Forged in Fire (2015) s01e01 Episode Script
Japanese Katana
Since the dawn
of human civilization,
mankind has made weapons.
What began with sharpening
sticks and pounding stone
has evolved
into a highly complex skill
requiring the taming of fire
and steel.
Whoa!
The secrets and traditions
of weapon making
have been kept alive by
an elite group of bladesmiths
Heat up, heat up, heat up.
Who have honed and perfected
their skills
over thousands of years.
Now for the first time ever,
these men will go head-to-head
and put their skills
to the ultimate test.
Welcome to the Forge.
It starts with a lump
of raw steel
and a ticking clock
Damn near impossible to
forge your blade in that time.
And by the end of two rounds,
the bladesmiths must present
a weapon
capable of cutting, chopping,
and slicing.
If the blades they create
don't make the grade,
they are eliminated.
The top two craftsmen
then move on to
the final challenge,
where they must create
one of the most iconic weapons
ever made by man.
From the Japanese katana
to the Viking battle axe,
each has its own unique history
as told
through the forging process.
I cut my finger open.
The contestants' weapons must be
works of art
as well as deadly instruments
of war,
and they must survive a battery
of explosive tests,
as well as the scrutiny
of an expert panel of judges.
In the end,
there can be only one,
and he will take home $10,000
and be crowned
a Forged in Firechampion.
My name is Joe Waits.
I'm the head blade maker
at one of the largest
distributors of swords
in the world.
My name is Rich Greenwood.
By day, I work on
swimming pools,
and at night I'm a bladesmith.
My name is Matthew Parkinson.
I've been a blacksmith
for 15 years.
I'm Billy Hilton.
I'm a self-taught blacksmith
and bladesmith.
Welcome, and congratulations
on making it to the Forge.
Getting our first glimpse into
the forging area is amazing.
Everything's picture-perfect.
Between you, the title
of Forged In Firechampion,
and a check for $10,000
are three extremely
difficult challenges
designed to put your
weapon-making skills
to the test.
After each round, you will give
your work to the judges.
They will decide who stays
and who goes.
Two of you will advance
to a final,
where you will forge
one of the greatest weapons
ever made by mankind.
Now it's time to meet
our judges.
First up,
solo weapons-making expert
and internationally known
master bladesmith J. Neilson.
Next, world-renowned swordsmith
and rare weapons re-creation
specialist David Baker.
And finally
edged weapons specialist
and martial artist
Doug Marcaida.
It's time to get to work.
In front of you on your anvil
is a cloth.
Go ahead and lift that up.
That is a bar
of high-carbon steel.
From that lump of raw metal,
you must design and forge
a fully functioning weapon.
The blade itself should be
in your own style.
You have ten minutes to work
on your design
and three hours to forge
your blade.
Normally, it takes me three days
to make a knife.
I don't know how
I'm gonna pull it off.
The blade must fall within
the following size parameters.
The length of the blade
should be at least 9 inches
but not more than 11 inches.
And just to spice things up
a little bit,
you must also include
a serrated edge into that blade.
The length of the serration
should be at least 4 inches.
I've done some serrations
in the past,
but it's much more stressful
in this situation.
After three hours,
one of you will be asked
to surrender your weapon
and go home.
Good luck, gentlemen.
Your ten-minute design window
begins now.
I specialize in doing a lot
of historical work.
I'm basing this knife
off of Continental Seax.
It's a German war knife.
Historical stuff always
fascinates me,
'cause it's like being able
to pull this idea of history
into the modern age.
I specialize in practical,
everyday knives,
so my design
is a drop-point bowie.
It's typically a camp knife.
It's for everyday chores.
It'll chop a tree down
and still be able
to cut your apple
when you're ready for dinner.
My inspiration comes from
Japanese blade making.
I'm going with a Tanto blade,
because it fits the style
of knife
that I enjoy making--
hunting, fighting-style knives.
I grew up with a family
of craftsmen
and blue-collar workers.
I think that just gave me
the ability
to not worry about getting
my hands dirty.
My interest in swords began
at an early age
after seeing
Conan The Barbarian.
It's one of
the most iconic movies
and has one of
the most iconic swords.
I'm gonna make a bowie.
It's a classic design,
clip point.
It'll stab right through
whatever they test.
