Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 22 - Deadly Duo - full transcript

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

- I'm max smith.
I'm 27 years old.

And during the day,
I'm a landlord,

but at night, I am a bladesmith.

I am very competitive,

and every time
I step into the forge,

I wanna make something
better than I did before

'cause growth is
what keeps you going.

- My name is bryan salisbury.
I'm 60 years old.

The reason I got
into bladesmithing was,

I wanted a very particular
knife for my work.



I work for
the telephone company.

So I made it,
and finally I just said,

"oh, the heck with it.
I'll start making knives"

it keeps me busy
and out of my wife's hair.

- I'm steve pyatt.
I'm 35 years old.

And I work for
the united states air force

as a security forces
tech sergeant.

When I'm smithing,
I use it as therapy for pts.

So not only do
I do it for myself,

but I also have
friends come over,

and we all smith together.

It makes them
feel better overall.

It makes me feel better too.

- my name is chris o'brien.
I am 43 years old.



Ever since I was little,

I loved creating things.
I loved making things.

I'm actually an art major,

and when I ran across
bladesmithing,

I was just like,

"that's something
I need to try."

- gentlemen,
welcome to the forge.

Well, guys, I hope you
all brought your a game

because we've got three
very intense and unique rounds

of forging competition
ahead of you.

Now, after each round
of the competition,

you're gonna present your work
to our panel of expert judges,

who will then critique your
work and make an elimination.

The judges for today are
abs master smith j. Neilson,

historic weapons re-creation
specialist dave baker,

and edge weapons specialist

and kali martial artist
doug marcaida.

All right, guys, I know you
came here for a competition.

You didn't come here
expecting anything to be easy,

so let's get into it.

Gentlemen, on your anvils
there is a cloth.

Go ahead and remove that for me.

what you have there
are bars of 80crv2 steel,

which we want you to use
in the core of a san mai blad.

San mai is a technique
that has taken down

many a skilled smith
in this forge.

Oftentimes they'll use
mild steel in the construction,

but today we're gonna
up the ante a little bit

in a competition
we're calling double trouble.

Today we want you to wrap
your san mai in this.

we have bars of 1095

and 15n20 steel
right here, gentlemen,

that I want you to make
damascus billets out of.

You will then
take that damascus,

clad it on top of your 80crv2,

constructing a san mai
damascus blade.

Your blades must measure
between 12 and 14 inches.

By the end of round one,

you need to be quenched,
hardened, and acid etched

because we wanna see
the patterns

of those
damascus san mai blades.

Now, in round two
of this competition,

you guys are gonna add
handles to those blades,

turning them into
fully functioning weapons,

at which point, the judges
will put them to the test,

checking for strength
and durability

in a wood and copper pipe chop.

Then we're gonna check
the edge retention

in a double tatami mat slice.

Gentlemen, you have three hours
on the clock.

Good luck.
Your time starts now.

damascus san mai.

So this is kind of
a multilayered competition.

Before they even think
about doing san mai,

they've gotta be proficient
enough to make a good,

solid damascus billet they can
then clad that 80crv2 wit.

- Yeah, if they can make
the damascus stack

and forge weld that properly,

then doing the san mai
shouldn't be a problem at all.

- first thing, you gotta
grab hold of that damascus

and get it shined up,
because the mill scale

that's on the pieces
of metal itself,

that's all impurities,

and it will not stick
with that on there.

I'm gonna use the whole stack
so I can get the layer coun.

- The higher layer count
is gonna be far more dramatc

and create a lot more contrast

between that 80crv2
and the other steel.

- I'm looking at all the steel
that they gave me,

and I've just decided that
that is way too much.

And so I'm only gonna do
14 layers.

I feel that's plenty of steel.

- So I'd really like to see
these smiths use

all of that material.

Now, leave yourself
sacrificial material.

- I know I need to be patient
and wait for that steel

to come up to temperature

so that I get really good
forge welds.

Whoo-hoo!

- once I get the billet
welded up,

I just head right for the forge.

I know it's a big billet.

