Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 5 - Kora Sword - full transcript
Four new bladesmiths step up to the challenge of forging blades using pieces of steel harvested from some monstrous power tools. While some smiths excel under the pressure, others are pushed to the limits of exhaustion in the heat of the Forge.
- For two seasons, America's
most talented bladesmiths
have faced off
in the ultimate competition...
- It's 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. Watch out.
Watch out. Watch out.
♪
- Only one will take home
$10,000...
- Whoo!
- And be crowned
"Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
- My name's Liam Hoffman.
I am a 19-year-old bladesmith
from North Carolina.
Most people don't take me
seriously because of my age.
I would love
to prove them wrong.
- My name is Robby Bowman.
I live in Dandridge, Tennessee,
and I'm known in the
Great Smoky Mountains
as a blacksmithing cowboy.
Whoo!
[laughs]
- My name's Paul Happy, but most
people just call me "Happy."
I've been a journeyman smith
since 2010.
I write poetry as well.
"Oh, hell, what am I doing now?
Sweat dripping off my brow."
- My name is Josh Smith.
I'm from Montana,
and I'm 35 years old.
I was the youngest
Mastersmith knife maker at 19.
They used to call me
"Psycho Knife Boy."
- Good morning, bladesmiths.
Welcome to the Forge.
You are here to engage
in three rounds
of edged-weapon-making
competition
specifically designed to test
every aspect of your
blade-making 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.
Last, edged-weapons specialist
and Kali martial artist,
Doug Marcaida.
Ultimately, they decide
which of you will be
the "Forged in Fire" champion
who also leaves here
with a check for $10,000.
♪
In this first round,
you will be working
with these...
chain saws.
- Oh, [bleep].
What in the world do I want
to use a chain saw for
besides cut a tree down?
- You will have to use parts
from these chain saws
to forge a signature blade
in your own style.
You must use at least two parts
from each of your saws.
Keep in mind that in round two,
you will have to attach handles
to your blades
to make them weapons
that will then be tested
in a brass-rod chop
and a fish slice.
Earlier today,
we had you pull numbers
from a hat to determine
your anvil position...
One through four.
That's also the order
that you'll be choosing
your chain saws in.
Liam, you're up first.
- I didn't anticipate
the chain saws.
I panicked for a second,
and then I just grabbed
the largest one.
- Robby, you're up next.
- This is crazy, but,
you know, so exciting, too.
And the hardest part
was not knowing
exactly what them parts
are made of.
- Paul.
- Great, and I wind up
with the plastic-looking thing.
- Josh, you get the leftovers.
- Oh, it's just my luck.
I was left with the new one
with the plastic shroud on it,
but I can make it work.
- You have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to forge your blades.
When the time runs out,
one of you will have
to surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your ten-minute design
window starts now.
[rock music]
♪
How much of this metal is
actually usable
in these chain saws?
- Well, you got the chain.
You got whatever
bearings are in there.
- Gear, the drive gear.
- For this challenge,
I want to make
a camp-style knife.
So I'm designing something
that I can build quickly
that'll still function properly.
- I'm thinking about making what
I call a "Hee-haw Pig Sticker."
It's gonna be a big one.
I've picked
the Hee-haw Pig Sticker
'cause the blade usually stays
sharp, doesn't deform.
- I'm drawing a large
recurve-style camp bowie knife.
I think that the design
will fare well,
especially with chopping.
It's a style
that I make frequently.
- I'm gonna design a blade
that will withstand
a lot of punishment,
a kind of a drop point hunter
that will have
a lot of strength.
It would mean a great deal to
me to win this competition,
because back home, I got a
15-year-old boy.
He's really rooting for Dad.
♪
Be the winner.
- Bladesmiths, your ten-minute
design window is now closed.
Your three-hour
forging time starts now.
♪
- Oh, yeah.
- Do you know what's exciting
about this challenge?
The chain saw
is finally the victim.
In every horror flick,
it's the weapon of choice
for hacking people up.
- Share this with you.
Grab that can of powder.
♪
The two parts of the chain saw
I'm gonna use
will be the chain and the bar.
I don't know
what that bar's made of,
so I'm a little leery
to use too much of the bar.
I've welded canister-Damascus
many times before.
I put my parts in that can,
and the powdered steel... I
know that's good knife steel.
That will forge well
to the chain
and the bar
and make a good blade.
- The very first thing that
I do is cut off the chain
and the bar of the chain saw.
I put Liquid Paper
in the inside of the canister
to prevent the inside
of the billet
from sticking to the canister.
- Liam's got the Liquid Paper,
and he's gonna line
the inside of that canister
so none of the internal steel
will bond to that can.
Ideally, he's gonna get
that squared down,
open up that can,
and just peel it right away.
- No, I've never done
this before,
so I'm only going off
of what I've seen and heard.
So I'm just hoping I'm not
missing something important
that's gonna bite me in the end.
♪
- My plan of action is gonna be
a canister-Damascus blade.
I start cutting the chain
into little pieces,
then I cut the bar.
It's a pretty good
sized canister,
and I want
a really strong blade.
I dropped the lockboxes
in there.
I cut the bolts in half,
put the nuts in there.
Come on, baby, get hot!
I'm making a pumpkin pie.
I'm putting all the little
secret ingredients in it
and gonna forge it out and have
a really nice pie in the end.
I've never done
a canister-Damascus.
I'm excited, you know?
I'm up for it. I'm ready!
Whoo! Come on, now!
- So much fun to listen
to Robby,
the hootin'-tootin' cowboy.
- Oh, yeah.
- Whoo-hoo!
I love this!
The passion! I mean,
I love working with this metal!
When I'm bladesmithing,
the excitement just...
I mean, it's just
so overwhelming sometimes.
Whoo!
Come on, now!
I am a cowboy,
and we're gonna come in.
We're gonna hoot and holler,
and we're gonna slap some iron,
and we're gonna have
a good time.
Whoo.
[laughs]
- Whoo!
- Oh, yeah!
- Oh, I'm making
a canister-Damascus.
Never done it before.
I figured, why not do it today?
♪
Put a piece of chain saw blade.
And now I'm waiting.
I'm waiting for heat.
- It's interesting that all
of our smiths have chosen to do
the canister
to forge their metals.
We did not tell 'em to do that.
- You know what might be
happening is they saw Josh,
our Mastersmith,
go for a canister and figured,
"Well, if he's doing,
it's a good idea.
I'll do it, too."
- Well, that could be
a very risky move,
especially if it's a technique
you're not familiar with.
- Yeah.
- Forging and drawing
the blade out
is taking a whole lot longer
than I anticipated.
♪
It's big.
It's fat.
It's thick, and it's not
wanting to go to the point
that I'm wanting to.
Behind you!
- We've seen what happens
when forge welds go bad.
You can do nothing
but chase those welds
for the next 2 1/2, 3 hours.
- [blowing raspberry]
- Bladesmiths, you have
two hours remaining
to finish your work!
♪
- Love it when
the sparks start to fly.
- Josh is moving along
very smoothly.
These other guys are really
struggling with those cans.
- Because I used Liquid Paper,
I have to cut off part
of the canister
so I don't have
the mild steel on the edge.
It's taking me a long time
to get that layer off.
- Because of that Liquid Paper,
he has to remove the entire can.
Is that correct?
- Yeah.
Ideally, he's able to put a
chisel or a screwdriver in there
and just lift that section away.
- I'm going back and forth,
trying different things.
Nothing seems to be
working great.
I wish that I would've forged
my billet thinner
before trying to cut it off.
- The nice thing is,
is if he's able to remove
that can successfully,
he'll have a billet
of all "hardenable" metal,
where our other smiths
all have a coating
on their metal
of non- "hardenable" stuff.
♪
- We've got Josh over here
working on his blade profile.
Way ahead of the game
at this point.
- Whoo, doggy.
Josh is almost done.
I'm thinking,
"Are you kidding me?"
Here I am still jacking around
with this here.
Lay it on the ground!
It's still not wanting to move
for me as well as I want it to.
You ugly, ugly, ugly bastard.
It may not be exactly
how I want it to be,
but it will be done.
I'm having a hell
of a time, boys.
