Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 4 - The Falcata - full transcript

- For two season, 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
enter the Forge

to test their skills.

- Whoa, whoa, 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 Frank Christianson,

and I've been bladesmithing for ten years.

I am so ready for this
competition.

I'm almost giddy.

It's almost like Christmas.

- My name is Will Bagley.
I'm 19 years old.

The other competitors might
think that because of my

younger age that I might be
less experienced or skilled,

but I'm here to prove that age
ain't nothin' but a number.

- My name is Kelly Vermeer
Vella.

I shoe horses for a living.
I'm a farrier.

And I've been making blades off
and on for 20 years now.

I'm not professionally trained.

I'm self-taught.



I have a book.

- My name's Justin Jones, and
I've been bladesmithing

for six years.

I'm a full-time dad. I stay at
home with my two little kids.

Once the kids are asleep, I go
straight out to the shop

and get to work.

I do not have a power hammer
or a press,

and I drill everything out by
hand,

and I enjoy it too.

- Bladesmiths, welcome to the
Forge.

You have all volunteered to
engage in three rounds of

blade-making competition
designed to test every aspect

of your capabilities.

At the end of each round, you
will present your work to our

panel of expert judges,

ABS Mastersmith Jason Knight,

historic weapons re-creation
specialist David Baker,

internationally recognized kali
martial artist

Doug Marcaida.

Ultimately, they decide which of
you will be the "Forged in Fire"

champion, who leaves here with
that check for $10,000.

On the anvils in front of you is
a bar of high-carbon steel that

you will use to forge a blade in
your signature style

but with a hidden tang.

A hidden tang is fastened inside
the handle material,

so it's not visible on the
surface of the handle.

Sounds easy enough, right?

This is "Forged in Fire."

I'm sure you're thinking,
"What's the twist?"

If you look around this forge,
you'll see all the tools

and equipment you need to
accomplish this task,

with one exception.

We've removed all of the hand
hammers in the Forge.

Instead, you'll have to forge
your own hammers

using these.

- I mean, who takes your toy
away, right?

It's my favorite toy.
You took my toy away.

I don't want to make anything
with a rock on a stick.

I want my hammer back.

- Your finished blades will then
be tested for strength and edge

retention in a coconut chop, and
for sharpness, slicing through a

hot-water bladder.

You have ten minutes to work on
your design.

You'll have three hours to forge
both your blade and your hammer.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your time starts now.

Right away, our smiths are
presented with this

incredibly difficult challenge
of forging a hammer

to forge the signature blade.

If that hammer isn't
well-constructed,

what are we gonna see?

Well, you'll see that
head break off of there,

or if they don't surface the
face of that hammer,

they're gonna be putting a lot
of marks into that metal that

they're gonna have to deal with
once they get to the grinders.

- My biggest concern is making
the hammer

and having that hammer function
as what it should be.

The blade, I've decided to make
a Japanese-style tanto.

They're good choppers.
They're good slicers.

It's the best blade I can
think of for this competition.

- Making a blade with a block
on a stick,

I can't quite wrap my head
around that.

I plan to make a hidden-tang
bowie knife.

I'm pretty apprehensive.

Hidden things are just not one
of my strongest points,

but also confident in what I'm
capable of, so I don't think

I've got in over my head.

- I look over at my
competition, and I see a lot

of older people, and I know
that they must have more

experience than me, but I am not
intimidated.

I plan on making a kukri-style
chopping knife.

I think it will work well on
the coconut.

It's something that I make a
lot, so I feel like it's

kind of a bread-and-butter,
so to speak.

- My thing I think to stand
out is to stick with the basics,

which would be straight and
sharp and hard.

Straight and sharp and hard.

For this challenge, I'm gonna
make a bowie knife,

because it's an excellent
chopper,

got a lot of weight behind it,

and I think it'll perform well.

- Bladesmiths, your design
window is now closed.

Your three-hour forging period
starts now.

And here we go.
- All right.

- It's like the start of a
marathon.

There's always a couple of guys
that come out hot

and then have to throttle it
back down.

- Kelly's got her steel in.

That's a wise move.

- That's smart work.

- My strategy coming into
round one is to multitask,

throw my round stock in the
fire,

and then in between heats,
grab the block,

run to the chop saw, and I'm
gonna cut off 1/3 of it,

try to lighten my hammer.