I know it's gonna take
some time to warm up,

so I just use that time

to go design my knife
before the forge welds.

The first weld's always
the most important,

so I'm not gonna push
this billet too far.

If I go after it
too much on one end,

I could easily have
the other end pop up on me,

and I'm not about to do that.

Perfect.

The welds look good.
I'm super happy with it.

- I know that everybody
is going to go

for the damascus cut in half,
stack on, hamburger method.

It's quicker.
It's easier.

I would like to do a taco.

Make the taco spine,

lay the mono steel in,
san mai it all together,

and then run it out that way.

Maybe this is going to be
the thing

that puts me ahead of everybody.

- How often does the taco
method actually work?

It's very, very rare.

- Hey, look, ben won with knife

that he did a san mai
that way on,

so I'm not gonna say
it can't be done.

- I'm running
a nine-layer damascus.

That should be enough for me
to bring out

to the full length,
fold in half,

and then set my 80crv2
in there with no issues.

- I think that nine layers,
that's a real mistake.

- all right, guys.
You have two hours remainin.

- I got my stacks.
I'm gonna set the welds.

If this doesn't go right,
this is really gonna suck.

- That's a good color.
It looks very even throughout.

- As I'm drawing out my billet,

I notice that the end
is starting to split.

sakes.

- Oh, boy.

- This is really bad.
It's got to be addressed now.

It could split farther.

If it splits,
you gotta start over,

and that's not
what I want right now.

And I knew I had so much steel.

I'm just gonna take that thing
and chop saw,

whack that thing off.

I don't need it anyway.

Get rid of the aggravation.

That'll do.

- I definitely feel really good
about my damascus billet,

that it is welded up solid
so I can go ahead

and do my san mai billet.

- What's critical is the setup.

When you have your two pieces,

which are gonna be
the cladding material,

you want those
to be the same width.

- If the damascus steel

is thicker on one side
than the other,

different steels
quench differently,

and it could definitely cause
a warp later on.

- now that I have the damascus
the thickness that I wan,

I'm gonna cut it
to nice 6-inch pieces,

just like the ore steel,

and I'm just gonna
weld that back on

and do the exact same thing

that I just did
with the 1095 and 15n20.

- So you want all the sizes,
all your metal

to be the same size
so when you start that weld,

things aren't squishing out
in weird directions,

creating holes and such,
things like that

that you don't wanna
have to deal with later on.

- I've got my taco
roughly made out,

and I go to put the core in.

- What steve did is,
he made his taco shell,

and he put his core steel in
but only halfway,

so half of it's sticking up.

- I go to set my weld,

and I realize I am not
going to have enough meat

on my potatoes
to make a full knife.

son of a bitch.

I need to come up
with another plan fast.

So what I do is prep
a five-piece real quick.

The ultimate plan is to use that

as the other side of my san mai.

- So he's not just gonna

make a whole another billet
for the outside.

He's gonna try
to put two together.

If I were doing that, I would
make two even billets of nine

and then use those
for your cladding.

- By the time I had pressed
everything down,

there was so little amount
of san mai.

It wasn't gonna meet parameters.

I need to fix it fast 'cause
the time's still clicking.

- I've got my stacks,
and I've got the 80crv2.

I'm gonna set the welds
on my san mai.

It's less difficult
because it's only 3 pieces

instead of 24,
but it's super critical.

- Bryan is over on the press
getting his final pushes

into that san mai billet.

I think we're gonna see him

start shaping things up
pretty soon here.

- No issues whatsoever.

I'm very happy about that.

- I hate to do it to you,

but you guys are halfway
through the first round.

- the tang is at a good shape,
so I decide to get my holes

marked out for my handle scales.

- whoo!

- This is not going well at all.

you son of a gun.

I decide that that my handle
is thick enough

that maybe I should
fuller out that handle.

And as I start fullering
the handle,

I notice
that I did grind through

to the hole that I made about
2/3 of the way through

with the drill press,
so crisis averted.

With time running out,
I know I need to get over

to the forge
and start doing my heat treat.

