Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 39 - The Firangi Sword - full transcript

- My name's Evan Daniel
Purviance.

I'm 19 years old.

I've been bladesmithing
seriously

for about four years.

I am the loudest
and proudest member

of the Fighting Texas Aggie
class of 2024,

but tuition ain't cheap.

That's what that the 10 grand
is going to go if I win this.

- My name is Chris Gregory.
I'm 35 years old.

I am a full-time
construction worker

and incinerator operator
and part-time bladesmith.



To compete in the competition
of ""Forged in Fire""

is a dream come true,

but to be able to win it would
just be the icing on the cake.

- My name is Grant Peters.

I am a full-time father
of three beautiful little girls

and a part-time bladesmith.

As long as I can remember
I've always loved metal.

Like, I just thought it was
the coolest thing in the world.

This is going to be some fun.

- My name is Brandon Hainer.

I am 23 years old.

I work as an engineer, and I am
a part-time bladesmith.

So I originally started
blacksmithing around 18.

I forged a really crappy
knife out of a piece of rebar.



And from then on I was hooked.

I'm super ready to get
this round going.

- Well, bladesmiths,
welcome to The Forge.

Bladesmiths,
we are extremely excited

about today's competition

because we are switching
things up quite a bit.

I'm sure you came here thinking
you're going to go through

three high-intensity rounds
of bladesmithing competitio,

but that's not quite what
we've got in store for you.

We're not going to have
a forging round,

a critique and elimination,

then a handle round and testing.

We are giving you
five straight hours

to build the best blade
you can from start to finish.

That means you've got
to forge a blade,

quench it, have it hardened,
tempered, add a handle,

and have it ready for testing

by the end
of the five-hour round.

Now, this is where
it gets exciting.

We've got a verifiable buffet
of high-carbon steel.

We've got springs.
We've got ball bearings.

You name it, we have it.

And you can use
any of these materials,

any of our full pantry
for your handle materials

to build any blade you want
with any technique you want.

The only thing we ask
is that you make a blade

that is between
12 and 18 inches.

Today we are putting you
through a competition

we are calling
the Impress Us Challenge.

- Oh, crap,
the Impress Us Challenge.

Judging by these guys'
standards and my skills,

that's going to be
a little bit difficult.

- Now, periodically through
this competition,

I'm going to ask
that you present your work

to our panel of expert judges
sitting here behind me.

They will be the ones deciding
which one of you will be

leaving here with the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion

and a check for $10,000.

Here's the best part.

Whoever impresses the judges
the most at the five-hour mark

will bypass our testing
and get a free ride all the way

to the final round
of this competition.

- I want to be that guy.

My goal is to make a blade
that impresses the judges

so well I get myself a
ticket straight to the finals.

- Now, for the other
three of you,

you will all have
your blades tested.

We're going to check
for strength and durabiliy

in a copper pipe chop

and then check
your edge retention

in a triple-rope slice.

Now, bladesmiths, as always,
only two of you

will go to the Home Forge
portion of the competition,

which means after testing,

there will be
a double elimination.

- I'm a little nervous thinking

that is a double elimination.

Any other competition,

I'd be dying to see
my blade get tested.

But today I really want
to impress the judges so much

that I just move right
to the finals.

- Try your hardest to give
the best possible blade

that is able to be tested,
but hopefully won't have to be.

You have five hours on the clock

to complete this competition,
so good luck.

Your time starts now.

Here we go,

all the smiths running up to
the table, the buffet of steel.

- We've giving them everything
they need to build

whatever they want to build
since the idea is to impress,

five hours to build it in,
and run with it.

- I'm seeing ball bearings,
W2s, spring steel,

I went for the 1095

and 15N20
to make a Damascus billet.

So I've made plenty
of Damascus billets before,

and they've all come out
pretty successful.

So it's something
that I really want to make

in this competition.

So I stack up my billet

with alternating layers
of 15N20 and 1095.

Even though I did a low-layer
count Damascus billet,

I'm really hoping that
it's going to show in the steel

when it's finished.

Whoo!,
it's hot, Toledo.

- I go and I grab the 15N20
and 1095,

because that's what I know
how to show off with.