- You have only
60 minutes remaining!
- Got a blade going?
- I'm ready to start making
a knife now.
- Sweet.
- Once I get the canister off,
I feel
a little bit more confident.
I can go a lot faster.
- Look at that little rat go.
He's moving on with it.
♪
- Now you can see Liam's blade
really start to come along.
- I think my competition
has underestimated me some
because I'm so young.
- Look at that.
- He is exemplifying
the work of the bladesmith.
- That boy can swing a hammer.
♪
- Yeah, Robby's just got
a big noodle over there.
♪
- [groans]
♪
- Whoo!
Dang, it's hot in here.
I'm putting that thing
in the forge
and coming out and hammering
with the pyre hammer.
I'm starting to shake.
Whew.
[dramatic music]
- Something's going on
with Robby right there.
- Whew.
I'm getting dizzy.
♪
- You all right, Robby?
- [groaning]
- Is Robby okay?
- It looks like the medic
is gonna check on him here.
- Want to take your hat off
for a minute?
♪
- [groaning]
- It looks like
an overheating problem.
- It's hot in here.
- Yeah, it's hot in here.
I don't want to quit.
There's a lot of people
back home
who encouraged me to do this,
and I'm doing it for them.
I think my son would just say,
you know, "Go, Dad.
Do it. Do it. Do it.
Go, go, go."
I'm good. Whoo! Thank you!
- All right, all right.
- All right.
- All right! Whoo!
- [whistles weakly]
- You good, brother?
- Yeah.
♪
- As I start to grind
the faces of the blade,
things are looking really good.
Damn.
Pretty much thinking,
"Oh, [bleep].
This isn't good."
I'm gonna grind more
on that side of the blade
and hope that I can grind
through that flaw.
But I want to leave material
I can work on after heat treat.
♪
- Yep. There he goes.
Looks like a good color.
- That's how they do it
in Montana.
♪
- Whoo.
- Robby, over here,
making a comeback.
He's on the grinder.
Josh just ran a file down
the edge of his blade.
- Hard as a diamond.
♪
- Bladesmiths, you have
just 15 minutes remaining
to finish your work!
- Whoo, it's time!
- Oh, big flame.
- Robby, into the oil.
- There's gonna be a big,
bad boy right there!
- There you go. And he's in.
- I believe that's hot enough.
I got 15 minutes to get
this thing heat-treated.
- That looks like
it's about 1,800 degrees.
- Oh, look at that.
It came out of the oil,
and it's still glowing!
- When a blade comes out of
the oil and it's still glowing,
it's not a hardened blade.
- I'm sitting there thinking,
"These judges are gonna get
"ahold of this blade,
and it's not hardened,
I'll be disqualified."
- That blade is still
glowing orange.
- It's still orange.
- Is it still heat-treated?
- No.
- Fudgsicle sticks!
I got to heat it back up,
quench it again.
♪
- Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four, three,
two, one!
Bladesmiths,
shut down your machines!
Drop your tools!
Your forge time has ended!
- What an experience.
Wow.
I actually done
a canister-Damascus blade.
Whoo! I like it!
- I feel really good
about how my blade looks,
but I'm not happy
about that flaw.
♪
- Bladesmiths, round
one is complete.
Good job.
Now it's time for the judges to
take a closer look at your work.
Liam, you're up first.
♪
- You know, Liam, you may be 19,
but you are beyond your years
of experience watching you work.
It was beautiful to watch.
It feels good in the hands.
Nice design.
Well done, sir.
- Thank you.
- Overall, Liam,
I really like the shape,
and it already feels like it
wants to be a good chopper.
But I noticed you have
some issue back here.
What do you think that is?
- It's delam from the canister
not completely welding.
- Fortunately, it's in
a good spot to have an issue.
- Yeah.
- Robby, you're up next.
Please present your blade
to the judges.
- I'm really pleased
that you didn't give up.
You were overheating out there,
but you got back up
on your feet,
and you went at it.
So I admire that.
- Dave?
- It looks like your canister
didn't quite weld up with
your interior material there.
- Yes. I believe I can get
some of it out
and enough meat there
to where I can work it down
a little more.
- All right.
- Paul, you're next.
♪
- I love your design, Paul.
It definitely feels
like a chopper right there.
Good job, sir.
- Thank you.
- Paul, you quenched,
and you pulled this blade out,
and it was still
glowing back here.
Did you see that too?
- Yes, sir.
- Yeah, that concerns me a lot...
How this even hardened.
You might want to address that.
- Josh, you're up.
♪
- By far, the most finished
knife in the first round.
You can see right there,
that line where
your canister material is,
but it seems like
that weld's pretty tight.
I can't get a fingernail in it,
so I'm not gonna worry
about it much.
Nicely done.
- Thank you.
- Watching you work,
you really looked like you
knew what you were doing.
Knowing that it's a chopper,
definitely,
the transference of energy...
That feels good.
Nicely done, sir.
- Thank you.
- Gentlemen,
the judges need to take
a closer look at your work,
so I'm gonna ask you to step
away and leave your blades.
♪
- That canister was a pain.
- That was a tough
challenge for me.
- I was rusty.
- Let's start with Josh's blade
on the end there.
- It's got a nice, clean line,
nice, clean grinds.
But it does bring into question
what he did here
with his canister weld.
- That is probably
that piece of chain,
where it
just didn't laminate up.
- He's looking at that flaw
right there in that blade.
I should've burned it off.
I should've heated that chain.
I was in a hurry.
- Let's move on to Liam.
What do you think, Jason?
- The handle feels really good,
but there are welded
and unwelded spots in it,
but it's so shallow,
it doesn't concern me.
Overall, it seems well made.
- Let's take a look
at Robby's blade.
- What I'm worried about is,
I can see
where the canister line
actually crosses the center.
He could have soft material.
- Mm-hmm.
- So he'd have parts of the
blade that would hold an edge
and be "sharpenable" and other
parts that are gonna be soft.
- Let's move on
to Paul's blade there.
- It's amazingly heavy.
The biggest question is whether
he got it hard or not.
When he pulled this out
of the quench the second time,
you could see the interior
of this knife glowing.
- They're eyeballing
the crap out of me.
- Ooh, yeah.
- So, if it's soft like
I think it is,
he's going to need to re-quench
that blade if he makes it
into the next round.
- Well, I think we need
to file-test these blades.
So, Jason, if you don't mind,
Josh's blade.
[metal scraping]
- This is all hard.
This one seems good to me.
- Okay, Paul's blade.
[metal scraping]
- Yeah, all this area is soft.
That concerns me.
- Okay.
All right,
let's check out Robby's blade.
♪
[metal scraping]
That looks like
it's biting in, too.
- Soft here.
Parts of it are hard,
and parts of it are soft.
- All right.
The last blade... Liam's blade.
[metal scraping]
- Liam's blade is hard.
- Okay.
Judges, have you made
your final decision
about which of these smiths
is leaving the Forge?
- Close, but, yeah.
- Let's go tell our smiths.
♪
Bladesmiths, the judges
have examined your weapons,
and they've made
their final decision.
- Bladesmiths,
it's time for one of you..
To leave the Forge.
♪
Robby, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Robby, you fought
a great fight out there.
When we tested your blade,
there are some soft spots
as well as hard spots.
You have the soft canister steel
moving back and forth
across the center line,
across the edge of this blade,
and there's no way to grind
that out to get a hard edge
all the way across this blade.
But you did a great job.
Really appreciate
you not giving up.
- Oh, yeah.
- Robby, please surrender
your weapon and leave the Forge.
- I have no regrets being
here. It was a great experience.
And at the end of the day,
no matter what happens,
I am still
the Blacksmithing Cowboy
of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Whoo!
[laughs]
♪
- Congratulations, bladesmiths.
You've made it
to the second round.
In this round,
you'll be attaching handles
to your blades to turn them
into fully functional weapons
that will then be tested
for their strength
and durability
in a brass-rod chop...
and for their sharpness
in a fish slice.
All right, good luck, bladesmi...
Oh, wait.
One more thing...
Just to keep things interesting,
you can only use material
from animals
to make your handles.
That's bone, hide, or horn.
