Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 8, Episode 44 - Beat the Unbeaten: Back for 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 turned judge,

Ben Abbott remains
undefeated in this Forge.

His current record
is seven wins and zero losse,

but soon, all that could change.

Tonight we are bringing back
two smiths

from Ben Abbott's first time
competing in this Forge



who are looking
to rewrite history.

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

The competition continues now.

- My name is Brent Stubblefield.

I'm 40 years old,
from Richmond, Virginia.

I am a full-time smith,

and last time
I competed on "Forged"

I was sent home
because of inexperience.

- Brent, when heating that
spine, you let that heat travel

all the way to the edge,
and that really puts

the strength of your blade's
edge in question.

- But now I am
a full-time bladesmith,

and I'm here to win
and take no prisoners.

- My name is Nathan Zimmerman.
I'm 31.



I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin,

and I'm a full-time bladesmith
and knife sharpener.

The last time I competed,

I put a bunch of spiderweb
cracks all over the blad.

- Well, Nathan,
I can see two large cracks

going across the spine,
a few smaller ones,

and, plus, we've actually
got lateral cracking.

That's a very big issue.

- My skills have vastly
improved since last time,

so if I were to come back
and beat Ben,

it would obviously
be a legendary feat,

that's for sure.

- Well, Brent, Nathan,
gentlemen,

welcome back to The Forge.

Now, guys, you have been
selected for an epic rematc.

The last time you were here
was back in season two,

and that just so happened
to be the same competition

that was Ben Abbott's
first time in this Forge.

Now, I don't want to get
into the history of it

and get into the details,
but we all know how that went.

- Ben, congratulations.

You are the "Forged in Fire"
champion

and will be receiving
a check for $10,000.

- Now, one of you
is gonna have the chance

to rewrite history

and potentially beat Ben
in this Forge,

earning you that coveted title
of "Forged in Fire" champion

that comes with a check
for $10,000.

Since you last met Ben,
he has tallied up

quite a few more wins,
and he is currently undefeated

with a record of 7-0.

So, bladesmiths, you have
your work cut out for you.

The two of you are going up
against each other

in a five-hour straight
bladesmithing competition,

where we want you to build
a signature blade

in your signature style,
but before we get in to I,

I gotta ask, do you guys think

you have what it takes
to take Ben down now?

- I hope he's ready.

- Brent, how about you?

- You know,
I'm cautiously optimistic.

That's fair.

Ben, do you have anything
to say to the guys

before we get going?

- I know you guys are feeling
confident and that's good,

but all I can say is good luck.

- All right, guys,
in this competition,

Ben is going
to be solely a spectator.

He is not gonna be
testing your weapons.

All the crucial decisions
are gonna be left

up to Dave and Doug;
they're gonna be the ones

deciding which one of you

will be going forward to the
final round of the competition

to face Ben.

Now, I said you guys
are gonna be building

your signature blades,

but as far as techniques go,

we're gonna leave that up
to the Wheel of Forging.

I'm gonna spin the wheel
for each one of you,

and wherever it lands
is the technique

you must use
to build your blade.

Brent, you're up first.

- All right.
- Let's see what you get.

- I really don't want
that wheel to land

on Canister Damascus.

I want to make
a pattern Damascus

and show that I can do that.

- I gotta say, Brent,
you are about the luckiest guy

that's walked
through this Forge.

You just landed on Choose
Your Own Pattern Damascus.

I gotta ask,
what do you want to do?

- I want to do something
that'll really wow the judges.

Twisted crushed Ws,
we'll see how that looks.

- That is
a massively tall order.

You think you have
what it takes?

- We're not gonna win this thing

without taking a few risks.

- That is very, very true.
Nate, you're up. You ready?

- Yeah. Come on, same thing.

There was a couple options
on there

that I really don't want

to have to be doing
in this competition

because having to do
a jelly roll,

having to do a Turkish twist,

is just something
that I don't think

that I could do
within the allotted time.

- You have to do
Raindrop Pattern Damascus.

- Raindrop Damascus is something

I've done quite a few times

and I've played around with
a lot.

The most difficult part
of this process for me

is gonna be making sure
that I have clean forge welds.

- Now, guys, once the clock
expires, the judges

are gonna check your blades
for strength and durability

in a log chop
and check your edge retentin

in an apple slice.
You guys ready?

- Ready.
- Ready.

- Let the epic battle begin.
Your time starts now.

