Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 41 - Beat the Unbeaten: Round One - full transcript

- Here in The Forge,

we have put hundreds of smiths
to the test.

But one fierce competitor
has proven himself

time and time again.

- Ben Abbott.

- Through two "Forged in Fire"
competitions

and two tough challenges
on "Beat the Judges,"

Ben Abbott remains undefeated
in this Forge.

Soon, all that could change.

Tonight, we've gathered
three talented bladesmiths

to go head-to-head-to-head



to beat the unbeaten.

- Ben, I'm coming
for you, buddy.

- I hope all your tools
are that quality.

- Do they have what it takes
to finally beat Ben Abbott?

The competition starts now.

- My name is Andrew Swanger.

I'm 34 years old
from Draper, Utah.

I've been bladesmithing
about three years.

For a living,
I am a police officer,

also a SWAT team
sniper team leader.

I'm going to beat Ben because

I'm used to thriving
in high-pressure situations.

- I'm Jesse Hatcher.

I'm 36, from San Marcos, Texas.



A part-time bladesmith,

part-time light and sound
engineer.

Just facing Ben is
an exciting experience.

Beating him would just be
out of this world.

I'm coming for you, Ben.

- I'm Brandon Franklin,

35 years old
from Jonesborough, Tennessee,

and I'm a full-time bladesmith.

The competition doesn't
really bother me at all.

I've been a competitive
shooter for ten years now.

So I've competed against the
best in the shooting world,

so this should be
a walk in the park against Ben.

- Well, bladesmiths,
welcome to The Forge.

You guys signed yourself up
for a competition

unlike anything we've ever done
in this Forge before.

In this competition,
there are not three round.

And it's not gonna be
a single elimination.

The three of you are going
head-to-head-to-head

in five straight hours

of intense
bladesmithing competition.

Your blades will need to be
quenched, hardened, tempered,

and have a fully functioning
handle attached

and ready for testing.

At the end of the five hours,

you're gonna turn your blades
over to our judges,

and they're gonna test them.

After testing, there will be
a double elimination

because only one of you
is gonna stay in the fight

for the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion

and a check for $10,000.

But in order for you
to get that cash prize

and the title, you're gonna
have to beat the unbeaten.

And, of course,
I'm talking about none other

than Ben Abbott himself.

- Bladesmiths, I've been
training hard for this.

I hope you have too.

I hope you guys
brought your A-game

'cause I'm coming for you.

And good luck.

- Now, guys,
in the spirit of fairness,

Ben Abbott is only
gonna be spectating

and watching you guys work,
trying to get an idea

of what he's going up against.

Let's get into it.

This is a challenge
we're calling The Rust Bucket.

Bladesmiths,
what we have right here

is a pile of nasty,
rusty high-carbon steel.

Your task is to source your
materials from this rusty steel

and turn it into a signature
blade in your signature style.

- Oh, cool. I guess
I'm gonna make a knife

out of a pile of trash,

in five hours nonetheless.

Whew!

Bring it on.

- At the end
of the five-hour round,

your blades need to measure
between 13 and 15 inches.

You're gonna turn them
over to our judges,

and they're gonna check
for strength and durability

in a rust bucket chop,

and then check
your edge retention

in a leather apron slice.

Bladesmiths, you guys have
five hours on the clock.

Good luck.
That time starts now.

- This is a first.

Three bladesmiths
vying for the chance

to go up against Ben.

How exciting.

- I've never gotten
to see you forge.

- Ah, well, you're in
for a treat, my friend.

- I've worked
with salvaged stuff before,

but this is an extremely
rusty pile of scrap metal.

- That steel
has seen better days.

Yeah.

- So, they're all
uneven, rusty pieces,

so my guess would be
canister Damascus.

- Yeah, I'd definitely
throw it in a can.

- Don't want to do anything
I haven't done before,

so I don't want
to do a canister.

I want to do a layered Damascus.

I'm looking for metal
that's roughly the same size,

relatively flat,

something that
I don't have to rework

in order to make it
into a billet.

So I get all the rust off
with the grinder

and then gave 'em
a nice, little acetone bath

just to be sure
they're nice and clean

so the forge welds stick.

- What can happen if
they didn't spend enough tie

cleaning it up
and preparing the metal?