- My plan is to get the hammer
done first.

That hammer is everything to me.

I've had little experience
with larger equipment.

So I need to make a hammer
that I can forge my blade just as

good as anything I would have
ever done with any of my

own tools.

- My plan is, just weld the
square tubing on to the top of

this piece of mild steel.

That's the quickest, easiest way
for me to get that hammer made.

That's out of the way.
That's not a concern anymore.

And then I can put my steel in
the fire, and I can go.

- Looking at Frank's hammer,

he's got the handle all the way
in the back.

- You see that style in sawyers
hammers,

Japanese-style bladesmithing
hammer.

I use that type of hammer only
for blade finishing.

- The forward weight and flat
face on that hammer

make it ideal for smoothing out
that steel.

- That may be his intention.

- My strategy going into this is
straight to the forge.

That big piece of steel had to
be heated, and it was gonna

take a while.

- So Will has his steel in the
forge.

Kelly's steel is in the forge.

Frank has his hammer made and
steel is in the forge.

And Justin's steel is laying on
his table.

Still struggling to snap that
metal that's hanging on.

- Justin's trying out a
different grinder.

- Time management.

We're always talking about time
management.

He hasn't even started warming
up his metal.

- Frank's going to the press.

- That is a wise move.

I'm very focused.

I refer to it as the zone.

I get in there, and the shop
could probably burn down,

and I'd still be out there
working.

- Bladesmiths, 30 minutes has
elapsed.

You have just 2 1/2 hours
remaining to finish your work.

- This hammer's taking way too
long.

It doesn't have a ground face.
It doesn't have a handle.

And I've spent I don't even
know how long trying to

knock the front of this thing
off.

- There he goes.
- There we go.

- All right.
- There we go.

- I'm 30 minutes into the
competition

and finally have the
consciousness to throw the bar

of steel that I need to forge
into a knife into the fire.

I'm feeling the pressure.

- The chop saw takes a full half
hour for me to finally

whittle my way through this
block of steel for my hammer.

Whoo-hoo!

Oh, yeah.

I want a flat end, and I want a
rounded end,

so I take it over to the grinder

while running back and forth to
the forge

so I can work the round stock
under the press

and start making my knife.

My husbands says when I die,
they're gonna study me,

'cause I just go and go and go
and go,

and he's like, "You should be
dead by now."

- Will has spent a lot of time
in that fire,

and I'm not real sure why.

When you burn steel like that,
you start trying to move it

too quickly when it's like that,
you may destroy it.

- One hour has elapsed.

You have just two hours
remaining

to finish your work.

- I've just decided to make the
most basic functional hammer.

I just went straight to the
welder and put a handle on it.

- So Will has his hammer made.

- Take away Will's hammer, he
welds a stick to a brick,

problem-solving at the most
basic level.

- Kind of looks like Thor's
hammer, you know,

minus the fancy letter wrap and
the fact that it shoots

lightning out the end, but other
than that, it's spot on.

- Bladesmiths, you have only 90
minutes remaining

to finish your work.

- Kelly fine-tuning that hammer.

- She swung it a bit, got a feel
for it,

decided what else she needed to
have happen to it.

- Kelly seems like the kind of
bladesmith that doesn't like

to have idle time, doesn't like
to just sit

and stare in a forge.

She's gonna find something to
do,

which is typical of farriers.

- Frank's blade has really
started to take shape.

He's got a tang worked into
that.

You know, he's working that
edge.

- Will just took his blade,

quenched it in the water barrel
back there.

- The problem is, that metal's
hot.

That cold water is gonna put a
lot of stress on that blade.

- My style is definitely... I
guess rugged would be the word.

It's tough, but it ain't always
pretty.

- Duals tongs grinding on her
blade.

- Grinding while it's hot.
That's the experience.

- What has impressed me is the
amount of hammer work that Kelly

has done to that blade, shaping
the hammer in between,

getting the right curvature, and
just continuing to work.

She hasn't stopped.

She's like a machine.

Justin's tip is so thin.

It's like a razor edge or a
needle at the end.

- For a blade that we're gonna
do a coconut chop,

looks a little bit lean to me.

- Yeah, I agree.

- Bladesmiths, you have one hour
remaining

to finish your work.

- I do like the fact that all of
our smiths

with the one-hour point are on
the grinders.