If some great character
like Conan had it,
I think he would feel
comfortable
cutting a giant snake's head off
with it.
Bladesmiths, your ten-minute
design window
is closed.
You may start forging
your blades now!
The clock starts.
I toss my bar into the forge
as soon as the bar's hot,
and then I knocked the bar down
a little bit.
The actual definition of forging
is when you use the plastic
state of metal to deform it,
using blows from a hammer
or pressure from a press
for it to be where I want
and need it to be
for whatever shape
I'm trying to make.
So you ever cooked your beard?
A couple times.
It never gets longer
than this,
'cause I'm always
burning it back.
I try not to shave,
'cause I look like
a perverted Boy Scout.
My strategy for this competition
is to simply get 'er done.
I'm forging right now,
trying to get a little bit
of swag in it,
trying to make it look
a little bit purdy.
What I'm going to do with this
prize money when I win is,
I'm gonna build a bigger shop.
My wife does engraving.
I do knife making.
We're combining the two
into one comfy shop.
Oh, yeah.
Joe's chugging right along.
My main goal
in this competition
is to crush my enemies,
to see them driven before me,
and to hear the lamentations
of their women.
Everything's going
according to plan,
which is slow and easy.
He's being very meticulous.
He may be the kind of guy
that he figures he's got
three hours.
He can do a work of art.
Yeah?
We'll see what happens.
Coming behind you with
a hot piece of steel.
During my career, I've made
over 6,000 blades,
and I do not believe
that anybody else
can even approach that number
in this competition.
It seems that Joe's doing
some thermocycling.
He's brought it up.
He's let it cool
a couple of times now.
He's still got that forge going
full-bore.
You don't want to keep
overheating that tip.
What happens if you burn
the steel?
You're gonna weaken
the structure of the steel.
As I'm watching everybody
bang on their steel and forge
and mine's still heating up,
I'm thinking,
"I may have chosen just
a little too large of blade."
I'm really kind of worried
about Rich.
I'm starting to fall behind.
Am I the only one
that's sweating or what?
Gentlemen!
You have 90 minutes remaining!
He's putting on his bandolier
of belts.
I start getting my geometry
correct on my blade
to make sure everything
is perpendicular, in line.
This is what you call
getting up close and personal,
getting your spark on.
Look at those sparks
coming off of that.
Matt has definitely
jumped ahead.
He's already got a tip
worked out on that sucker.
I got a good amount
of time left.
I'm basically there.
It's all finish work now.
My grandfather was a welder,
and his level of metal working
kind of influenced me
as a child.
I actually named my son
after him.
I'm gonna win this for my son.
I'm gonna win this
for my grandfather.
Once this is down to, like,
almost touchable,
I quench it in water
just so I can handle it
and start filing
the serrations in.
Matt just went in
for a quench.
Oh!
He's got some heat on there yet.
I'm still trying to figure out
what Rich is trying to do.
I don't think Rich is
comfortable with his pace.
Proving a little more difficult
that I thought it'd be.
I'm looking around,
and I'm seeing progress
that the other contestants
are making.
How's it going?
Kind of close to done.
It's kind of making me panic.
.
Man, we got a blade
on the floor.
I'm very concerned.
The more tired and frustrated
you get,
the more drops
you'll wind up with.
And it's like trying
to pick up a dime
without fingernails.
I'm just falling behind,
and it's looking like
I'm just not gonna be able
to get this done.
I think I may bit off more
than I can chew.
Part of the requirement was that
it had to be at least 4 inches
of serration,
so I drew the serrations
in a 4 1/2 inch section
just to make sure
I had a little extra
and not just 4 exactly.
Doug, what difference does
a serrated edge make
to combat?
You don't have to time
to keep sharpening your blade.
Having that option gives you
the function to cut
without having to constantly
keep your blade sharp.
One hour, gentlemen!
You have one hour remaining!
Holy crap!
Right now, it's starting
to feel alive.
The blade's starting to move
like it should.
For a fighting knife,
it's got to move,
and it's really starting.
Oh, .
Oh, no.
- Uh-oh.
- Oh, no.
Ah, come on.
He just broke the blade.
He just lost an inch
off the tip of his blade.
Joe's blade broke.
Just when you think you're done,
always something else pops up.
I think I overshot my
temperature a little bit,
overhardened the tip
of my blade,
and it broke off.
