Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 19 - Arctic Forge - full transcript

- my name is clay wolf.

I build houses for a living,
and I'm a part-time bladesmith.

I got into smithing
by watching the competition.

So I bought a forge,
and then I started

doing my own at-home
competitions with myself.

I set a three-hour alarm,

and I make random parameters
for myself,

and I go at it.

- my name's chad morton.

I'm a registered nurse
and a baptist minister.

Nursing can be very
mentally taxing sometime.



So that's what I love
about forging...

I can let the brain go,

get out there, and get
a little hammer therapy.

I started watching
"forged in fire" with the kids,

and they loved it,
and they kept asking,

"dad, when are you gonna go on?"

- my name is andrew cole glaser.

I'm a part-time bladesmith,

and I'm also a volunteer
fireman for the community.

If I win, that'd be awesome.

I can use $10,000...

After I get an okay from
my wife about how I use I.

I'm a kept man.

What I do is what
my wife tells me to do.



If she says, "build a fence,"
I build a fence.

If she says, "build a house,"
I build a house.

And if she says,
"go on 'forged in fire, '"

I go on "forged in fire."

- I'm devon chatterley.
I'm 29 years old.

I am an active
national guardsman

and I'm a part-time bladesmith.

I need to come in here
gung ho, full focus.

I'm ready to become the next
"forged in fire" champion

and join the other winners
before me.

- bladesmiths,
welcome to the forge.

The four of you
are about to take part

in three very intense rounds
of forging competition,

where we're gonna
put your skills to the test.

At the end of each round,
you're gonna present your work

to our panel of expert judges,
who will be the ones decidig

which three of you will be
leaving the forge empty-handed

and who's gonna be leaving here

with the title
of "forged in fire" champion

and a check for $10,000.

The judges
for today's competition are...

Abs master smith j. Neilson,

historic weapons re-creation
specialist dave baker,

and edge weapon specialist
and kali martial artist

doug marcaida.

Now, guys,
you might have noticed

that it is absolutely frigid
in here.

That's because today
in the forge,

we are paying tribute
to some cold-weather warriors

who have been fighting the ice
for centuries.

This is a competition
we are calling arctic forge.

In this first round
of competition,

we're gonna ask you
to re-create a blade

that has been used by
alaskan natives for centuries.

Now, that blade is...

the ulu.

- the ulu is a knife used
by the inuit people

of arctic regions of
greenland, canada, and alaska.

This versatile blade
is extremely practical

for surviving life
in the frigid tundra

and can be used for anything
from skinning animals

to cutting through ice.

The ulu also holds important
cultural value as well.

The inuit people traditionally
passed down these knives

from generation to generation,
believing that the blades

contained the knowledge
of their ancestors.

- when you're building
your ulus,

I want you to meet
these parameters.

You need to have
a crescent-shaped cutting ede

that measures between
seven and eight inches.

And you also must have a fully
enclosed full tang handle.

Now, you guys are
probably thinking,

"what am I gonna make my ulu
out of?"

well, that answer lies
at your workstations.

On top of your tables,
you have a tarp.

Go ahead and remove that for me.

What you guys have there is
a great piece

of high-carbon steel
in the form of a ball bearing,

but, unfortunately,
it's frozen in a block of ice.

Well, we've got a solution
for you.

Next to that block of ice,

there is a cylinder
of mild steel.

We want you guys
to take that mild steel,

make a tool, and break
the ball bearing free.

But keep in mind,
you cannot use a hammer,

you cannot throw the ice block
on the ground.

You have to make a tool,
and you have to use that tol

to break your ball bearing free.

Now, in round two
of the competition,

you're gonna add handles
to your blades,

turning them
into fully functioning ulus.

At that point, you're gonna
turn them into the judges,

and they'll test
for strength and durability

in a moose antler punch.

Then we're gonna check
the edge retention

in an alaskan salmon slice.

And you've only got three hours.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

Ice cold, boys!

So this is kind of
a dual forging competitio,

where they've got
to not only build a tool

to get their steel,

then they have
to make the ulu itself.

That's gonna be rough.

- I got my mild steel
in the forge.

I decide to make
a little hammer out of it.

Simple as that.

- Basically, just make a mace.

Make a short mace.

Leave one end of it fat,

draw a little handle onto it.

Whackity, whackity, whackity.

- It's not gonna be perfect.
It just needs to be functional.

It's a little hammer!

- easy, psycho!

There you go.

- Good lord!
- There we go.