- Frank's knife is really thick.

He's got a lot of grinding.

- Before I heat treat, I like my
blades to be

on the thicker side.

The thinner my blades are, the
more likely they are to crack

or have distortion in them.

If I get a crack, obviously,
it can be catastrophic.

- Will just grabbed clay off of
the shelf in the pantry.

- I grabbed the clay to try to
increase the strength

of the spine but retain the
hardness of the edge,

so it will make an excellent
chopping tool.

- And he's in the quench.
- Quenching.

One of the problems he's gonna
have is a lot of fire,

because that clay is absorbing
the oil,

and it's not gonna go out,
unless he scrapes it off.

- I pull the blade out of the
oil, knock off the clay.

The first thing I notice is that
it is warped terribly.

It's a huge issue.

- Looks like Will's got a little
bit of a warp.

- Oh, that's not good.

- I don't know if I have enough
time to fix this blade.

Mm-mm-mm..

- Looks like Will's got a little
bit of a warp.

- Oh, that's not good.

I've got to reheat and reharden.

Well, my daddy told me if
you're gonna be stupid,

you've got to be tough,
and I get in a lot of

stupid situations.

One time, I was in the backyard
shooting my AR-15,

and I accidentally shot myself
in the knee.

This ain't nothin'.

- Kelly is quenched.

- And as I pulled my blade out,
everything looked pretty happy.

I hit it with a file.
It was hard.

So I went back on my merry way
with my hot knife

and my big gloves.

Back to grinding.

- I'm looking at the clock.

I'm very aware of how much time
I'm spending.

I do not have enough time to
recover a failure.

I need to quench it hard,
straight, and ready to go.

- Justin's in the oil.

Frank quenched.
He's in the oil.

- Going into my second quench,

I could end up with a huge
crack or another warp, which

would set me back and probably
send me home.

I need to start praying.

- Ten minutes.
You have ten minutes remaining.

They're coming down to the wire.

Everybody's at the grinder,
except for Frank.

- I think Frank's decided he's
done.

- Frank is cleaning up his
workstation.

That's very considerate.

- As I'm at the grinder trying
to get rid of the extra mass,

I notice I have a wobble going
on, and I'm kind of wishing

I should have not spent so
much time profiling my hammer.

We're being judged on the
knife, not on the hammer.

- Bladesmiths, you have one
minute remaining.

Ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Shut down your machines.

Drop your tools.

- Time's up, and I'm feeling a
little nervous.

I was going for a very elegant,
curved khukuri shape,

but I ended up with something
you'd see on a cartoon.

It's kind of disproportional.

- Everything went perfect.

It came out just... ahh,
beautiful,

like I won the lottery.

- Bladesmiths, it's now time for
the judges

to evaluate your work.

- Justin, you are up first.

Please present your blade to the
judges.

- From where I'm sitting, it
looked like this blade

was paper-thin, and I'm glad to
see it's not.

But in general, it looks good.
It feels good.

It's... it's got a lot of weight
to it,

but it doesn't feel heavy.

- Kelly, you're up next.

Please present your blade to the
judges.

- The grind lines are very
clean,

very nice and even.

Like, you know what flat is.

That's definitely flat.

- There's still a lot of
material here.

Love to see some weight come out
of that.

But all in all, great shape for
a chopper.

- Will, you're up.

Please present your work to the
judges.

Nice design.
Nice feel.

For being one of the youngest
competitors ever

that we had at this Forge,
that's a good blade, sir.

- I noticed that you would leave
it in the forge for

very extended amounts of time,
which I was concerned about.

That's detrimental to your steel
at a certain place.

I don't know what that metal's
gonna be like.

It may have some serious
decarburization.

- Frank, you're up.

Please present your blade to the
judges.

- As far as the shape goes,
I think it's nice.

You know, pulled the tanto off
well.

I like how you were able to... to
make your hammer just like that

in the dog's head style and then
get right into forging.

You were just... you were right on
it immediately.

But when I'm closely inspecting
this blade,

I see some this that really
kind of trouble me.

There's a lot of cracks.

It's like a lightning storm
going across the blade.

Did you notice those?
- No, sir. I did not.

- That is one of my biggest
concerns with this blade.

And it's very unfortunate,

because that is where a blade
can fail.