- Delams, cold shuts.

It's not gonna want
to weld together.

- I'm just trying
to find similar pieces

that I could at least cut
and stack on there

as my first thing
and get enough mass.

- How important is it
that they match up?

- What ends up happening,
if you have a bunch of layers

that are different lengths,

they'll get cold shuts as
they smash down and wrap over.

- I immediately grind
all of this rust and dirt

off of these pieces

so I can stack them up
and weld them,

and then immediately throw it
into the forge.

- Gathering enough of this,

it's really hard to judge
how much I need.

- But you're gonna need
a lot of material for this.

I mean, what I see alone
is not enough material

to make a 14-inch blade.

- So I decide that

the only way
I'm gonna get enough stel

for the size knife
and style knife that I want

is to make two billets.

- Jesse's welding up
two billets.

I'm guessing because

he couldn't find material
that all matched.

- That's gonna add two steps,
at least,

to your construction.

Now that's a good color.

- I do a quick little kiss
on the press

just to set my welds.

I don't want to get anything
too aggressive right now

'cause I could
pop my welds loose.

Whoo! It's hot.

My welds look good
at this point.

I had a lot of relief
come over me,

knowing that I had
a nice, solid billet,

and now it was just do what
I've done over and over again,

and that's forge a blade.

- Guys, Andrew's going into the
press, getting his welds set.

- I'm trying
to take it real slow

so I don't force anything

because these forge welds
will just pop.

They won't set right

and we have to start over then.

Come on, baby.

The forge welds are holding.

I could not be more happy.

Ooh.

- Bladesmiths,
you're one hour down.

You have four hours left
in your competition.

- I get that first billet done.

And hopefully, I can draw out
the second billet

the same length as the first
one and stack 'em together.

- Oh, look at Jesse.

Setting that weld
very tentatively.

Those welds just aren't taking.

- Ooh.

It looks like
it's starting to splay open.

- Yeah, so I ditched
the second piece.

- Oh, man.
That's not a lot of steel, man.

- I'm hoping that I got enough
steel for this sized knife.

- So, the design that I choose
is recurve style

with kind of a sharp point
'cause we're doing a chop

and we're gonna be
doing a slice.

- Brandon is very meticulously
tapping at it,

making sure he's using
every single ounce.

- I actually forge my blades
to finish

using the brute de forge method.

It allows you to create a blade

where it is completely forged
to its final profile.

And that lends itself very well

to this competition.

- Is this gonna save him time
down the road?

- But there physically
isn't a lot of material

that he could grind on,

so he can't spend
a lot of time grinding.

- I think Ben will be surprised

once I'm up against him

and that he's really got
to bring his A-game.

- My steel's moving well

and getting into the shape
that I need.

Kind of just a long drop point,
camp hunter-style knife.

I want it fast, I want it quick,

but I also want it durable.

I'm still unsure about the
amount of steel that I have.

I know that my steel
is pretty thin,

so I decided that I can do
a hidden tang knife.

- Jesse's definitely got
something that looks like

it's gonna be a through
or a hidden tang going on,

but it's a very thin
and long blade.

- I'm comfortable
with the hidden tang,

but it takes me longer.

I spend a lot more time
fitting up that guard,

but I have to make parameters.

- I want to start
shaping the blade.

I'm gonna make a kukri,

or something top-heavy,
good for chopping,

but will still cut
through leather pretty easy.

So I take hammer and billet
to the anvil.

My favorite hammer.

- Oh, no!
Andrew broke his lucky hammer.

- It's freaking snapped
my handle right in half.

Awesome.

- Aw, poor Andrew.
- That's terrible.

- I am gonna miss that hammer,

but, you know, that shows
exactly how much effort

I'm putting into this, Ben.

Ben, I'm coming for you, buddy.

- I hope all your tools
are that quality.

- All right, bladesmiths.
You have three hours left.

- I feel like
it's a little bit lean.

And I'm worried about that,
but I've met parameters

and it's looking like
a pretty good knife.

So, I'm ready for the quench.

- Jesse has quenched,
and that was hot!

- I've got a nice,
hardened blade here

and I feel like
I'm in a good position.

- Now it's time for the quench.

- There we go.

Brandon to the oil.
- All right.

- It is insanely warped.