- so now that the billet
is all forge welded together,

I'm just going to start
hammering the tip in.

- Yeah, max is actually using
an interesting technique.

Instead of just cutting
a tip in, he rounded the edges.

So when you start hammering,
you don't have those two peaks

that wanna come together
and fish lip over the top.

Smart move.

- what I have now
is a half san mai,

half billet thing
going on right now,

and I know I have
another damascus billet.

I know that what I have is the
beginnings of a complete knife,

so I just need
to make that work.

- Steve had that other
small piece of damascus.

He's gonna try
and make a taco of that

to put over the rest
of the core steel

because he wasn't happy
with the back end of his taco.

- So it's like a patchwork.

He's trying
to match it up with pieces.

- So I go to weld this
five-piece billet

to the rest of the san mai.

The weld sets
on about 3/4 of it.

all right.
That's horrible.

- Whoa!

- The whole back pops up.

I didn't get a good weld
in those areas.

- Look, in my opinion,

it's still a good time
to start over.

- I don't know
what I'm gonna do,

but I need to fix it fast,

'cause the time's
still clicking.

I don't think I have
enough time to start over,

but there's no way
I can get this thing to weld,

so I'm just gonna rip it off.

- steve's got separations

or unwelded spots,
so he's removing them

and taking away
the material that he needs

to make this 12-to 14-inch
full tang blade.

- I need to fix it fast.

I have to grind,

finish up the shape,
and quench it

before that hour is up.

I got this!
I got this!

- I'm wanna get ready
for the quench.

I wanna make very sure
that I don't overheat the ti.

The tip can overheat
very easily.

- chris is in the oil.

- Pull my knife out of the oil.
I have no big issues.

All I need to do is grind.
It's way too thick.

- I'm trying to forge in
my tip, get that done,

and then I'm gonna start
on my handle.

I'm looking at
the clock right now.

I've gotta get that quench done

so I have time to grind it
into the perfect shape.

- bryan's in the oil.

- It all worked out the way
I wanted it to.

The hell with it.
I'm going over to the grinder.

- max is in the quench.

- I pull out the blade,
and it's dead straight.

I'm super happy with it.

I know I have a lot of scale
on the outside of it,

so I have to start
taking this off.

- ten minutes, gentlemen!

- I decided early on

to make the taco shape
to set myself apart,

and I definitely
set myself apart.

God, this blade is ugly,
but I know it's gonna work.

- all right,
four blades quenched.

Steve's in the oil.

- After I hit the quench,
I see these two delam lines

that are running down the side.

I can't leave these delams.

I'm gonna have to chase
these things out.

If I don't fix these things,
it's just gonna cause

all sorts of other bad stuff
down the line

and I'm going home.

- Five, four, three, two, one!

Gentlemen, put down your tools
'cause this round is over.

- I'm done now and I'm super
excited to the fact

that it was the first time
I've ever completed

a damascus san mai knife.

So why regret it?

- Gentlemen, in the first three
hours of this competition,

you managed to tackle
two difficult techniques,

and you all turned in blades
within parameters.

But the time has come
for critique,

which means three of you
are going forward

in this competition
and one of you's heading home.

Max, you're up first.

- all right, max.

First up,
very nice, clean lines.

Good job on that.

It's nice to be able to see
the damascus pattern,

but there's just
a lot of griding

that needs to be done on this

to make it a much lighter knife.

But overall, nice, clean work.

- bryan, you ready?
- Oh, hell yes.

- I like it.
Please present your work.

- so right off, I'm looking at

a solid piece of metal,
which is great.

The one thing I would be
very careful about

is getting that handle
any thinner than it is

in profile right now,
but solid blade.

You're well on your way.
Good job.

- Thank you.
- Steve, you're up.

- all right, steve.
You've got a delam

that starts over here

and travels all the way up.

If you move
into the second round,

I would be very careful
not to open things up.

But you turned in a blade that
actually passed parameter,

so good on you.

- Thank you.

- Last but not least, chris.

Let's see what you came up with.