- Once I see that ball
slides around, I grab it

and I run back to the forge.

Whoo!

- my plan with the mild steel is

to forge out a pick.

I just need it to be
long enough to hold on to

and have a sharp point so I can
really, really attack that ice.

- Andrew went straight
for big blu.

That's a smart move.

- I don't like to spend
a lot of time running around

when I do these kinds of things.

I like to take my time.

I like to think
about what I'm gonna do.

When you're old, you don't have
that much energy,

so you need to conserve it.

- Here we go.

- I get the ball bearing out.

It's really cold.

I'm a little worried about that,

but I don't have time
to let it warm up or anythin.

I just have to get it
into the forge.

- Taking that ball of steel
and just throwing it

in the forge is probably
not the best idea.

- What could happen?

- It could shock it, fracture it

to the point where
you can't even fix it.

- my plan is to make
a small hammer

out of the mild steel
and go right at it.

I need to get my ball bearing
out of the ice quickly.

52100, it takes a long time
to heat up.

- Clay is on the ice block,
and it's working pretty quick.

- I broke out my ball bearing
relatively fast.

I'm feeling really good
right now.

- coming to the forge
is a little intimidating,

to, you know, come to these
tools I'm not familiar with.

Getting there.

I'm gonna take this piece
of mild steel,

and I'm gonna forge it
into a little wedge axe head

and just start whacking at it.

- well, you see
on his ice block there,

how it's got those big
fractures running through it?

Attack the fracture.

You attack the fracture,

and it'll spread
through the entire thing.

- It's just taking forever.

And it's just
beating my hand up.

- Chad's getting close
to almost a half an hour

of just trying to get this ball
out of the block of ice.

- There we go.
- There we go!

- Finally, lo and behold,
it's free.

But I'm so tired.

I'm a little bit
further behind everybody els,

but think I might still be okay.

I'm gonna get this done
no matter what.

- whoo-whee! You look purty hot!

I pull out the ball bearing.

I think that it's hot enough.

As I do the first press,

I just hear it stalling on me.

- Look how cold
devon's ball bearing is.

- It's not hot enough.

- That's the one thing
you don't want to do.

- Stressing it out.

- That is a lot of steel.

I've already wasted
so much time,

so I come to the quick decision.

I'm like, "you know what?
I can lose some of it."

- he's gonna be there
for the rest of the challenge.

- Yeah.
- Those are solid.

- I severely underestimated

how cold and how big
this ball bearing is.

This is not working,
so I just figured,

"I'm gonna go stick it back
in the forge, heat it up again,

"and just take this
a little bit at a time

and just be patient."

I finally get it hot enough,
and I finally cut it through.

Finally!

I got to heat it back up,
and I got to start moving metal

faster than ever now.

Time is super against me.

- right now I'm just working
on flattening out the stock

so that I'll have enough area,
enough space

to start working
in a blade form.

- Andrew's also got a nice piece

of a nice wide billet right now.

- Now that I'm done
drawing this thing out,

I know that it's way bigger
than I need for this ulu,

so it's time to cut it down.

At this point in the round,

I know that I've
probably done things right,

but the clock is
really ticking down.

I still have to draw out
what I have left

into the general shape
of an ulu,

which means I still have
a lot of forging to do.

- this ball bearing is way
too much steel for this ulu,

so my plan is, draw it out,

take it over to the chop saw,

cut some of it off,
and I get it thinner.

Otherwise, I'm working
a lot of extra steel

that I'm not gonna use.

- Well, chad's
making some progress.

Definitely lagging behind
a little.

- So my plan is to draw this out

to 1/2 inch thick before
I take it over to the chop saw.

Huh...

I'm trying to cut
through the bearing.

It's cutting about halfway
through it.

- Come on.

- I finally get the good sense
to turn it upright.

It cuts through it like
a dream, slow and steady.

I am relieved to be done
with the stupid chop saw.

- Bladesmiths, you guys are
halfway through round one!

You've got an hour
and 30 minutes remaining!

What is it about the ulu

that makes this such
a difficult blade to make?

- Having to actually wrap this
all the way around and make it

one solid homogenous piece
of steel is tricky,

and not a lot of smiths do it.

- This blade is very unique

because the handle is
on top of the blade

instead of off to the side.

It's gonna be difficult
putting a handle on.

It's gonna be difficult
getting the shape there.

Come on.

I'm going to draw a handle
out the side,

and then fold it back around
onto itself

and weld it in place.

- They don't actually need
to make, per se,

a blade starting out.