- All right.

- Ben, you seem pretty tickled
about this one.

- Yeah, man, you know,
these are buddies of mine,

so it's just really great
to see these guys again.

- Now, are you concerned?
- Yeah. Yeah. I'm concerned.

These are good smiths,
and, you know,

we belong to a larger group

that freely shares information
to and fro.

So I don't really have
any secrets from these guys.

- That can be dangerous.

- I only have five hours to do
this really complex pattern.

I am trying to go
above and beyond.

I want to show the judges
that I'm not afraid

to risk everything

because this is my chance
to prove

that I've got what it takes
to beat the unbeaten.

So I want to get that steel
stacked and welded

and in the forge immediately.

There's so many things
that have to go right.

Nothing can go wrong.

I have to hit the bull's-eye
with this build.

- Brent got to choose
whatever he wanted to do,

but he chose crushed W twisted.

- Yeah.
- Never seen it. No idea.

Please explain.

- All right.
So you take your stack

and you stack it up as normal,
you'll forge weld it togethe,

then you turn it on its side
and you squeeze it,

and what that does
is it takes those layers

and it crushes them
into sort of like a U-shape.

Then you restack that again
and you squeeze it again,

and they get more crushed
and they actually,

instead of just being a U,

they've become Ws
all the way down the billing.

And if you twist it,
every now and then you see

a little bit of that pattern
as it comes around.

- I tack it up

and get it into the forge
in 17 minutes flat.

- Coming into this competition
a second time,

my focus is slightly different.

I'm not trying to make
the best knife I've ever mad.

I'm really trying to just mae
a blade that will,

first off, be finished.

Second off, not have any cracks.

Third off, perform well
in the challenges

because I think that
that's what's gonna

make me go on
to the second round.

I gotta keep 'em in order.

My game plan is to get
my steel cleaned,

'cause that's, I think,
the most important step

in forge welding.

- It's only 15 layers
is what he's got right now.

When he draws that out,
is that anywhere near enough

to be able to see that raindrop

or does he have to
draw, cut, stack?

- Yeah. I would love
to see him draw that out,

cut in in at least five pieces,

maybe six pieces, restack that.

- Yeah. With a few layers
you end up with raindrop

that looks kind of like a ring
and a dot, and that's borin.

- I know that I have
a low layer count.

I can make it look a lot cooler

with a higher layer count,
but I don't want

to have to forge weld
twice in this round.

So I think I can make it work
as long as I drill

my holes deep enough,
I forge my blade thin enough,

and I don't grind
all that raindrop away.

- I have my billet up to heat,

so not it's time
to squish some welds.

This has to go
absolutely perfect.

This is a really
complex pattern.

I just don't have
the time to restart.

I know that I've
gotta get that in there

and give it just
some nice light compression

and get it right back
in the forge.

- Oh...

- Any weakness in those
initial forge welds

will shear apart later,

destroying my chances
at winning.

The forge weld looked okay,

but we won't know
until much later.

- I think he's positive
that those welds have held

and now it's about
drawing that billet out

as quickly as he can.

- And that's really important.

Time management is absolutely
paramount in this competition.

- Not only that, he's got
to cut and stack it,

but after the next build
it's got to be

almost like a square
so he can twist it.

- That's right.

- I'm not doing amazing,
but I'm doing okay.

I go over to the chop saw
and cut it up.

Once everything's
stacked to my liking,

I take it over
to the welder, tack it up,

put it back in the forge again.

I really want to have
this thing forged out

at about the two-hour mark.

I think I'll be okay,
if everything goes perfect.

- We're getting
pretty close here.

So once the billet
is about the same temperature

as the forge, I take it out

and I lightly press it
on the forge press

just to set the welds
very lightly.

- Now, that's a good color.
- That's it.

Once I know my billet is solid,

I really feel a lot better

about my chances
in this competition.

- My second stack is welded,

and now I gotta get it
back to welding heat

so that I can twist it.

- You really want
to get this twist

looking kind of like all thread.

It needs to be really,
really twisted

for that pattern
to really show up well.

- I'm 150 pounds soaking wet,

so I'm kind of struggling
with this thing.

Now, one of the things
about not being able

to twist it as much as I'd like,

is it leaves bigger,
wider deep places

that will create all kinds
of cold shuts and nasty stuf,

but that's gonna
be a concern for later.

I gotta get moving.

No more.

It wore me out,
but I got it done.