- Bladesmiths, the judges have
examined your work,

and unfortunately, it's time for
one of you to leave the Forge.

Frank, your blade did not make
the cut.

- Frank, it was a pleasure to
watch you

stay cool under pressure.

Unfortunately, you have cracks
running through the blade.

That's going to fail when we
begin cutting with it,

and that's why we're sending you
home.

- I understand.

- Frank, please surrender your
blade.

- A crack in an edge or a
blade, it's catastrophic.

That was a very big surprise,
but surface cracks happen.

It's just part of the game.

Am I gonna stop making blades?

No.
Nothing to feel ashamed of.

First thing I'll do when I get
home is give my wife a hug

and then probably head out to
the forge

and start working again.

- Congratulations, bladesmiths.

You've all made it to the second
round of competition.

In this round, you'll be
attaching handles to your blades

to turn them into fully
functional weapons.

Oh, and I almost forgot.

We've removed most of our handle
material.

You will be required to use only
scales to complete

your hidden tang.

- I've made a few hidden-tang
knives when I use

solid block for the handle.

Doing this with scales
involves a lot of pins.

There's a lot of moving parts,
a lot of glue

that needs to dry, and there's
not much time to get it done.

This is gonna be very
challenging.

- When the time runs out, one of
you will have to surrender

your weapon and leave the Forge.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your time starts now.

- And there goes the clock.

- All right.
- Here we go.

- My plan for round two is,
be better than at least

one other person's knife.

It's just like if you're being
chased by a bear.

You just have to be faster than
your threat.

- My plan is to start with the
guard.

I'm trying to go with a
traditional bowie style.

I feel like brass is the way to go.

- My scale material is a carbon
fiber chosen because they were

all laying side by side,

so I didn't really have to hunt
for nothing else.

Bird in the hand, you know.

The best way I can see to make
a hidden-tang knife

using just scales is to take the
scales and just glue them

together and make a block and
then drill in my hole

for my tang.

- Will over here looks like he's
just gonna make one solid block

out of a bunch of scales.

- I'm not sure if gluing those
scales together is gonna be

as structurally sound as a solid
piece of material,

but we'll see.

- You take away all the block;
Will just made a block.

- Kelly's got a lot of material
there.

She really needs to pull all
that together.

- My blade is ridiculously
heavy.

I mean, it's... it's a big one.

So I have to put my knife
on a diet the hard way.

I've got to make a guard
for my knife.

And I thought the fastest way
to do that would be to drill

three holes in a piece of brass,

and then I took one of the tools
I brought

that I never used earlier,

cut the handle off of it,
shaped it the same as my tang,

turned it into a punch, and just
slot-punched out

the middle of those three holes.

It actually worked pretty slick.

Oh, yeah.
This'll work just fine.

- My block, that's glued up and together,

and it seems to be solid, so I
go and start drilling

a hole for the tang.

- As Will drills through that
tang,

can all of those pieces that are
just glued together,

can all that snap?

- Yeah, that's the biggest
problem.

It's gonna stress the material.
It's gonna stress the glue.

It'll probably burn most of the
glue out.

- I'm not really looking for a
perfect measurement.

I just drill it until my tang
will fit.

- Bladesmiths, you have just two
hours remaining

to finish your work.

Justin has been working on that
guard for a long time.

- I'm concerned.

- Time is flying by.

And this guard's getting closer
and closer,

although painfully slowly,
starting to panic.

- So it looks like Will is
cutting off

a piece of this tang.

- Always my concern is not
having enough

material in the tang.

- I don't like to see that.

That tang is the foundation.

It's something you don't want to
compromise.

And it is gonna cause you
trouble

when you cut into stuff
like coconuts.

There's a lot of shock absorbed
there.

There's nothing to
counterbalance that blade.

- Ooh, that's pretty.

I found some burl, and then I
found some other wood.

I've never really done the
three-piece construction before.

That's where you make a
sandwich,

but there's three pieces,
so instead of just having

bread and bread, I have bread,
bologna, bread.

And so I knocked out a hunk in
the bologna to stick my

knife tang into and then just
make a sandwich.

It's pretty straightforward.

- Bladesmiths, half your time
has elapsed.

You have only 90 minutes
remaining to finish your work.

- At this point, I've got my
knife to the handle,

and I put my pin through it,

so I go and start shaving my
handle.