- Oh...

- Which is devastating.

If I can't prove myself here,

I won't be able
to prove myself against Ben.

- Brandon's back in the fire.

It looks like
he's gonna do another quench.

- Doing that second quench,
my biggest concern is

I could break the blade
at this point.

- Two quenches for Brandon.

Hopefully,
he likes it this time.

- It works.

So, I've got
a much straighter blade.

It's not perfect, but I think
I can move forward with i.

- Whew!

- Finally, Andrew looks like

he's getting ready
to quench his blade.

- Nice.
- So, here we go.

One more huge step

that could potentially
blow this knife all apart.

The quench.

Ah, I'm so nervous,
at this point.

- Andrew just quenched.

- Oh, my God.
The file skates.

There's no cracks,
there's no huge warp.

Something's gotta be off.

This is all going way too well.

- All right, bladesmiths.
You have two hours left.

You're on the homestretch.

Brandon is getting
his handle fit up.

- It's really important that
I nail my handle on this

because two people
are gonna be eliminated.

And I've got to make sure
that I don't get sent home

because my handle's
not comfortable

or it doesn't fit
the judges' hands properly.

- You know,
at this kind of competition,

you can't be just the top two.

You got to be the number one.

- So I get to the point
where it feels great,

but I keep looking at the clock
and making sure

that I've got enough time to
hopefully put my edge on there.

- So because
I did make the decision

to switch to a hidden tang,

I know that I have to be
a lot more meticulous

with this brass guard
and the fit of the wood.

It can't shake around
and come apart.

I put the blade in it.

Ah.

It's just too wide.

- Guys, Jesse is
drilling new holes

in that block of brass
he's using for his guard.

I think he's restarting.

- I'm kind of panicking,
but I want to stay calm.

I don't want to screw up
the second hole

and then have to do it
a third time.

Hey!

I'm able to get
a nice fit on it,

and I'm feeling good again.

- I got the face
of the blade cleaned up.

So far,
it's feeling pretty good.

I got a warp
right where the handle

meets the spine of the blade.

That's not good.

- Is he making a three-point
straightening jig?

You're running a pretty big
risk of snapping that blade.

- I don't have time to do this,

but I have
to make time to do it.

It's so bad, it's gonna affect
the way the blade cuts.

I just need to put it in
the vise and straighten it out

and pray that it doesn't break
when I do it.

- Panic time is coming.

- I'm freaking out
at this point.

Whew!
- Well, there you go.

- Warp's out.

I am ecstatic.

I've got about 45 minutes now.

I got a lot of work to do
and very little time to do it

at this point.

- I'm looking at my blade.

I've got it ground
to where I want it.

And then, I start
putting my edge on there.

One of the things that
makes me and sets me apart

is I'm not afraid
to go too thin on a blade.

- It's coming down to the wire,

and it's gonna be
a pretty close competition.

- A lot of this might
come down to edge,

you know, on these blades.
- Yeah.

- I'm pretty confident that
I'll be the one moving forward

and I'll be competing
against Ben.

- So I'm at the grinder
shaving that handle.

It feels comfortable.

So I go back to my cutting edge

and trying to get this thing
a razor at this point.

It's got to be sharp enough
to cut through leather.

- Ben, it's been nice
to have you here,

but you're not allowed
to come to the testing.

- No.
- Your time's up.

- All right.
You guys have fun.

- I'll see you
at the reveal, brother.

- So long, Ben.
Auf Wiedersehen.

Goodbye.
Arrivederci.

- I'm pretty happy
with the cutting edge.

I'm still a little worried
about the height,

but at this point,

it kind of is what it is,
but it's feeling good.

- All right, guys.

You only have ten minutes
until your testing.

- I feel like
I'm running out of time,

and I still don't have
a handle glued to my knife,

I still don't have
an edge on it.

I gotta get this done so I can
go beat Ben in the final round.

- That handle just isn't to
the scale for a blade that big.

It's a little bit
on the smaller side.

- I grinded in some
finger welds into the handl.

A lot of fingers are
a little bit long,

but we'll let the epoxy dry
while I work on the edge.

- Five, four,

three, two, one.

Bladesmiths,
turn off your machines,

put down your tools.

This round is over.

- Yeah, buddy.