You will have three hours
in this round.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your time starts now.
♪
- Runs with sharp knives.
- Going into round two,
I'm pretty excited.
Handles are one
of the favorite parts
of the blade-making process
for me
because it can be so artistic,
and I like to get
the little details right.
The hardest part
about using the antler or bone
is that if I give it
too much heat
with grinding, it could bend.
♪
- Starting off the second round
with the most finished blade
is a good feeling,
but being a perfectionist,
I need to be careful
about not getting bogged down
with the details.
♪
- Got your game plan?
- Their handle material
is not real wide,
so I might have to adjust
my handle a little.
- I'm giving myself two hours
to get the blade heat-treated
and ground.
Then the last hour,
I have to put a handle on it.
I'm feeling
extremely overwhelmed.
The more I grind,
the more inclusions I see.
They just keep coming.
[bleep].
[bleep]. [bleep].
Oh, you're making it stinky.
- Smells good.
- Oh, that's natural material.
- It smells like...
- Like when you're
at the dentist,
and somebody's
grinding your teeth.
- I picked some kind
of a white horn over there.
I'm not really positive
what it is.
I have quite a bit of work left
to do on the blade,
but I got enough time to get it
where I want it,
I'm pretty sure.
- Yeah, Josh is taking
the easy route.
He's gonna make scales
and keeping everything
relatively simple.
- If you're gonna
keep it simple,
you better turn
in something fantastic.
- That's what I'm thinking.
- I'm just augering
those holes out a tiny bit.
I want my pins to come in
and out nice and easy.
I don't want to crack
this handle material.
I'm just gonna glue 'em in.
Hammering on bone...
Usually a bad idea
unless you really got some time
and you're good at it.
And I'm neither.
- I've never worked
with this stuff before,
but it should work pretty good.
My handle has two
different materials on it.
The main body is cow bone,
and the bolster material
is camel bone
that's just been dyed.
And I used a bolster
in the front
to give the handle material
more length.
Knowing that Josh is
a Mastersmith
is a little bit daunting,
but my strength lies in working
at a slower pace, a steady pace.
I think I have round two
definitely ithe bag.
- Bladesmiths,
one hour has elapsed.
You have just two hours
remaining to finish your work.
- Son of a bitch.
It's disheartening
having so much work to do,
while the other two
seem like they're just
having a grand old time.
- I mixed my epoxy.
And I wasn't even thinking red
and black, and I just...
- You clamped it?
- Yeah.
I went to put stuff away,
and I was like...
Yeah.
♪
- I've got to get
my heat treat done,
and I've got to get
my handle done
so I can sharpen my blade,
and I've got to get it
all finished on time.
- Everywhere
that there's a delam
it's gonna get very bright
as he's going back
and forth across.
What does that mean
for the blade?
- There are multiple layers
under there
that probably aren't bound
together very well.
- Is that a potential blade
failure for the testing, Dave?
- It's gonna depend on
how he finishes that knife.
- I've got to get
the heat treat right. - I've got to get
If my blade chips,
I'll be going home.
- There he is. He's in.
He quenched.
- I quench the blade,
take the file,
run it across the edge of it.
My file slides off of it.
I know it's hard.
I'm happy. I'm content.
I'm ready to move on
with putting the handles on.
Back to the grinder.
I found a bone that will work.
Right now I'm just caring
about "functionable."
Pretty can come later.
I just want this thing
at least completed.
- Bladesmiths, you have
just 30 minutes remaining
to finish your work!
- The name of this is
"Good Versus Evil."
This is very good.
This is evil.
There's a little bit
of an inclusion on the edge,
which I'm definitely
concerned about.
I don't think I'm gonna get it
all the way out.
I'm afraid to get
the blade too thin.
- If the edge geometry
is very thin,
it will chip and wrinkle.
- So Liam over here just seeing
how it holds up.
- Now, I am going to be
hitting it way harder than that.
♪
- Oh, this crap
makes me nervous.
- Ten seconds.
Nine, eight, seven,
six...
- Easy.
Damn, Liam.
- Four, three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, stop your work.
You are done.
- I'm not happy with my blade.
One of the tests
is a brass-rod chop.
The stress that that puts on
that steel can open up flaws
that you didn't even
know were there.
- A good, functional blade beats
pretty every day.
♪
- Bladesmiths, I'm gonna be
testing the strength
and durability of your edge
by taking each of your knives
and chopping into these
solid brass rods.
If your knife is tough enough
and your edge
was designed properly,
they should hold up.
Josh, you ready?
- I'm ready.
- All right.
♪
- Good job.
- Josh, the brass rod
will tear your knife up bad.
There's a little wrinkle,
but other than that,
there's no chip.
Still sharp.
Good job.
Paul, you're up.
You ready?
- Swing it hard.
- All right.
♪
- Paul, your handle
feels really good,
but we have some pretty
significant blade damage
right here.
Overall, good job.
- Thank you.
- Liam, ready?
- Yeah.
- All right.
♪
So, Liam, we've got a little bit
of edge deformation.
It's almost not noticeable.
It's still sharp there.
Now, that tells me you got
a good heat treat on it.
When I feel a handle like this,
it feels good,
but it's a little
skinny up here.
Tends to want to cant like this.
Overall, great job.
- Thanks.
- Doug.
♪
- Bladesmiths, to test
your blade's edge and sharpness,
I will slash across this fish.
If it's sharp,
it should cut through.
Josh, you're up first.
You ready?
- Yeah, I'm ready.
♪
- Well, Josh,
your blade is light.
It's fast, and it's sharp.
It sliced all the way through.
This, sir, will cut.
Good job.
- Thank you.
- Paul, you're up next.
You ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Let's do this.
♪
- Nice job.
- Nice, clean cut, Paul.
Your blade's got some meat
to it, some power.
This, sir, will cut.
- Thank you.
- Liam, you're up next.
You ready?
- Oh, yeah.
♪
Sweet.
- Liam, your blade design
definitely makes it
like a chopper.
The edge is sharp.
As you can see,
it cut all the way through.
The handle is a little bit
small and rounded,
but nonetheless,
this, sir, will cut.
- Awesome.
- Good job.
- Gentlemen, the judges
have made a final decision
about which of you
is leaving the Forge.
♪
Paul, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Paul, you made a pretty good
comeback from round one.
However, your heat treat
was still the problem.
The blade wasn't hard enough,
and that's why we're
sending you home.
- Very understandable.
- Paul, please surrender
your weapon and leave the Forge.
♪
- My first canister experience
was a pain in the butt.
I wish I would've heat-treated
that thing
the first time correctly.
I didn't win,
but, hey, I had fun.
I'm still Paul Happy.
I'm always happy.
♪
- Congratulations, bladesmiths.
You've made it through
to the final round,
but your work is far from over.
Now we're sending you back
to your home forge
to create an iconic blade
from history...
♪
The Kora.
- [laughs]
- The Kora sword
originated in Nepal,
where it was wielded
for centuries
by a legendary group
of soldiers, the Gurkhas.
The Gurkhas were known for
their fearless military prowess
in weapons-based martial arts,
which included symbolic
weaponry like the Kora sword.
This fearsome sword
features a long,
curved blade that flares
outward at the tip,
maximizing the force
of each swing
and making it an ideal weapon
for both slashing and chopping.
Also used in sacrifice,
a skilled Kora wielder
could reportedly cut
a sheep in half
with just one swing.
♪
It must be an effective, working
version of that deadly weapon.
It must include a spatulated
hooked tip,
a guard, and pommel.
- Josh has definitely
never made a Kora before.
And neither have I.
- You will have five days
at your home forge
to complete this challenge.
At the end of five days,
you will return
and present your finished Koras
to our panel of expert judges.
Only after they've subjected
those weapons
to a series of brutal tests
will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion
who gets that check
for ten grand.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
- Good luck.
- You too.
♪
- My plan today
might be a risky one,
but I'm gonna make
some Damascus steel
for the blade and the handle.
I think both of these swords
are gonna test well,
so I think the edge might have
to come down to looks
and the extra things we do.
This is the critical part
right here.
This is the forge weld
on the blade Damascus.
I never heard of the Kora
before I saw it at the Forge,
but I was instantly excited.