- So Kelly has grabbed the
24-hour epoxy.

- Oh, no.
- Oh, no, Kelly...

- Oh, no, bad, bad, bad.

I'm really fighting yelling it
out right now.

- You have to let nature take
its course.

- Yeah, you're right.

- No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Ohh. Oh, no.

- So Kelly has grabbed the
24-hour epoxy.

- Oh, no.
- Oh, no, Kelly...

- Oh, no, bad, bad, bad.

- No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

- Ahh.

I grabbed 24-hour epoxy.

I was feeling not so smart there
for a second

since it needs to be done here
in the near future,

so I got the five-minute epoxy.

- So she's come back with
five-minute epoxy,

it looks like.

- You've got two of the same
thing.

- Ay-yi-yi.

- So she's got two of the same
chemicals.

- She's going to need hardener
if she wants that glue to set.

- Oh, this is bad.

I don't like this.

- Perfect.
- One hour.

You have only one hour remaining
to finish your work.

- I'm doing a three-piece
handle, and I want the center

of this handle to be the
strongest point.

So I choose to go with a
micarta.

My plan is to tape it up as it's
drying and then take it over

to the grinder and start trying
to sharpen the blade.

There's no time to waste.

- I'm waiting for my glue to
dry.

What are you doing?
- I call it the mermaid handle.

- Oh, that's pretty.

- At this point, I am
essentially done.

I've finished all the hard work,

so I just work on sharpening
my blade until it can shave.

- Five-minute my ass.

My glue's not hardening.

I'm basically just playing the
waiting game.

Ahh, maybe that's why.

- I think Kelly has just
realized...

- Aww.

- That she has two
of the same thing.

- Aww.
- No, that was the light going

on "aww," not the sympathetic
"aww."

- Two epoxies and no hardener.

That's pretty stupid, so I just
started cleaning off the scales.

It was a mess.
- 30 minutes, bladesmiths.

You have 30 minutes remaining to
finish your work.

- There's no time to waste,
and I still need to put at least

four more pins in this handle.

There's nothing supporting the
micarta insert

in the middle of these scales,
and I know I need to

mechanically fasten them in
with pins.

- His pin just bent, so Justin
having to deal with

a little bit of a mechanical
problem here at the very end.

- After the glue debacle...

We will call it "the incident"
with the glue...

I know I've got it right and
set up fairly well.

As I'm grinding the shape
of my handle, I look around.

Will, he's been done for 45
minutes.

It's crazy.

- Five minutes, bladesmiths.

You have just five minutes
remaining.

- Will is over there stropping
on his leather boot

showing a lot of interesting
technique.

- I love it.
That's time wasted.

- I'm worried about these pins
being driving through.

This is probably the hardest
part of the whole build,

and there's just minutes left
to get it done.

Anything I screw up at this
point

is pretty much the end of it.

- One minute.

You have one minute remaining.

- I'm very happy that I
finished this early.

Gave me a chance to work on
minor details

that will hopefully set me
apart.

- Ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Drop your tools.

Your work is now completed.

- All three of us made totally
different knives,

and they're awesome.

Going into testing, I think
we're kind of neck-and-neck.

- Bladesmiths, this is the
strength and durability test.

I will test your knife by
delivering four chops

to get through these three
coconuts.

I want to make sure that the
knife doesn't come apart

and the edge will retain its
sharpness.

Justin, you're up first.

- Yes.

- Justin, you almost had no
shaping on this handle,

so it makes the knife a lot more
difficult to hang onto.

I nearly missed the coconut
because of it.

However, I don't feel any chips
or nicks.

It still feels sharp.

You did a good job.
- Thank you.

- Kelly, you ready?
- I'm ready.

Kelly, your handle, the cross
section,

it's a little thicker in the
back,

tapering towards the front,

which makes for a really good
grip.

Overall, it cut well,

I mean, I blazed through those
coconuts pretty easy.

Will.

Will, I can see the tang right
here through this epoxy,

and there's only about 2 inches
of this in the handle.

So it was throwing off my
accuracy,

because there's nothing to
counterbalance the blade.

Now, fortunately, it is still
together.

It didn't comeff.

There's no damage to your edge.

It cut through the coconuts.

It made it.

Next up is the sharpness test.

We're gonna turn it over to Doug
for that.