Just take that ball bearing,
draw it out into a sheet,

and then cut it out,
torch it out, grind it ou,

however you want to do it.

- I'm struggling with
how I want to fold it over

to make it look like the ulu.

Shoot, shoot, shoot.

- It looks like clay is trying
to get that tang up

to one side or the other,
and it's having trouble.

It's kind of stuck
in the middle.

- I eventually get the uprights
in the place I wanted them to

so I can bend the top down
right where I needed it,

and got them forge welded.

I'm feeling really good
right now.

- I'm looking at my steel.

I'm getting the basic shape
I need.

Now I just got to figure out,

how am I going to attack
getting a hole in this thing

for a hand
to sit comfortably in?

I decide I'm gonna have to
cut it on the angle grinde.

- I'd still prefer
to use the hot wrench

and just blow the hole out.

- It seems like
it'd be the fastest.

- I've been wasting so much time

just trying
to get this hole out.

I know the time's counting down.

I've been trying to avoid

cutting through the bridge
of this handle,

but it comes to the point where

I need to cut
through this handle.

It will completely just ruin

the integrity of the blade,
in my opinion.

I finally get
the piece I need off.

Finally.

- Devon's back at the welder.

He's putting that chunk

of handle material
that he cut off...

He's welding that back on now.

- The one thing about
putting holes into this piece

is that it's got to have
enough space

from the knuckles.

Not tiny.

A lot of space.

- It looks good to me.
I'm happy with it.

- Bladesmiths, you have
one hour remaining!

- to get the shape that I want,

my plan right now is
to draw out this tang,

curl it over, and weld it.

- I think what chad's trying
to do is what clay did

and loop it around
and make a continuous circle.

- I'm hammering this, and I'm
not able to draw it out enough

because it's such tough stuff
to work

and my hand's already shot
from the ice.

I'm pouring sweat.
I'm exhausted.

- Does chad look really pale
to you guys?

- Yeah, he does.

- When I finally got
the ball bearing out,

I've already used all my energy.

- Now we got the medic
moving in.

- How you feeling?

- I'm... I'm a little winded, man.

Physically, I'm exhausted.

I don't know
if I can keep going.

Oh, man.

I'm pouring sweat.
I'm exhausted.

Uh, I'm exhausted,
but I'm all right.

- Okay. All right.

- There's no way I'm giving up,

because my kids are
counting on me to do my best.

So what do I think?

What does any redneck think?

Angle grinder.

- He's cutting an angle down
this way,

and then he's gonna cut
across it.

If he heats that whole tang up,

he can squash it down
to be something to hold on to.

- But he's still got
a triangular point

that's gonna to be
hitting your palm,

so he's gonna have
to flatten that out.

- I know it's uglier than si,
but I'm still

gonna turn in something
that meets parameters.

- I notice that my handle tang
got too thin

for what I wanted,

but I don't have time
to fix that right now.

- If you notice,
he's got a lot of blade

and a long, spindly
little handle.

Now, that's gonna roll
on your hand

if he doesn't build that up
with a lot of handle material.

- I feel my blade, and I notice,

right where the handle connects
to the blade,

that there is
some sharp corners,

and you don't want sharp corners

because that could cause
a stress fracture.

So I got to fill it
with some weld.

- That's definitely
a smart move.

- I'm really liking the
overall shape of this blade.

And now it's time to move on
to punching the hole through it

for the user's hand.

- Looking at andrew's blade,

I think his shape
is really nice.

It's just very, very tall.

- Yeah, and having that hole
being that size,

if you're going
to hit something,

it can flop one way
or the other,

depending on
the handle construction,

and really mess your hand up.

- The problem with having
corners the way I cut them

is that when
you quench the blade,

those are stress risers,
and it could create a crack

that just completely ruins
the edge.

I make the decision to go
ahead and weld up the corners,

because I know
that if the blade cracks,

welding that will
just not work at all.

- All right, guys, we're
coming down to the wire!

You have 30 minutes left
on the clock!

Devon's actually
turned out all right.

- Yeah.

- As I'm getting ready
to quench,

I want to make sure
I'm only focusing on the edge

that gets hot and not
the rest of the material.

If any of the rest of material
gets hot,

I don't know
what way it can warp,

and I am not prepared for that
or have the time to fix tha.

I need this thing to go perfect.

Whoo!
- And only quenching the edge.

Smart move. - Nice!

- Good for him.
- Smart.

- Lo and behold, no warps.
Straight as an arrow.