This is exactly
what I like to do.
♪
It doesn't look like much yet,
but it's gonna be cool.
I feel really good
about day one.
I've gotten my blade forged,
the Damascus done.
I don't think Liam is gonna be
making Damascus steel,
which I hope gives me an edge.
Call that a day.
[chuckles]
♪
- It's day one at my home forge,
and I'm hoping
to get accomplished
the rough forging of my blade.
♪
I've never made any blade
this long before,
so it's gonna be an adventure.
Josh has more to lose,
because he is a Mastersmith.
I really hope that he
doesn't underestimate me
during this challenge.
♪
I'm gonna try to stay
pretty historically accurate.
I'm gonna be forging Damascus,
and having that Damascus
on a large blade
will really be pretty cool.
♪
This is the biggest
build of Damascus
I've ever made.
As I'm forging out the Damascus,
I'm realizing it's way too big,
and I can't actually hold it
correctly,
'cause it's too long.
Everything about this big billet
is taking a lot of time...
Me swinging it from the forge
to the press and drawing it out
and waiting for it to heat up.
I'm gonna have to speed
things up tomorrow.
♪
- Yesterday I got the blade
all forged, the Damascus made.
So today I hope to get it
all profiled
and successfully heat-treat it.
And I'd like to grind
a fuller in this blade.
I think in order
to beat this kid,
I got to do some things
that he won't.
This groove will take
a little bit of weight out,
but more than anything,
I think it's cool.
♪
Groove looks pretty good.
Today's probably the most
critical day of the five.
Here goes nothing.
If the heat treat fails,
it's a couple days' worth
of lost work.
♪
Seems to be hard.
Generally, you heat-treat
and grind an edge
on a sword or a blade
based on what
it's gonna be used for.
I don't know
what it's gonna be used for.
That's the problem.
♪
- Today I'm gonna do
my heat treat.
Unfortunately, I don't have
a heat-treating oven
large enough,
so I'm gonna have to do this
in the propane forge.
Yeah, this sword is at least
twice as big as I'm used to.
I would not normally
heat-treat something like this.
Hopefully, this thing
heats up evenly.
Okay, going for the quench.
♪
It's perfectly straight.
It's really hardened.
And now I'm going to sharpen it,
and then I'll do my testing.
♪
Worked pretty good.
Josh better
bring his A game to beat this.
Good boy.
- All right, we'll try
a test out here, this edge.
It's day four.
My blade is done.
That thing really sticks
in there.
I don't know what Liam's
blade's looking like right now,
but it's hard to imagine
that he's got anything
going better than mine.
I'm feeling really confident.
The handle... probably my
last big hurdle on this sword.
Getting ready to put my handle
in the acid
here to etch the Damascus.
Looks pretty cool.
That handle should be
about bulletproof.
Screwed and glued.
I don't think there's
any more I could've done.
This is my best.
Win or lose, I created something
that most people can't.
So I'm proud of that.
♪
- Day five, I'm feeling
really good going into it,
but I'm a little bit nervous
about the handle.
I've never done anything
like this before.
That looks cool.
My plan for the handle is
to square everything up first,
add my layout lines,
and then slowly work it
down into an oval.
I'm adding
in a few bronze spacers
to match the bronze finial
and add in some fullers
for grip and looks.
This thing's pretty cool.
This is the first
finial I've made.
The sword is coming together
really well,
and it is really awesome.
♪
[bleep].
I'm looking at my finial,
and I realize
that it's now sitting on
crooked,
which it wasn't before
and that I've cross-threaded it.
[bleep].
So I have to trash that
and start over.
It's really stressful
at the last minute
having to just completely tear
this end part of my handle out.
This is the last thing
that I want to be doing
near the end of day five.
[bleep], [bleep], [bleep].
♪
To work on your Koras.
Josh, why don't you tell us
a little bit about your Kora?
- Well, I decided to build
a Damascus Kora.
I did an all-steel handle,
all-steel construction.
That's what I found
the originals to be.
I'm pretty proud of it.
It was a good week.
- Great. Liam?
- Yeah, I had a blast making it,
and I did a lot of research.
I found that it's supposed to be
a really heavy chopping knife,
so that's what
I tried to give to you
and still put
my own style to it.
- Fantastic.
Both weapons look amazing,
but as we all know,
it's all about
how they hold up
in our weapons tests.
First up is the sharpness test.
Doug?
- The Nepalese Kora was a blade
that had a distinct inward curve
with a spatulated flare
at the tip,
making it a weapon
for slicing and chopping.
I will cut
across these sandbags.
Let's see how sharp
your blades are.
Josh, you're up first.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
Let's do it.
♪
- Josh, great balance.
The blade really wants
to chop and slice.
The recovery of the blade
makes it one
that wants to continue
for combat.
One problem I have here
is this handle.
It tends to roll.
But other than that,
it will cut.
Good job, sir.
- Thank you.
Liam, you're up next.
Are you ready?
- Yeah.
♪
- When you said
that this was heavy,
you weren't kidding.
This is a chopper.
A little hard to control
on the recoil,
but not enough to where
I can't wield it.
This, sir, will cut.
- Great.
- Good job.
Next up is the strength test.
Dave?
- Gentlemen, to test
the strength of your Kora,
I'm gonna take one blow
into these skulls.
Josh, you're up.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
- All right, fantastic.
♪
- Nice.
- Josh, it went
right into the skull.
Swings easy, super lightweight,
but like Doug said,
the handle wants to roll
in my hand.
Nonetheless, nicely done.
- Thank you.
- All right, moving on.
You ready?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- I feel really
confident in my blade.
If Josh's can do it,
then mine will do it as well.
♪
- Wow. It's a beast.
[chuckles]
It feels really nice
in the hand.
You did a great job
on this handle.
Obviously, we pretty much
took care of that skull.
Now, this thing, once you
get it started, it's gonna go.
- Right.
- My only worry is stopping it.
- Yeah.
- You don't always have to have
a heavy blade
to make a heavy blow.
But it's a beautiful piece.
Nice job.
- Thank you.
- Well done.
♪
- Liam, Josh, the judges
have scrutinized
every detail of your weapon,
and they've made
their final decision.
Before I announce
who that winner is,
they have some things they'd
like to say to both of you.
Jason?
- Liam, your sword is
very impressive.
I love the appearance of it.
It was like an axe.
I like to see
something like that,
and I call it "phantasmagoric," you know?
And it has the appearance
of, like, "This thing is death.
See it and die."
You did a great job.
Very well done.
- Thank you.
- Josh, aside from your blade
performing very well
on all the tests, the fullering
you did on the spine...
Just pure eye candy.
If ever there's one problem
I have here, is this handle.
When I was using it,
it tends to roll,
but what you turned in
is one of the most visually
stunning blades
we've ever seen in this Forge.
- Thank you.
- Gentlemen,
both of your weapons
are spectacular,
but in this competition,
there can only be one champion.
♪
And that champion is...
♪
Liam.
Congratulations.
You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Josh, unfortunately,
your blade did not make the cut.
Dave will explain.
- Josh, we've never seen
two weapons so evenly matched,
and our decision came down
to one incredibly small thing,
and it was the fact that that
handle torqued in Doug's hand,
torqued in mine.
It's an amazing piece of work.
You should be
incredibly proud of it.
I mean, I wish I could own it.
- Josh, please
surrender your weapon.
- I came here
to challenge myself,
and I came here to hopefully
represent bladesmithing well,
and I think I did that.
I'm disappointed
in the judges' decision,
but I'm satisfied
with the Kora that I produced.
I'm going home to my kids,
which is where I'm happiest,
so that's where I want to be.
- Liam, congratulations.
You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving a check
for ten grand. Good job.
- You are our youngest
champion so far.
Congratulations.
Great job.
- Good job.
- I just won "Forged in Fire."
Just wow.
This is a big feat for me
to accomplish
against a Mastersmith.
I think that all the people
that I went to high school with,
they'll finally realize
it's not just a hobby.
It's something that
I can really succeed at.
I'm gonna use the $10,000
and just put it straight
into a new shop,
and these are, like,
my only pair of jeans.