- To see if your blade's edge is
sharp,

I will slice across these rubber
water bladders.

Justin, you're up.

- I have no idea what to expect.

I've gotten through the coconut chop,

but I have no idea how this will
perform.

- Your blade has good balance.

It feels good, but in this
sharpness test,

it's not about chopping or using
velocity.

It's about slicing to test the
edge.

And in this particular case, it
did not cut.

Kelly, you're up next.
You ready?

- Sure.

I think it's sharp enough to
cut through, but I'm not

positive, because I have never
cut through a water bladder.

- Well, I like the balance of
your blade.

I like the way it feels in the
hand.

But when it came to the idea of
slicing, it did lacerate.

It just didn't slice all the way
through.

Will, you're up.
Are you ready?

- Yes, sir.

Will, your blade is light,

but the handle... a little small.

It likes to move around in my
hand.

But when I sliced across the
bladder,

you can see the line right here,
so it did lacerate,

but it did not cut through.

- I think it'll be a pretty
tough decision for the judges.

And I feel like I'm pretty much
equal with my other bladesmiths,

and I feel like I have a pretty good chance

of being able to go through.

Well, that was interesting.

- Is there a blade on this table
that's moving forward,

no doubt about it?

Kelly's.

- Everybody's in agreement
there.

- It is heavy, but even though
it failed the water bladder

test, it went through the
coconuts the best

out of all the knives.

- All right, judges, we'll start
with Justin's blade.

- There's a lot of forge marks
still in that blade

that didn't get cleaned up, and
the way it's lined up down here,

there's a lot of gapping, and
that guard's a little sharp,

but what I do like about what he
did, he took the time to connect

the frame of this handle with
these pins.

- I was very nervous about
drilling my pins to hold my

bologna and my sandwich, as you
like to call it.

- Yeah.

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

Jason.
- Hmm.

It's again one of those things I
like to kind of close my eyes

and put my hand on a knife and
try and figure, it's, like,

where is the cutting edge on
this knife?

You know, and when I... when I see
it, it could be anywhere.

It could be here.
It could be here.

That's a problem when you begin
cutting.

- at got me was the
construction of the handle.

There's nothing but that one pin
and glue

holding all of this together.

The last thing you want is the
tang breaking through

that handle.

- So they tested equally.

Which one of these guys is going
home?

Doug, have you made your final
decision?

- Yes, I have.
- Dave.

- Yes, I have.
- Jason.

- Yes, I have.

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

Bladesmiths, the judges have
made their final decision.

The bladesmith leaving the Forge
is...

Made their final decision.

It's time for one of you to
leave the Forge.

Will, your blade did not make
the cut.

- Will, I really liked where you
were going

with your blade when you started
out.

But you made a handle that was
basically held together

with nothing but glue, and I
know that noticed

where you had ground through
into that center epoxy.

You didn't do anything to
address those problems.

That's why we've got to let you
go.

- I understand.

- Will, please surrender your
weapon.

- I agree with their decision
100%.

You know, being young ain't
exactly an excuse to not do

as well, but I definitely
learned a lot not just from

the others but a lot about
myself.

I love my craft, and I'll
continue to do it.

I'm going back to my hometown
with my head held high,

'cause I'll be the most famous
person there.

- Kelly, Justin,
congratulations.

You've made it to the final
round, which means you're both

one step closer to the title of
"Forged in Fire" champion

and receiving that check for 10
grand.

Now we're sending you back to
your home forges,

where we're asking you to forge
an iconic weapon from history...

The falcata.

The falcata is a curved
chopping weapon

with a sharpened point.

It was popular in pre-Roman
Iberia

in what is now Spain and
Portugal.

It is unknown whether the
weapon was created in Iberia

or evolved from designs in
central Europe and Greece.

Whatever its origins, it
earned its reputation as a killer.

Employed by Spanish infantry,
the falcata allowed its user

to deliver a blow with the
force of an ax

while cutting like a sword.

Hannibal of Carthage was so
impressed by this Spanish blade

that he equipped many of his
African troops with it.

Those armed with a falcata
would rely on speed

and agility against the heavily
armored Roman soldiers.

Bladesmiths, you will have five
days to accomplish this.

At the end of those five days,
you will return and present

your finished falcatas to our
panel of expert judges,

who will then submit them to a
series of very rigorous tests.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

We'll see you in five days.

