Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 43 - Beat the Unbeaten: Broken Blade Revenge - 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.

An expert blacksmith
and bladesmith,

a fan favorite turn judge,

Ben Abbott remains undefeated
in this forge.

His current record is 6 and 0,

but soon all that could change.

Tonight three smiths who
suffered catastrophic failures

at the hands of Ben Abbott



will seek their revenge.

- Come on, come on,
come on, come on.

- I got to start again.

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

The competition continues now.

- My name is Chris Campbell.

I live in South Florida in
a little town called Stuart

on the coast.

The first time
I was on "Forged in Fire,"

it was a first
responders episode,

and the handle broke
apart completely

in Ben Abbott's hands.

Whew.

- Just the idea of being able to



not only gain some revenge
for him snapping my handle

but also being head-to-head
with best person out there

is the greatest thing world.

- My name is Dorian Mosack.

I'm from Peoria, Illinois,
and I own a gym.

The last time I was here,
Ben broke my blade.

I was heartbroken,
and I really thought I lost

an opportunity of a lifetime.

So being back here again
and a chance to do it again,

I'm even more excited
this time around.

- My name is Caleb Ledford.
I'm 20 years old,

and I'm from
Young Harris, Georgia.

This is my redemption round.

Last time, I made it
to the final round,

where Ben ended up
breaking my handle.

- Your handle is coming apart.

- Ben might've broken my handle,

but I'm here to break
his winning streak.

- Well, Chris, Dorian, Caleb,

welcome back to The Forge.

Now, you each have
your second chance at the title

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

But, Ben, I got to ask,

do these guys look familiar
to you?

- Yeah, I'm seeing
familiar faces out there.

- I'd say they should
probably look pretty familiar,

because each and every
one of you suffered

a catastrophic failure
at the hands of Ben Abbott.

Uh-oh.

- But at the end
of this competition,

one of you will have the chance
to go head-to-head

with Ben Abbott

and try your hand
at beating the unbeaten.

Now, currently Ben's record
is 6 and 0,

so we're about to see
if any one of you

has what it takes
to take him down.

Now, Ben, do you have anything
to say to these guys?

- Sorry, guys.
I guess I realized

you're all going to be coming
pretty hard for me,

but I'm not going to make it
easy on you, so good luck.

- What a guy.

Well, bladesmiths,
Ben is going to be

purely an observer
during this round

of the competition
just for fairness sake,

but he is joined at the table
by two judges

who have the opportunity
to make the critical decision.

They're the ones who hold
your fate in their hands

in deciding who's going to be
going up against Ben

for the title of
"Forged in Fire" champion

and a check for $10,000.

Now, here's how
it's going to work,

the three of you
are going to go head-to-head

in a single five-hour
bladesmithing round,

where we want you to build
a blade from start to finish.

Now, in this first round,
we want you to each build

a signature blade
in your signature style.

In order to do that, you're
going to need to use this.

What we have here are jars of
bandsaw blades, ball bearings,

small springs, roller bearings,
and some chainsaw blades.

And we want you
to make your blades

out of canister Damascus.

Now, if that doesn't seem
hard enough,

we're going to raise the bar
a little bit.

This is the part of the
competition we like to call

the No Can Can.

You must remove your canisters.

Your blade length
measured from tip

to where the cutting edge ends,

it needs to measure
between 11 and 13 inches.

By the time the clock runs out

those blades
need to be quenched,

they need to be hardened,
tempered,

and have a handle securely
attached and ready for testing.

- I have very little experience
with canister Damascus.

It's got a lot more,
in my opinion,

ways to go wrong.
So I'm nervous.

- Now, guys,
when the clock hits zero,

I'm going to ask that you
turn the blades

over to Dave and Doug,

and they're going to test
your blades for strength

and durability in a bone chop

and then check
your edge retention

in a ballistics tube slice.

You guys ready to get into it?

Then good luck,
because that time starts now.

Now, we know two of these smiths

had issues with their handles.

The issue they had with their
handles is sitting right here.

- Seeing this competition
before,

peeling the canister off

is always the number one issue
that most people have.

They end up spending countless
amount of time grinding,

chiseling the material away.

- Come on.

- So the less time I can spend
doing that

the more time I can spend
actually forging.