So maybe I'll get
another pair of jeans.
[chuckles]
♪
most talented bladesmiths
have faced off
in the ultimate competition...
- It's 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. Watch out.
Watch out. Watch out.
♪
- Only one will take home
$10,000...
- Whoo!
- And be crowned
"Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
- My name's Liam Hoffman.
I am a 19-year-old bladesmith
from North Carolina.
Most people don't take me
seriously because of my age.
I would love
to prove them wrong.
- My name is Robby Bowman.
I live in Dandridge, Tennessee,
and I'm known in the
Great Smoky Mountains
as a blacksmithing cowboy.
Whoo!
[laughs]
- My name's Paul Happy, but most
people just call me "Happy."
I've been a journeyman smith
since 2010.
I write poetry as well.
"Oh, hell, what am I doing now?
Sweat dripping off my brow."
- My name is Josh Smith.
I'm from Montana,
and I'm 35 years old.
I was the youngest
Mastersmith knife maker at 19.
They used to call me
"Psycho Knife Boy."
- Good morning, bladesmiths.
Welcome to the Forge.
You are here to engage
in three rounds
of edged-weapon-making
competition
specifically designed to test
every aspect of your
blade-making 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.
Last, edged-weapons specialist
and Kali martial artist,
Doug Marcaida.
Ultimately, they decide
which of you will be
the "Forged in Fire" champion
who also leaves here
with a check for $10,000.
♪
In this first round,
you will be working
with these...
chain saws.
- Oh, [bleep].
What in the world do I want
to use a chain saw for
besides cut a tree down?
- You will have to use parts
from these chain saws
to forge a signature blade
in your own style.
You must use at least two parts
from each of your saws.
Keep in mind that in round two,
you will have to attach handles
to your blades
to make them weapons
that will then be tested
in a brass-rod chop
and a fish slice.
Earlier today,
we had you pull numbers
from a hat to determine
your anvil position...
One through four.
That's also the order
that you'll be choosing
your chain saws in.
Liam, you're up first.
- I didn't anticipate
the chain saws.
I panicked for a second,
and then I just grabbed
the largest one.
- Robby, you're up next.
- This is crazy, but,
you know, so exciting, too.
And the hardest part
was not knowing
exactly what them parts
are made of.
- Paul.
- Great, and I wind up
with the plastic-looking thing.
- Josh, you get the leftovers.
- Oh, it's just my luck.
I was left with the new one
with the plastic shroud on it,
but I can make it work.
- You have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to forge your blades.
When the time runs out,
one of you will have
to surrender his weapon
and leave the Forge.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your ten-minute design
window starts now.
[rock music]
♪
How much of this metal is
actually usable
in these chain saws?
- Well, you got the chain.
You got whatever
bearings are in there.
- Gear, the drive gear.
- For this challenge,
I want to make
a camp-style knife.
So I'm designing something
that I can build quickly
that'll still function properly.
- I'm thinking about making what
I call a "Hee-haw Pig Sticker."
It's gonna be a big one.
I've picked
the Hee-haw Pig Sticker
'cause the blade usually stays
sharp, doesn't deform.
- I'm drawing a large
recurve-style camp bowie knife.
I think that the design
will fare well,
especially with chopping.
It's a style
that I make frequently.
- I'm gonna design a blade
that will withstand
a lot of punishment,
a kind of a drop point hunter
that will have
a lot of strength.
It would mean a great deal to
me to win this competition,
because back home, I got a
15-year-old boy.
He's really rooting for Dad.
♪
Be the winner.
- Bladesmiths, your ten-minute
design window is now closed.
Your three-hour
forging time starts now.
♪
- Oh, yeah.
- Do you know what's exciting
about this challenge?
The chain saw
is finally the victim.
In every horror flick,
it's the weapon of choice
for hacking people up.
- Share this with you.
Grab that can of powder.
♪
The two parts of the chain saw
I'm gonna use
will be the chain and the bar.
I don't know
what that bar's made of,
so I'm a little leery
to use too much of the bar.
I've welded canister-Damascus
many times before.
I put my parts in that can,
and the powdered steel... I
know that's good knife steel.
That will forge well
to the chain
and the bar
and make a good blade.
- The very first thing that
I do is cut off the chain
and the bar of the chain saw.
I put Liquid Paper
in the inside of the canister
to prevent the inside
of the billet
from sticking to the canister.
- Liam's got the Liquid Paper,
and he's gonna line
the inside of that canister
so none of the internal steel
will bond to that can.
Ideally, he's gonna get
that squared down,
open up that can,
and just peel it right away.
- No, I've never done
this before,
so I'm only going off
of what I've seen and heard.
So I'm just hoping I'm not
missing something important
that's gonna bite me in the end.
♪
- My plan of action is gonna be
a canister-Damascus blade.
I start cutting the chain
into little pieces,
then I cut the bar.
It's a pretty good
sized canister,
and I want
a really strong blade.
I dropped the lockboxes
in there.
I cut the bolts in half,
put the nuts in there.
Come on, baby, get hot!
I'm making a pumpkin pie.
I'm putting all the little
secret ingredients in it
and gonna forge it out and have
a really nice pie in the end.
I've never done
a canister-Damascus.
I'm excited, you know?
I'm up for it. I'm ready!
Whoo! Come on, now!
- So much fun to listen
to Robby,
the hootin'-tootin' cowboy.
- Oh, yeah.
- Whoo-hoo!
I love this!
The passion! I mean,
I love working with this metal!
When I'm bladesmithing,
the excitement just...
I mean, it's just
so overwhelming sometimes.
Whoo!
Come on, now!
I am a cowboy,
and we're gonna come in.
We're gonna hoot and holler,
and we're gonna slap some iron,
and we're gonna have
a good time.
Whoo.
[laughs]
- Whoo!
- Oh, yeah!
- Oh, I'm making
a canister-Damascus.
Never done it before.
I figured, why not do it today?
♪
Put a piece of chain saw blade.
And now I'm waiting.
I'm waiting for heat.
- It's interesting that all
of our smiths have chosen to do
the canister
to forge their metals.
We did not tell 'em to do that.
- You know what might be
happening is they saw Josh,
our Mastersmith,
go for a canister and figured,
"Well, if he's doing,
it's a good idea.
I'll do it, too."
- Well, that could be
a very risky move,
especially if it's a technique
you're not familiar with.
- Yeah.
- Forging and drawing
the blade out
is taking a whole lot longer
than I anticipated.
♪
It's big.
It's fat.
It's thick, and it's not
wanting to go to the point
that I'm wanting to.
Behind you!
- We've seen what happens
when forge welds go bad.
You can do nothing
but chase those welds
for the next 2 1/2, 3 hours.
- [blowing raspberry]
- Bladesmiths, you have
two hours remaining
to finish your work!
♪
- Love it when
the sparks start to fly.
- Josh is moving along
very smoothly.
These other guys are really
struggling with those cans.
- Because I used Liquid Paper,
I have to cut off part
of the canister
so I don't have
the mild steel on the edge.
It's taking me a long time
to get that layer off.
- Because of that Liquid Paper,
he has to remove the entire can.
Is that correct?
- Yeah.
Ideally, he's able to put a
chisel or a screwdriver in there
and just lift that section away.
- I'm going back and forth,
trying different things.
Nothing seems to be
working great.
I wish that I would've forged
my billet thinner
before trying to cut it off.
- The nice thing is,
is if he's able to remove
that can successfully,
he'll have a billet
of all "hardenable" metal,
where our other smiths
all have a coating
on their metal
of non- "hardenable" stuff.
♪
- We've got Josh over here
working on his blade profile.
Way ahead of the game
at this point.
- Whoo, doggy.
Josh is almost done.
I'm thinking,
"Are you kidding me?"
Here I am still jacking around
with this here.
Lay it on the ground!
It's still not wanting to move
for me as well as I want it to.
You ugly, ugly, ugly bastard.
It may not be exactly
how I want it to be,
but it will be done.
I'm having a hell
of a time, boys.
- You have only
60 minutes remaining!
- Got a blade going?
- I'm ready to start making
a knife now.
- Sweet.
- Once I get the canister off,
I feel
a little bit more confident.