I'm hoping he makes the length.
I'm hoping he didn't drop below.
9 to 11 inches,
and maybe 1 1/2 inches
of that thing came off.
I'm coming in short,
so it is over.
I believe I've just lost
the entire thing.
- Can't quit.
- Don't quit.
Don't quit.
- Hey, Joe.
- Yeah.
You can still finish that blade.
You can just grind it down.
It might be able to make it
into the final challenge.
Go for it, man.
Just do what you can with
the time you have left.
Don't walk out on it;
you've worked too hard.
He made a point.
I wouldn't have the elegant look
I was going for,
but I could have a reformed tip
on the grinder.
He could still pull it off.
As long as he's still got
9 inches of blade there,
he's good to go.
Look at the difference
in Rich's blade.
Winning this competition
is very important to me.
I would like to expand
my shop
and make it larger and easier
to work in.
He can pull this off.
With a beard like that,
all things are possible.
Yes.
30 minutes!
You have 30 minutes remaining!
So it looks like Joe
has ground a tip
back into that blade.
Yeah, and it took him, what,
about a total of 6, 7 minutes?
I think I was able to recover.
I not only have a reformed tip,
but I still have a blade
that's lengthy enough,
and I may actually be able
to move forward.
It's how you react
to situations.
I don't know how you react.
I usually throw the blade
across the room.
Yeah, and if it doesn't
break again,
then it's okay.
The serrated edge part
is throwing me out of whack.
I didn't get my serrated edges
deep enough,
and I washed 'em out
in the grinding process.
I'm trying to tweak it
the best I can
with the minutes
that I have left.
Every dog has its day,
and this ain't mine.
30 seconds!
30 seconds remaining!
10, 9,
8, 7,
6, 5,
4, 3,
2, 1.
Set 'em down, gentlemen!
Time is up!
- Wow.
- Unreal.
I know; we can all
take a breath.
Yeah.
At this point, I don't know
if my blade
is good enough to continue
in the competition,
but I've already been through
the worst-case scenario.
Nothing worse than what has
already happened to me
can happen to me at this point.
It can happen again, but that
could only be as bad
as what's already happened.
Your challenge was to forge
a 9-to-11-inch blade
out of a bar
of high-carbon steel.
The blade must have at least
4 inches of serrations.
Now it's time for the judges
to take a look at your work.
Joe, please present your weapon
to the judges.
Good job on sucking it up
and reworking it.
But the obvious question is
the tip issue you had.
You lost about an inch
of that tip.
How do you feel about the rework
that you did?
I'm not necessarily pleased
with the way the tip structure
is now
versus the way it was initially.
I think it's functional.
Yeah.
When that tip came off
and you decided
to finish what you started
is even more telling of what
a master bladesmith does.
You adapted, you improvised,
and you overcame.
It's still a functional weapon.
But is it the best weapon?
That remains to be seen.
But thank you
for not giving up.
Thank you.
Rich,
you're up next.
It's definitely a beefy blade,
and it's definitely got
the scare factor.
I'm curious to see how well
it performs.
As you were grinding away,
and we're going,
"He's got nothing.
He's got no serrations."
A minute later, you're like
Which actually is kind of
a neat look.
Matt, it's your turn.
Well, I really love what you did
with the serration.
You took a lot of time just
laying that in nice and slow,
and so it's got
a really clean look.
Thank you.
You did stretch it out
quite a bit,
and your tip is a lot more
tapered
than your original drawing.
How do you think that's gonna
hold up?
I think this will be all right.
Leaving myself just a little bit
short on material,
and I wanted to make sure
I had the length.
It's always a fine line.
It's a very fine line.
Billy, you're last up.
I like the overall design
of the knife.
It's a good point,
good profile.
You also got hung up
on the serrations.
Actually, what I did was,
on the grinder,
I dug in too deep on one side,
and I had to work on that.
Okay.
I like the design.
Did you measure the
length of this serration?
I did.
4 1/8 is what I came up with.
Thank you.
Obviously, the judges
have much to discuss.
They'll need some time to make
their decision.
Thank you.
Wow.
That was rough.
We have a lot to discuss.
I hope they don't chop a finger
off in there or something.
Let's start with Matt's blade.
I mean, he seemed like
he knew what he's doing.