- Typically, when we're doing
a canister around,

we're astounded
when the smiths use White Out

to try to peel the can,
because it's not necessary.

That's something
they have to do this time.

That's a tall order
for a five-hour challenge.

- My game plan is just
to make sure

that I cover inside of
this canister with White Out.

And I just got to make sure
that it's dry

before I start getting things
crammed in there.

- We know that you've got
to be patient

with drying out the White Out.

- Yeah.

- I started to look
at the roller bearings

thinking they're very,
very tough.

But also, they take up
a lot of room,

so I can use that along
with the powdered steel

and hopefully
fill up all the voids

and make a good, solid weld.

- There's an air of retribution
in the air

with three people who have had
blades broken by Ben Abbott.

However, I had
very serious concerns

about getting that can off.

So immediately I start
putting White Out

inside my can.

- Ooh, Chris is starting to put
his roller bearings

into his can
straight out of the acetone.

Does he need to let those dry
up before throwing them I?

- It's more of, did the White
Out dry in his can?

- I don't think he got
enough time for that either.

Ahh.

Acetone weakens the White Out

and starts covering
all the bearings.

Ahh.

I know it's not
going to forge well,

so I have to start over again
with fresh White Out

and his time give it some time
before it dries

before I put my bearings
and powder back in.

I'm freaked out about
making such a mistake early on,

but it's better
to get it done early

so I don't have to worry about
anything the rest of the round,

I hope.

- So I put the White Out
in the canister.

I have my steel,
my ball bearings all packed up,

and I get it put into the forge.

- Holy cow. I think
that his can just opened up.

You really run the risk
of getting

a lot of oxygen in there,

and the weld
won't stick very well.

- I know I can't put that back
in the forge,

and I'm gonna have to go
make another canister.

I'm getting super stressed out
that I just lost some time,

so I need to work a little bit
faster to try to get caught up.

- Bladesmiths, you have four
hours left.

- The most challenging part
of this competition

is getting the canister
to weld correctly

and then remove the entire
canister from the billet.

I think my welds are set good.

I'm going to pry
the canister from the billet.

- I'm listening to Caleb
and that chisel,

and things are going his way.

- It's actually coming off
really, really nicely.

- Here we go, hey-oh!

- My material looks fine.

And I'm ready to move on
to actually forging my billet.

- All right,
we're 15 minutes in,

and Chris is now attempting
to remove his can.

- I start cutting off
the corners

so I could see
some kind of exposed steel.

Oh, come on.

My canister appears to be
forge welded to the billet

on the inside,
and I don't want to restart.

The White Out's probably
not going to work again.

So I'm just going
to keep working hard

and get this billet off.

Going up against Ben
made me supremely happy,

because Ben is undefeated.

He's the best.
He's undefeated,

6 and 0 by now,

and I would love to beat him
and make him feel small.

- I'm hoping I did everything
right this time,

because I don't want to have
to restart all over again.

So I'm gonna have to start
peeling the canister off.

I realize
that my steel didn't set.

- Ooh.
- Uh-oh.

I think he's about
to restart again.

- He might not have gotten near
as much compression

as he thought he was getting.

- All right.

I'm not going
to use any White Out.

I know it's probably
going to make it

even more difficult for me
to peel the canister off,

but I just don't have
any time left.

- Guys, I saw Dorian grab
White Out,

but I don't think
he put it in his hand.

Is it even possible to remove
the can with the chisel?

- No, he'll literally need
to grind that can off.

- Number three.

- Bladesmiths, you have
three hours left.

- Come on.

And it must have taken me
an hour and a half,

but finally
the billet comes clear.

Yes!

My billet looks
a little sketchy to me.

I can still see
some of the bearings.

However, it still seemed
consolidated,

so I decide to put it
in the forge

and just tread carefully.

- So we've seen this happen
before, where their billet

that's not completely welded.

Quick fix, what do you do?

- 1095 powder and flux.

- And then let Big Blu
take care of the rest of it.

- Once I get it to length,
it starts looking really,

really bad.

But I see good, solid steel
on the inside,

so I decide it's time
to grind off all the bad steel.

There has to be clean steel
on the inside,

because if there's not,
I'm going to have to restart,

and I don't know
if I can pull that off.

- You got to grind away
kind of early,

because a crack
probably gets more crack.

