Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 40 - Forged in Fire - full transcript

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- Over the past few years,
we've seen 199 groups of smiths

from all over the world
enter this sport

to put their skills to the test

in hope of earning the title
of Forged in Fire champion.

Tonight, we reach
a new milestone,

our 200th competition.
In honor of that achievement,

we are turning things over
to those who got us here,

our fans.

- This episode is their episode.

- Every aspect to this
competition, the weapons,

the challenges, and the tests
have been chosen by you.



Thanks fans.

- Which of tonight's bladesmiths

will come out on top

leaving The Forge with 10 grand

as the champion of our 200th

Forged in Fire competition.

- My name is Tim Jane.

People call me TJ,
and I'm 60 years old.

I started forging
by eight years ago

once I saw "Forged in Fire'" s
first show.

Wife says it kept me
from going insane. Or did it?

- My name's Michael Bizark.

I'm 39 years old and I've been
forging for six years.

I've been a fan
of "Forged in Fire"



since the very beginning.

I've practiced every technique
I've seen on this competition.

And I definitely have
what it takes to be the next

Forged in Fire champion.

- My name's Jimmy Coronado,
38 years old.

I'm a full-time groundskeeper
and a part-time bladesmith.

It feels great to be part
of the 200th episode.

I'm here to have some fun,
make some blades

and hopefully
take home some money.

- My name is Chris Moss.

I'm 34 years old and I
am a full-time knifemaker.

When I started making knives,
people thought I was a freak.

This competition
made knife-making cool.

- Bladesmiths,
welcome to The Forge.

We are all pumped up
because this is the beginning

of the 200th
"Forged in Fire" competition.

We've had hundreds of talented
smiths come through that door

and we have 199 championships
blades mounted on our wals

and inside
the "Forged in Fire" vault.

And one of you guys is going
to be joining that group.

Just like always, they're going
to be three very intense rounds

in this forging competition.
And at the end of each one,

I'm gonna ask you
to present your work

to our panel of expert judges

who'll then critique your
blades and make an elimination.

The judges for this
200th competition are two-time

Forged in Fire champion,
Ben Abbot,

historic weapons
re-creation specialist,

Dave Baker, and edged weapons
specialist, Doug Marcaida.

They're the ones who will decide

which one of you smiths
will be leaving here the 200th

Forged in Fire champion.

That also comes
with a check for $10,000.

Being 200 in, it's a milestone.

But we know that
without the smiths

who come share
their skills with us

and all the fans who tune
in every single week,

we would not be here today.
So to say "thank you,"

we decided to leave this
competition up to those fan.

The weapons, the challenges,

and the tests have all been
handpicked by them.

Let's start this competition off

with what you're
gonna be building.

We gave our fans a choice
between a karambit, a kukri,

and a tomahawk
and the fans have spoken

with an overwhelming
41% of the vote.

Bladesmiths, you guys are going
to be building this.

The kukri.

Yeah.

- Now this isn't any kukri.

This one was
specifically handmade

for our 200th competition
by the very first

Forged in Fire champion,
Matthew Parkinson.

You guys have any questions?

- What are we making it out of?

- That's a good question.
We left it up to the fans.

They had to choose
between you guys

salvaging steel from the back
of a dump truck,

doing 200-layer Damascus
or salvaging your steel

from heavy machinery
and equipment.

With an overwhelming
69% of the vote,

the fans have spoken.

You guys are gonna be building
your blades out of this.

200-layer Damascus.
The fans want you to give us

exactly 200 layers
of alternating steel.

- Getting to 200 layers is
a challenge in and of itself.

It's time consuming.

But after that, I still have
to be able to forge a kukri.

It's a very tricky shape
to get right.

- If you can get exactly
200 layers of Damascus,

you're gonna be rewarded
in the second round.

You definitely have your work
cut out for you.

And typically, I'd let you know
what the testing was gonna be,

but we're going to hold that
in our pocket

until the time comes.