I can go a lot faster.
- Look at that little rat go.
He's moving on with it.
♪
- Now you can see Liam's blade
really start to come along.
- I think my competition
has underestimated me some
because I'm so young.
- Look at that.
- He is exemplifying
the work of the bladesmith.
- That boy can swing a hammer.
♪
- Yeah, Robby's just got
a big noodle over there.
♪
- [groans]
♪
- Whoo!
Dang, it's hot in here.
I'm putting that thing
in the forge
and coming out and hammering
with the pyre hammer.
I'm starting to shake.
Whew.
[dramatic music]
- Something's going on
with Robby right there.
- Whew.
I'm getting dizzy.
♪
- You all right, Robby?
- [groaning]
- Is Robby okay?
- It looks like the medic
is gonna check on him here.
- Want to take your hat off
for a minute?
♪
- [groaning]
- It looks like
an overheating problem.
- It's hot in here.
- Yeah, it's hot in here.
I don't want to quit.
There's a lot of people
back home
who encouraged me to do this,
and I'm doing it for them.
I think my son would just say,
you know, "Go, Dad.
Do it. Do it. Do it.
Go, go, go."
I'm good. Whoo! Thank you!
- All right, all right.
- All right.
- All right! Whoo!
- [whistles weakly]
- You good, brother?
- Yeah.
♪
- As I start to grind
the faces of the blade,
things are looking really good.
Damn.
Pretty much thinking,
"Oh, [bleep].
This isn't good."
I'm gonna grind more
on that side of the blade
and hope that I can grind
through that flaw.
But I want to leave material
I can work on after heat treat.
♪
- Yep. There he goes.
Looks like a good color.
- That's how they do it
in Montana.
♪
- Whoo.
- Robby, over here,
making a comeback.
He's on the grinder.
Josh just ran a file down
the edge of his blade.
- Hard as a diamond.
♪
- Bladesmiths, you have
just 15 minutes remaining
to finish your work!
- Whoo, it's time!
- Oh, big flame.
- Robby, into the oil.
- There's gonna be a big,
bad boy right there!
- There you go. And he's in.
- I believe that's hot enough.
I got 15 minutes to get
this thing heat-treated.
- That looks like
it's about 1,800 degrees.
- Oh, look at that.
It came out of the oil,
and it's still glowing!
- When a blade comes out of
the oil and it's still glowing,
it's not a hardened blade.
- I'm sitting there thinking,
"These judges are gonna get
"ahold of this blade,
and it's not hardened,
I'll be disqualified."
- That blade is still
glowing orange.
- It's still orange.
- Is it still heat-treated?
- No.
- Fudgsicle sticks!
I got to heat it back up,
quench it again.
♪
- Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four, three,
two, one!
Bladesmiths,
shut down your machines!
Drop your tools!
Your forge time has ended!
- What an experience.
Wow.
I actually done
a canister-Damascus blade.
Whoo! I like it!
- I feel really good
about how my blade looks,
but I'm not happy
about that flaw.
♪
- Bladesmiths, round
one is complete.
Good job.
Now it's time for the judges to
take a closer look at your work.
Liam, you're up first.
♪
- You know, Liam, you may be 19,
but you are beyond your years
of experience watching you work.
It was beautiful to watch.
It feels good in the hands.
Nice design.
Well done, sir.
- Thank you.
- Overall, Liam,
I really like the shape,
and it already feels like it
wants to be a good chopper.
But I noticed you have
some issue back here.
What do you think that is?
- It's delam from the canister
not completely welding.
- Fortunately, it's in
a good spot to have an issue.
- Yeah.
- Robby, you're up next.
Please present your blade
to the judges.
- I'm really pleased
that you didn't give up.
You were overheating out there,
but you got back up
on your feet,
and you went at it.
So I admire that.
- Dave?
- It looks like your canister
didn't quite weld up with
your interior material there.
- Yes. I believe I can get
some of it out
and enough meat there
to where I can work it down
a little more.
- All right.
- Paul, you're next.
♪
- I love your design, Paul.
It definitely feels
like a chopper right there.
Good job, sir.
- Thank you.
- Paul, you quenched,
and you pulled this blade out,
and it was still
glowing back here.
Did you see that too?
- Yes, sir.
- Yeah, that concerns me a lot...
How this even hardened.
You might want to address that.
- Josh, you're up.
♪
- By far, the most finished
knife in the first round.
You can see right there,
that line where
your canister material is,
but it seems like
that weld's pretty tight.
I can't get a fingernail in it,
so I'm not gonna worry
about it much.
Nicely done.
- Thank you.
- Watching you work,
you really looked like you
knew what you were doing.
Knowing that it's a chopper,
definitely,
the transference of energy...
That feels good.
Nicely done, sir.
- Thank you.
- Gentlemen,
the judges need to take
a closer look at your work,
so I'm gonna ask you to step
away and leave your blades.
♪
- That canister was a pain.
- That was a tough
challenge for me.
- I was rusty.
- Let's start with Josh's blade
on the end there.
- It's got a nice, clean line,
nice, clean grinds.
But it does bring into question
what he did here
with his canister weld.
- That is probably
that piece of chain,
where it
just didn't laminate up.
- He's looking at that flaw
right there in that blade.
I should've burned it off.
I should've heated that chain.
I was in a hurry.
- Let's move on to Liam.
What do you think, Jason?
- The handle feels really good,
but there are welded
and unwelded spots in it,
but it's so shallow,
it doesn't concern me.
Overall, it seems well made.
- Let's take a look
at Robby's blade.
- What I'm worried about is,
I can see
where the canister line
actually crosses the center.
He could have soft material.
- Mm-hmm.
- So he'd have parts of the
blade that would hold an edge
and be "sharpenable" and other
parts that are gonna be soft.
- Let's move on
to Paul's blade there.
- It's amazingly heavy.
The biggest question is whether
he got it hard or not.
When he pulled this out
of the quench the second time,
you could see the interior
of this knife glowing.
- They're eyeballing
the crap out of me.
- Ooh, yeah.
- So, if it's soft like
I think it is,
he's going to need to re-quench
that blade if he makes it
into the next round.
- Well, I think we need
to file-test these blades.
So, Jason, if you don't mind,
Josh's blade.
[metal scraping]
- This is all hard.
This one seems good to me.
- Okay, Paul's blade.
[metal scraping]
- Yeah, all this area is soft.
That concerns me.
- Okay.
All right,
let's check out Robby's blade.
♪
[metal scraping]
That looks like
it's biting in, too.
- Soft here.
Parts of it are hard,
and parts of it are soft.
- All right.
The last blade... Liam's blade.
[metal scraping]
- Liam's blade is hard.
- Okay.
Judges, have you made
your final decision
about which of these smiths
is leaving the Forge?
- Close, but, yeah.
- Let's go tell our smiths.
♪
Bladesmiths, the judges
have examined your weapons,
and they've made
their final decision.
- Bladesmiths,
it's time for one of you..
To leave the Forge.
♪
Robby, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Robby, you fought
a great fight out there.
When we tested your blade,
there are some soft spots
as well as hard spots.
You have the soft canister steel
moving back and forth
across the center line,
across the edge of this blade,
and there's no way to grind
that out to get a hard edge
all the way across this blade.
But you did a great job.
Really appreciate
you not giving up.
- Oh, yeah.
- Robby, please surrender
your weapon and leave the Forge.
- I have no regrets being
here. It was a great experience.
And at the end of the day,
no matter what happens,
I am still
the Blacksmithing Cowboy
of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Whoo!
[laughs]
♪
- Congratulations, bladesmiths.
You've made it
to the second round.
In this round,
you'll be attaching handles
to your blades to turn them
into fully functional weapons
that will then be tested
for their strength
and durability
in a brass-rod chop...
and for their sharpness
in a fish slice.
All right, good luck, bladesmi...
Oh, wait.
One more thing...
Just to keep things interesting,
you can only use material
from animals
to make your handles.
That's bone, hide, or horn.
You will have three hours
in this round.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your time starts now.
♪
- Runs with sharp knives.
- Going into round two,
I'm pretty excited.