- I would probably do either
a multi-bar

or some kind of fun Sun Mai

with maybe a canister
on the outside,

make something cool.

- Super cool.
- Yeah, right.

- I have 10 layers total.

Welding.

I want to do
this cut and restack,

but I know the one thing
that the judges

definitely will
not be impressed with

is an unfinished blade.

So the cut and restack

is getting tossed
to the side for now.

- I'm not exactly the most
comfortable with Damascus,

so I pick up
a piece of spring steel.

A lot of what I make
is out of spring steel anywa.

I know how it works; I know
what to heat-treat it at.

I'm going to do the best
that I can with

what I know how to do,
and if that's not enough,

then I guess that's it.

- Evan is going with just
the coil; that's mono-steel.

It better be very impressive.

- That piece of coil spring
is not quite an inch diameter.

There's not much impressive you
can get out of that size piece.

Nasty-looking, isn't it?

- 1095 and 15N20,

they're the most common stees
I use when I make Damascus.

So it's something
I'm familiar with.

- Play to your strengths.
- For sure.

- If you're very good
at something,

bring it out here
and impress us.

- My first thought is to do

some type
of a twisted, 100-layer

Damascus to really
impress the judges.

Twisted Damascus isn't an easy
Damascus type to do,

but it is very beautiful
when it's done.

- Are there any problems
that Chris could run into

by haphazardly
chopping his bar stock?

- Yeah, the layers don't add up.

These fall over and become
cold shots on the edges.

- While I'm waiting
for my billet to heat up,

I take a couple extra
of those 1095 and 15N20 pieces

to use as my guard.

Welding.

I think that'll really
impress the judges,

because that's a pretty tall
order in a five-hour challenge.

There we go.

- I do my first forge weld.

I'm being extra careful,

because putting stress on
every one of those welds then

could just...
flat open.

- Grant's setting a weld.

- That's the right temperature.
I mean, it's close.

- It went great.

She's getting there.

- I get my coal spread out
to a good critical temperatue

to where I can
straighten it out.

You work 5160
a little bit hotter

than you work other steels,

because it's got
a little more spring to it.

- 5160 isn't going to give you
a lot of flack,

but a great material to work
in, because it's got

that springy-ness to it;
it's very durable.

- I'm can to start
flattening it out.

I enjoy building things.
I enjoy building things fast.

I've got it down pat,
so why would I change anything?

- Bladesmiths,
you have four hours left.

- Let's see here.

While I've got my steel
heating up,

I grab two pieces of wood.

- Usually in the first round
you can't touch your handle,

but now while steel
is heating up,

you could almost
finish your handle

in your first three hours.

- And I start cutting them
into little squares

so that I can stack them up
in layers

so I got alternating colors.

I want to make it really pop.

- A multi-part handle is really
a beautiful thing to see.

Problem is, it's a risky thing,
because multi-part handles

that aren't glued up or pinned
properly can blow apart.

- So, while that's curing,

I run back to The Forge
and get forging.

Whew.

- So I'm at the press
forging out my shape.

I'm going for
a chopper-style blade

with a little bit of flair.

I want to make something
that's really going to impres

the judges enough
to send me to the final round.

So I'm hand-hammering
in the handle doing one flair

that's more of a bottle opener
kind of shape.

I think it's a pretty
bold design

and the judges
will really like it.

Whew.

- So I'm going to go ahead
and make

a Damascus seax-chopper hybrd
with an integral bolster.

That helps with the balance,
which helps recovery.

It also works
as a great vibration dampener

for when impacting
anything very solid.

- 'Cause Grant's doing
an integral bolster.

That's exciting.
I love when I see new stuff.

- To impress the judges,

I'm going to play
with the pattern a little bit.

- Grant is actually
cutting lines into that crease.

He's making
some kind of chevrons.

- Very cool.

- I'm looking over to my right,

and I'm seeing Grant grinding in

a pattern into his steel,
and I'm thinking

that can be a cool idea
for me to add as well.

- Oh, we got some grinding
going on for Brandon too.

Is he putting in a pattern?

- So I start putting in a very
rough X pattern into the steel

hoping that it's something
that will show

after I'm doing grinding.

- My coil spring now
is a flat bar,

so I can forge out
my tip a little bit.