You have three hours
on the clock

for the first round
of our 200th competition.

So good luck.
Your time starts now.

200th competition.

- And a special throwback
to that first episode,

I'm wearing black.

- Oh, God.

- Wow. That's... that's
quite an homage.

- Yeah.

- You've decided to give us
a 200-layer kukri

to make on the 200th episode.
Thanks, fans.

- Welding, to be at 200 layers,
I'd take 10 layers,

weld them together,

draw it out
and then cut it into five.

That should give me 50 layers.

Take that, weld it,
draw it out again.

Cut it into four.

And I should be
at my 200 layers.

- What I love about this one,
guys,

is that our fans
chose everything about it.

- Yeah.
- I have to figure out

how I'm gonna get to 200 layers.

My plan was to forge weld
to 10 layers together

and then stack it
to get 20 layers.

And then I split
my billet in two.

And then I will forge
the first one, two times ove,

which will give me 40 layers.

And I will forge the
second billet four times over

and I have 80 layers.

Then you take that
and double that,

which will be 160 layers.

160 plus 40 is 200.

- Welding.

You can do two billets
and work two billets at a time

and then eventually
work them together.

But you're adding steps.

- 200 layers is a beast.

- Half the smiths
who come in here

started smithing because
they saw these competitions.

- Yep.

- I've got to be able
to make sure

that I don't end up
with 199 layers or 204 layers.

So I've got to lay out the math

and make sure
I'm gonna do it right.

- We started with five pieces
of material each,

that makes 10.

You have to draw it out.

You cut it into five pieces
that makes 50.

You cut that into four pieces,
that's 200.

Hot steel.

- Chris is already on the press

setting his weld
for the first time.

- Cool.

- I am concerned going into
this competition about time.

So I wanna get those welds set.

Then I can go hog-wild
and do what I want

and I'm not gonna
mess up the steel.

My plan is to stack 10,
fold it once to 20,

stretch that out,
fold it once to 40,

stretch that out
and make five pieces.

Stack them up and got your 200.

My plans always sounds simple.

Execution might not be
the same thing.

- This is a pretty big blade,

but do people actually carry
things like this in real life?

- Oh yeah, man.

On a 200th episode.
You need 'em.

- Jimmy, just going ham.

- I think I have
my first weld complete.

So I'm gonna cut it
into the five pieces

in preparing them for the weld.

- They should consider
cleaning it after cutting

and stacking together

because there's going to be
a lot of forge skill on that.

And we've seen that happen
before where they cut it

and they stack it
without cleaning

and the welds don't take.

- I got to start
cleaning them up

because if I have
a delamination at this point,

I'm not sure that I can fix it.

- Jimmy's got a stack of 50.

He's heading to the press
to get it all consolidated.

- It seemed to be

a solid consolidated
billet at this point.

- Two hours left
in your first round.

- This being our 200th episode,

I've done 212 weapons
for this competition.

One of the things we discussed
in the very beginning

was we shouldn't ask smiths

to do anything we haven't
tried to do ourselves.

- The weld's stick.
So I'm gonna cut that in 1/2

and I'll have
to separate billets.

- By using those two billets,

it's gonna add a weld
into the entire process,

which is gonna take him
a good 20 minutes.

- My plan with the first billet

is the stack
it to get 20 layers.

And then do that one more time,
take to get 40 layers.

- Perfect.

- The weld stick. I'm excited.

Now I'm gonna let
that billet cool off

as I work on the second billet.

- I just put my 50 layer
billet in the fire.

My steel is looking good

to draw out the length
on this billet.

- Chris' billet, I mean,
that thing looks dead solid.

- I have 200 layers ready
to be forged into a kukri.

- I have to wait long enough
for it to be peened up

to make sure
that first weld gets set.

- He's been struggling
to push that down

and he's still at 10 layers.

It looks like TJ's gassing
out a little bit already.