Not as tight as I want it,
but I got a twist in ther,

which is all
I told them I would do.

- I really enjoy building
my tools of the task,

so decide to do this
complex spider shape

with a curved cutting edge

because that'll chop wood
very well.

I want to put a bit of a guard
on my blade for safety.

Any big knife like this
should have a finger catch

or something like that.

I'm just hitting
into the edge of the anvil,

very carefully,
because that could be

a point of stress
where it could break.

It could cost me
later in the competition.

But I do think it's cool
to be true to my own style

and make a blade that really
looks like something

that might come out of my shop.

All righty.

Right after I put that step in,

I'm feeling pretty good.

So I head over
to the drill press

and start drilling
into the blade

to get my raindrop pattern.

- Is raindrop on the same level

as the twisted crushed Ws?

- Well, I would say it's not

the same level of difficulty,

but done correctly,
it's just as dramatic.

- Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

- I know that
I've gotta be quenched

by about the two-hour mark

if I have any hope
to finish on time.

- All right. Brent is quenched.

- I can't believe
how straight it is.

Now I can take it back
to the grinder

and grind my shape
just like I want.

- So really all I want to
accomplish in this first roud

is have one of my knives
get tested by the judges

because I didn't get
to do that the first time

I was on the competition.

- Nathan, I loved what you
were doing with that design,

but you put so many structural
flaws in that blade

that we cannot test that blade.

- But I'm expecting
much better results

this time than previously,

because I know my blade
doesn't have cracks,

I know my forge welds
are at least solid.

- Shazam!
- Nathan's in the oil.

- Good color for Nathan.

- I pull it out, and I'm very
happy with my quench,

but if I take
a freshly quenched blade

and try to chop a log with it,
it's gonna snap in half

because it's very, very hard
and it's very brittle.

So I temper it just

to bring that hardness
down a little bit

and make it faster to grind
and make it tougher.

- When I'm doing any kind
of a torch temper,

I like to get that blade
completely clean

because I want to see
where the color's moving

and how deep it's moving through

and how quickly
it's moving through the blade.

- So you'd go and do, like,
a quick pass on the grinder,

just to expose...
- Oh, yeah.

- So the temper
went pretty well.

I didn't overheat
any of my spots.

But I hear Brent grinding away
across the shop.

The time is starting
to tick down,

I know I have a lot left to do,

so I decide to move on
to the handle.

- All right, bladesmiths,
you have one hour left.

- So I'm grinding away
all this extra material,

and right by the bolster

where it's not as thick
as I would like,

there's a little place
on both sides

that could be fissures
for a break.

- Uh, that's not a good sign.

- This could be disastrous.

- If it's a deep enough crack,
it's a structural issue.

- If I can't fix this blade
right now,

I'm not gonna
be the one facing Ben.

I just decide
to go tack-weld it.

- Not a good time for Brent to
have to weld on to his blade.

- No.

- If it's a deep enough crack,
it's a structural issue.

- People get sent home for that,

so you just...
You want to address it.

- Now, there's a risk to this
because it's easy

to overheat your edge,
and the last time

I competed on the competitio,
I was sent home

because I overheated
the edge of my blade

while I was trying
to take a warp out of it.

- Did you notice the color in
the center of Brent's blade?

Yes, I did. Yes, I did.

- There's little to no hardness

right in the center
of Brent's blade now.

- And I really don't want
to do that this time.

It may give me some weld
in the pattern,

but hopefully this one little
tack-weld on that spot

won't look too bad.

All right.

It looks consolidated,
but time is running out.

I need to get this handle done.

- Bladesmiths, you guys
are down to 45 minutes.

- Time is starting to tick down,

and I know I have
to get the handle scales

fit up and shaped.

I like to put a tapered handle.

It has a little more mass
up at the top of the handle

and a little less at the back.

It makes a really comfortable
handle and also helps

with the balance of the knife.

There we go.

So I get the tang of my knife
ground approximately flat.

I epoxy it all together with
some quarter inch steel pins.

I know that I can't waste
the five minutes

that the epoxy is drying,
so I clamp it up

and I immediately start
trying to thin my edge don

and get the finish that I know
I need to show off

the Damascus pattern
that I made.

- There's 30 minutes left.

I've got the handle installed,

but I've gotta let it cure
before I can shape it.