- all right, so, chris,

you do have a bit
of uneven grind here.

You've got it
a lot thinner up here

and thicker on
the front and back.

I'd definitely suggest
thinning that out

on a flat platen
or something like that,

but I think you're well on
your way, doing a good job.

- Thank you.

- Well, gentlemen, we did not
give you an easy task

in the first round
of competition,

but you all came through
with viable blades

for the judges to critique.

But only three of you can move
forward in this competition.

The judges have made
their final decision,

and the bladesmith
leaving the forge is...

steve.

Unfortunately,
blade didn't make the cut.

You are tenacious as hell,

but you're not gonna be
moving forward,

and j. Is gonna tell you why.

- Steve, you worked really hard,

and I gotta give you
props for that.

But your blade was the only one
that had delaminations,

and your san mai was less
refined than your competitors'.

That's why we're letting you go.

- It's understandable.
Thank you for the opportunity.

- Well, steve, unfortunately,

your time here
in the forge has ended.

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

and step off the forge floor.

- Thank you again, gentlemen.
Appreciate it.

I was able to make a blade
that met all the parameters,

but in the end,
I just didn't do it

as well as the other
three competitors.

But you know what?

I still had a great time,
and these guys all did awesome.

They deserve to move forward.

- well, gentlemen,
congratulations.

The three of you
are moving forward

in the second round
of our competition,

where you're gonna fix
any issues

that the judges brought up

as well as add handles
to your blades,

turning them into
fully functioning weapons.

In keeping up with
the double trouble theme,

we are asking for
two different materials

on both sides of your blade.

Now, at the end of this round,

we're gonna test
for strength and durability

in a wood and copper pipe chop,

and we're gonna
check those edges

in a double tatami mat slice.

You have two hours on the clock
to complete this round.

Good luck.
Your time starts now.

what's the first thing
you guys would be doing?

Would you be selecting materials

or be working on the blade?

- I'd be selecting
materials first,

just figure out what's there,

and then start grinding
like a madman.

- if I'm gonna move on
to round three,

I know
I have to have two things:

I gotta have
a comfortable handle

and have a really sharp edge.

- Bryan's over
on the drill press,

already putting his holes
into his tang, getting set up.

- You know, bryan is actually
in pretty good shape in that

he's got a very straight blade

and it's 1/4 inch on the spine.

nice!

- in round one, the judges said
my blade was fairly heavy,

so I need to hit
the grinder right away

to get rid of a bunch
of that material.

- Chris' tip and his tang
were really, really thick,

and it was thin in the middle.

So he needs to even that out.

- After spending time
on the grinder,

I head over to the pantry
and start looking

for materials
for my handle scales.

That's what I'm looking for.

I'm using micarta for my handle
'cause it's pretty tough

and a liner
just to hold them together.

Everything is working out great.

The micarta cuts really nice.

I still need to shape my handle

and put an edge on
and do an etch.

I don't know if I'm gonna have
enough time to do everythin,

but I'm gonna do my best
to get it done.

- With multipiece constructin
for handles,

it can get a little finicky.

That's why right away, I wanted
to get them epoxied together.

I know it's five-minute epox,

but I wanna give it
as much time as possible,

so I think this is just
a great time for me to run

and just start working
on the blade itself.

- Max has a lot of work
to do on his blade.

It's heavy.

- bladesmiths, you have
90 minutes remaining

in the handle round, 90 minutes.

- I'm gonna glue and pin

two pieces of micarta,

then I'm gonna wrap a paracord
around the whole thing,

and it'll hold the scales on.

Now I'm gonna drill
two 1/4 inch holes

so I can get
the paracord through it.

I got the drill bit
stuck in the knife.

Oh, that is the stupidest thing.

So I'm in a little bit
of trouble.

- Now he's gotta get
the bit back in there

while it's attached.

That is completely
bound up in there.

- If I can't work it out,
I'm done.

Oh, for god's sakes.

Nothing like wasting time.

whoo-hoo!

Finally it popped out.

Change my drill bit,
and let's go.

More wasted time.