- It's hot.

I've seen all the competitions
and I've seen people sweating.

- I'm sweating profusely.
I'm starting to feel shaky.

- It was hot.

- TJ cut his in half

and I think he's gonna go
with just restacking

those two pieces.

- Making it 20.

- He's gotta go the long way.

- All right, bladesmiths,

you guys have one hour
left in your first round.

- Now, I got 200 layers

and I don't have much time
to forge out a kukri.

- Uh-oh.

- I squished too much.

And that messed up my shape on
the bottom part of the kukri.

- That's not looking
like a kukri.

- Oh, snap.

- The only thing I can do
to try not to waste time

is forge it out the best I can,

and then simply grind away
or whatever doesn't look nic.

It's not the prettiest work
I've ever done,

but I think I'm managing
to get it

where it needs to be.

- This is the 200th episode.

I want to be able
to go above and beyond.

I wanna cut in a ladder pattern.

- And 200 layers with a ladder
pattern has a beautiful,

we call it a chatoyance,
but it's like pearl wood.

- Ladder pattern is beautiful.
It's also quick.

- That's a nice-looking shape
over there that Chris has got.

- It's the closest to
the example we've got.

- I have two 40-layer billets.
One is welded perfectly.

So I need to forge well
the second billet.

- Look at Mike
at the press, guys.

- Oh, this thing is
falling apart in front of u.

- Damn it.

No!

- It stuck to the press.

- All right,
this is start over time.

- What the heck. I don't have
enough time to start over.

Just have to improvise,
by 40 layers

in one billet, 20 in another,

I can forge weld them together
and have 60 layers. Is it 200?

No, but I think I can put
together a salvageable blade.

- I think Mike is hoping
to outrun the other guy.

He doesn't care
about the bear anymore.

- I've got my 200 layer
together.

I'm gonna start
drawing this thing out

and start shaping it.
It's getting too hot.

- He's so tired.
He's missing the steel.

- I'm exhausted.
- Oh, okay.

- Hey, keep eyes on him.
He's about to fall.

- Get someone on TJ.

- Hey, you wanna take a minute
or two and step outside.

- I'm feeling
kind of light-headed.

- Guy, this is coming up on the
end of this 200th competition.

TJ is gassing out
so the medic took him off.

He's gonna check his vitals.

Give him a minute to get
his bearings back, cool dow.

- I'm feeling kind of
light-headed.

- Okay.
Your sugar is a little high.

I'm gonna put you
on some oxygen.

I wanna see how you turn around
with the oxygen on

and we'll go from there. Okay?

- He still got a chance
to come back in.

30 minutes remaining, gentlemen.

Chris just quenched.

- Hot, looked like
a great color too.

- I'm not seeing any warps,

but I also need
to see if it's hard.

It's hard. I have plenty
of materials to move,

which I have to get
to right now.

- Here we go. Jimmy's in.

- It looks as straight
as can be,

and I need to take my blade over

to the grinder and clean it up.

- Jimmy has a shape closer
to a sickle than a kukri.

- At this point, I'm okay
with the shape of my blade.

- Looking at Mike's profile.

It doesn't
have the belly of a kukri.

- I lost 25% of my steel,
but I feel

like I have enough material
to complete this challenge.

- Mike just quenched.

- I'm pretty satisfied with the
way it came out of the quench.

The blade's thinner,
it's lighter than anticipate.

It's not always a bad thing.

- My worry is with TJ.

- I recommend you go
to the hospital.

- That's fine.

- Reason being,

if your sugar gets any higher,
you could pass out.

- The medic pulled TJ out
and he just made the call.

He's not going to come back in.
Involuntary withdrawal.

There's no shame.

That guy has worked
his ass off to the point

where he had to be escorted out.

- His health is more important
than any competition.

- Five, four, three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, the first round

of our 200 challenge
is officially over.

- Good job, dude.