Now I just need to make sure
this sits comfortably

and looks better
than it does right now.

- I'm getting ready to quench,
and I realize

that I really have forged
the blade pretty thin.

And that could create warping.

- andrew's in the quench.

- After the quench, I clamp
the thing into the vise.

When you do that, it helps
to straighten everything ou.

I pull it out of the vise.

The blade is straight.

I'm pretty happy
about how that came out.

- Gentlemen, 15 minutes!

Edge quench.

- My blade is straight,
and it's hard.

And now I'm off to the grinder.

I need to clean up my blade.

I look down.

There's a crack.

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

- I don't have time
to fix this in the forge,

so I run over to the welder

and I put a bead of weld
along the crack.

- You know, it really
makes you wonder

how the ball bearing steel

encased in ice
and then thrown into fire

has affected that steel.

You gave them time to start
to crack the ice open,

but nobody had the patience
to warm it up.

- All right, guys,
you got five minutes left!

- I got a hole cut
in this thing already,

but what I'm trying to do
right now is widen that hole

so it's more comfortable for
somebody to grip as a handle.

But it's not doing
what I want it to do.

- There's an opening
about yea big.

- I know.

- Like, 2 1/2-, 3-inch triangle.

- I'm shaking.

I'm just shot,

but I need to get it quenched.

- chad just quenched.

- So now I'm gonna try to do
a little bit of rough grinding

to make it look
a little less ugly.

Even though I'm exhausted,

I need to suck it up
and get it done.

- five, four,

three, two, one!

Gentlemen,
turn off your machines!

Put down your tools!

This round is over!

Well done!

- at the end of the round,
I feel accomplished.

Even though I know
I've made a lot of mistakes,

I feel good that
I put my best effort in.

I did my best. I finished.

Pretty sure I met parameters.

- well, bladesmiths, in this
first round of competitio,

we were not nice to you.

You should all be proud
of your work,

but the time has come
for the judges to decide

which three of you
will be moving forward

in this competition.

So, clay, are you ready?
- Yes, sir.

- Please present your work.

- all right, clay,
the thing about an ulu,

when it meets resistance,

it can move around.

If you move to the second round,

you need to address that.

Right now it's not comfortable
to hold on to

'cause it's just very narrow.

Also, at the corner
of your blade here,

you have a crack
that needs to be addressed.

But you do have a good shape.

Good job.

- all right, chad,
please present your work.

- all right, chad, this is
that ulu-shaped blade

that I was looking to see.

But as it stands right now,

your handle is not really
a functional handle.

If you were to move forward,

this would have to be addressed.

It has to be ergonomic.

You have to be able
to hang on to it.

And right now
that's the biggest issue.

- andrew, you're up next.
Please present your work.

- andrew, first off, I love
the weight of this thing.

That being said, though,

you've got a hole right here

with a crack going
2/3 of the way down.

And on the other side,
you've got one

that's maybe
about 1/8 of an inch.

If you don't take care
of those cracks,

it might just snap completely.

But I like the shape.

I like the weight. Nice job.

- all right, devon, your turn.
Let's see your ulu.

- all right, devon.

Bingo! Good job.

That's what we're looking for.

The only concerns I have are,

if I put my hand in here
and squeeze hard,

it's digging
into both those fingers.

So having a little bit
more room in here

would really be helpful.

But other than that,
I think you did a great job.

Nicely done. - Thank you.

- well, gentlemen, we gave you
guys a hard task in round one,

but you fought through the
cold, and you battled the ice,

and you all came
within parameters.

Three of you are moving forward
in this competition.

The judges have made
their decision.

The bladesmith
leaving the forge is...

chad.

Unfortunately, your ulu
did not make the cut.

- Chad, you fought hard.

This was a difficult challenge.

But at the end of the day,

the ergonomics of your handle
will require the most work

compared to the other blades,

and that's the reason
we're sending you home.

- Thank you, sir.

- Chad, man, you fought hard,
all the way to the bitter end,

but, unfortunately,
the time has come.

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please surrender your work

and leave the forge.

- I have no regrets
leaving here.

I accomplished what I try
to instill in my kids...

Finishing what you started,
not giving up,

digging deep when you feel like
you're physically exhausted.

I feel like I put in the effort.

I did my best.

And I don't feel like
I'm leaving here a loser today.

- well, gentlemen,
congratulations.

The three of you have made it
through round one,

and you're going on to
round two of our competition.

In this round,
you're gonna fix any issues

that the judges brought up
about your blades,

as well as add handles to them,

turning them
into fully functioning ulus.