I hope this is gonna work out.

- so the next step is just

put the drill bit through

so those pins
slide perfectly in.

There we go.

Yeah, I'm actually just running
through the belt now.

with the time remaining,

I know I have
to pick it up a little bi.

I'm just starting
to get the edge put on.

- now that my glue
is setting up,

I'm gonna take it
over to the acid

to make sure that
that 80crv2 core

is running down
the center of my blade.

That's your cutting edge,

and you want that to be
the hardenable material.

It looks good.

My core material is running
right down the blade edge.

Now that my glue's set up,
I can get my handle shaped

and then get back
to sharpening the edge.

- all right, gentlemen.

You only have
one hour remaining.

- I'm looking at the clock.

Now let's go wrap that paracord.

- It's a great idea because

the profile of his handle
was really skinny.

It's gonna add an 1/8 inch
to either side of that handle.

I'm very happy with the blade.

I know the judges
want a comfy handle,

and they're gonna get
a comfy handle.

- five, four, three, two, one!

Gentlemen, put down your blades.

This round is over!

- I'm a little worried
about the blade.

The edge is as sharp
as I can get it,

but at this point,
it's all in the judges' hands,

and I hope they're gentle.

- All right, bladesmiths.
Welcome to the strength test.

Now, we're keeping
with our double trouble theme.

We've got a two-part
strength test:

Our copper and wood chop.

Copper likes to bite
and grab edges.

Wood likes to snap blades
and wreck handles.

So let's see
how your edge holding

and overall construction
is gonna hold up.

Max, you're up first.
How you feeling?

- I think you're about to void
the warranty.

when j. Is picking up
that knife to swing first,

I'm just not even thinking.

I don't wanna even look at it.

I just want it to be done.

- all right, max.

Good job.
You survived, man.

Just a couple things.

Right in this section
right here,

it wasn't super sharp,

and I can run
my finger across it.

And you did pick up
a couple rolls right here.

But otherwise,
everything's still straight.

Everything's tight.
Good job.

- Thank you.

- It's always fun
for the second guy, bryan.

- Yeah, thanks, yeah.

Looking forward to it, j.

copper pipes grab.

The metal is so soft,

as you cleave into it,

it actually folds in
and grabs the edge.

They're just gross on blades.
Terrible.

- nice job.
- Didn't break.

- It didn't break.
- I'm good.

- okay, bryan.
She still lives.

Good job with the paracord.

Built up the handle
a little bit more

and gave me a good grip.

Now, everything stayed
straight and tight.

Nothing came loose.
Nicely done.

- Thank you.

- All right, chris, you're up.
You ready?

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

- I've tested my blade on
deer antler and steel barrel,

but copper can be really hard
on a blade edge.

- all right, chris.
You survived.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Your edge is fine.

You got a little bit
of glinting but not much.

Handle's tight,
handle's comfortable,

and it stayed strong
and survived.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- all right, bladesmiths.

This is the sharpness test,

the double tatami mat slice.

now, unlike the strength test,

this is all about
how sharp your edges are

and how well they cut
these tatami mats.

A sharp knife should be able
to cut cleanly.

A jagged one
or a dull one, well,

may rip it or, worse,
do nothing at all.

Max, you're up first.
You ready for this?

Sure.

tatami mats are really thick.

The blade took a little bit
of damage after the first test,

so I'm just hoping
that it can still cut.

- all right, max, let's talk
about your weapon here.

It cut almost
all the way through.

Just this area right here
where you have some rolling

actually kind of ripped
on that tatami mat.

Overall, sir, your weapon,
it will cut.

- Thank you.

- Bryan, are you ready?

- You know, tear her up,
you mad dog.

- All right.
Will do.

- all right, bryan,
your edge is razor sharp enough

to cut through both mats.

Overall, sir, your weapon,
it will cut.

- Outstanding.

- Chris, your turn, sir.
You ready?

- Yes, sir.

- all right, chris,
on the first tatami mat,

although it didn't cut
all the way through,

it's a longer cut

with the angle I was
cutting at with your blad.