- I wasn't able
to get the 200 layers,

but 60 layers in three hours,
it's still not an easy task.

- All right, bladesmiths,

in the first three hours
of this competition,

the fans voted to have you guys
build your kukris

with 200 layers of Damascus.

Now, unfortunately,
the heat got the best of TJ

and he had
to leave the competition.

After being treated
at the hospital,

he has been released

and he has made a full recovery,

but his time in The Forge
has ended,

but our judges need to take
a closer look at your blades.

Mike, you're up first,
please present your work.

- So, Mike,

we saw that you opted
not to do the 200 layers.

You went 60 layers here,
but what I'd really like to see

if you move forward
is a lot of refinement.

Right now, you've got a super
obtuse grind on this thin.

I mean, that's thicker than
an axe head right there.

It's gonna take some grind
to get done.

- Yes, sir.

- All right, Jim, you're up
next, please present your work.

- All right, Jimmy, first of,

congratulations on getting us
200 layers.

Your steel looks solid,

but let's talk
about your design here.

The thing about the kukri,

it's got a belly
that comes to a point

to allow the cut-through
and continue on.

You have an extreme angle
over here.

And with this, it's going to
snag and get in there.

On the second round,
it would be nice to at least

get some kind of design
over here or reprofile this.

- Yes, sir.

- All right, Chris,
please present your work.

- This is
a crazy cool kukri, Chri.

I mean, this is exactly
what we were looking for.

The shape is perfect.

The steel here,
all the welds look great.

The big issue I have
with this is its weight.

It's really, really,
really heavy,

but you nailed it.
Nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths.
Well, congratulations.

All three of you guys
are moving forward

into the second round.
Jimmy, Chris,

you guys were able to do
exactly what the fans askd

and you gave us
200 layers of Damascus.

So the two of you

are getting an extra 30 minutes

for the second round.

- My decision to keep it
60 layers.

I'm happy with that,
but I absolutely wish

I had that extra 30 minutes.

- Now, bladesmiths,
same as in the first round,

we asked the fans
what they wanted you to do,

and they spoke with
50% of the vote.

The fans want you guys
to add three mosaic pins

that show the number 200.

That is one pin with the two
and two pins with a zero.

Now, Jimmy, Chris,
you guys both have two hours

and 30 minutes
for the second round.

Mike, you've only got
two hours. You guys ready?

- Sir.

- All right, gentlemen.
Good luck.

Your time starts now.

Oh, poor Mike.

He gotta sit on his hands
for 30 minutes

watching the other guys
get to run away.

- As soon as the round start,
immediately

I've got to start
on my mosaic pins

because those have to be
ready to go

when I'm ready to do my handle.

I take brass flat stock

and with my pliers
I bend the curve into a two.

Then I have to squish it down
to make sure

that it will fit
inside of the mosaic pin.

- The trick is to get that two
as small as you can

so that you don't have

to have a 1/2
inch hole pin to make it work.

- Then I have to get my epoxy
into the pins so they can set.

- All right, Chris has already
gluing up his pins.

- Doug told me that I needed
to add a little more curve

to the front of my blade

because the angle
was a little bit too steep.

So the first thing I do

is put a little bit
more curve in there.

- All right, Jimmy trying
to get that curvature

you were looking for, Doug.

- Nice.

- And once I got to a place
where I liked, I just decided

I need to move on
and start working on my handle.

- Wow. Jimmy has really fixed
that profile quite a bit.

We're coming really close
to the two-hour mark

where Mike finally gets to get
started in the second round.

- I'm going to have to really
hustle to get this blade

completed in time.

- All right, Mike,
your two hours starts now.

- And there goes Mike.

- First thing I'm gonna do

is try to shape this number two.

I filled the round bar
with epoxy,

which I stained with a blue dye

and I set the number twos
into the round bar.

And no mistakes can happen
at this point.

- I run over to the drill press,

drilling a pilot hole then
I upsize to a quarter inch bit.