Now, in this round,

the only materials you are
allowed to use for your handles

have to be sourced
from natural animal materials.

That is antlers, that's bones,

or that is hide or leather.

Now, after this round
is complete,

you'll turn your blades in.

We'll check for strength
and durability

in a moose antler punch.

Then we're gonna check
the edge retention

in an alaskan salmon slice.

You have two hours on the clock.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

We've given them only
natural animal materials

for the handles.

What options would you guys
be going for?

- If I had the choice,
I'd be going with antler

just 'cause it's durable

and it puts up
with a lot of stress.

- the biggest thing on my mind
at the start of round two

is trying to fix my handle.

I'm going to cut a piece
of angle iron,

form it to shape,

and then weld it onto my tang.

- Well, looks like clay
is taking cladding

on both sides of his handle,

strengthening it up,
beefing it up.

- That's definitely
a smart move.

- I get all six pieces
welded on.

And then

I know I have to tackle
the cracks next.

The cracks on my blade are
right where my tang connects

to my blade.

That's a very crucial point.

It is where all the stress
from the punches is gonna go.

What I'm gonna do
is wrap my blade

in a very wet towel,

try to keep it as cool
as I possibly can,

and then just
lightly weld the cracks.

The last thing I need to
happen is ruin my heat treat.

I'm feeling pretty good
about the cracks.

I got a lot of stuff
to do still.

I don't think I have
enough time to do it.

I'm gonna be pushing.

- what I'm doing to fix
the cracks is welding them,

trying to keep the blade
as cool as possible,

so as not to ruin
the heat treat.

That is a huge problem.

- Oh.

- Andrew's blade
just cracked again.

- Bad to worse.

As I weld one crack shut,

another crack forms
on another part of the knif.

- Why is his thing so brittle?

- Probably because
he worked it cold so much

that it's not just the edges
that have cracked,

it's the entire structure.

- In real life, you chuck
that thing in a barrel,

and you move on.

Here, I don't have that luxury.

I'm very hopeful that
I have fixed the cracks

that I have seen in the blad,

but it's time to move on
and get on to another problem.

- dave mentioned that
every time he squeezed down

on my handle, it created
some kind of a tension.

I'm gonna widen it up
a little bit

so that grip can fit
more comfortably.

- The nice thing
about devon's blade is that,

you know, he's got already the
blade in the shape we wanted,

but getting the hand
to be comfortable in there

is very important
in this particular design.

- As I finish dremeling,
I get it all widened up,

it feels comfortable to me.

And now I need to figure out
what handle material

that I could actually use.

All right. That will do it.

- All right, gentlemen,

you guys are halfway through
round two!

There's 60 minutes remaining!

- Hmm...

How do I want to do this?

My idea for my handle is,

I'm going to use leather,

and I'm gonna make a wrap
that goes around my handle.

- The issue I have with what
he's doing is not the process.

It's the material
that he's using.

Those pieces of leather he's got

are only about 12 inches long,

so you're only gonna get
maybe two wraps up out of each.

- What he's got, with small
pieces in different sections,

you have peaks and valleys
that can create hotspots.

- These strips
are not very long.

I don't have anything
flat enough

to put a scale of bone
or antler on.

So this is my only option,
so I have to stick to it.

Work with me here.

- Bladesmiths,
you have 30 minutes left!

- I've got to get holes
in the tang

so that I can get a handle
on this thing.

- ooh.

- Aw, man. What the hell?

I got nothing.

- If that bit isn't going
through that steel yet,

it's not going through at all.

- When I quenched my blade,
it had flamed up so badly

that I went ahead
and quenched the entire knif.

A hard knife is impossible
to drill through.

Come on.

I realize that
I need to soften it enouh

to get a hole in it.

I heat the tang of the knife
up to a really dark blue,

which I think ought
to be soft enough.

What do you know?

- There you go.

- Between fixing the cracks,

trying to get a hole through my
tang, I'm almost out of time.

I've got to get the scales
and the leather that I chose

on the tang

and get the pin through the hole

so that I've had met
that parameter at least.

- I have only, like,
two experiences

making natural handles.

I've used bone before.

The problem is,
bone is so brittle,

and it's mostly hollow, too,

you don't know the integrity
of that handle material.

So I'm gonna be using
buffalo horn.

Come on.

My plan for the rest
of this round is to make sure

this handle fits comfortably
on my ulu

and the edge is as sharp
as I can possibly get it.

- Doug, what do you think
about edge geometry on the ulu?