And the second one
cut all the way through.

Overall, sir, your weapon,
it will cut.

- Awesome.

- well, gentlemen,
all three of you

turned in fantastic blades,

but in this double trouble
competition,

only two can move forward.

And the bladesmith
leaving the forge is...

max.

Unfortunately, your blade's
not making the cut today.

Doug's gonna tell you why.

- Max, your blade

took some dulling
during the strength test,

and it affected its performance
during the sharpness test.

For that reason,
we're letting you go.

- Totally understand.

- Well, max, it was awesome
watching you work.

You absolutely know
what you're doing

and you have what it takes
to fight in the forge.

Your time here has ended;
I'm gonna have to ask you

to please step off
the forge floor.

- Well, thank you.
Good luck, guys.

After testing, I knew it was me.

Honestly, I was just happy
to get past the first round,

so the fact that I made it
through the second,

I couldn't be happier with that.

The whole journey's
been amazing, really.

It's just something
I don't do every day,

so it was just a fun challenge.

- well, gentlemen,
congratulations.

The two of you have succeeded.

You are both moving forward
to the third and final round

of our double trouble
competition.

In this last round,
we're gonna be sending you

back to your home forges,
but we're not gonna be

asking you to build one
iconic weapon from history.

We're gonna ask you to make two.

you will be building these:

A pair of ginunting swords.

- as one of the weapons issued

to the philippine military
special forces units,

the ginunting swords
have proven to be

effective and deadly weapons.

The word "ginunting"
translates to "scissors,"

and the inward curve
of the blade's design

allows for deeper cuts
while also proving the user

with a thin, lightweight weapon.

When paired together
as a sword and dagger,

the longer sword serves as an
offensive long-range weapon,

while the shorter sword
serves to be a defensive

close-quarter weapon.

The intimidating dual swords
are built for brutal combat

as well as navigating
thick jungle terrain.

- Gentlemen,
when you build your swords,

I want you to follow
these parameters.

The larger of the two
needs to measure

between 19 and 21 inches

and the smaller of the two,
13 to 15.

They need to have
a slight curve to the blade,

and the inside of the curve
needs to be sharpened.

- Making one blade is all right.

Making one to match
makes it exponentially harder.

- Well, gentlemen,
you'll both have four days

to build your pair
of ginuntings.

And one of you
is gonna come back here

and leave $10,000 richer,

carrying the title
of "forged in fire" champion.

We will see you in four days.
Good luck.

- I'm back in my home forge.

I'm building
two ginunting swords.

Game plan for today is,

get my damascus welded up
enough for both weapons.

I'm confident in damascus.

I wanna have something that's
really nice when I'm done.

This should be enough steel
for both knives, hopefully.

I think she's forge welded
together.

Feeling pretty good
about the progress.

Got most of the long blade
forged out,

so should be done
forging tomorrow, I would hope.

- we're back in my home forge
in esperance, new york.

I'd like to get the two
billets made and forged out.

The tricky part
is making them both match.

And we're off.

Hopefully, hopefully,
the quench today.

That would be ideal.

I'm gonna try the damascus

'cause I really think I've
gotta up my game for thi.

Okay.

I got them forged out.

The curves look good.
I got my tangs in.

I've gotta get these things
in the oil.

And that way, I know
what I'm up against tomorrow.

there it is.

she's hard under there.

So second one going in.

all right.
Let's see if she skates.

Please, please, please, please.

Not grabbing anywhere.
Very nice.

She weighs about
five pounds too much,

but that's what a grinder's for.

Got a lot of work to do
to get weight off of them.

We have had a successful
first day

on the "forged in fire"
competition.

Whoo-hoo!

- Day two...

didn't quite get as far
as I wanted to yesterday.

I'm gonna finish
forging out this blade,

and then I'm going to forge p
another billet

and do the second blade.

And then that way, I can
heat treat at the same tie

with both blades.

We're almost there.

all right.
We're about ready to hit it.

the quench was unsuccessful,

so I'm gonna have
to do it again.