So I'm looking at my knife,
and I'm excited.

I'm feeling great about it.

Don't worry, Ben.
I'll take it easy on you.

- All right, gentlemen.

I think you know
what time it is.

It's time for the strength test.

Test the overall construction
of your blade.

- I'm gonna take them
and smash them

into our rusty buckets here.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?
- So fun.

- All right, Andrew.
You're up first.

You ready?
- Give it hell.

Man, it looks tough.

You're literally chopping
into a piece of metal.

That's essentially
the same thing

that my knife is made out of.

So, hopefully,
I've made the knife stronger

than this bucket is
at this point.

God.

- Glad you're wearing
your brown pants?

- Oh, yeah.
That was a good choice.

- All right, so Andrew,
I'm gonna start back here.

Your finger welds
makes this blade

a little bit hard to control.

It's not uncomfortable.

It's just hard to figure out
what the best grip is.

- Okay.

- On your edge,
it's still a sharp edge.

All in all,
your blade held up well.

The grinds look great.
It's a really nice shape.

I think it did very well.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- All right, Jesse.
You ready for this?

- Oh, yeah.
- You sure?

- After seeing that go down,
I'm just feeling crazy.

Going into my test,

I don't know what to expect.

There's always that chance
that it might break.

- It stayed together.
- It stayed together.

- All right, Jessie.

Again, I'm gonna start
back here on the handle.

How big are your hands?

That's almost
2 inches of material

that doesn't need to be there.

The saving grace is this
contouring you put in here.

My fingers set in there
pretty good.

The construction's nice-looking.

You've got some spots
of glinting,

but no major deflection
on the edge, which is great.

Well, it held up well.
Good job.

- Thank you, David.

- Brandon, you're up.
You ready?

- Break it, you buy it.

- No.

- I did go with a finer edge

just so it would perform well

in the sharpness test,

so I'm hoping
that my blade stays sharp.

Yeah.

- All right, Brandon, I really
like the way this looks.

You have a very acute edge
on this,

but you nailed your heat treat.

There's no damage.

I'm going to name this knife
Bucket Splitter.

Excellent job.
Well done.

- Thanks.

- Nice job.
- Yeah.

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

The leather apron slice.

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

- Slice it up.
- All right, let's do this.

- This is no ordinary
leather apron.

I don't even know
what kind of animal

this leather comes off of.

A Tyrannosaurus rex
or something.

The thickest leather
I've ever seen in my life.

Feeling really nervous now.

Heart's pounding.
Sweating.

The anticipation is killing me.

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

Your tip does puncture.

The edge here is sharp,

but you also have
an obtuse grind.

And it does cut, but it also
likes to hang up in there.

But overall, your kukri,
it will cut.

- Thank you.

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

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

All right, Jessie.

Let's talk
about your weapon here.

During the test,
it's lost a lot of its edges.

I can really
play around with this

and move my finger around that,
and it's not cutting that.

But it still did cut the apron.

So overall, it will cut.
- Thank you, Doug.

- All right, Brandon.
Are you ready?

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

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

Your edge is razor sharp.

Puncturing and cutting,
it was smooth like butter.

Now, on the corner
of this apron,

when I slashed through it,
I can't really say

why it didn't cut;
I was expecting it to.

It could be the weight,
but it is a sharp edge.

I wouldn't run my hand
through it.

It feels good in the hand,
and it will cut.

- Thank you.

- Tight race, guys.

Well, bladesmiths, before
we get into eliminations,

I want to say, it's been
an absolute pleasure

watching you guys
in a five-hour competitio,

taking rusty steel
and turning them

into beautiful
and functional blades.

You're all very talented smiths

and you all have what it takes
to be here.

But I'm unfortunately gonna
be sending two of you home.

The judges have
talked it through,

and the first smith who's gonna
be leaving The Forge is...

Jessie, unfortunately
your blade didn't make the cut.

And Doug's gonna tell you why.

- Jessie, that was
a nice-looking blade,

but the choice of grind
and edge that you put in there

took some damage
in the strength test

and just underperformed
in the sharpness test.

For those reasons,
we're sending you home.

- Understood.
- Well, Jesse,

you're a fierce competitor
and you have what it takes

to fight in this Forge,
but unfortunately,

your time in this competition
has ended

and I have to ask you to please
step off the Forge floor.