I give it a good bend over
on the horn,

start forging out
the general shape of my blade.

I'm making
a pretty basic camp knife

to impress these judges.

I'm getting a little bit
worried about

how thin my blade is getting.

Pretty doggone disappointing.

So I decided to go ahead
and make a thinner blade

with more of
a swooshing style to it.

That design seemed to work
pretty good in my head.

So I just went ahead
and rolled with it.

- They've got carte blanche
to do whatever they want.

If it's well executed, great.

How will it do
on a test, though?

- I've set my welds.

I get ready to cut and stack
the 100-layer knife bille.

I roll it over onto itself
and flux it up.

- And I can see seams in there.
So I'm really worried

he's going to have a lot of
inclusions in that weld.

- Yeah.

- Oh, Chris' billet split open.

- Those welds just blow apart.

Panic sets in.

Do I chase the problem,
or do I start over?

I'm running out of time.

Seeing those welds blow apart,

panic sets in.

- You guys know what...
Wrong with that billet

he was working?

- He had a long billet,

but he folded back on itself
with minimal cleaning.

- I'm going to scrap
this Damascus,

and I'm going go start with
a brand-new piece of meta.

- So it looks like
we've got a start over.

At the end of the day, this is
a competition for $10,000,

and getting through it
is very important.

- W1 is a great knife steel.

Even though I'm not doing

the 100-layer Damascus
like I had planned

to impress the judges

and I probably can't bypass
the testing,

I'll still be able
to turn in a knife

that'll handle any tests
that the judges throw at it.

- Bladesmiths,
you have three hours left.

- This is make-or-break time.

- This is where
you go for broke.

- So my Damascus blade
is in good shape.

I ready for heat treat.

- We have a quench on the floor.

- Oh! Our first quench.
All right.

- Oh, there's a warp
in that sucker.

- I'm pressing carefully
to try and straighten

the blade without snapping it,

because I know there's
a fine line in between the two.

I think I might've
straightened it out.

If the judges aren't impressed
by my blade,

then I really want to make sure

I can get through testing.

- And the thing also about this
is, we don't get to review

or tell him what to fix.

What you present us
is what you present us.

- Grant's quench, if you looked
at the coloration of the blade,

I don't think it was too hot,
but it was pretty warm.

- Don't hear any pings,
any pops.

That'll do.

The file skates great,
sounds amazing.

So now it's time
to get a little bit

of cleanup going on.

- Evan's in. This is the moment
of truth

pulling this thing out,
really thin blade.

- It ain't straight
worth a crap.

I have this tiny little bend
coming in from the tang.

Very stressful stuff
we got going on here.

So I lay it on my anvil and
then just put both my fists

on top
of that piece of angle irn

until I know it's good and flat.

- Using a man clamp.

- It'll have to do.

- I feel like I'm making
some ground now.

Started out with that
big old piece of steel,

and now I got something
I can work.

The style of knife
I want to go with

is a Spanish-American War
era Bowie knife.

Something I'm real
familiar with.

That way, I come out
with the best blade possible.

And because I had lost
the pizzazz of the Damascus,

I'm going to do a hamon

to kind of give a little more
pop to that blade.

- Ooh! All right, so Chris
is upping the game

a little bit.
Chris has got clay.

- Oh, that's great.

- You can get a lot
of interesting ghosting lins

on that blade.

- A hamon is a Japanese process

of adding clay to the spine

to keep those portions soft.

I take my wire brush,

and that clay falls off
the way it's supposed to.

And we're good to go.

All right, that did it.

- Scale, glue, mix it.

Having a smooth handle
is absolutely crucial.

The judges are always
very picky on handle material

and the way it's shaped.

I'm doing a white G10 liner
with red micarta

and a black G10 bolster.

Seeing that I have
a three-piece multi-part

set for my handles,
I'm thinking this is something

that's going to send me
to the final round hopefully.

- Now, Brandon has a very
interesting style

going on with his handle.

He's got, like, a little tail
coming out of that.

- All right, guys, you have
1 hour and 30 minutes left.

- I got to get
this handle moving.

I find sky-blue scales
made out of micarta.

I knew right then and there
that they were perfect.

If done right,
they can look amazing,

and it's a known material to me.