I'm going to finish grinding
while the epoxy is setting up,

and I'm hoping that I can get
that pattern etch

to sharpen the blade
in the last few minutes,

and I want to make sure that
my edge geometry is robust

so that it's great
at chopping that log.

I check the edge, make sure
it feels pretty good,

and put it in the acid.

- Fifteen minutes left, guys.
- I hope this is pretty.

I pull it out of the etch.

The twisted crushed W pattern
looks great.

It has some really bold line,

and I'm just really hoping
that it's gonna be

something that the judges
just haven't seen before.

- We got five minutes
on the clock.

Fare thee well, buddy.
- All right, brother.

- See you later.

- I'll see you guys
on the other side.

- All right, Ben.

- Yeah, you better
get ready, Ben.

- At this point, I have
basically a sharpened edge,

but I also know that I need
to get a good finish

on this blade to show off
the Damascus pattern,

so I want to make sure
that's all etched.

- Nate is etching.

- I'm really happy to see

that there's rings
all over the blade.

Some of them are not very bold.

That's because I have
a low layer count,

but they are on both sides
of the blade

and I'm really thrilled
to see that.

I'm feeling pretty good
about my blade.

I'm happy
that my pattern's showing.

I'm happy that it feels good,
so I'm really hoping

that my blade performs
well in the testing here.

- Five, four, three, two, one.

Bladesmiths,
turn off your machines,

put down those blades.

This round is over.

- Previously on the competition,

my blade didn't even get tested,

so I'm thrilled
to be able to see that

and I'm excited to see
how my blade performs.

- All right, gentlemen.

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

Now, to test
the overall strength

and construction of your blades,

I'll be chopping
into this log multiple times.

Now, this is not about
what your blades do to the log,

but what that log
can do to your blades.

And Brent, you're up first.
You ready?

- Go for it, Dave.

I want to get through this
so bad, but these wooden logs

are a lot tougher
than wooden dowels.

The bark's all been shaved off,

so there's gonna
be no soft stuff.

We're going right
into the hard stuff.

I'm really nervous.

- That flew straight by.

- Brent, you can see
right there, that brown.

- Yeah.

- There was some kind of
a microfracture in there

that when I hit this,
it made contact just behind it

and it just peeled off,
you know?

You know, the grain structure
looks great,

but that crack being right
where it was on the spine,

it looks like it was just
one of those microfractures

that you just don't see.

What can I say?

- Last thing I expected,
to be honest with you.

- Me too.

- All right, Brent.

Unfortunately, your blade

did suffer
a catastrophic failure

on the first strike of the test,

so we cannot continue
testing your blade.

But you're not
out of the fight yet

because, Nathan,
in order to move forward

into the final round
of the competition

and go against Ben,
you have to completely survive

one of the same strikes
on our log.

Are you ready?

- Yeah.
- All right.

Let's do it.
- Let's see it.

Right now, I just need my blade

to make it through one strike

and then I'm off
to face Ben Abbott.

So I'm excited,
but also a little bit nervou.

- Oh.
- Oh!

- No. No!

- You've got to be kidding me.
- Come on.

- Exact same thing,
microfracture right there.

You can see the brown.

- Yeah. Yeah.
I can see it from here.

- It's etched in to it. Yeah.
- God, come on.

- I know how you feel, man.
- Yeah.

- Well, bladesmiths,
you've put us

in a very unique situation.

Just two minutes ago,
we had two beautiful blades

coming out
of a five-hour competitio,

but now, after two strikes,

we have two
broken beautiful blades.

The time has come for the judges

to discuss your blades
and make a difficult decision.

They've got to decide
which one of you

is gonna be moving forward
in this competition

and facing Ben.

So while they discuss,
I'm gonna ask

the both of you to please
step off the Forge floor.

- I'm hoping that because
my blade bit in so deep,

that they'll pick my blade,

but it's all gonna
be up in the air now,

and it's completely up
to the judges' decision.

- So, guys, we've got two
broken blades,

both beautiful,
but only one of these guys

can move forward
in the final round.

So have at it.
Dave, what do you think?

- I think both smiths
did a great job.

I just think that Brent's
willingness to risk

and do a complicated pattern

and have it come out
as well as it did

is top-notch work.

- Okay.
Doug, what do you think?

- Both smiths present us
with great Damascus patterns

through the process
they chose; it really shows.

So both blades broke,

but one blade,
if push comes to shove,

I can try to test it
for a sharpness test.

There's enough blade there
to cut apples.