- Thank you, guys.
That was a blast.

This was an incredibly
tough challenge

because that time crunch
is real.

Didn't get what I wanted
to get done,

but I'm proud
of what I did today,

and it didn't break.

- All right, guys, now
it is down to the two of you,

one of which is
gonna be going forward

in this competition,
head-to-head with Ben Abbott,

trying to beat the unbeaten.

The judges have made
their final decision.

The man who's gonna be
going against

our very own Ben Abbott,
the undefeated...

Brandon.
Congratulations.

Now, Andrew, you're talented,

but unfortunately,
your blade didn't make the cut.

And Dave's gonna tell you why.

- Andrew, I think you forged
a beautiful kukri there,

but your choice of edge
geometry and that handle shape

kinda hurt you
in that sharpness test.

That's why we're letting you go.

- I understand.
- Andrew, again,

thank you for coming out,
thank you for fighting.

It was a pleasure watching
you work, but unfortunately,

your time in this competition
has ended.

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please step off

the Forge floor.
- Congratulations, brother.

Well deserved.
- Thanks, man.

- It sucks losing,

but I'm happy
with my performance.

I'm proud of the weapon
I turned in.

I'm gonna put a new handle on
my hammer and get back to work.

- Brandon, congratulations, man.

You are moving forward into the
final round of this competition

where you're gonna choose what
blade you're gonna be building

as well as what technique
you're gonna be using

to build that blade.

You're going head-to-head
against Ben Abbott.

He's undefeated,
4:0 right now.

How are you feeling?
- I feel great.

- Yeah? You ready?
- Yeah. Oh, yeah.

- All right, bud.
Well, this is the last time

you're gonna see
these two judges

because they are going into the
final testing completely blind.

So if there's anything
you want to say to 'em,

say it now.

- Be gentle.
- "Be gentle."

They don't know
what that word means.

- Going up against Ben,

he's clearly proven himself
time and time again.

But he's never gone against me.

I'm gonna give him
a run for his money.

- Well, Brandon, man,
congratulations.

You just came off a huge win

against two
formidable opponents,

which means you're still
in contention for the title

of "Forged in Fire" champion
and that check for $10,000.

But in order
to take home the win,

you've got a lot of work
ahead of you

because you're gonna have to go
against an undefeated opponent

who has a lot of experience
in this Forge.

And that guy is Ben Abbott.

- I've been preparing
for this competition,

but Brandon seems to be
a very talented smith.

When I was watching the first
part of this competition,

I was impressed by his efforts.

Congratulations.
- Thank you.

This is weird.

- But, guys, I gotta tell you,

I am extremely excited
for this competition.

And if you guys
probably noticed,

the table is empty.

Dave and Doug,
for fairness' sake,

are gonna be out of The Forge

for this entire forging process.

They're only gonna enter
when it comes time to test.

And they will be doing so
completely blind.

You guys will have eight hours
to build a blade

from start to finish.

Brandon, you had
the opportunity to choose

what blade and what technique
you're both gonna use,

so you got a little bit
of an upper hand here.

But Ben, you ready to find out
what you're building?

- Yeah, let's do it.

- The weapon that Brandon chose

from the "Forged in Fire" vault
is...

the messer.

- The messer
traces its origins back

to 15th century Germany.

While these swords
range in size,

they are distinguished by the
intricate hilts and guards.

Back in season six
of "Forged in Fire,"

two smiths were tasked
to recreate

a massive version
of this weapon,

where the competition
ultimately went

to the lighter,
better balanced blade.

- Now guys, this is
a pretty intricate blade,

but make sure you fall
within these parameters.

Your messer's blade needs to
be between 22 and 24 inches.

The base width of that blade

cannot be any less
than 2 inches.

You need to have
a disconnected knuckle bow,

a rear-facing quillian,
a small side guard,

and finish it all off
with a pommel.

Brandon, not only
did you choose the weapon,

but you got the opportunity to
choose the technique as wel.

Ben, you're gonna be
building your blade using thi.

Layered Damascus.

- I picked layered Damascus,
not picking a specific coun,

hoping Ben would get caught up

trying to do a lot
of intricate patterns

because the hard part
about this particular sword

is the handle.