- Now it's going to be
interesting to see

who among these smiths

have the skills
to really make a great handle.

- Having a comfortable handle
is imperative.

So I'm just making sure
that everything is precise

as I can make it
in the amount of time I have.

- If I'm going to do
a mono-steel blade,

I'm going to need to do
something pretty special

with the handle,
so I look at this block

that I have here
and I think, man,

this would be a sweet
pop bottle-shaped handle.

I know it'll definitely
be impressive

after I get shined up,
and on top of that,

I feel like it'll just add
a little bit more mass

and curve your hand good
on that longer handle.

- Watching the way
they're working right now,

it's a very interesting seeing

whose got the mindset of,
"I'm here to turn in a knife."

- Yep.
- "And I'm here to impress

the hell out of the judges."

- It's a little bit
of a smaller handle,

but this is really fixing
to be a knife.

Yeah!

- I'm a little disappointed

that I couldn't do
the 100-layer Damascus,

but I've still got
my guard material

that I forged
out of twisted Damascus.

I think this guard
was definitely the right step

to kind of help that blade pop.

But the steel was already hard.

Sometimes
the steel begins to harden

before it's even quenched.

And that's exactly what
happened here in this momen.

So I grab a good, soft, solid
piece of brass that I knw

I can drill through
and form up really quick.

Maybe I just need to impress
those judges

by turning out the best blade

in my signature style
without all the frills.

- 30 minutes remaining,
gentleman.

- So after finishing my edge,
I'm thinking

this isn't enough
to impress the judges,

and I really want to add
some more flair.

So I start putting in
a few saw teeth

onto the back spine of my blade.

I'm thinking is something
that's going to impress

the judges enough
to send me to the final roun.

- Grant's headed for the
acid etch.

- It's low-layer Damascus,
but it's still Damascus.

You got to show it off.

And I get her out,
and I'm getting the first

real look at this pattern,
and I'm absolutely loving it.

It's got those Os going
all the way down the blade.

I'm at the grinder
trying to get her as sharp

as possible with a convex edge.

Just in case I don't get
that pass to the finals,

I want to make sure
that this blade

is going to stand up
to the punishment

that those copper pipes
are going to put on it.

- Considering
my Damascus failed,

I'm really wanting to impress

the judges
with this handle style

that I'm doing with
the contrasting colors

and the alternating materials.

- Oh!

Chris just lost
a chunk of his handle.

- I'm panicking a little bit,

because I've spent all that time

prepping that material
to have it fail on me.

Now I'm in trouble.

I don't think
I'll bypass the testing.

But hey, I came
to have my knife tested.

So I've got to get
this handle together.

I find a bone that's already
been drilled out,

and that bone fits
on that knife perfect.

- Chris has grabbed
a piece of bone.

Is that what you go for?

- No, no, no.
- No.

- No, there's nothing
you can do to shape a bone

without grinding
into the hollow part.

- I give him points
for trying, though.

You know, if he's able to pull
that off that's interesting.

- Is it what I planned? No.

But I am very confident
in the blade

that I'm turning in
to those judges.

- I seen you had
the multi-piece deal going.

Did that not work out?

- No.

- Well, best of luck
to you, partner.

- Five, four, three, two, one.

Bladesmiths,
your five hours is up.

This competition is over.
Good work.

- I am incredibly happy
with the knife that I was able

to produce in five hours.

If my blade goes to testing,

I'm excited to see
what it'll do.

- The smiths are off the floor;
this is uncharted waters.

One of the smiths
is going to be completely

bypassing in the test.

I guess it's time just
to take a closer look.

Let's start with Evan's.
Doug, what do you see?

- So what I see
about this blade.

It's mono-steel,
and it's got two scales

on the side of the blade.

The handle is smooth.

It's nicely executed
in the fit and finish.

But overall,
it's just basic work.

- All right,
let's go on to Chris.

Dave, what do you think?

- There's a lot going on
with Chris' blade.

This is a big, chunky blade
and a big, chunky bone handle.

Relatively comfortable
for a blade this weight,

which is a good thing.

But the spine of the blade
is up here even with the guard,

and the handle is down here
even with the edge.

This should kind of be up there.

But even if this blade
had the right positioning,

it would still be
a very sort of plain blade.