The pilot hole is gonna help
a lot with that larger pin.

- Oh, yeah.

- The middle hole.
It was hard as glass.

- Chris is still struggling
with those holes.

- Yeah.
That's the kind of thing

that could
really just trip a person u.

- It starts to scream
a little bit,

then it hangs up
in the hole and I'm stuck.

- At this point I am full
on panic mode.

It's taking too much time.
I have to be able to pivot.

So I already have a 3/16-inch
hole all the way through.

So I'm just gonna go

with a 3/16-inch pin
in that center hole.

At home, I wouldn't be happy,
but it's what it is.

I've got a lot of work
left to do.

There is not much time left.

- Bladesmiths, you have
one hour and 15 minutes left.

So being on both sides
of this competition, Ben,

what's been
your favorite experience?

- The friends that I made
while competing.

Yeah, buddy.

- Wow.

- Oh man, there you go.

- Hold on to it
from the other side.

- It's a crack with comradery.

- I think I'm about ready
to glue,

so I need to get
everything lined up

and one doesn't quite fit
in the middle.

So I need to get a little bit
of material off there.

- Oh, go, Jimmy is grinding

and he lost his pin stock
into the vacuum catcher.

- That's in another dimension.

- Oh, come on, man.

I don't know whether I'm gonna,
waste time making another pin

because the clock is moving
very fast and I'm freaking out.

So try not to waste time.

I decided to just cut
my remaining zero pens in half

and hope that... that's enough

to take care
of the two zero pins.

- I pin the handles on...

What the...?

And I realized the epoxy
that I added blue dye to

- did not set.
- How they gonna work?

I'm an idiot.
I know the problem was

I added too much dye
to the epoxy.

I've got to start over.

- He's gotta restart.

- Oh, my goodness.

- To say frustrated
is an understatement,

but I need
to keep moving forward.

So I went back to the bench

and started bending
some sheet metal again.

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

but I'm gonna do my best.

- So now I have my handle on.
I've got to get to the grinder.

The judges told me that
my blade steel looked good

but it definitely needed
to go on a diet.

So one of the fastest ways
to remove steel

is to put a fuller.
It allows you to remove

a lot of material quickly
and reduce the weight.

- Look at the size

of that fuller
on the side of Chris' kukri.

- Yep.
- Whoo-hoo.

- My fuller is not pretty,

but it is reducing some weight.

I have 30 minutes left.
I've got to dash.

- I have my handle glued up,

clamped up and now it's drying.

So I'd start working
on the edge a little bit.

- All right, Jimmy's working
his edge pretty aggressivel.

- Well, I cut my finger on it.
So it's pretty sharp.

- Bladesmiths,
you have ten minutes.

- So as the clock
is ticking down,

I know I have to put
an edge on this blade.

I've seen 199 episodes.

I know they're gonna abuse the
living heck out of this blad.

I don't know what
they're gonna hit with it,

but they're gonna hit something.

They're gonna try to break it.

I'm designing this blade
to have a convex edge

because it's the strongest edge

a blade you can possibly have.

Hopefully it's gonna be
sharp enough

to pass the cutting test.

- Five, four, three, two, one,
bladesmiths,

turn off your machines.
Put down your tools.

The second round of our 200
competition is now over.

- I am not scared at all.
I wanna see my blade

smashed through
whatever they're gonna do.

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

Once again,
the fans have spoken,

and with 38% of the vote,
they chose the ice block chop.

Surviving this is quite a feat.

Chris, you're up first.
Are you ready for this?

- As ready as I'm gonna be.

I'm freaking out.

I have seen so many blades

get damaged
or broken on ice block chop.

It's brutal.

- I have no idea
what's gonna happen.

Dear God.

- All right, Chris, it's still
razor sharp all the way along.

The ice didn't affect
your blade in any way.

It was a lot of fun to swing,
but still on the heavier side.

Nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, Jimmy,
are you ready for this?

- I was,
but give it hell anyway.

- All right.

- I'm worried that because
of the extreme angle

I have in my blade,
it might just snap right off.

I really hope that holds up.

- All right, Jimmy,
you survived.

You got to still have
a sharp edge

and you're still straight.

The thing that gets me
about this kukri

is the proportions.
It's just difficult to control.

That being said, it held up well

and so nice job.
- Thank you.

- All right, Mike,
you ready for this?

- Let's smash some ice.

- Let's do it

- Ice is not forgiving.

My fear is my blade is too thin
and it's gonna break.

- All right, Mike,
you're all in one piece.

Nice job, but your edge here
has some spots

where the weld has let go.

A chip came off over here,
so it did take some damage,

but in general, held up from
the strength test. Nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths,

welcome to our 200th
competition sharpness test.

The fans have spoken and
they've chosen the rope slice.

By the way,
the fans have requested

that we turn the heat up.

Chris, you ready for this?

- Uh... Yeah.

- That's an intense test.

If my knife doesn't cut,
I'm going home.

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

This is a sharp edge, sir.

No issues in cutting through
the rope and overall, sir,

your 200-layer kukri,
it will cut.

- Awesome.

- All right, Jimmy,
your turn, so are you ready?

- Yes, sir. Let's do this.

- All right, Jimmy, let's talk
about your kukri here.

Your edge took two slices
to cut all the way through.

Overall, sir, your kukri,
it will cut.

- Thank you, sir.

- All right, Mike, your turn.
So are you ready?

- Yes.
Doug, let's cut some rope.

- All right Mike, let's talk
about your kukri here.

The edge you have here
is obtuse.

Now, while it cut a little,

it didn't cut
all the way through.

So overall sir, your kukri,
it will cut, a little.

- Thank you.

- Well guys, through and
through in this competition,

the fans have not failed us.

They gave you
a very difficult competition.

But the time has come for us
to find out which two of you

are gonna be joining us
in the third and final round.

The judges have made a decision
and the bladesmith

who's gonna be
leaving The Forge is...

Mike.

Unfortunately, your kukri
didn't make the cut

and Ben Abbott can tell you why.

- Well, Mike, you put a pretty
obtuse grind on your blad,

which didn't do really well
on the sharp test,

and it didn't really
hold up well

in the strength test either.

It's for those reasons
we're gonna let you go.

- Well, Mike, you fought hard
but unfortunately at this time,

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please exit The Forge.

- Thank you.

I'm going home,
but I'm okay with that.

I've watched 199 episodes.
I thought I was fully prepared

but there's no way
to prepare for this challenge.

I did my best and I'm gonna
continue making blades.

- Jimmy, Chris,
congratulations guys,

you made it through the first
two rounds of our 200th

"Forged in Fire" competition.
Now, in this final round,

we're sending you both back
to your home forges

to build an iconic weapon from
the "Forged in Fire" vaul.

Just like the rest
of this competition,

we asked the fans,
what they wanted you to build.

Now, they had the choice
between the spadroon,

the Darb Sri Gun Chai,
and the hunga munga.

Well, gentlemen,
with 45% of the vote,

the fans have spoken.

The two of you guys are going
back to your home forges

to build...

the Darb Sri Gun Chai.

- Featured in season
seven of "Forged in Fire,"

the Darb Sri Gun Chai
is a double-handed sword

originally from
18th century Thailand.

This five-foot-long,
single-edged blade,

was designed to destroy enemies

with deadly blows and slashe.

The signature flames
and valleys of the spine

prove the difficult challenge
for previous competitors.

However, one smith's decision
to put slippery rabbit fur

on the handle grip ultimately
cost him the competition.

- It is a massive blade,

but it needs to fall
between these parameters.

Your blade length needs to be
between 29 and 31 inches.

Needs to be single-edged.
And on the spine of your blade,

you need to have at least
two flames and a valley.