The other one doesn't.

- So for you guys,
is this just coming down

to which break is worse?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Brent's blade broke with that
much blade and a handle,

whereas Nathan's blade
broke right at the handle.

There's just nowhere
to hold that blade anymore.

- All right, so it sounds like

both of you guys
are on the same page.

- I think so.
- Are you ready?

- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.

- Let's call them back in.

Bladesmiths, one of you
is still moving forward

into the final round
to face Ben,

going for that redemption,
a check for $10,000,

and the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion.

And the bladesmith
that's gonna be joining us

in the final round
and facing Ben Abbott is...

Brent.

Congratulations.

- Good job, buddy.

I wish winning felt better.

- Nathan, man,
you fought extremely hard,

but unfortunately your blade
did not make the cut,

and Dave Baker
is gonna tell you why.

- Nathan, you brought us
a great-looking blade

that was really comfortable
in my hand,

but it came down
to where that blade broke.

Brent's blade still has about
4 inches of blade on it,

and yours, there's just no way
to hold onto it anymore.

- Sure. That's fair.

- Well, Nathan,
unfortunately, due to the fact

that you no longer have
a viable blade,

your time in this competition
has ended.

I'm gonna have to ask you

to please step off
the Forge floor.

- I had a fun time here,

and I was confident
that I put out a good blade,

but just that one little section

with some wonky forging
led to a tiny crack,

that led to the blade
snapping right in half.

I'm excited to see
what Ben and Brent pull out.

I know Brent's gonna kick ass,

I know Ben's gonna kick ass,

so we'll see what happens.

- Brent, congratulations, man.

You made it through
the five-hour challenge,

and that means
you're going forward

in the final round
of the competition.

You're gonna get
a second chance at Ben Abbott

in a competition
of your choosing.

Are you ready?

- Yeah.
I feel like the last few years

of my life have been, like,
leading up to this point,

and I am just ready
to rock on that.

The whole reason I came here
was to go up against Ben,

so it's such a relief.

It feels so good
to get that chance.

- Well, Brent,
it may be unconventional,

but you made it to the final
round of this competition.

You're gonna go
head-to-head against the smith

whose current record
is seven wins and zero losses,

and to see
if you have what it takes

to beat the unbeaten.

Ben Abbott.

- Brent, big surprise.

Brent and I have been friends
ever since that first episod.

That was a hell of a time.

I know he's an amazing smith,
so I'm gonna have to

go all out plus a little
to keep the streak going.

- Well, bladesmiths,
I gotta say, guys,

I am thoroughly thrilled
about this competition,

not only because we got
two talented smiths here,

but because you guys have
a little bit of history.

You know each other, you've
worked side by side before,

and I'm very, very excited
to see you guys battle it out.

In the next eight hours,
gentlemen,

you will be going head-to-head
in a bladesmithing competition

where you need to make a blade
from start to finish.

Now, as you guys can see,
Dave and Doug

are not gonna be joining us
for this round.

For fairness, they're not
gonna have a clue

whose blade is whose when
they get into testing.

Now, Brent, because you won
the last round,

you were able to choose
whatever blade you wanted

from our "Forge of Fire" vault

that you wanted yourself
and Ben to build.

So for the next eight hours,
you are both

gonna be working diligently
to build this.

The Ida Sword.

Oh, an Ida.

- The Ida Sword

used by the Yoruba people
of West Africa

features a double-edged,
leaf-shaped blade

ideal for harvesting crops
in the fields

as well as inflicting lethal
slashes and stabs in battle.

This deadly weapon appeared

in season four
of "Forged in Fire,"

where both smiths produced
ornate Damascus patterns,

but one smith's mistake
during his quench

caused his sword to chip
during the strength test,

costing him the competition.

- Your blade length needs to be
between 23 and 25 inches.

You have quad hollows

giving you a double-edged blade,

and you have
an integral bolster to put on.

- The biggest part of this blade

is the quad hollow grind.

It's just not one
of my strong suits.

I really feel a little bit
on my back foot on this one.

- Now, Brent, along
with choosing the weapon,

you were able to choose
the technique

that you'll both use
to build your Ida Swords.

Bladesmiths, in eight hours,

you need to make
your Ida Swords using this.

What you have here
are stacks of 1095 and 15N20

along with wrought iron chain.

We want you to combine
those three elements

in the Damascus San Mai.

- Cool.