Even if you have to grind,
like, a notch in there

to get it out of the way,
it's worth it.

- I think I'm okay.

The cold shuts are going away,
and everything looks tigh.

However, I don't grind them
all out,

because
I want a nice beefy blade.

I just hope that during testing
I don't regret that choice.

- And I'm just going to go
ahead and start working on

drawing out my billet.

Oh.

It is crumbling apart.

I don't think that went through
at all.

- Oh!
- No way!

- There's no way
that I can salvage this,

I have to start
from scratch now.

- Guys, Caleb's restarting.

- This could cost me
the competition for sure.

If this doesn't go well, then

I might be completely
out of options.

Oh, man.

- I've lost a lot of time,

and I need to get straight
to work on my next canister.

- Yeah, now's the time to do it.

I mean, you know, start over.

But the main thing about is,
don't do the same mistake.

- This time,
I grab the bandsaw blades.

Hopefully, these will be a lot
easier to weld to each othe.

- I won't have time
to make a fourth billet,

so I just need
to get this steel to set.

My plan is, I'm going to cut
and peel the top of it off

and just flatten it
and grind the rest.

- He's going to spend more time

trying to remove
that can than Chris is.

- I see that I have good steel,

so I know I still have a chance
to make a knife.

It's going to take some time
to grind

all of this canister off,

but at this point,
I think it's my best option.

- Bladesmiths,
you are halfway through.

- The quench is going to
tell me the truth

on whether or not
that core part of steel

is actually good.

I have no idea
what could happen.

It could just blow to pieces
once I put it in the oil.

I'm not thinking of Ben at all.

I'm thinking about
not screwing up.

- All right. Chris is quenched.

- It didn't blow to pieces.
Back to work.

I'm ecstatic, and I'm ready to
grind this thing and get read.

- I honestly don't know
how I got this far.

Just an hour and a half ago

I thought
this thing was over with.

- Dorian is
Captain Catch Up, man.

No matter what happens,
he catches

right back up to the crowd.

- So now I have to get
the blade quenched.

The last time I competed

I quenched my blade way too hot.

- Oh, no. Don't do it.

- This time I'm taking my time

and checking it with a magnet
before I go into oil.

- All right,
we have another quenched blade.

- I'm pretty amazed
and beside myself

that I've actually gotten
a knife quenched.

But I have to get a handle done

and get it cleaned up and ready.

- I'll get my second billet
out of the canister.

From what I can see,

I'm confident that
it's good all the way through.

But I'm still
watching the clock,

and it is still going down.

I just got to work
as quickly as I can.

It's straight as an arrow,
so I'm very pleased.

Now, I can get to work
on cleaning up the blade.

- All right, guys, you have
an hour left on the clock.

- Grinder's going together well.

Let's do dip in acid.

But I want to get
an acid's etch to see

if I have any serious
cold shuts or problems.

Damn it.

This thing is covered
in cold shuts.

It's a nightmare.

- Chris was the only one who
stuck with this first canister,

and you remember he had
some candy bar

cracking going on in the press.

I got to be honest,
I don't think it's all gone.

- I could fill it with weld,
but that would ruin the temper

and potentially soften my blade.

It's a risk one direction
or another.

Looking at these cold shuts,
they're not too deep.

They don't go all the way
through; they're superficial.

I'm running short on time;
I choose not to weld it.

I hope it doesn't
come back to bite me.

- Last time I was here,
the blade held up beautifully,

but the handle broke.

- Your handle is coming apart.

- Looking back on that now,

I realized that I've got to use
a lot stronger handle material.

So I've decided to go
with a synthetic material,

and I don't want to be known
for losing for a handle

a second time around.

That just means
I'm bad at handles now.

- I do like
Dorian's blade profile.

Such a slight little bend
to the handle.

- Yeah.
- I like it.

- The biggest thing about
the handles that I've learned

from watching the competition
is that the judges

don't like it when the knifes
twist in their hands

or they can't get
a good grip on it.

So I'm really taking my time

and make sure
it's got good contours to it.

I have the basic shape
of my handle now.

And it's coming together
the way I wanted it to.

I'm going to glue
my handle together

while I still have time.

- Bladesmiths, you have
30 minutes before testing.