That big old handle needs to be
between 26 and 28 inches.

- Thank you, fans.
That's the one I wanted.

That looks
like a fun weapon to make

but it's also a massive feat
to undertake in four days.

- Bladesmiths, good luck.
We will see you in four days.

- Good luck, man.

- Good luck.
- You got it.

- We are back in my home fore
in Asheboro, North Carolina,

getting ready to start
the 200th challenge

with the Darb Sri Gun Chai.

I'm ready to rock.

In keeping with
the 200th episode,

I wanna put 200 layers
of Damascus in my blade.

I wanna go above and beyond.

I think it's something
that I can manage.

I forge them to the same size,
clean up the edges,

file them together
and now I have 200 layers.

At the end of today,
I have good Damascus.

I'm ready for tomorrow.

- It's day one, feel good.

I mean, can't get mad
while forging, right?

So today I'm working on
four separate Damascus billets,

one for the guard,
and three to form the sword.

Once that gets screaming hot,

I can start taking it over
to the hammer.

I have my billets all welded up.

Bet I can get a nice twist
going in each of my billets.

And now I'm going to take
the billets

and weld them together

and forge my blade out of that.

I managed to get my billet
welded up. I feel all right.

- Morning of day two,
I got a lot to get done.

Forging is done.
Get this started.

The quenching
is always nerve wracking.

You could ruin everything
that you have.

- It definitely sabered,

which meant
it curves off to the side.

- I caught a warp.
That really sucks.

- You could literally snap
your blade in half.

- And then I'm there
holding two blades.

Damn it. This sucks.

- All right,
here goes something.

Definitely a little bit
of a nail biter.

Now we're good.
That is a huge relief.

Looks good.

- Day three, yesterday I got
a good heat treat.

So today my biggest concern
is the handle.

So I'm attempting
a canister pommel,

and I forged out the numbers
2, 0, 0,

and I put them
inside the canister,

hoping that when I forge
it all out,

I should get a nice 200 visible
there inside the pommel.

2, 0, 0.

Kind of a two.
I have everything together.

I can't believe
I'm at this point alread.

Now I just have to see

what my finished blade
looks like tomorrow.

- Day four.

We're on the home stretch
for the Darb Sri Gun Chai.

There we go. Gotta get
this thing put together.

There it fits on.

All of my components
for the handle are done

and ready to be assembled.

Now I get to the point
that I've been dreading.

I've got to put these flames in.

Should've used
a finer marker for this.

Let's make it flaming.

A single slip of the grinder
and I could fail parameters.

We should be good.

Man, I'm so glad to be done
with these flames.

This weapon is massive.

It's fitting
for the 200th episode.

I'm ready to see what it can do.

- Going into day four,
I'm tired.

Well, while grinding,
I found a very slight warp.

It could be grounds

for elimination
out of the competition.

So I'm going to attempt
to straighten this warp

using the three-pen jig
in my vice.

When you're putting
that kind of strain

on a heat-treated blade,

there's always the possibility
of snapping.

If something goes wrong here,
I don't know what I'll do.

End result,
blade came out straight,

and it worked like a charm.

I did it. It's done.

And I cannot wait to see
this thing be destroyed

or destroy something.

- Well, Jimmy, Chris,
welcome back to The Forge.

These are some beautiful blades,

but before we do some damage,
I wanna hear about them.

So Jimmy, how'd it go for you?

- It went well.

I made my blade
out of multi-bar Damascus.

I use cat's claw, Manzanita
and bloodwood in my handle.

- Pretty impressive, man.
Chris, how did it go for you?

- It went pretty well.

I made the blade out
of 200 layers of 15 and 20,

1084, 1075,

and W2, solid brass fittings
and a leather wrap.

- Guys, these Darb Sri Gun Chai
are immaculate,

but there's only one way
we know how to find out

which one of you guys
is taking home the 200th title

and that check for 10 grand.
We've got a sharpness test.