- Despite the fact
that you have a handle

that looks like it's forward
and for punching,

you're still slicing with
the curvature of that material,

same thing as you would skin
or working.

- after I got my epoxy set
on the handle,

I'm realizing that this
is taking a lot more time

than I have available,

and now I need to get right
to the grinder

and start shaping my blade.

- Oh.

- The weld that was
covering up this crack,

it re-exposed itself.

Kidding me.

If I don't fix this blade
right now,

it could break in testing.

Then I'm done.

- this could send me home.

I know the only way I can
fix it at this point is

weld it shut.

All I can do is hope that
it's gonna hold strong enough.

- gentlemen, you have
three minutes remaining!

- All I want to do is
get a handle on this tang.

I want to get the pin
in the hole.

- He's trying to drill
his handle scales right now.

- Get it going.
- Down to the wire.

- The clock is
really ticking down.

We've got minutes left.

- If andrew can pull this off,
I'm gonna be impressed.

- I get back to my table
just in time

to get the pin stock cut off

and put a couple of clamps
on the scales.

I really hope it's good enough.

- five, four,

three, two, one.

Gentlemen, turn off your
machines, put down your tools.

Round two is officially over.

- I have some real issues
with my knife,

but it's always possible
that somebody else

is going to have bigger issues
than I do,

so it's really all up to chance
at this point.

- all right, gentlemen, it's
time for the strength test.

And to keep
with our arctic theme,

we're going with the
moose antler punch and chop.

Remember, this is not

about what your ulu does
to the antler,

but what that antler can do
to your ulu.

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

- I guess so.
- Well, I'm gonna do it anyway.

- Dave's punched me before.
It's not that bad.

- want me to punch you again?

- I addressed the cracks,

filled them with weld,
ground them down,

but they're about to punch
my blade into a moose antler.

That's one of the
toughest objects out there.

And I don't know if I'll be
able to watch when it happens.

- holy sh...

Bleep.

- I take it back.

- all right, clay,
let's talk about your ulu.

Now, right off, it's got
a good cutting edge,

and it didn't lose any
of that edge, so that's good.

As far as the handle goes,

it's a rough construction.

Without a glove on,

this is really not
a comfortable handle.

There are,

you know, parts that are
kind of sticking up.

But it didn't hurt my hand.

Stayed where I wanted it to be.

So good job. - Thank you.

- All right, andrew, you're up.
Are you ready?

- Knock it out.
- Okay.

- the idea of smashing
the edge of that knife

into a moose antler
terrifies me.

I don't know
what's going to happen.

It's really all up to chance
at this point.

- So, andrew...
- Yeah.

- There are some
obvious issues with this.

When you were drilling
to mount the handle,

there was some overworking

and not good thermal cycling
going on

to reduce that grain structure

and give it the strength
that it needs.

Once I hit this face-on,
it just cut loose.

- You good?
- Yeah.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Well, andrew, that is
an absolutely tough break.

Unfortunately, you had
a catastrophic failure

in your blade, which means we
cannot test your ulu furthe.

Clay, congratulations.

That means you're moving forward

into round three
of this competition.

Devon, not quite
out of the woods yet.

You got to make it
through a solid punch.

Ready? - Yeah, let's get weird.

- All right, let's do it. Dave.

- "get weird."

- careful what you ask for.

- I'm actually really
confident in my blade.

I specifically styled my ulu

for these kind of tests
coming up.

But anything can happen
with the strength test.

- so, devon, your design is
pretty much spot-on for an ulu.

As far as holding up
in this test,

you really didn't take in
any damage at all.

I feel like I can work
with this either skinning

or chopping.

And the blade held up
beautifully.

Nicely done. - Thank you.

- well, gentlemen, you guys
all did a great job,

but, andrew, unfortunately,
we can't continue testing.

Your time here
in the forge has ended, man.

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please step out.

- Let the young dogs play.

It wasn't a big shock for me
when the blade failed.

There were a lot of things
wrong with that blade,

and it would have taken
a miracle

for me to be able to get
through to the finale.

My wife's been bugging me
to make her an ulu,

so when I get home, one of
the first things that I'll do

is make a decent ulu that
will be useful in the kitchen.

And it's not gonna be used
to punch antlers

or do crazy stuff like that.

- well, gentlemen,
congratulations

to the two of you.

You have beat out
the competition in the first

and second round
of our arctic forge challenge,

which means you're both
one step closer

to a check for $10,000

and the title of
"forged in fire" champion.