- Last time,
my tang broke in the handle,

because it was a through-handle
and I screwed up my welding.

This time it's a full tang.
It's a lot of steel.

And it's a thick, strong blade.

- Ben, you know what
it feels like to break a blad,

but what do you think
you'd be feeling

if one of these guys broke
your blade in this competition?

I would be sad.

- The pins slide together great.

I'm right to the grinder
to start working on that blad.

- Chris and Dorian,
they're at the point

of shaping their blades.

Caleb still doesn't
have anything on his tang.

- I haven't put pinholes
in my scales yet,

but since my blade has already
been heat-treated,

my tang is still too hard
for me to drill through.

Well, this is going swimmingly.

I'm panicking for sure
right now.

I'm going to work on
annealing the tang.

- Caleb finally got
one of his pinholes in.

- I get to work
on my second pin,

and it's not cutting whatsoever.

I have very, very little time
right now.

If I don't get
my handle glued on now,

then I won't have
a handle whatsoever.

I'm going to stick with
just one pin

and hope that's strong enough
to hold it together.

But if not, then my handle's
flying across the room.

- Caleb's only got one pin
at the bottom of his blade.

Are there any concerns?

- It's an iffy situation.

It's not something I would say,
"Oh, it's a fail."

- Dorian is prepping his blade
for an acid bath right now.

That's good,
because we're requiring

that can to be off the blades.

- The acid etch
is really important for me.

When I was peeling the can off,

I only got one
full side peeled off,

and I've ground down
the other three sides.

So if I pull this blade
out of the acid

and I don't have that
high-carbon steel on the edge,

then the competition
is over for me.

I see that I still have
some mild steel on the blade

from the canister.

Thankfully,
it's not on the edge.

- Well, Ben, we have five
minutes left,

and that means it's time
for you to head out.

- All right.

- See you, bud.
- Yep.

- You can get some rest
and get ready for your test.

- It was one of the parameters
to peel the can off.

I made an honest attempt at it.

Hopefully, it's not going to be
an issue moving forward.

- Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Bladesmiths,
this five-hour round is over.

- I'm not happy with my one pin.

I already had Ben
break my handle,

and I'm really not looking to
see Dave break it this time.

But all I can do is hope
for the best right now

and hope that it holds through.

- All right, bladesmiths,
in this five-hour No Can Can

competition we asked you
to make your signature blades

that measure between
11 and 13 inches.

Now, unfortunately, we do have
a parameter issue.

Dorian, unfortunately,
you did miss parameters.

Dave Baker is going
to tell you why.

- First off, Dorian,
five hours, three cans,

and you turned it
in a really good-looking knife,

and I wish I could test it.

But this was the No Can Can
challenge,

and your blade still has cans
on both sides of that.

It's nicely done,
but with that can there,

we can't test it the same way
we can test the other blade.

- You fought hard
the entire time.

You had a lot of walls
you ran up against,

but you never gave up.

Unfortunately,
because you still have

can in your blade,
I'm going to ask you

to please
step off The Forge floor.

- Thanks, bud.

I'm pretty pissed right now.

Working on the canister,
not using the White Out

all just kind of led to me
having an even worse time

trying to take
that third canister off.

I still feel great about
the knife that I turned in,

and I feel really honored
to be here,

and I'm really happy
that I got another chance

to come and compete.

- All right, gentlemen.
Welcome to the strength tes,

the bone chop.
Now, to test the strength

and overall construction
of your blades,

I'll be chopping into
these big old beef bones

as hard as I can.

- Chris, you're up first.
You ready?

- Yes, sir.
- Okay.

Bone is a soft,
yet hard material.

So it's a moment of truth.

We're going to find out
if these cold shuts are

in fact a problem with my blade.

Last time, my tang broke,
so I am as nervous as can be.

I do not want to see
my blade break again.

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

- So, Chris, you did not suffer
a catastrophic failure.

Your blade is in one piece,
and your handle's all together.

- Beautiful.

- But there are a couple places

that have taken
some small chips,

and there's some delaminations
at the ricasso

that kind of go all the way
across, but it's in one piece.

Well done.

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

- Let's do it.
- Okay.

I'm pretty nervous.
That one pin,

I'm just not sure that
it's going to do its justice.

I'm having flashbacks
from the last time I competed.