- Now, Brent, because this
is your second time

in this competition
and your second shot

at the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion,

we wanted to raise the bar
a little bit

and see if Ben
had any spins he wanted

to put on this competition.

So, Ben, you've got anything?

- Yeah. I think that that
there's something missing

from that stack up, Brent.

I think we need a little nickel.

- Ooh.
- Ooh. All right.

So we're talking
Damascus Go Mai now.

- Yes, we are.

I really enjoy adding nickel
to my San Mai,

making it into a Go Mai.

The transition between
the dark cutting edge

and whatever you put
above the nickel,

it really pops to the eye.

I think it's really beautiful.

- When that eight hours is up,

we're gonna start off
with a dynamic KEAL test

on a ballistics dummy
and a pork loin slice.

Then Dave's gonna take over

and put your blades through
a dynamic strength test

with a ammo can chop
and a foam dummy slice.

Good luck.
Your time starts now.

- This is unchartered waters
going on right now.

Now, the process these smiths
are gonna have to go through

in order
to get this built correct,

we've seen before;
we've seen Damascus.

- Whoa. Dagnabbit.

- We've seen Go Mai.

- Charlie wanted to go Go Mai

'cause he wanted
a thicker blade.

- We've seen nickel used.

- I've never worked
with nickel before.

This is gonna be
a bit of a challenge for me.

- But we've never seen all
of them put together in one.

This is gonna be
very interesting.

- The whole reason I came hee
was to go against Ben,

so it feels so great
to get that chance.

But after this last testing,
I'm a little rattled.

The first time
I was on this competition,

my blade didn't hold up
that well to the testing.

- Brent, we definitely
have waves in the blade.

- This time, I thought
I had a great knife,

and it exploded,

so I want to make a blade

that can pass
the "Forged in Fire" testing.

- How are you feeling, bud?
- Pretty good. Pretty good.

- So what's your plan
for the billet?

You went with
the crushed Ws last time,

you saw how that worked out.

- No. You know what we're
gonna do here,

we're gonna stage
the parameters,

so I'm gonna go
with a natural pattern.

- Okay.
- Some people call it random.

It's natural when I do it.

There is a lot on the line
here for Ben.

If he loses one competition,

he will no longer
be the unbeaten.

- I feel really good
about my record so far,

but every single challenge
is a brand new mystery

and a potential failure,
and I don't want to lose.

I draw the wrought iron,

and while that's heating up,
I clean up the steel

that I'm gonna use
for my Damascus billet.

I'm gonna go with a 26-layer

alternating stack
of 1095 and 15N20,

draw it out
to a 24 plus inches long,

cut it into six pieces,
and make 156 layers

that I will make the core
of my Ida Sword out of.

Ninety percent
of what you're gonna see

at the end of the day
is gonna be the Damascus,

so I really want
to put extra effort in

to that Damascus
to make it beautiful.

- So as my billet's coming up
to heat in the forge,

I'm working on forging out
my wrought iron.

- Is there anything specific
about wrought iron

that makes it more difficult
to work with?

- It can split really easy,
so if I'm not really careful

and open this just slow
at real high heat,

then this can tear;
I don't want to do that,

so I'm just gonna open it up,

as painful as it is,
a little slower.

Now it's time
to squish some welds.

This feels really solid,
really good,

but I have to move on because
I know that this sword build

is gonna take
every minute that I have.

- After the welds are set,
I get the billet to length.

Now it's time to start
grinding all that scale off

of both sides of that billet

so that I can cut it
and restack it.

- This is a really
important moment for Ben.

If he doesn't get the faces
of this steel,

the billet, cleaned up,
when he cuts and restacks it

he runs the risk
of having delaminations

or cold shuts
in that final billet.

- So I cut all my pieces
to 4 inches long.

There's a huge risk
each time I win.

It becomes more
and more important

to keep the streak going.

I don't want to get a first
number and a second number.

I like "0" as a second number.

So as this billet is heating up,

I try to select a nice piece
of wood for my handle.

- Brent just put his
final stack in the forge.

So he's got a Damascus center

collided with the nickel
and then the wrought iron.

- I'm getting a little nervous.

This is a critical moment

'cause I've got to have
good welds.

There we go.

It looks good, it's not
splitting apart at the ends

in any significant way,
and I'm really happy with it.

- Brent, Ben, you guys
have four hours left.

We're halfway through.

Now on Ben's side of The Forge,

he's going for a high-layered
Damascus in the core.