Second quench,
I'm feeling pretty scared

because a lot of times,
with the second quench,

you run into a lot of problems.

You can grow the grain structure

and make a weak blade,

so I'm feeling pretty nervous
about this one.

Go.

that's the sound
you wanna hear, right there.

that baby's hard.

The plan for the rest
of the day is,

grind as much as I can
off the small blade

and have it ready
for heat treat tomorrow.

I was hoping to have
both blades quenched

and temper them tonight.

So I'm a little behind
where I wanna be,

but I think I can catch up
fairly quickly tomorrow.

- day two... I had a really
good day yesterday,

and we're ready to go in
and tear it up.

It feels great that I got
the quenches done yesterda.

Now it's just grinding,
grinding, grinding.

nice!

I spent a long time grinding,
but here's the tricky part.

Now I'm gonna drill
the holes in them.

drill bit didn't
even scratch it.

Gonna have to heat it.

see if that does any better.

This is what kills all the time

in the forge, right here,

is crap like this.

ha!

So finally
get that son of a gun.

You have no idea
how freaking huge that was.

- day four, feeling pretty good.

Today the game plan is,

I'm hoping to have both handles
done by today.

I decide I'm going to try
a burn-through.

Getting the tip
just a little hot.

there.
That looks good.

building these two swords,

it is slowing me down
a little bit.

I'm still on track
to be able to finish

with pretty good time.

Looking pretty good.
I like it, I like it.

All I have left to do
is sharpen the little blade

and it'll be all done.

- yee-ha!
Day four.

Let's go.
Last day.

We've got to finish up
the last handle, and I am done.

Very similar look to them.

Very happy.

I gotta use these things.

yeah.
That works.

- well, chris, bryan,
welcome back to the forge.

We sent you back to your
home forges for four days

to build not one but two blades.

And I gotta say,
your ginuntings look fantastic.

But before we get into testing,
I wanna hear about them.

Bryan, how'd your forging
go for you?

- Actually went pretty well.

I stayed with the
double trouble challenge,

double-layer damascus,
double-layer g10.

Did the best I could.

- Chris, how about you?

- Things went pretty good.

it's 140 layers
of 15n20 and 1084.

Brass guard and cocobolo
for the handle.

- Fantastic, guys.

Well, all four of them
look deadly,

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

We've got a strength test,
a sharpness test,

and up first, the keal.
Doug?

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

To find out how lethal
your weapons are,

I'm gonna take your weapons
and deliver some slashes

and thrusts on this big carcass.

Bryan, you're up first.
You ready for this?

- Tear it up, you mad dog.

I will.

- the thing that concerns me
the most about the keal test

is, it's hitting the bones.

Bones will damage blade,

so it's gonna to be rough
on my blade.

- nice.

- All right, bryan, let's talk
about your ginuntings her.

First up, for ginuntings,

they're a little bit
on the heavier side,

but that lends itself to cut
deep into the big carcass.

Your handle
construction's smooth

and it gives me good retention.

Overall, sir, your ginuntings...

They will keal.

- Nice.
- All right, chris.

Your turn, sir.
You ready for this?

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

- I'm a little nervous.

If mine don't perform
near what his did,

there's just no chance for me.

- all right, chris, let's talk
about your ginuntings her.

First up, what I like
about your weapon here

is the balance.

It's nicely distributed.

The edges you have here
are sharp.

You can see it pretty much cut
a lot of this pig up.

Overall, sir, your ginuntings...

They will keal.

- Awesome.

- all right, gentlemen.
You know what time it is.

It's time for the
strength test, the bamboo chop.

To test the strength
and durability of your blades,

I'll be taking your ginunting
and chopping

into our bamboo target here.

And remember, this isn't about

what your ginuntings
do to that target

but what that target can do
to your ginunting.

Bryan, you're up first.
You ready?

- Yeah, go ahead.

- Ain't got nothing else
to do this afternoon.

- whew.

- all right, bryan.
First off,

they've got some heft to them,
but they don't feel bad.

They actually swing pretty good.