Handle's starting
to crack and break.

And it's starting to look
like my handle

might just do
the same thing again.

- Good job, man.

- All right, so, Caleb,

right off, it's a light,
comfortable blade.

You've got barely any damage

that I could feel on this blade.

The only thing I would've
really loved to see

is another connection
to this handle.

- Me too.

- But other than that, good job.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths.
Congratulations.

History did not repeat itself.

Your blades passed through
that bone chop.

But we know you have a bone
to pick with Ben,

but to get to that point
we still got to test

and find out
how sharp your blades are.

This is the sharpness test,
the ballistics tubes slice.

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

- Yes, sir.
- Let's do this.

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

First up, it's a heavier blade,
and that's due to the fact

that you look at the blade
here, it's very thick spine.

The first cuts are nice,
but when we got to, like,

the fourth tube,

it met resistance to where it
no longer cut.

It just got hung up
on the blade.

But overall, it will cut.

- Thank you, sir.

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

- Let's do it.
- Let's do this.

All right, Caleb, let's talk
about your blade over here.

First up, a much lighter blade
you have over here.

The edge is sharp enough to cut
cleanly on the first two tubes.

Now, there's not enough weight
to push the rest of this,

so that on the third one,

it cut into it,
but that's about it.

It didn't cut all the way
through.

But judging from the clean cuts,

overall your weapon,
it will cut.

- Thank you.

- All right, bladesmiths.
Well, this No Can Can

competition
was definitely a difficult one.

And it ended with
a very difficult decision.

The bladesmith going up
against Ben Abbott

in the Beat The Unbeaten
challenge is...

Caleb.
Congratulations.

Now, Chris,
you fought extremely hard.

We want to thank you for that,

but unfortunately your blade
didn't make the cut.

And Doug's going
to tell you why.

- Chris, first up,
I have to commend you

on that first challenge.

But at the end of the day,
just the multiple cracks

you still hand on the spine,

the delaminations
to the ricasso,

and your edge was the only one
that took a chip on it,

for those reasons,
you didn't win today.

- Fair enough.

- Well, Chris, it was a
pleasure watching your work.

And we want to say thank you
for your time here.

But unfortunately, your time
in this competition has ended.

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

The Forge floor.

- It's pleasure working
with you, man.

- Good luck, brother.
Good luck.

- Thank you.
- Thanks you, Chris.

- I'm feeling pretty down.

In hindsight, I would have
welded the cold shuts

and some of those delams.

But I'm glad my blade
didn't break.

I'm glad my handle didn't break.

I'm just happy
to have been here and hope to

maybe one day get to the finals.

- Well, Caleb,
congratulations, man.

That means you are joining us
in the final round

of this competition,
where you get a chance

to get some revenge
on Ben Abbott

in a competition
of your choosing.

How are you feeling?

- I feel great. I'm excited.

I'm going against
the reigning 6 and 0 champin

Ben Abbott, and this is going
to be a real challenge.

- In this final round
of competition,

you will choose the weapon
and the technique.

Are you going to choose to do
a can in the final round?

- Absolutely not.
- Absolutely not.

- He broke my blade last time,

and it's time for me
to break his win streak.

6 and 0 is no more.

- Caleb, man, congratulations;
you just came off a huge win

against two
formidable opponents.

Now, not only do you have
the chance at redemption here

but revenge as well, because
you're going against the man

who knocked you out of
this competition last time

and broke your blade,

our undefeated judge,
Ben Abbott.

- Yeah, Caleb is a relatively
young smith,

but he's got a lot of talent.

He's definitely going to be
difficult to beat.

Nice job, brother.
- Thank you.

- How are we feeling, Ben?

- Feeling pretty good,
ready to go.

- Now, there's a lot
at stake here.

Ben, you're going up
for your seventh

"Forged in Fire" champion title.

Caleb, you're here
to take home your first

and get a check for $10,000.

Now, here's how it's going
to work, gentleman.

In this final round
of competition,

you guys are building a blade
that Caleb chose

in an eight-hour-straight
bladesmithing competition.

And you chose this...

The Chinese war sword.

- Oh.

- The 17th-century Chinese
war sword was used in battles

starting in the Qing dynasty
through 20th century.