Now, guys, in this final round
of competition,

we're gonna be sending you back
to your home forges

to build yet another iconic
weapon from the ice-cold north.

That weapon is...

the northern long seax.

- the northern long seax is
a single-edge blade

widely used by vikings
and northern european tribes

during the middle ages.

Its razor-sharp edge
and pointed tip

were useful in slashing,
as well as for thrusting,

allowing the user to deliver
heavy blows and stabs

to finish off an opponent
in close-quarter combat.

Although used
as a deadly weapon,

the vikings would also use
the seax to hack tree branchs

and skin animals.

Today the versatile blade
can be seen

in netflix's historical drama
series "the last kingdom"

- now, gentlemen, when
you're building your seaxes,

I want you to follow
these parameters.

The blade length needs
to measure

between 21 and 23 inches
in a straight line,

from tip to the base
of the blade.

And we want you
to make these blades

with a layered damascus pattern.

- I've never made anything

close to this size before.

What am I gonna do?
How am I gonna do this?

- now, guys, you will
only have four days

to build these blades.

When you come back,
we want to see two seaxes

that are worth
at least $10,000 apiece

because that's what one of them
will win you.

Good luck, guys.
We'll see you in four days.

- Good luck.
- Yeah.

Today I'm working
on a northern long seax.

I'm really excited
to get this going.

Get this thing cooking!

What I'm gonna do today

is I'm gonna start
this damascus billet,

get everything
forge welded and drawn out.

And I actually plan on getting
the blade completed today.

Oh, my gosh.

I notice that it concaved
going up to the drop point,

so I'm going to just start
drawing out that metal,

wide as possible,

because I need this
to make parameters.

There we go.
That's what I was looking for.

Well, I'm not gonna lie.

That was more of a challenge
than I thought it was gonna be,

but by the end of it,
I couldn't be more proud.

I think that will be it
for today, though.

- I just got back
to my home forge,

and I'm about to start working
on my northern long seax.

Now I'm gonna start cutting
my damascus billets out.

I've never made

a damascus knife
of such length before,

so that's gonna be
a very big challenge...

Trying to get something
drawn out and stay together.

Those look like they're
setting really well.

If I could wrap up today
in two words,

it would be
"surprisingly smooth."

I'm so far ahead

of where I wanted to be
at the end of today,

might be able to take it
a little easy tomorrow.

- day two. I'm feeling excited.

Let's get started on the handle.

I'm going to cut up
some aluminum bar stock

for the pommel.

It threads. Whee-hoo!

It's off slightly.
Noticeably slightly.

Well, there's a catastrophe
for ya!

The pommel fit snug,

but it was uneven
with the actual blade.

I want to make sure
it's as even as possible

without taking any more
material away from it.

I have to start all over
with the pommel.

What I need to do is re-center
it, re-hole, and then also

make sure it sets up perfectly
and beautifully.

All right.

You know what? Glad it happened.

Now it's even more snug.

- so today I'm going
to finish grinding

on my blade,
get a nice finished shape.

There we go.

So I decide to put some detail
on my spine,

make it stand out a little bit,

and as I'm looking at it,
my handle has a twist to it.

If my handle has a twist, then
it's not gonna swing right,

it's not gonna fit right,
it's not gonna cut right.

Cannot turn something in
like that.

I could be looking
at a $10,000 mistake.

I'm going to stick it
in the forge

and try to hammer this straight.

There's a slight warp,

but that'll have to do.

Well, I got the forge lit,

so we might as well try
to heat-treat this thing.

Hard.

Good quench. Good quench.

- Day four.

Yesterday I got a lot farther
than I thought with my weapon,

and I'm actually
very pleased with it,

so today I'm just gonna focus
on the little details.

I know my handle's
a bit plain and bland,

but at least it'll be shiny.

I'm a little worried
that I'm almost done.

I hope I didn't skip
over anything.

I just want to make sure
this weapon will perform.

So at the end of this day,
I will be testing it out

as much as I can.

Okay, here we go.

Sliced right through.

I got my blade done.
I'm very happy with it.

It cuts, it keals.

It's pretty much perfect.

- I'm way ahead
of where I expected to be

going into day four.

Today I can refine my handle

and probably test my sharpness.

This wood I'm using is walnut,

and what's special about this is

this tree grew on my family farm

and was cut down
in our family sawmill.

It looks amazing.

I couldn't be happier.

I have an edge on this,

but I really want to see
how sharp it is,

so I need to test this blade.