Then he's still got
to collide it with the nickel

and the wrought iron

and go back
for another fourth weld.

- All I've got now
is one more weld

to get the wrought iron
and nickel

stuck onto this billet,
and I am off to the races.

- Ben is welding up
his final stack.

He's got a lot of work to do

to catch up
to where Brent's at right now.

- This is both the scariest

and most fun part
about this build.

If the weld doesn't stick,
it would be catastrophic.

This weld has to take.

Now I'm relatively confident
that this billet is welded.

But because of my choice
to restack my billet,

it's put me behind.

I need to catch up to Brent.

- The shape and profile
of this sword

is a little tricky 'cause

it's nice and flowing
like a leaf or a reed,

but then I have to contend
with this quad hollow grind,

so we have to be able to take
those grinds from all the wy

from the hilt to the tip
and keep that central lin,

as well as our edges,
as straight as possible.

So I have this idea
that maybe I can make tooling

to try to press in
some of this hollow grind.

- Brent built his own dyes
for the press

using some wrought iron
cylinders

next to each other
on the bottom and on the to.

- Let's see if it works.

The center spine
that I forged in on my tooling

is not really straight;
it's very lumpy,

but I have so much to do,
I have to move on.

- The next step is to cut
the shoulders for the bolster,

where the bolster
matches up to the handle,

and my first squeeze
is on the tang side

of what's gonna be my bolster.

I have to be really careful here

because it could end up being
a weak spot, it could break.

So I'm paying
very close attention

to make sure
I don't over squeeze

that junction
between bolster and blade.

You look a little tired, Brent.

Why don't you take a nap, man?

- You think you're, like,
lulling me into,

like, a sense of security,
you're not, man.

The bolster is looking
really good,

and now it's time
for the quench.

- Ben went from being
relatively far behind

and now he's the first one
quenched.

- This is a critical moment
because this is the moment

where this thing
becomes a sword.

It's warped, so I'm going
straight to the leg vice

to start to look
at straightening.

I don't love that I'm pulling
on this blade back and forth

to bend it
into the correct shape,

but of course
it's very brittle from quench

and I could break it.

- This is dangerous, 'cause
if anything happens right now,

he's only got three hours left

to completely build a new blade.

- If I go too far
and snap my blade,

it's all over for me.

I won't be able to finish.

- Okay. Let's stick with that.

I've got a really warpy blade,

but I still have a lot of mass
on this blade,

so I can grind a little
off of this side,

a little off of that,

and find a center
that's straight.

- It's time to start working
on the quad hollows.

What makes a quad hollow grind
tricky

is to do correctly it needs
to have a medial ridge,

so if you waver,

it's very easy to see,
and it looks bad,

so it's gonna take
a lot of work to get right.

Good stuff.

The hollow grinds
are looking good.

It's time to start working
on the handle.

- You're running out of time,
guys.

You have one hour left.

- I take my blade
out of the temper,

and I realize that I gotta
get this handle going.

- On Brent's side, he's doing
a multi-piece

through tang
handle construction.

He's gonna have brass, wood,

and then a brass pommel
on his blade.

- I want to make sure
it indexes well

and it's not too round;
I want those judges to fel

like it was shaped
proportionate to their hands.

I just want it to be
comfortable for them to use,

and safe, of course.

I finally get
the thing shaped up.

I just grab that handle
and feel that sword,

and this moment is the first
moment I felt like a sword.

It's great.

- Ben's now gonna get
his acid etch on his blade.

We're gonna see
that beautiful 156 layers pop.

- I've given all the time
I can give

to the blade and the acid.

It's now time to take a look.

Dude! It looks boss.
I mean, I see the nickel,

I see the wrought iron
in the center,

and I'm super excited.

It's just a matter
of the last little bits now.

- Five, four, three, two, one.
Great work.

Please put down your blades

and prepare yourselves
for testing.

- So I'm finished with my blade.

I'm really happy
with the way it looks,

and I look at Brent's blade,
and I'm intimidated.

I really want to win,

and my thus far
undefeated record

is on the line.

Now it's all down
to the testing.

- Doug, Dave, guys, you missed

yet another intense competition.

Brent decided
he wanted he and Ben

to build the Ida Sword,
so now you guys

got your chance to put
your hands on the weapons

and I want to hear
what you think.

Doug, what do you think
of silver?