Primarily used
by peasant armies,

this large two-handed weapon
fatally slashed

and chopped through more
than 3,000 Japanese forces

during World War II.

This deadly blade
previously appeared on season

seven of "Forge in Fire,"

where both smiths struggled
with the weight

and size of this massive sword.

But in the end,
one smith's weapon

fell victim
to the dreaded ice block.

- When you're building
your Chinese war swords

make sure they fall within
the following parameters.

Your blade length needs to be
between 24 and 26 inches.

Need to have an S-shaped guard

and a handle between
10 and 12 inches.

Now, that is not including
your pierced pommel.

- What were you thinking?

- So you know what you're
going to be building,

but Caleb also
had the opportunity

to choose what technique you
can use to build your blades.

You're gonna be doing this.

Caleb wants you both
to use random pattern

Damascus steel
to make your blades.

Now, Caleb, because this is
your second shot

at the "Forged in Fire"
champion title,

we're going to raise
the bar a little bit.

Ben, you get the chance to put
a twist on this competitin

and add a parameter that both
of you guys must follow.

So what are you thinking?

- Let's go with a minimum layer
count of 125.

- 125 layers. All right.

- Caleb has chosen something
difficult for us to do,

so if he's that confident
in his skills,

let's push it to a place where
I'm confident in my skills

and up the layer count.

- As you've noticed,
Doug and Dave

are not going to be
joining us in this round.

It's just going to be the two
of you and me observing.

Now, when that time runs out,

Dave and Doug are
going to join us again

and put your blades through
some multi-target tests.

Doug's going to start off
with a dynamic KEAL test

on a ballistics dummy

and then move on
to a cowhide bag.

Then Dave's going to check
your strength and sharpness

on a bamboo forest chop
and a sugarcane slice.

You guys have eight hours
on the clock

to complete
your very best blades.

Good luck.
Your time starts now.

Oh, boy, oh, boy.
This one is very difficult.

And if you saw Ben's face
when I revealed that blade,

he's not too excited about it.

- Mine, mine, mine.

- I do have the upper hand
right now

picking out the blade.

But unfortunately,
Ben wanted to add a twist

and make 125-minimum
layer count.

Thanks, Ben.

I've got roughly 34 layers.

It's a really,
really meaty billet.

That way, when I draw it out,

I can cut at least four
or five pieces,

and I'll be well
over the layer count.

- Caleb's got the largest stack
I've seen in this forge yet.

- I'm feeling pretty nervous
right now going against Ben.

There's a reason
why he hasn't lost yet.

- This sword is huge.

I mean, it's 4 inches
tall at the tip.

It's just a big, big monster.

My plan is to start with two
billets that are really tal.

That's going to be
my first stack.

So I stack up my billets
with two pieces of a 80CrV2,

one of 15N20, and one of 1095.

And then I repeat that pattern
four times with the 80CrV2

double ups on top and bottom.
I really like 80CrV2.

It's a real tough steel
that holds an edge well.

Coming into these
five competitions,

I was kind of looking
at it like,

"Well, you know,
if I just win one

I still have a majority
winning streak."

And now I've won two, and I am
not about to lose this one.

- Soon as my billets
are at welding temperature,

I'm just going to set the welds.

- Caleb is taking a risk
right now.

He's got a massive tower
going on,

and any pressure
going side to side

is going to potentially tip
that whole thing over.

- It's extremely important
to be patient right now.

If I just give it all it's got
and compress it,

it could crack
the rest of the billet.

- Once I know the welds
on both billets are set,

then I take the first billet
and start drawing it out.

My goal is to get two billets
that are 20 inches long.

Because each billet
I want to get four pieces

that I can stack up.

But before I stack up
my final billet,

I just want to quickly
double-check my math.

I've got two billets of 18.

Then I'm going to combine
those together

to make a billet of 36.

I'm going to draw that out
and multiply it by four.

So I need an extra layer.
I'm short.

So I'm going to have to put
one more layer in there

just to get past that mistake.

What I was thinking was,
two layers

was actually two layers
of the same metal put together,

and that's one layer.

. Glad I did that.

In a spectacular display
of irony,

the parameter that I set
has now put me behind Caleb.

So I'll add six more layers
just to be sure.

Problems like this are what
can cost me this competition.

I have a little billet
for six layers,

then I've got two billets
with 18 layers.