So I'm hoping
that is a trip-up for Ben.

- When the eight hours
is complete

and your blades are finished,

the judges are gonna come back
and put your blades

through some dynamic
multi-target tests.

Doug's gonna start it off with
a KEAL test on a pig carcass

and a vine slice for sharpness.

And Dave's gonna step in,

do a strength
and durability check

on an armor and shield chop,

and then check
your edge retention

in a medieval painting slice.

I'm excited to see
how this all turns out.

So, good luck, bladesmiths.

You have eight hours
to complete your messer swords.

And that time starts now.

- The moment the clock started,

both these smiths
sprinted to their steel,

grabbed it,
and started the process.

You know they've already
both got a plan

and they're running with it.

- Going up against Ben,
being 4:0,

I really hope
that I'm the one to beat him.

- Hey, Brandon, talk me
through what you got.

How many layers
did you start with?

That's a great question.

- I think I've got
18 layers right now.

- So you've got 18 layers.

Do you have any concerns
as of right now?

- I'm going up against Ben,

so I've got to really bring
my A-game.

- All right, well, you've got
7 hours and 40 minutes

to complete it.

Go ahead.
- Thanks.

- Ben is literally
sprinting around The Forge.

He's going far faster

than any smith I've ever seen
on this Forge floor.

- One thing I've learned
in this competition

is every second is important.

- Look at the speed
that Ben's working in.

I mean, he's just going for it.

- So, as soon as Grady
tells me to go,

I'm up there,
I'm grabbing steel.

- Talk to me, Ben.

Show me what you got
and how you're gonna stack it.

- 19 layers in there.
- Yeah.

- I'm gonna squeeze that down,
draw it out,

cut it into five,
restack it to 90.

- Okay.
- Draw that out to 12 inches.

Cut it in half.

Put it on either side
of this 80CrV2, yeah.

- So you're gonna have
181 layers.

- Yeah.
- Oh, fantastic.

- I'm really putting all my eggs

in the basket of this Damascus

'cause it's going
to take a long time.

But I think at the end
of the day,

the pattern is gonna be gorgeous

and I'm gonna end up
with a keen edge

that will hopefully not get
damaged in the strength test.

There's a madness to my method.

- So I've got my main billet
forge-welded up.

And right now,
I'm getting ready to cut it.

And I'm gonna stack it
back on itself and draw it out

just to give it a little bit
more complex of a pattern.

- Brandon's got
a manageable-size billet,

but there is a chance
he's gonna have to stretch it

to its limits just like he did
in the first round.

Brandon is very meticulously
tapping at it,

making sure he's using
every single ounce.

- It's clearly a solid billet.

So now, I know I need to get
this billet to a half-inch,

so I'm creating a kiss block
for the press.

That allows me to make sure
that my billet

is all the same thickness
all the way down,

which is really important,

because making another
stack of Damascus

is gonna eat up
a lot of my time.

I feel pretty good
at this point,

but I gotta keep up with Ben.

I've got to stay on my toes.

So you having fun yet?

- I'm having a blast, man.
This is awesome.

I have never seen
a bigger billet

getting weld-set
on this Forge floor.

- Holy cow.

- Ben's billet already
started splitting open

right when he set
his first weld.

- I start to panic.

It's so tall,
I can't get the compression

that I need all the way through.

Instead of going to Blu
at this point,

I have to go to the press.

- So it goes to show you,
nobody's immune to problems.

It's just a matter of how
you overcome that adversity,

how you keep pushing forward.

- It feels like
my billet is together now.

Yeah, it's good.

- Got my tip roughly
where I want it.

And then, I go over and create
this subtle distal taper.

A lot of bladesmiths
grind to it,

but I definitely want
to set myself up

for less work later on
at the grinder.

- Ben and Brandon,
you guys are halfway throug.

You have four hours left
in this competition.

- I've finally started
working on a blade.

The parameters are
that at the base,

I'm 2 inches wide,
but I want 2 1/4.

Because I want to make sure
that grinding,

I don't get smaller than that,

I take it over to the anvil
and cross-pean it

for a little extra width
so that I have enough

that I can grind a little bit
away and not have to worry.

I'm the undefeated
"Forged in Fire" champion

with the most wins of anyone
on this entire competition.