Handles are one
of the favorite parts
of the blade-making process
for me
because it can be so artistic,
and I like to get
the little details right.
The hardest part
about using the antler or bone
is that if I give it
too much heat
with grinding, it could bend.
♪
- Starting off the second round
with the most finished blade
is a good feeling,
but being a perfectionist,
I need to be careful
about not getting bogged down
with the details.
♪
- Got your game plan?
- Their handle material
is not real wide,
so I might have to adjust
my handle a little.
- I'm giving myself two hours
to get the blade heat-treated
and ground.
Then the last hour,
I have to put a handle on it.
I'm feeling
extremely overwhelmed.
The more I grind,
the more inclusions I see.
They just keep coming.
[bleep].
[bleep]. [bleep].
Oh, you're making it stinky.
- Smells good.
- Oh, that's natural material.
- It smells like...
- Like when you're
at the dentist,
and somebody's
grinding your teeth.
- I picked some kind
of a white horn over there.
I'm not really positive
what it is.
I have quite a bit of work left
to do on the blade,
but I got enough time to get it
where I want it,
I'm pretty sure.
- Yeah, Josh is taking
the easy route.
He's gonna make scales
and keeping everything
relatively simple.
- If you're gonna
keep it simple,
you better turn
in something fantastic.
- That's what I'm thinking.
- I'm just augering
those holes out a tiny bit.
I want my pins to come in
and out nice and easy.
I don't want to crack
this handle material.
I'm just gonna glue 'em in.
Hammering on bone...
Usually a bad idea
unless you really got some time
and you're good at it.
And I'm neither.
- I've never worked
with this stuff before,
but it should work pretty good.
My handle has two
different materials on it.
The main body is cow bone,
and the bolster material
is camel bone
that's just been dyed.
And I used a bolster
in the front
to give the handle material
more length.
Knowing that Josh is
a Mastersmith
is a little bit daunting,
but my strength lies in working
at a slower pace, a steady pace.
I think I have round two
definitely ithe bag.
- Bladesmiths,
one hour has elapsed.
You have just two hours
remaining to finish your work.
- Son of a bitch.
It's disheartening
having so much work to do,
while the other two
seem like they're just
having a grand old time.
- I mixed my epoxy.
And I wasn't even thinking red
and black, and I just...
- You clamped it?
- Yeah.
I went to put stuff away,
and I was like...
Yeah.
♪
- I've got to get
my heat treat done,
and I've got to get
my handle done
so I can sharpen my blade,
and I've got to get it
all finished on time.
- Everywhere
that there's a delam
it's gonna get very bright
as he's going back
and forth across.
What does that mean
for the blade?
- There are multiple layers
under there
that probably aren't bound
together very well.
- Is that a potential blade
failure for the testing, Dave?
- It's gonna depend on
how he finishes that knife.
- I've got to get
the heat treat right. - I've got to get
If my blade chips,
I'll be going home.
- There he is. He's in.
He quenched.
- I quench the blade,
take the file,
run it across the edge of it.
My file slides off of it.
I know it's hard.
I'm happy. I'm content.
I'm ready to move on
with putting the handles on.
Back to the grinder.
I found a bone that will work.
Right now I'm just caring
about "functionable."
Pretty can come later.
I just want this thing
at least completed.
- Bladesmiths, you have
just 30 minutes remaining
to finish your work!
- The name of this is
"Good Versus Evil."
This is very good.
This is evil.
There's a little bit
of an inclusion on the edge,
which I'm definitely
concerned about.
I don't think I'm gonna get it
all the way out.
I'm afraid to get
the blade too thin.
- If the edge geometry
is very thin,
it will chip and wrinkle.
- So Liam over here just seeing
how it holds up.
- Now, I am going to be
hitting it way harder than that.
♪
- Oh, this crap
makes me nervous.
- Ten seconds.
Nine, eight, seven,
six...
- Easy.
Damn, Liam.
- Four, three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, stop your work.
You are done.
- I'm not happy with my blade.
One of the tests
is a brass-rod chop.
The stress that that puts on
that steel can open up flaws
that you didn't even
know were there.
- A good, functional blade beats
pretty every day.
♪
- Bladesmiths, I'm gonna be
testing the strength
and durability of your edge
by taking each of your knives
and chopping into these
solid brass rods.
If your knife is tough enough
and your edge
was designed properly,
they should hold up.
Josh, you ready?
- I'm ready.
- All right.
♪
- Good job.
- Josh, the brass rod
will tear your knife up bad.
There's a little wrinkle,
but other than that,
there's no chip.
Still sharp.
Good job.
Paul, you're up.
You ready?
- Swing it hard.
- All right.
♪
- Paul, your handle
feels really good,
but we have some pretty
significant blade damage
right here.
Overall, good job.
- Thank you.
- Liam, ready?
- Yeah.
- All right.
♪
So, Liam, we've got a little bit
of edge deformation.
It's almost not noticeable.
It's still sharp there.
Now, that tells me you got
a good heat treat on it.
When I feel a handle like this,
it feels good,
but it's a little
skinny up here.
Tends to want to cant like this.
Overall, great job.
- Thanks.
- Doug.
♪
- Bladesmiths, to test
your blade's edge and sharpness,
I will slash across this fish.
If it's sharp,
it should cut through.
Josh, you're up first.
You ready?
- Yeah, I'm ready.
♪
- Well, Josh,
your blade is light.
It's fast, and it's sharp.
It sliced all the way through.
This, sir, will cut.
Good job.
- Thank you.
- Paul, you're up next.
You ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Let's do this.
♪
- Nice job.
- Nice, clean cut, Paul.
Your blade's got some meat
to it, some power.
This, sir, will cut.
- Thank you.
- Liam, you're up next.
You ready?
- Oh, yeah.
♪
Sweet.
- Liam, your blade design
definitely makes it
like a chopper.
The edge is sharp.
As you can see,
it cut all the way through.
The handle is a little bit
small and rounded,
but nonetheless,
this, sir, will cut.
- Awesome.
- Good job.
- Gentlemen, the judges
have made a final decision
about which of you
is leaving the Forge.
♪
Paul, your blade
did not make the cut.
- Paul, you made a pretty good
comeback from round one.
However, your heat treat
was still the problem.
The blade wasn't hard enough,
and that's why we're
sending you home.
- Very understandable.
- Paul, please surrender
your weapon and leave the Forge.
♪
- My first canister experience
was a pain in the butt.
I wish I would've heat-treated
that thing
the first time correctly.
I didn't win,
but, hey, I had fun.
I'm still Paul Happy.
I'm always happy.
♪
- Congratulations, bladesmiths.
You've made it through
to the final round,
but your work is far from over.
Now we're sending you back
to your home forge
to create an iconic blade
from history...
♪
The Kora.
- [laughs]
- The Kora sword
originated in Nepal,
where it was wielded
for centuries
by a legendary group
of soldiers, the Gurkhas.
The Gurkhas were known for
their fearless military prowess
in weapons-based martial arts,
which included symbolic
weaponry like the Kora sword.
This fearsome sword
features a long,
curved blade that flares
outward at the tip,
maximizing the force
of each swing
and making it an ideal weapon
for both slashing and chopping.
Also used in sacrifice,
a skilled Kora wielder
could reportedly cut
a sheep in half
with just one swing.
♪
It must be an effective, working
version of that deadly weapon.
It must include a spatulated
hooked tip,
a guard, and pommel.
- Josh has definitely
never made a Kora before.
And neither have I.
- You will have five days
at your home forge
to complete this challenge.
At the end of five days,
you will return
and present your finished Koras
to our panel of expert judges.
Only after they've subjected
those weapons
to a series of brutal tests
will they declare one of you
the "Forged in Fire" champion
who gets that check
for ten grand.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
- Good luck.
- You too.
♪
- My plan today
might be a risky one,
but I'm gonna make
some Damascus steel
for the blade and the handle.
I think both of these swords
are gonna test well,
so I think the edge might have
to come down to looks
and the extra things we do.
This is the critical part
right here.
This is the forge weld
on the blade Damascus.
I never heard of the Kora
before I saw it at the Forge,
but I was instantly excited.
This is exactly
what I like to do.