I'm going cut those
two big billets into four each

and then stack it all together,

draw that out, make the sword.

- I've got 34 layers.

So I'm just going to get four
stacks at five inches lon.

And that'll give me
about 136 layers.

And that way, I can go ahead
and get welded up.

- Caleb's got that final
forge weld together,

and he is at the point
of drawing out an actual sword.

So it's fair to say he is
ahead of Ben at this point.

- I realize that Ben's blade

is probably going
to be flawless.

It usually always is,
because he hasn't failed yet.

And I have to keep that in mind

that I stay on top of my game
the entire time.

- So I'm starting
the final restack.

I feel frustrated,
because I was hoping

I could have been
doing this an hour ago.

I've eaten up a lot of my time

trying to make up
for arithmetic errors,

but it does feel good
getting this final billet

ready to forge out my final
shape and make it look good.

- Bladesmiths, you guys
are halfway through.

You have four hours remaining.

- I've got my pierced tip,
my blade is forged to shap,

and it's about time for me
to get ready

to go into the heat treat.

There's a lot of material
there that could decide

to warp or potentially crack.

So I'm pretty nervous
going into this quench.

- Caleb's now quenched.

- I don't actually
see any warps.

Right now, I'm feeling good,
and I'm feeling confident.

- Now that I've got this blade
shaped and profiled,

I've got to get
this thing quenched.

Otherwise, I will not have time
to do the rest of it.

- Both of our smiths
are now quenched.

- And there it is.

There's a warp.

- Uh-oh.

- Ben's found a bend
in his blade.

Now, this is a pretty
dangerous point

where their blades
could snap in two.

- I'm doing a thing I've seen
many times as a judge,

and I've seen it snap
so many times.

- Ahh!

Ohh!

- But I know I cannot show up
to this testing

with a warped blade.

That has sent people home.

- If anything goes wrong now,
he's going to have to

completely start over
with only three hours left.

- This could be the thing
that gives me my first loss.

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

If he loses one competition,

he will no longer
be the unbeaten.

- If I push too hard,
I could snap this blade in two.

I'll take it.

My blade is straight,
I'm really excited about that,

but I'm just running out of tim.

- You have two hours
to complete your blades.

- "Let's make Chinese
war swords."

- I'm sorry.
- We got eight hours.

- So both Ben and Caleb
have their general

profiles ground in,
but they really need to start

focusing on the handles
and the finish work.

- Right now, everything's
starting to come together,

but there's very,
very little time left.

And I need to get
this handle wrapped.

This handle is very, very big,

so I'm gonna try to wrap
a quarter of the top

and the last quarter
of the bottom

and leave
the middle section shown.

For me to beat Ben,

it's really
going to have to come down

to what I do
within these last 45 minutes.

- I want to put a little piece
of artistic flair on this one.

This is a Chinese war sword.

Let's put a Chinese dragon
on this thing.

- What you making?

- It's a dragon.

- Fancy.

- I think it looks really good.

- You're both looking great,
but you only have

30 minutes left.

- Right now, I'm going to start
grinding my edge,

getting it sharp.

I'm looking over at Ben's blade,

and he has just produced

this absolutely
immaculate piece of work.

- Caleb, you feeling good?

Not compared to that.

- But I feel I've got
a nice sharp blade,

and I can't wait to see how mine

and his blades
fare during this test.

- I'm trying to make
this sword look as

historically accurate as I can,

and a lot of the historical
examples I've seen have Ito,

some Katana handle
wrap material.

There's not a lot of time left.

I have to wrap as fast as I can.

So far,
in an eight-hour competition,

this is the best thing
I've made.

- Five. Four.
Three. Two. One.

Bladesmiths,
put down your blades.

This
eight-hour challenge is ove.

Well done!

- Jeez Louise.
- Ohh.

- I'm looking at this sword,
and I'm feeling good with it,

and I'm confident that it'll
hold up during these tests.

- Doug, Dave, guys,
welcome back.

You missed a heck
of a competition.

It was a close race.

Doug, what are your thoughts
on Blue?

- There's so many facets
when you're looking

at this weapon.

It's forward-heavy,
but it's not bad,

because
it's a two-handed weapon.

But that handle, I mean,
to have half of it wrappe,

it doesn't make sense,
but that's on how it performs.