I really hope that this is gonna

cut through these bottles
with ease.

I hope my blade's sharp enough,
but we're gonna find out.

This blade just cut

right through
the water bottles with ease.

They're clean cuts.

I couldn't be happier.

I feel confident sending
this back to the forge.

I can't wait to see it tested.

- gentlemen, welcome back
to the forge.

Guys, great to have you here.

We sent you back
to your home forges

to work on your northern
long seaxes for four days.

They both look great,

but in this forge,
there's only one champion,

which means only one
of those blades

is gonna end up on our wall.

Before we get into the testing,
I want to hear about them.

So, clay, how did it go for you?

- my blade is
a low-layer damascus

with 1095 and 15n20,

an integral pommel,
and my handle is walnut

that was grown on my family farm

and cut on my dad's sawmill,
so it's kind of special to me.

- Great. Devon, how about you?

- mine's also
a low-layer damascus.

1520, 1095.

The handle I chose
was african blackwood.

I'm looking forward to this.

- Well, gentlemen,
they both look fantastic,

and they both look deadly,

but there's only one way
for us to find out

which one of these blades is
gonna end up above the rest.

We've got a strength test.
We've got a sharpness tes.

And up first, I'm gonna
hand you to doug marcaida

for the keal.

- all right, bladesmiths,
welcome to the keal test.

To find out what kind of lethal
damage your weapons will do,

I will take your weapon
and deliver some lethal blows

on this pig carcass.

Clay, you ready to play?

- Yes, sir.
- All right, let's do this.

- I've never used my blade
on anything like this before,

and my heart's just thumping
in my chest.

I just really want to turn
this pig into some pork chops.

- oh.

- All right, clay, let's talk

about your
northern long seax here.

You have a forward-heavy blade.

With that forward weight,

it really allows
for deeper chops.

The edges are sharp.

They cut deep.

And overall, sir, your weapon...

It will keal.

- That's all I wanted to hear.

All right, dapper devon.

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

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

Hitting the spine of this pig
could fracture my blade,

chip it, warp it.

My stomach has never been
so far up my throat before.

And I am just hoping
that this goes well.

- nice.

- Thanks, man.

- All right, devon, let's talk
about your weapon here.

The blade you have here
is nicely balanced,

that, when I cut, the weapon
does not do the work for me.

I do the work with every slash.

As you can see, I cut it down
twice all the way through.

Overall, sir,
your northern long seax...

It'll keal.

- Thank you, sir.

- bladesmiths, welcome
to our strength test.

Fittingly,
for this arctic challenge,

we're gonna do
the ice block chop.

It really tests the edge holding

and overall construction
of your knives.

And it's a lot of fun, too.

Clay, you're up first.
You ready to go?

- Give her hell.
- I could do that.

- I saw a block of ice.

I know that's
a super-tough test.

This whole competition started
with an ice block,

and I really hope it doesn't
end because of an ice block.

All right, clay, you got
a little bit of an issue here.

Your grain's not that bad.

I mean, it could be finer,
but it's not that bad.

But every time I hit,

that blade just vibrated
like crazy,

and it just traveled down.

So it started to bend,

and then all that vibration
and everything,

it just finally came loose.

I hate to see a nice
damascus pattern like this

have something happen to it
like that.

But, hey, it was
a good fight, man.

- we hate to see it, clay.

Unfortunately, your blade
did succumb to this test.

But you're not
out of the fight yet.

Devon, you have to survive
six blows in the same test

to claim the title
and the check for $10,000.

You ready? - Let's do it.

- well, devon,
congratulations, man.

- Thank you.

- Clay, difficult test.

I want to say thank you so much
for your hard work,

but, unfortunately, due
to the catastrophic failure,

we couldn't continue
the testing.

So, unfortunately, man,

your time here in the forge
has ended.

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please step out.

- Thank you.

I didn't expect that
my blade was gonna break,

but ice is just
a super-hard test

for any blade, no matter what.

Leaving here, I feel
a lot more confident

'cause my ulu didn't break
in a very tough challenge,

and my sword could keal.

- well, devon,
congratulations, man.

You are today's
arctic forge champion.

You absolutely deserve it.

That is a brutal test,
and you crushed it.

- Thank you.

I can't believe
this just happened.

I am the "forged in fire"
champion.

And I'm just thinking... all the
support I've had from my wif.

My first plan is
to take my wife to miami.

We're gonna get
out of this cold weather

and go sit on the beach
for at least four days

and just relax in the sunlight.

I'm very excited.

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.