If I were to have
missed parameters,

that would be
really embarrassing.

- Even though
this is eight hours,

which may seem like a long time,

in order to get it done
in that time,

you have to multitask.

So when I'm doing
some thermal cycling,

I want to work on that guard.

Part of the reason
that I chose this blade

was because of this guard

and the fact that so many
parts of it covers the handl.

So you've got to be
really methodical

about how you put this together

'cause you can get yourself
in a trap.

Do a quick test fit,
and it fits up the first tim.

And it's just
this huge sense of relief.

- Ben's the first one
in the oil,

and I could see the terror
in Brandon's eyes.

- It looks great.
I'm happy.

The next step is to get it
into the temper oven.

We're in the middle
of building this sword,

and I already
feel close on time.

I really got to kick
into higher gear.

- Brandon's getting ready
for his quench.

- We're at a point of no return.

If I break this blade,
I could not finish this blad.

I see a nice, straight blade,

and then
it's into the tempering ove.

- The pressure's on.
The clock is ticking.

You guys have
two hours remaining.

- I'm going for
a relatively fine edge on this

because 80CrV2 can
hold its shape pretty well.

- Ben has been sitting
at that grinder

for a long time now.

He's only got less than an hour
and a half left on the clock.

I think Ben should really
start spending

a little bit more time
on his handle.

If not, this is gonna be a race
to the finish.

On the other side of the Forge,
Brandon is spending

a lot of time
jumping from task to task.

I think it is a great element.

- I'm really nervous
about fitting this handle up

because I know with the
multiple components going on,

it's going to eat up
a lot of my time.

I'm kind of struggling
with the pin,

so I got to be careful here.

I could risk cracking
my handle material.

- Brandon's running into
what looks like

the first major hurdle.

He's having a hard time
getting the pin

through both sides.

- I knew this handle
was gonna be hard,

but not this hard.

- Honestly, now is the time
to start getting scared.

He's running out of time.

- I'm kind of struggling
with the pin,

so I got to be careful here

because I could risk
cracking my handle material.

Luckily, hitting it
with a hammer was enough

to drive it home
where it needed to be,

but I still have
to sharpen this thing too.

So now, I really need
to move it up a gear

and get this thing done.

- I've never made a guard
like this before,

but I'm trying to do my steps

in a very period-correct way.

The way it was done
in the period

is you make the guard
all in one piece.

And then, you'd have the side
guard that has a tang to it,

and you pean it over
on the far side.

It's a difficult thing to do
your first time in a rush.

Is that damn thing
on the damn wrong side?

In my haste,

I had riveted it
to the wrong side of the guard.

I'm left with one option.

Cut that side guard off,

weld it back on the other side.

It's really annoying to me
because

if I had just done that
from the beginning,

I would have saved 20 minutes.

Classy.

Just like Stephen Hawking said,

"Time is a bitch."

- Guys, you are down
to only 30 minutes.

Keep working.

- Time is ticking away,

and if I turn in a dull blade,
I'm going home.

- Brandon's getting
that edge refined.

If it's gonna be anything

like that first blade
we saw from him,

this thing is going
to be a razor blade.

- I'm going
for the same edge geometry

I went through in round one

because it chopped through
a bucket like a lightsaber.

So I just want to work that
as much as I can

with the few seconds
I have left on the clock.

- One of the things I know
as a judge

is that the handle
has to be comfortable.

But there are spots
on this handle

I can't get to with the grinder

because the knuckle bow is there

or the side guard is there.

I'm panicking.

- Ben knows that
he needs to clean this up.

The question is, does he have
enough time to do it?

- In all the times that I've
competed on this competition,

this one's been more difficult.

I think it's because I
invested so much time upfront

working on the blade.

So, at this point,

the only thing I can think to do

is grab a hand file
and work with a hand fil.

My heart is beating
out of my chest.

I might not finish this thing.

- Five, four,

three, two, one.

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

This eight-hour competition
is over.

- I'm really proud
of the Damascus pattern,

but the fit and finish on there

is just not
where I'd like it to be.

- Well, Dave, Doug,
guys, welcome back.

I got to tell you, you just
missed out on the coolest thing

I've ever seen in this Forge.

Eight straight hours where they
had to build these messers,

and it came down
to the last second.