- All right.
Moving on to Brandon's.

What do you think, Ben?

- It's a cool-looking blade.

I can see
the pattern on the blade.

It's got a vaguely ladder-ish

sort of wander to it,
which is really good.

We've got a cool
two-piece handle

and there are
cool teeth on the back.

In total in looking at this,

there are impressive
qualities to this blade.

- All right,
we got one more blade left

and it's Grant's blade.

- So Grant gave us a low-layer
count Damascus. And it's cool.

I mean, I like the pattern
that I see on the side of this.

The bolster is neat.

So the attempt
to impress is there.

- Okay. All right, guys.

So at this point,
is there one that stands out

and impressed you the most?
Ben?

- Absolutely.

- Dave?
- Yep.

- Doug?
- Yeah, man.

- All right, guys,
we'll call them in then.

All right, bladesmiths,
you had five hours,

choice of any steel
you could imagine,

any handle materials to build
any blade with any technique

in an effort
to impress our esteemed judges.

And for the first time ever in
"Forged in Fire" history,

one of you is going to be
bypassing our testing,

going straight into the final
round of competition.

Bladesmiths, the one of you
who is going to be jumping

straight into the final
round is...

Brandon. Congratulations, man.
You impressed the judges,

and Doug
is going to tell you why.

- Well, Brandon, going with
the Damascus pattern

in a two-piece
handle construction,

that impressed us, because
it was clean execution.

But also, the design you have
there with that saw back

and that pick
that you have over there

really piqued our curiosity

that when we looked at this,
we were like,

there's a lot of story going on
in that blade. Good job.

- Thank you.

- Well, Brandon, we will see you

in the final round
of competition.

- Right now, I'm feeling great.

I impressed the judges enough
to send me to the final round,

I'm ready to get
this competition going.

- All right, gentlemen.
Three of you are here

for testing.

And unlike our regular
competitions,

two of you at the end of this
testing will be eliminate;

one of you will be moving on
to compete against Brandon

in the Home Forge Challenge.

So first up, our strength test,

the copper pipe chop.

Evan, you're up first.
You ready?

- Fire in the hole.

Okay.

- I got a blade that's
so thin, who knows?

Anything could happen.

Blades could shatter;
blades can go ahead and bend.

- All right, Evan. I really
like the shape of your blade.

It's just your handle
is small right here.

As far as impressing me,

your blade held up
pretty dang well.

This blade is still sharp.
So good job.

- Thank you.

- All right, Chris. You ready?
- I'm ready.

- Let's have some fun.

- This test is difficult
on an edge of a blade

because copper's
relatively soft,

and that copper
will pinch around that pipe

and just take chips right out.

Whew.

- All right, Chris, well,
this is a weighty beast.

The weight of this thing,
it's a destroyer.

Your blade, you can see,

it's got some big chunks
taken out of it.

It's still solid,
which is great.

Nothing came loose.

But it definitely
took some damage.

- Thank you.

- Grant, you're up. You ready?
- Nuh-uh.

My biggest concern is,
I didn't make it

as sharp as I could've.

I could've dialed it up
just a little bit higher.

So at this point
it's a crapshoot.

Whew.

- All right, Grant.
I can see a low-layer

Damascus pattern on here, and
your blade held up really wel.

Most of what I see on this blade

it's just a painting of copper.

Your blade's still sharp
right down the middle there.

It's all in one piece.
Nicely done.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths,
this is the sharpness test.

The triple-rope slice.

To find out how sharp
your weapons are,

I'm going to try to cut
through these ropes.

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

- Cut them.
- All right, let's do it.

- I know for sure I can get
through those first two.

It's that third one
I'm worried about.

My blade's pretty thin,

and I'm just worried
I won't have enough mass

to really push through
that biggest rope.

It could be the difference
between me going home

and me building
that blade for the finale.

- All right, Evan, let's talk
about your blade here.

First up, it's very light.

And you can hear it
when you're swinging it.

When you're cutting through
the first two pieces of rope,

easy on one cut.

For the thickness of the rope,
it just doesn't have the mass.

It's a sharp blade;
it cut through the rope

but not all the way through.
But overall, sir, it will cut.

- Thank you.

- All right, Chris,
your turn, sir. You ready?