We've got a strength tests
and up first, KEAL. Doug?

- Bladesmiths, welcome to our
200th KEAL test.

In honor of our
200th competition,

we're bringing back two of
our favorite ballistic dummies.

The lovely Medusa
and her snake headband,

and our bluer than blue dummy
of the north.

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

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

- Going into the testing,
I'm a little bit concerned.

They're big dummies
and they got all sorts of boe

and stuff inside them

and it could just
come flying apart.

- All right, Jimmy.
Let's talk about

your Darb Sri Gun Chai here.

First up,
the handle construction.

You have it ovoid enough
to where when I wrap

my hand around it,
it's a good grip.

It's a very light weapon.

Now your blade had
a little bit of a warp,

but it is sharp and overall,
sir, it will KEAL.

- Thank you, sir.

- All right, Chris,
it's your turn,

so are you ready?

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

- Honestly. I'm worried that
when Doug hits the head

that my blade
is just gonna break in half.

- All right, Chris,

first up, it cuts deep,

because it's a wieldable weapon.

The edge is very sharp,
no marks whatsoever.

And overall, sir,
your weapon, it will KEAL.

- Thank you, sir.

- All right, gentlemen,
200th competition.

That's almost 400 Smiths
that have had their blades

go through our strength tests.
Today we're gonna turn it up

with a fan favorite,
the skull chopper,

but not just one skull,
six skulls.

Jimmy, you're up first,
you ready?

- Have fun, Dave.
- Okay.

- All right, Jimmy. Your blade
took some small roles here,

but the blade is in the same
shape it started out with.

Good job.
- Thank you, sir.

- All right, Chris, you're up.
Ready?

- Give it all she got.

- There're six enormous
animal skulls

waiting to completely
demolish my blade.

It's got me really worried.

- All right, Chris,
blade held up,

still in one piece,
still solid. Well done.

- Thank you.

- Bladesmiths, welcome
to the sharpness test.

The multiple targets slice.

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

- Yes, sir.
- All right.

All right, Jimmy,
there is one dull spot here,

which I think might've got
caught up on the second

to last of the ballistics tubes.

But all of the rest of the cuts
were super sharp. So nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, Chris.
You're up next. You ready?

- Give it all she got
- All right.

All right, Chris.
Well, as you can see,

great cuts
on all of the media up ther.

In all, this thing is
one hell of a cutter. Nice job.

- Thank you.

- Guys, this has been exciting.

Our fans have put you through
a very difficult challeng,

but you guys came with your
A games ready

and gave us beautiful blades.

But the time has come to decide
which one of you

is taking home the 200th Forged
in Fire champion title

and that check for $10,000.

The winner
of the 200 "Forged in Fire"

competition is...

Chris, congratulations.

Now, Jimmy, you rocked it
the entire way,

but unfortunately your blade
didn't make the cut

and Dave Baker
is gonna tell you why.

- Jimmy, you brought us
a beautiful blade,

but like when we have
a competition this close,

we have to look
at the smallest things,

the warp on the tip
of your blade

and then the damage you took
in the strength test

actually affects
the cut and the sharpness test.

That's why we're letting you go.

- I understand.

- Well, Jimmy, unfortunately,
your time in this competition

has ended.
I'm gonna have to ask you

to please step off
The Forge floor.

- Thanks, man.
Respect.

I'm disappointed, but I gave it
all I could and Chris's blade

just performed
a little bit better.

Coming here
for the 200th competition

has been a great honor.
The fans had no mercy on us

and I... I think
they're a little nuts.

- Chris, congratulations.

You are the 200th
Forged in Fire champion.

You've got yourself a check
for $10,000. Congratulations.

- Thank you. Thank you.

All of these obstacles that
the fans have put in our way

and they consistently picked
something that would be awesome

and really hard.
It's what I would want to see.

I just won the 200th competition

of "Forged in Fire."