All right, guys, you had
a minute to look them ove.

Let's start with the red one.

What do you guys think
about that?

- It's got a nice weight to it.

The balance is a little bit
forward, but it's not bad.

- Now let's talk about gold.

- What I'm hesitant about
is a lot of the setup

on this blade relies on welds.

And those welds, of course,

a failure point that might
be built into the blade.

- You guys ready
to put 'em to the test?

- Absolutely.
- Looking forward to it.

- Well, let's do it
and call the smiths in.

All right, guys.
We are finally here.

And there's a lot on the line.

Ben, if you take home the win,

you're continuing
your winning streak

and going on
with a record of 5:0.

Now, Brandon,
if you take home the win,

you're leaving here
with the title

of "Forged in Fire" champion
and a check for $10,000.

In order for us to find out
which one of your blades

is gonna come out on top,

we have to put them
through a series of tests.

So I'm gonna give you to Doug
for the first one.

- Bladesmiths, this is
the dynamic KEAL test.

To find out how lethal
your weapons are,

I'm gonna your swords,
cut through the vines,

and deliver some lethal blows
on this pig carcass.

It's time to have fun.

- Going into a vine slice,

if you have a dull blade,
that's gonna bounce.

And then when you come
to the pig,

you're cutting through bone,

which can cause
chipping or rolling.

So I'm hoping
that I have no snags.

- All right, guys.

First up,
the handle construction,

it's a little bit
on the blocky side,

but it's comfortable.

Why? Because it's light.

Every cut, every one of them

was very deep
on this pig carcass.

Overall, this eight-hour
messer sword will KEAL.

- I'm pretty confident that
my sword is not gonna break,

but something might chip,
something might roll.

Anything is possible.

I'm... I'm just nervous.

- So, right off the bat,

I really appreciate the flare
on a heavier blade like this

because it does allow me
to control it.

The weight of this
cuts very deep.

It thrusts nicely
and delivers all the way ou.

A blade like this, it will KEAL.

- All right, gentlemen,
a little bit of history.

In 1570,
Joachim Meyer's treatise

on the use of the dussack
was published,

the training manual
for the messer.

So, we know that it was used
by peasant soldiers

as well as nobility.

So to that end,
our dynamic strength test.

Gentlemen,
I'll be taking your messes

and attacking
our armored warrior here.

After that, we'll see
what kind of edge you have left

by slicing that painting.

- You guys ready?
- Oh, yeah.

- Okay.

All right, so right off,
it's taken a couple of rolls

that I can feel
with the fingernail

and then a couple
small, minor chips.

But for hitting armor,
it's not so bad.

All in all,
our gold anvil did a good job.

All right,
so as far as the edge goe,

nothing's come off and
nothing's really rolled over.

So, all in all, I think the red
anvil did a really nice job.

Now, guys,

the judges had a very
difficult decision to make.

And they came up
with a final decision

that they both agreed upon.

The winner of this "Forged
in Fire" competition is...

Ben Abbott with the red anvil.
- What?!

- Congratulations!

No way.

- Now, Brandon, you absolutely
smoked this competition,

but unfortunately, your messer
didn't make the cut today

and Dave Baker's
gonna tell you why.

- Brandon, you did a great job
on that messer.

It's fast and it's deadly.

This basically came down to
damage and some design choices.

- Fair enough.

- I could honestly say
you're one

of the most talented smiths
I've ever laid my eyes on.

- Thank you.

- We appreciate all of your
hard work in this competition,

but unfortunately,
I'm gonna have to ask you

to please step off
the Forge floor.

- Thank you for the time, guys.
- Thank you. Good job, man.

- Awesome work.
- Thanks, Ben.

- Today just wasn't my day,
but I think I turned in

an absolute phenomenal blade

that stacked up against
one of the best, Ben Abbott.

- All right, Ben.
You did it.

Your messer took home
the win again.

You're now 5:0, man.
Congratulations!

- This was an extremely
close competition.

Brandon is a hell
of a competitor.

He made
a really good messer sword.

And I was actually practicing

my happy-faced
concession speech.

- You ready for more?

Yep! Let's do it.

Any bladesmiths
who want to come in here

and challenge me
in my own house,

I'm here.
Ready for you.