Your blade picked up
just the teeniest roll.

And then on the smaller
of the two blades,

there's, again,
just the smallest deflectio.

Other than that,
they held up beautifully.

Well done.
- Thank you very much.

- Chris, you ready to play?

- Sure.

all right, chris.

Right off, your handle design
for me is just about perfec.

As far as swinging these things,

man, they're super light.

The balance is really nice
on these.

I don't feel anything
on your edge

when I run my fingernail
up this thing.

No deflections, no rolls.
So good job.

- Thank you.

- all right, bladesmiths.

We know your blades can keal,

and we know they're strong.

Now it's time to find out
just how sharp your blades are.

This is the sharpness test,
the animal hide slice.

Now, to find out
how sharp your weapons are,

I'm gonna take your ginuntings

and I'm going to thrust and
slash across this animal hide.

Bryan, you're up first.
You ready for this?

- Absolutely.
- All right. Let's do this.

all right, bryan.

The edges you have here
are sharp.

Every cut over there
is quite clean.

No jagged edges.

And overall, sir, your weapon...

It will cut.

- Thank you, sir.

- Chris, your turn, sir.
You ready?

- Yep.
- All right, let's do this.

all right, chris.

First up, the grinds
that you have here

are perfect for this kind of cut

because there is no resistance.

Overall, sir, your ginuntings...

It will cut.

- Thank you.

- well, gentlemen,
we had three tests.

We got two smiths, but we can
only have one winner.

You guys both
performed very well.

While the judges deliberate,

decide who's gonna be the
champion of "forged in fire,"

I'm gonna ask you guys to both
step off the forge floor.

all right, guys, we got four
pretty dang good blades here

but only one winner.

So, dave, what do you think?

- Well, I mean, you've got
two sets that are strong,

well built,
and highly functional.

Chris' blades are so well
dialed in.

They are light.
They are fast.

The handles are
not only beautiful,

but they are so comfortable
as opposed to bryan's,

which are quite a bit heavier.
- Okay.

J., how about you?
- Yeah, they're both beautiful.

I mean, they've both got
really nice blades, damascus,

and the testing
was pretty much even.

So yeah.
Go to craftsmanship from there.

- All right.
Doug, what do you think?

- To me, one set actually
outperformed the other

in all three tests.

It cut better
on the sharpness test,

it cut a lot better
on the keal test,

and it didn't take any damage
at all in the strength test.

- Okay.
Dave, you've made a decision?

- I have.
- How about you, j.?

- Oh, yeah.
- Doug?

- Yes.
- All right, call them back in.

Well, guys, we did not
go easy on you,

but you guys came through
with beautiful blades

that all performed
extremely well.

But as you know,
only one of you can go home

with the title of
"forged in fire" champion

and a check for $10,000.

The judges have made a decision,

and today's "forged in fire"
champion is...

chris.
Congratulations.

Bryan, unfortunately, your blade

just didn't make the cut,

and dave baker's
gonna tell you why.

- Bryan, I think I can speak
for all of us when I say

that competitions like this
are the ones we love to see,

where smiths bring back weapons
that are so closely matched.

This came down
to the smallest things.

Chris' blade was a little bit
sharper than yours.

It didn't take any damage.

You did a great job.
It's a beautiful blade.

- Thank you.

- Well, bryan, you're clearly
a very talented smith,

and your work speaks
for itself on that.

But unfortunately,
your time here has ended.

I'm gonna have to ask you

to please step off
the forge floor.

- I put forth my best effort,
but it is what it is.

You can't let it
eat you up too bad.

I wouldn't do
a damn thing differently.

I got matched up against

an absolutely excellent
bladesmith.

This time, he came out on top.

We go again, he just might not.

- chris, congratulations.

You are today's
"forged in fire" champion.

You got yourself a check
for $10,000.

- My blades performed very well.

I thought it would be awesome
for my kids,

just to prove to them that
if you put yourself out there

and put the work in, you can
accomplish what you're after.

My name is chris o'brien,

and I am the "forged in fire"
champion.