
- Okay.

Little wet.

- Your edges feel great.
Feel fine.

I really like what you did
with the fullering.

- Thank you.

- Couple of things.

The back arms are
just a little tight.

I can't quite get
underneath that.

I like what you did
carrying 'em up there

and putting that detail on top.

But the biggest concern
I have is I can't...

I can't hold that as one sword.

I wouldn't be able to draw that
cleanly from a scabbard.

Generally, though, I mean,
they feel good in the hand.

It's a good job.
They held up well.

- Thanks, Dave.
- Nicely done.

- Overall, I think
the testing went very well.

The only thing I'm concerned
about at this point is

the comment about the handles

not fitting together
in one hand.

This is gonna be a close race.

- In years past
when I've competed,

when I felt that I've done
really well, I do really bad.

When I felt I do really bad,
I do really good,

so I have no idea which way
this could go at this point.

- Andy, Shayne, the judges
have pored over the details

of your weapons, and they've
made their final decision.

Before I announce
who the winner is,

they have some things they'd
like to say to both of you.

- Jason.
- Andy, one of the things

I really liked about your blades
was the fullers

and how you did a hollow grind
with a convex edge.

Man, it is just so sharp.

It just wants
to zip through things.

Well done.
- Thank you.

- Shayne, there are
so many elements of your weapons

that I really like,
the fact that you made it

all asymmetrical,
but you really pumped it up

by adding
that Damascus guard on that.

Really, really beautiful job.

- Thank you.

- Andy, Shayne, you've both done
some outstanding work.

In this competition,
there can only be

one "Forged in Fire" champion,
and that champion is...

Shayne.
Congratulations,

you are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Congratulations, brother.

- Well fought battle, bud.
- Absolutely.

- Andy, your blades did not
make the cut.

- Andy, you turned in
a beautiful blade.

It performed great
on the sharpness test,

on the kill test,
and on the strength test.

This has been
one of the toughest decisions

we've ever made, so much so
that we had to look

at more of the historic
characteristic

of a butterfly sword.

They're designed to fit
together,

to almost wield it as one sword,

and yours didn't fit
as well as Shayne's.

And for that reason,
we have to let you go.

- Understood.

Of course I would rather be
the one taking home $10,000,

but I absolutely believe

the judges made
the right decision.

Congratulations.
- Thank you.

- Shayne made
a couple of excellent blades,

and he deserves it.

This is Andy Alm, over and out.

- Shayne, congratulations,

you are the "Forged in Fire"
champion

and will be receiving
a check for $10,000.

Good job.

- Thank you.

I'm feeling wonderful.

This is the moment
I've been waiting for.

The journey is the fun part,
you know?

I'm very happy.

- So what are you gonna do
with the money?

- I have a family
that's sacrificed a lot,

so we'll have a family council
and they will decide.

- That's awesome.