♪
It doesn't look like much yet,
but it's gonna be cool.
I feel really good
about day one.
I've gotten my blade forged,
the Damascus done.
I don't think Liam is gonna be
making Damascus steel,
which I hope gives me an edge.
Call that a day.
[chuckles]
♪
- It's day one at my home forge,
and I'm hoping
to get accomplished
the rough forging of my blade.
♪
I've never made any blade
this long before,
so it's gonna be an adventure.
Josh has more to lose,
because he is a Mastersmith.
I really hope that he
doesn't underestimate me
during this challenge.
♪
I'm gonna try to stay
pretty historically accurate.
I'm gonna be forging Damascus,
and having that Damascus
on a large blade
will really be pretty cool.
♪
This is the biggest
build of Damascus
I've ever made.
As I'm forging out the Damascus,
I'm realizing it's way too big,
and I can't actually hold it
correctly,
'cause it's too long.
Everything about this big billet
is taking a lot of time...
Me swinging it from the forge
to the press and drawing it out
and waiting for it to heat up.
I'm gonna have to speed
things up tomorrow.
♪
- Yesterday I got the blade
all forged, the Damascus made.
So today I hope to get it
all profiled
and successfully heat-treat it.
And I'd like to grind
a fuller in this blade.
I think in order
to beat this kid,
I got to do some things
that he won't.
This groove will take
a little bit of weight out,
but more than anything,
I think it's cool.
♪
Groove looks pretty good.
Today's probably the most
critical day of the five.
Here goes nothing.
If the heat treat fails,
it's a couple days' worth
of lost work.
♪
Seems to be hard.
Generally, you heat-treat
and grind an edge
on a sword or a blade
based on what
it's gonna be used for.
I don't know
what it's gonna be used for.
That's the problem.
♪
- Today I'm gonna do
my heat treat.
Unfortunately, I don't have
a heat-treating oven
large enough,
so I'm gonna have to do this
in the propane forge.
Yeah, this sword is at least
twice as big as I'm used to.
I would not normally
heat-treat something like this.
Hopefully, this thing
heats up evenly.
Okay, going for the quench.
♪
It's perfectly straight.
It's really hardened.
And now I'm going to sharpen it,
and then I'll do my testing.
♪
Worked pretty good.
Josh better
bring his A game to beat this.
Good boy.
- All right, we'll try
a test out here, this edge.
It's day four.
My blade is done.
That thing really sticks
in there.
I don't know what Liam's
blade's looking like right now,
but it's hard to imagine
that he's got anything
going better than mine.
I'm feeling really confident.
The handle... probably my
last big hurdle on this sword.
Getting ready to put my handle
in the acid
here to etch the Damascus.
Looks pretty cool.
That handle should be
about bulletproof.
Screwed and glued.
I don't think there's
any more I could've done.
This is my best.
Win or lose, I created something
that most people can't.
So I'm proud of that.
♪
- Day five, I'm feeling
really good going into it,
but I'm a little bit nervous
about the handle.
I've never done anything
like this before.
That looks cool.
My plan for the handle is
to square everything up first,
add my layout lines,
and then slowly work it
down into an oval.
I'm adding
in a few bronze spacers
to match the bronze finial
and add in some fullers
for grip and looks.
This thing's pretty cool.
This is the first
finial I've made.
The sword is coming together
really well,
and it is really awesome.
♪
[bleep].
I'm looking at my finial,
and I realize
that it's now sitting on
crooked,
which it wasn't before
and that I've cross-threaded it.
[bleep].
So I have to trash that
and start over.
It's really stressful
at the last minute
having to just completely tear
this end part of my handle out.
This is the last thing
that I want to be doing
near the end of day five.
[bleep], [bleep], [bleep].
♪
To work on your Koras.
Josh, why don't you tell us
a little bit about your Kora?
- Well, I decided to build
a Damascus Kora.
I did an all-steel handle,
all-steel construction.
That's what I found
the originals to be.
I'm pretty proud of it.
It was a good week.
- Great. Liam?
- Yeah, I had a blast making it,
and I did a lot of research.
I found that it's supposed to be
a really heavy chopping knife,
so that's what
I tried to give to you
and still put
my own style to it.
- Fantastic.
Both weapons look amazing,
but as we all know,
it's all about
how they hold up
in our weapons tests.
First up is the sharpness test.
Doug?
- The Nepalese Kora was a blade
that had a distinct inward curve
with a spatulated flare
at the tip,
making it a weapon
for slicing and chopping.
I will cut
across these sandbags.
Let's see how sharp
your blades are.
Josh, you're up first.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
Let's do it.
♪
- Josh, great balance.
The blade really wants
to chop and slice.
The recovery of the blade
makes it one
that wants to continue
for combat.
One problem I have here
is this handle.
It tends to roll.
But other than that,
it will cut.
Good job, sir.
- Thank you.
Liam, you're up next.
Are you ready?
- Yeah.
♪
- When you said
that this was heavy,
you weren't kidding.
This is a chopper.
A little hard to control
on the recoil,
but not enough to where
I can't wield it.
This, sir, will cut.
- Great.
- Good job.
Next up is the strength test.
Dave?
- Gentlemen, to test
the strength of your Kora,
I'm gonna take one blow
into these skulls.
Josh, you're up.
You ready?
- I'm ready.
- All right, fantastic.
♪
- Nice.
- Josh, it went
right into the skull.
Swings easy, super lightweight,
but like Doug said,
the handle wants to roll
in my hand.
Nonetheless, nicely done.
- Thank you.
- All right, moving on.
You ready?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- I feel really
confident in my blade.
If Josh's can do it,
then mine will do it as well.
♪
- Wow. It's a beast.
[chuckles]
It feels really nice
in the hand.
You did a great job
on this handle.
Obviously, we pretty much
took care of that skull.
Now, this thing, once you
get it started, it's gonna go.
- Right.
- My only worry is stopping it.
- Yeah.
- You don't always have to have
a heavy blade
to make a heavy blow.
But it's a beautiful piece.
Nice job.
- Thank you.
- Well done.
♪
- Liam, Josh, the judges
have scrutinized
every detail of your weapon,
and they've made
their final decision.
Before I announce
who that winner is,
they have some things they'd
like to say to both of you.
Jason?
- Liam, your sword is
very impressive.
I love the appearance of it.
It was like an axe.
I like to see
something like that,
and I call it "phantasmagoric," you know?
And it has the appearance
of, like, "This thing is death.
See it and die."
You did a great job.
Very well done.
- Thank you.
- Josh, aside from your blade
performing very well
on all the tests, the fullering
you did on the spine...
Just pure eye candy.
If ever there's one problem
I have here, is this handle.
When I was using it,
it tends to roll,
but what you turned in
is one of the most visually
stunning blades
we've ever seen in this Forge.
- Thank you.
- Gentlemen,
both of your weapons
are spectacular,
but in this competition,
there can only be one champion.
♪
And that champion is...
♪
Liam.
Congratulations.
You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Josh, unfortunately,
your blade did not make the cut.
Dave will explain.
- Josh, we've never seen
two weapons so evenly matched,
and our decision came down
to one incredibly small thing,
and it was the fact that that
handle torqued in Doug's hand,
torqued in mine.
It's an amazing piece of work.
You should be
incredibly proud of it.
I mean, I wish I could own it.
- Josh, please
surrender your weapon.
- I came here
to challenge myself,
and I came here to hopefully
represent bladesmithing well,
and I think I did that.
I'm disappointed
in the judges' decision,
but I'm satisfied
with the Kora that I produced.
I'm going home to my kids,
which is where I'm happiest,
so that's where I want to be.
- Liam, congratulations.
You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving a check
for ten grand. Good job.
- You are our youngest
champion so far.
Congratulations.
Great job.
- Good job.
- I just won "Forged in Fire."
Just wow.
This is a big feat for me
to accomplish
against a Mastersmith.
I think that all the people
that I went to high school with,
they'll finally realize
it's not just a hobby.
It's something that
I can really succeed at.
I'm gonna use the $10,000
and just put it straight
into a new shop,
and these are, like,
my only pair of jeans.
So maybe I'll get
another pair of jeans.
[chuckles]
♪