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

- That handle was rolling
in his hands.

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

It is too smooth right here
where my hand marries

the guard, and each swing I had
to hold back a little bit,

because it really felt
like it was about to leave.

But your edge is sharp.

I probably could cut through

all the way
on the third on here,

but it's just a control factor
with your handle here.

But as it is, it will cut.

- Thanks, Doug.

- All right, Grant. Ready?
- Sure?

- Okay.

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

First up,
I like the little design

that you have with the Damascus
pattern you put in there.

It cut cleanly on the first
two pieces of rope.

On the third, so close.

Overall, sir, your edge,
it will cut.

- Thank you, sir.

- All right, bladesmiths,
only one of you guys

can join us in the final round

going against Brandon
in our Impress Us Challenge.

And that unfortunately means
that two of you guys

are going home.

Now, the judges
have talked it through,

and they've made a decision.

Now, Chris, unfortunately
your blade didn't make the cut.

And Dave Baker
is going to tell you why.

- Chris, you gave us
a big chopper,

but it was the only blade

that really took significant
damage in the strength test.

That's why we're letting you go.

- I understand.
- Well, Chris,

we really appreciate
that you tried to go above

and beyond in the first round
of the competition,

but unfortunately your time
in the Impress

Us Challenge has ended.
I'm going to have to ask you

to please step off
The Forge floor.

- Thanks, guys.

So any advice that I can give
to any bladesmith

coming on to "Forged in Fire"
is take your time.

I think that's where I failed

was paying attention
to the small details,

but really focus
on those small things.

- All right, Evan, Grant,
it's down to you guys.

One of you is going to go
and meet Brandon

in the final round back
at your home forges.

The judges have made a decision.

And the bladesmith
that's going to be joining s

in the final round...

Is Grant.
Congratulations, man.

Now, Evan,
we appreciate the work,

but your blade
didn't make the cut,

and Ben's going to tell you why.

- Well, Evan, you pursued
a relatively

simple construction method

and ended up with a knife
that's pretty small.

And that small size
and lightness

really did you no favors
in the rope cut,

and it's for those reasons
we're letting you go.

- Yes, sir. I understand.

- Well, Evan, you presented
a beautiful blade,

but unfortunately
it just didn't make the cut.

I'm going to have to ask you
to please step

off The Forge floor.

- Thank y'all.

I feel like
if I'd have made something

a little bit different,

I maybe could've
performed better,

but I had the time of my life.

- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the final round

of the Impress Us Challenge.

Now, guys, in this final round

we're sending you back
to your home forges

to battle it out building
an iconic weapon from history.

You guys, you ready to find out
what you're building?

- Yep.
- Let's see it.

- All right, bladesmiths,
we want you to build this...

The firangi sword.

- The firangi sword was wielded

by the horsemen of Mogul
Empire of 16th-century India.

This cavalry broadsword features

an extended hilt and pommel

designed for lethal
two-handed slashes

from its sharp,
single-edged blade.

While this weapon
is no longer used in battle,

this formidable sword
was once wielded by royalty

such as Adil Shahi II
of South India.

- All right, guys, when you are
building your swords,

you need to make sure they fall
within these parameters.

You need to have
a single-edged curved blade

that measures between
29 and 31 inches.

Need to have a khandi-style
hilt and a tail pommel.

- I have never made
anything like this.

This is going to be interesting,

it's going to push me,

and I am going to have
a blast figuring this out.

- Well, guys, yet again
we want you to impress us

with the blades
that you bring back.

One of them is going
to be worth $10,000.

So, guys, good luck;
we will see you in four days.

- Good luck.

- I'm back in my home forge
in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Let's see if we can make this
firangi-a-ling-a-ding-don.

We are going to have
a 1075 blade.

It might make this blade

a little bit more reliable
and more robust,

because there's less chance
of any of the welds failing.

I forged in the tip first

followed by forging
in the curve.

It's moving great.

So it's the end day one,

I'm feeling great.

And I am going to make this
the prettiest sword

they've seen on
"Forged in Fire," hopefully.

- I am back in my home forge
in Groton, Connecticut,

and I am super stoked to start
making this firangi blade.

The first thing I'm going
to do is forge the tip in.