- And here we are at my home
forge, where I'm very comfy.

I love it here.

And I have an awesome set of
tools.

I know what glue is what.

And I'm ready to roll.

I'm real comfortable building a falcata.

I like that shape of blade.

Probably the most challenging
part are gonna be to decorate

it to where it really pops out.

I've decided since I am a
farrier that I should probably

go for the decorative horse
head on the end of the handle.

I'm taking a fair amount of
time to try to get the look

of this horse down, 'cause, you
know, I want the perfect horse,

and I want the horse that goes
with that knife.

Very important to know your
horse anatomy.

He looks like he's about to take
a big hunk out of you.

It's gonna be a lot of work,
but I want to hand in

the coolest project, and I want something

that's true to the era

but it's got a little Kelly in
it too.

- I'm excited to be back home
with tools I'm familiar with.

But I have a big challenge
ahead of me

and some really tough
competition.

Today I'd like to design the
blade and start forging.

I'm not a swordsmith.

I'm a bladesmith.

The falcata is a large sword,

but a big part of bladesmithing
is problem-solving.

I'm going to be using leaf
spring.

It's very thick.
It's very heavy.

It's the end of day one.

What I have is a pointy metal
stick.

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.

- It's day three.

I'm feeling really good about
the progress.

It's looking fine to me.

The heat treat went really well.

Everything's nice and straight,

so I'm just chugging right
along.

I'm just gonna tighten up the
handle a little bit,

'cause historically, it kind of
wraps around

and protects your hand.

I cut out a V, and it's mild
steel right there,

so I'm just gonna take a little
hand torch and heat this up

a little bit and just bend it
around and re-weld it.

So I like the shape of it better
now.

It welded up nice.

And you can't really see a seam.

I like it.

I'm feeling really good about
the progress,

so I want to do some testing and
see if it will hold up

to the rigors of the judges'
testing.

Cow bones are fun, 'cause
they're hard.

I mean, it's a good test on the
knife.

The knife kind of makes a funny
noise, like, a dang.

I hacked at it for a while, and
it didn't cut that well.

And I noticed a couple of
little bumps.

This is a setback.

I'm gonna have to reheat treat
this thing.

This is not good.

This is bad.

- It's day three.

I've got all my forging done.

And I'm ready for heat treat.

This is the scariest part of
this whole deal.

A lot of things can go wrong at this point.

The blade could bend.

I could have an actual piece of
blade break off.

If my blade cracks during this
quench, I am done.

We have a hard blade.

I didn't see the tip missing.

I don't see any crazy bends.

I'm feeling good.

This is enough for me today.

- Today I need to reheat treat
my blade,

make it hard this time,
not screw it up.

Last night, I put some heat
block on there,

and hopefully that'll keep the
spine soft

and let the blade get nice and
hard.

If it doesn't go well, then I
might have to make another one.

It won't be quite as pretty.

I'm definitely worried about
the heat treat,

'cause the first time I did it,
I had plenty of mass

still left in my blade.

Now it's ground down to where I want it,

so it would be really easy to
get a warp in it

or spin at the blade, anything.

I'm gonna have a heart attack.

My heat treat, it took.

Damn that was close.
I'm so relieved.

I'm, like, whoo, I got a hard
blade.

I think I'm gonna lay off the
cow bones, though.

I'll let the judges wreck it.

- It's my last day.

I need to get a finish on this
blade, glue up the handles,

and then sharpen them.

Making a blade this big with
just the tools I have

at my disposal is a lot of work.

But I think I did as good
a job as anybody could do,

and I feel this is a winning
weapon.

Falcata.

I think Kelly should be worried.

She's gonna have to bring a
blade that can perform

just as well or better.

Cool.

And that's quite a challenge for
anybody, I believe.

- Kelly, Justin, welcome back to
the Forge.

You've had five days at your
home forge

to work on your falcatas.

Kelly, how did it go?

- It was awesome.

This thing is, like,
custom-picked for me.

If there was a roomful of
swords, that would be the one

I would pick, so if it's
screwed up, it's all on me.

- Justin, how did it go for you?

- It went well, a lot of unique
challenges.

This is a new approach to a
blade shape,

a lot of new grinding and
profiling that I've never done.

It was quite a bit to overcome,

but I was pretty happy
with how it went.