That remains to be seen.

- Okay, let's move over to Gold.

- Yeah, right off the bat,
the look is finished.

The handle wrap is complete.

The blade, with all its layers,
are standing out really nicely.

We'll see how it plays
with test,

but just picking it up,
you immediately know

that you can make this blade
move and control it.

- You guys ready?
- Looking forward to it.

- Let's do this.
- Let's bring the smiths in.

Caleb, Ben, you had
a very difficult build to do,

and you made it through
in just the nick of time.

But the stakes are very high.

Ben, you're going for
your seventh win in this Forge.

And, Caleb, you're trying
to knock them off his pedestal

going for your first "Forged
in Fire" champion title

and a check for 10 grand.

In order to find out
which one of you

is taking home the title today,
we're going to put your blades

through
a few multi-target tests.

And up first,
Dynamic KEAL with Doug.

- All right, bladesmiths,
two beautiful swords,

but now it's time to find out
how lethal they are.

This is the Dynamic KEAL test.

Shall we begin?

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

- I'm nervous right now.

If my blade
gets stuck up on some bone,

that could really get caught
up in the cowhide bag slice

and just wouldn't cleanly
cut through it.

- Holy cow.

- All right, gents.
On this Blue Anvil weapon,

when you pick it up,
it's got that forward weight,

but being a two-handed sword,
it actually is comfortable.

Now, in terms of the edge,
well, pretty much demolished

this ballistics dummy.

Overall, it will KEAL.

- Caleb's blade performed
really well.

If my blade takes a bend
when Caleb's did not,

it's over for me.

- All right, guys,
right off the bat,

I mean,
it is a light weapon to wield.

The edge is very sharp,
and in every cut,

it was very deep.

Overall, this weapon,
it will KEAL.

- All right, gentlemen,

it's time for
the dynamic strength test.

We've got bamboo and cane
in our bamboo forest over here.

Blue weapon is up first.
You both ready?

- Let's do it.

- All right,
so the Blue Anvil sword,

it's a heavy piece,
and it's very forward-weighted.

Edge held up nice
when I run my finger down i.

There's one spot
that I can feel something,

but literally have to run
my fingernail

down that edge to feel it.

All in all, held up
beautifully. Can't complain.

- All right,
as far as the edge goes,

no damage whatsoever.

The decorative touches are nice,

but what I really like about
this blade

is its functionality.

All around, good blade.
Really nicely done.

- Bladesmiths, this has been
an awesome competition,

but the time has come for us
to find out if,

Ben, you're going
to remain undefeated.

Or if, Caleb,
you're going to be first one

to take down the champ

and go home with the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion

and get a check for $10,000.

Now, our judges had
quite the discussion,

but they came up
with a common decision.

The winner of today's "Forged
in Fire" competition is...

Ben Abbott,
you have done it again.

Congratulations.

Now, Caleb,
you built a beautiful,

strong, and sharp blade.

But unfortunately,
it didn't make the cut toda.

And Dave Baker
is going to tell you why.

- Caleb, you gave us
a great blade

and a real performer.
But what this came down to was

the final craftsmanship
of the blade.

Ben's blade with that dragon
and pattern

and the handle wrap
was just more impressive.

- Absolutely.

- Now, Caleb, it's been
an honor watching you work.

But unfortunately,
at this point,

I'm happy to ask you to
please step off

The Forge floor.

- Thank you, Ben.
- Good fight, man. Good fight.

That was awesome.
- Thank you so much.

- Thank you all.
- Good job, Caleb.

- This competition
was super tough,

so I'm proud
of what I've produced today.

Ben might have
beat me twice now.

He broke my blade
the first time,

and then he beat me fair
and square the second time,

but I'll have to get my revenge
at some point.

- Ben, that's it, man.

You are now 7 and o
in this Forge.

- Holy cow.
- Congratulations, buddy.

- Jeez Louise.

Oh, my God; I just won
another competition

am now 7 and 0.

This is phenomenal.
It's...

I'm almost kind of starting to
get used to winning this thing.

- Among all your blades
that I've ever wielded,

I'd say this is the best one.

- Thank you so much.

The only issue now,
of course, is that every tie

I win I'm more and more,
and more afraid of a loss.