All right,
back to the table we go.

I'm definitely nervous
for this challenge,

but I think I'm up for it.

It's definitely way
out of my comfort zone

but will still impress
the judges.

So I have a little twist
in my blade.

It runs roughly the length.

I got to figure
something out here.

I'm hammering it on an anvil,

and I'm even sticking it
in between two boards

and pressing it down
with a lot of weight.

And even still,
it's still warped.

Lovely.

Hopefully, in my dreams tonight

I'll come up with an idea of
straightening this blade out.

- Beginning of day two.

Yesterday, I got
the blade forged to shap.

Didn't heat-treat yet.
I want to save that for today.

This will be interesting.

My forge is a little small.

So I'm using the blowtorch
along with the forge

trying to get it as even
a heat as possible

before quenching.

If the heat is uneven and one
spot's cooler,

that's a spot where you

potentially can get a crazy bow.

Who know what's going to happen?

I'm doing everything that
I can with what I have

in order to make sure that I
get a good, nice, even heat.

Everything's looking
really good.

She is as straight as can be.

So I can't be happier
with the results that we had.

- Day two,
and I'm definitely tired.

I didn't sleep
too much last night

trying to figure out
how I'm going to get the wap

in this blade out.

Yesterday, straightening
the blade didn't work too well.

So today I'm going to
stick it in the vice

while it's still hot
and try to twist the bend out

with a twisting wrench.

Amazing.
It worked.

Thank God.

I thought I was going to have
to throw this thing out

and start fresh, but I think

I'm going to be okay this time.

So the next heat I'm going
to be quenching the blade

and crossing my fingers,
my toes,

just hoping and praying
for the best at this point.

And by God it is straight.

Pshoo!

All right.

- Day four.

Final day, everything's
coming together really well.

This specific type of sword
has a very distinctive hilt.

All right.

So I really want to do this
piece justice and set it off.

Once it's good and tacky,

we're going to put
the gold leaf on.

I've never done it before.

I'm not going to jinx myself
in saying

it sounds pretty easy,
but I think I can handle this.

Thankfully, looking pretty.

There's only
one thing left to do.

And that's to test
this thing out.

So let's see what we can do.

Ah.

The base disc got me.

Just call 911.
It's really bad.

So a change of clothes later
and five stitches,

and we're back at it again.

If I don't get this thing fixed,

these judges are going to see
that spot

on the base of the pommel,
and they're going to recognize

that their wrist is going
to hit it.

That would really
make me feel horrible

if someone else got injured
with something that I made.

That should be good.

I've done everything
that I possibly can

to make sure
that at the end of the day,

these judges are going
to be impressed.

- Day four.
Looks good so far.

I got to fit everything up
a little bit better.

So the first thing I'm doing,
I need to start bending

and shaping my bronze guard.

Oh, yeah, I'm happy with that.

I don't know;
let's go see how it fits.

So now that the dry
fit-up is good,

it's time to start polishing
and sharpening my blade.

I mean,
it looks pretty sharp to me.

So that's it.
It's the end of day four.

I'm happy that I have a blade
to present,

but at this point,
it's up to the judges.

- Grant, Brandon, guys,
welcome back to The Forge;

it's good to have you.

You guys had four days
to work on your firangi swords.

But before we hand the blades
over to the judges,

I want to hear about them.
So, Grant, how'd it go for you?

- Build went great,
2 cups, 1075,

1 cup mild steel,
full stick of cocobolo,

a little bit
of stippling and gold leaf

to set it off, and 5 stitches.

Okay.

- Well, I'm glad
you're in one piece, bud.

Brandon, how about you?

- Went well.
I used 80CrV for the blade.

Everything else is bronze,
and the tail is brass.

I'm pretty happy
with how it came out.

- Gentlemen, your blades
look deadly.

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

which one of you guys
is going home with the win.

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

and up first, the KEAL.
I'm going to give you to Doug.

- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the KEAL test.

To find out just what
kind of lethal damage

your firangi swords
will do today,

I'm going to take your weapons
and deliver some lethal blos

on this goat carcass.

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

- Shoot that goat like
it owes you money.

- All right,
this isn't elections.

- Coming into this finale,
I just need to make sure

that this blade cuts
what the judges are trying to

and not the judges themselves,
like it did for me.