- Well, bladesmiths, your
falcatas look like beautiful

works of art.

But looks are secondary to
performance.

We will now put your blades
through a series of tests.

First up, the sharpness test.

Doug.

- To see how sharp your blades
are, I will take you weapon,

and I will see how well it does
against these fish.

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

- Yep.

Going into the testing,

I'm just glad when it's over and
I'll be back to normal Kelly

and not stressed-out Kelly.

'Cause I'm much more fun when
I'm normal Kelly.

- Well, Kelly, your blade
definitely is designed

to chop through.

It cut through the first two
fish

and almost through the third
one.

This will cut.

Good job.

Justin, you're up next.
Are you ready?

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

Watching Kelly's blade go
through 2 1/2 fish set the bar

high, and I have no idea how
this thing will perform.

- Well, Justin, your blade is
sharp.

It cut all the way through the
first and second

and into the third.

It'll cut.

Next up is the strength test.

Dave.

- Smiths, on the battlefield,

the falcata didn't only hit
skin.

It his other swords, armor, and
shields.

So to test the strength of your
blade, we're going to

use our device here to take
three blows

into the steel edge of this
shield.

If your blades are made
properly,

that edge should hold up.

If not, we'll see what happens.

Kelly, you're up first.

You ready?
- Sure.

- Okay.

- I'm a little nervous about
the strength test.

Don't be a soft piece of
garbage.

Just be good.

- Three, two, one...

So to test the strength of your
blade,

we're going to use our device
here

to take three blows into the
steel edge of this shield.

Kelly, you're up first.

In three, two, one.

Three, two, one.

I thought I was seeing a crack,
but it's just discoloration.

The edge held up beautifully.

It's still sharp.

All in all, held up beautifully
in this strength test.

Justin, you ready?

- I'm ready.
- All right.

- I feel like this final test
is really gonna show

what my blade's made of.

Either it's gonna hold together,

it's gonna perform well,
or it may break in half.

I have no idea.

- Three, two, one.

All right, last time.

Three, two, one.

Well, I'm impressed.

No deformation.

It's still sharp.

Nicely done.

But that's scary, very scary.

It's in a position that if the
blade rotates one direction,

it's gonna go right in the pad
of the thumb.

If it rotates the other
direction,

it's gonna cut into the tendons
in the back of the hand.

That's an issue.

But all in all, it did well in
the machine.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Kelly, Justin, before I
announce

the "Forged in Fire" champion,
the judges have something

they'd like to say to both of
you.

Jason.

- Kelly, one of the things I
appreciated most is how you

forged the horse head.

I like the way it looked.

Also, it's traditional for a
falcata to have a horse head.

Overall, it was a beautiful
piece.

- Thank you.
- Very nice.

- Dave.

- Justin, you came up with a
design there

that is a complete intimidator.

I mean, you look at that thing,
and you know it's gonna hurt you

if it gets close to you.

I really appreciate you
bringing something

that is solidly yours.

- That means a lot.
Thank you.

- Kelly, Justin, you've both
done very impressive work.

However, on this day, there can
only be one

"Forged in Fire" champion.

Kelly, congratulations.

You are the "Forged in Fire"
champion.

- Oh... thank you.

- Justin, unfortunately, your
blade did not make the cut.

- Justin, the handle is a
connection between

the end user and the blade.

Your handle construction with
that hook being sharp,

it could potentially hurt the
person wielding it,

which unfortunately prevents it
from being

a fully functional weapon.

And it's for that reason that
your blade did not make the cut.

- Justin, please surrender your
weapon.

- It was close.

It's nice to know that with
five days of hard work

I can impress the judges that
have seen many swords,

and I've competed with some of
the best

bladesmiths in the country.

To do that is really rewarding.

- Kelly, congratulations.

You are the "Forged in Fire"
champion, and you will also be

receiving at check for $10,000.

How does that make you feel?

- Feels great.

- I think that thing's great.

It's straight up right out of
the history bos.

I mean, it's got all the
elements, which is really neat,

including the horse head.

- It's awesome. You're our first
female champion.

- No, it just still doesn't seem
quite real.

It feels great to be the "Forged
in Fire" champion,

the first farrier "Forged in
Fire" champion.

I'm the first chick "Forged in
Fire" champion.

It's pretty cool.

I pulled it off.