- I really like the overall
symmetry of the blade,

the way it feels, the grinds,

and the way it just,
you know, transitions nicel.

- Now let's talk about gold.

- I like the configuration
of gold's handle.

The flare it's got
fits my hand really nicely.

It's easier
to control that weapon.

But once you move forward,
things start changing.

The edge is still in line,

but the medial ridge
is moving like that.

- Ready to put them to work?
- Oh, yeah.

- Let's do it.
- Let's get to it.

I'll call them in.

- Well, Brent, Ben,
congratulations

on making it through
that very difficult

eight-hour build
for your Ida Swords.

It's coming down to this.

Gentlemen, the stakes are high.

Ben, you're trying to keep
your unbeaten streak

of 7-0 going.

Brent, you're trying to be
the first smith to beat Ben,

taking home the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion

and getting a check for $10,000.

Best way, gentlemen,
we know how to find out

which one of your swords
is gonna come out on top...

By putting them
through a few tests.

And up first, we have
the KEAL test with Doug.

- All right, bladesmiths.

Welcome to the dynamic
KEAL test.

To find out lethal
your Ida Swords are,

I'm gonna cut through
this ballistics dummy

and pork loins.
You guys ready?

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

- My blade broke in half
on the first round...

So the stakes are high,

and I'm just ready to see wht
Doug can do with this thing.

- All right, guys,
the first thing about this

is when you pick it up,
it's forward heavy

'cause you have
thicker grinds right here.

But when you swing it,
it's manageable.

I like the flare
that he put over there

'cause it's really giving me
a nice counterbalance,

especially when you're
swinging something

that has a forward weight to it.

Overall, it will KEAL.

- I'm most concerned that
my blade is gonna

be heavier than Brent's
because it's bigger in profile

and heavier
sometimes can be worse.

- All right, gentlemen.

When I pick up this blade,

I can feel
the distribution of the weight

be far more even
compared to gold's over here.

When I'm cutting this,
because of that distribution,

it's even a deeper chop
into this ballistics dummy.

Now, when I'm grabbing
onto the handle here,

actually it feels good,
it's ovoid,

I can really tell
where the edge is.

Overall, it will KEAL.

- All right, gentlemen.

It's time for our combined
strength and sharpness test,

the ammo crate chop
and foam dummy slice.

Gold anvil's up.

- During the strength test,
anything can happen.

It can have bending or warping
and, of course, breakage,

and I definitely
do not want breakage

for the second time
in competition.

I'm really nervous.

- So right off,
when you pick up this weapo,

there's a lot of weight
up here in this blade.

But in that test, the blade
took a warp right there.

As far as the edges
of the blade go,

they held up quite well.

But there's really
no getting around that bend.

All right.

This thing is a superior cutter.

Those cuts took maybe
half the effort

to get deeper into that target.

As far as the strength test
goes, it took no damage.

Nice piece.

- Well, bladesmiths,
in eight hours

you were both tasked to build
a very difficult blade

with an even more
difficult technique,

but in this competition
only one of you

can come out on top.

The winner of today's
"Forged in Fire"

competition is...

Ben Abbott,
you are now 8-0, buddy.

Congratulations.

Brent, man, you're good.

You're an unbelievable smith,

but unfortunately, you didn't
come out on top today,

and Dave Baker
is gonna tell you why.

- Brent, I know how difficult
this blade is to make

and you did a great job
making it,

but you did take a slight bend
in the strength test,

and those uneven grinds

towards the front of this blade,

those are the two reasons
we chose the other sword.

- Well, Brent, again,
I want to say thank you

for coming back
and letting us all watch

you work in the Forge;
it was a pleasure,

but unfortunately
you're not the champion today.

This time I'm gonna have
to ask you to please step of

the Forge floor.

- I was able to do something
pretty incredible,

I think, in eight hours,

but Ben's a whole nother level.

It looks like he took
four days on it,

like a normal challenge.

Unbelievable.

I'm a two-time loser.

- Ben, Ben, Ben.
- Holy guacamole.

- Current record of 8-0
in The Forge.

How are you feeling?

- I feel amazing.
I'm super excited.

Brent is such an amazing smith,

and to be able to pull off
a win against him,

I just feel absolutely amazing.

But here I am, still undefeated.

With any luck, I'll be able
to keep this streak alive

forever and a day.

There's a lot of smiths
out there

that might want to take me down,

but I'm here, I'm ready.

Bring it on.