- Good job, dude.

- All right, Grant, let's talk
about your firangi here.

Your edge is sharp,
and you can see the way it cus

right into the carcass
and into the bones,

and it's chopping bones
right there.

This is a very dense goat.
Overall, sir,

your firangi sword,
it will KEAL.

- Thank you, sir.

- All right, Brandon,
your turn, sir. You ready?

No.

- But we're going to
do it anyways.

- Right now, I'm not feeling
too good my blade's

going to hold up to this.

My stomach's in my throat.

I don't know what to do.

- Oh, my God.

- All right, Brandon,
let's talk about your

firangi sword here.

This is a slight
forward-heavy blade,

but it does drive the cutting
edge into this goat carcass.

As you can see,
they're very deep cuts.

And most importantly, sir,
it will KEAL.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths,
welcome to the strength test,

The six-armed
warrior sword fight.

To test the strength
and durability

of your firangi swords

as well as their overall
construction,

we're going to be bashing them
into these swords.

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

- Have at it.

- All right.

- Six different swords
that my sword

is going to get bashed into?
This sucks.

In order to keep me in the
game here, I need to

not break.

- Good job.

- All right, Grant, well,
your blade held up, man.

It's all in one piece.
Nice job.

The edge has gotten nibbled on.

There's a lot of rolls.

I can get a fingernail
underneath it.

Moving back here, your tail
that's on here is now loose.

But all in all,
your blade is all in one piece.

It's still straight. Nice job.

- Thank you.

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

- I guess so.
- All right.

- Whew.

- Nice.

- All right, Brandon, well,
your sword's all in one piece.

Nice job. Your edge has taken
a bunch of deflections.

Not terrible, but they exist.

I can feel them
with my fingernail.

But your edge held up
relatively well. Nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths,
this is the sharpness test,

the fabric tube slice.

Now, unlike the strength test,
this is all about how shap

the edges of your swords are.

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

- Hell yeah.
- All right, let's do it.

All right, Grant, let's talk
about your edges over here.

On your first cut, it did
almost cut all the way through.

It did catch over here
on that sweet spot

where it did take some dulling
and some damage.

On the second cut,
it cut the first two tube,

but it did catch on something

and didn't cut
the rest of the tubes.

But overall, sir, your weapon,
it will cut.

- Thank you.

- All right, Brandon,
your turn, sir. You ready?

- Let's do it.

- Well done, man.

- All right, Brandon, let's
talk about your sword here.

There are edges right here
that are very sharp.

In the first strike,
it cut all the way cleanl.

On the second strike,
in this area where you took

some damage also,
it did cut the first two tubes

but it didn't cut
all the way through.

But overall, sir,
your weapon, it will cut.

- All right, guys, well,
we asked you

to impress our judges,
and your hard work paid off

getting you guys both a spot
in the final round.

But in this competition,
only one of you guys

can go home with the title
of "Forged in Fire" champio.

Our judges have talked it over,
and they made a decision.

The newest
"Forged in Fire" champion is..

Brandon. Congratulations.

Now, Grant, you fought
hard the entire time,

but unfortunately your blade
didn't make the cut.

And Ben Abbott's
going to tell you why.

- Well, Grant, your blade
took more damage

in the strength test.
That together with the fact

that your tail got loose
on the end of your handle,

they all conspired
to make our decision for us.

- Well, Grant, we want to say
thank you for coming out here.

Your blades definitely
impressed us,

and that's what got
you here today.

But unfortunately,
I'm going to have to ask you

to please step off
The Forge floor.

- Thanks, everybody.
I had a great time.

Nice work, man.
- Good job.

- I'm definitely leaving here
a better smith

than when I came in.

Now, I'm going to head home,
kiss my beautiful wife,

hug my beautiful daughters,
enjoy a little family time,

and get back in the shop.

- Brandon, you know
what that means, man?

You are the newest
"Forged in Fire" champion,

and you just got yourself
a check for $10,000.

Congratulations.
How do you feel?

Feel like $10,000 I guess.

This was a long journey
in "Forged in Fire."

But I came out on top,
and I'm so excited right now.

My name is Brandon, and I'm
a "Forged in Fire" champion.

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