He gave us a clean blade.
It's a little thin
on the tip to thrust.
And it's nicely done
for handwork
on a three-hour job.
Let's take a look
at Rich's zombie killer.
You know, if he had
designed this and said,
"I'm going to make the most
badass post-apocalyptic
zombie killing machine
I ever could,"
I mean, he's almost right there.
But it wasn't what he was
shooting for.
He was shooting for more
of a classic Tanto
with a large blade
and a long handle.
Beauty is in the eye
of beholder.
In terms of calling it crude,
once again,
let's see the function.
Worst-case scenario, you could
beat somebody to death with it.
Let's look at Joe's blade.
He broke a tip off,
and he reground.
He gets credit for that.
But
you got multiple fractures
up the tip.
I'm counting two, three,
four, five.
We've already seen that tip
break once,
so we know how brittle
this tip is.
Let's go ahead
and measure Joe's blade.
The overall length of the blade
is
just shy of 9 1/2 inches,
and the length of his
serrations
Yeah, by 1/8th of an inch,
he's under.
That is unfortunate.
Let's take a look
at Billy's blade.
Well, again, I like Billy's
overall profile.
Can we get a measurement?
So on the serrations,
we have
Wow.
Oh, he's way short.
He's almost 1/2 inch
under.
We got more cracks too.
There is one, two, three
big cracks.
So we've got two guys
who didn't meet the specs
for the length of the serration,
but we can only remove
one of them this round.
So it all comes down to quality.
Have we made our decision?
Yeah.
Yes, we have.
- Yeah.
- We're all in agreement?
- I think so.
- All in agreement.
Okay, let's go tell
our bladesmiths.
I'm freaking out.
I have a big possible mistake.
I may be going home today.
I know my blade's not up to par.
My only hope at this point is,
somebody made a worse blade
than I did.
Gentlemen, the judges
have made their decision.
All of your blades
made the size parameters
for this challenge.
However, two of your blades
did not meet the required
length of serration.
Rich
Matt
you are safe.
Well done.
Billy
and Joe,
one of you
will be going home.
The judges have made
their decision.
Joe
you did not make the cut.
Well, Joe,
we had a few different issues
to work with.
You were 1/8th of an inch short
on those serrations.
And, actually, if you
had had one more serration,
you'd have made the parameters
we asked for.
Also, when we saw
the tip break,
we also saw the grain structure.
It was very coarse
from overheating in the forge.
And we saw the lines
from the stress fractures
up on the blade.
I don't think that tip
would hold up.
Joe?
Please surrender your weapon.
I overheated my steel,
and there's no excuses for that.
Right now, I wish I'd have been
a bit more cautious
with my temperatures.
I did well with the forging.
I did well with the design,
I believe.
It's just what should have been
my strengths,
I allowed to become
my weaknesses.
Gentlemen, you've made it
through to round two.
Your second challenge
is to turn your blades
into fully functioning weapons.
There are three hours
on the clock.
You must design and fabricate
a handle
from the materials provided
for you.
You can use that time to do
any further work on your blade
if you feel the need.
When the time runs out,
your blades will be tested
for strength and durability
and also their ability
to hold an edge
in a specially designed
sharpness test.
Only two of you will move
forward to the final.
Your time starts
now.
Oh, yeah.
I run over
to the handle materials,
and I start looking
for something
that's hefty enough
for a knife this size,
antler or bone,
something that I can use
the natural material
as the finish,
'cause if I have to start
polishing out a handle,
I'm never gonna make the time.
God, that is an awful sound.
Antler is really strong,
but the pith,
where the blood flows
through it, is very weak,
and you just need to remove
all of it.
I think this deer had
a calcium deficiency.
So I drill out as much
as I possibly can,
and then I fit that handle
through the tang.
I have a hidden tang knife.
This is the classic system
of how swords were assembled
all the way through
medieval era.
That's a bad deal right there.
I chose to go with some
micarta handle material,
and it looks a little bit sexy,
if I don't say.
Wham.
Now I need to think about
how I'm gonna attach
my handle to the knife.
Or I can use bolts
and I can drill
appropriate-size holes
for these to fit in.
Hope my dentist don't see that
in my mouth.
And they actually screw together
and put complete tension
on the knife handle itself.
Now I'm cleaning up all
the epoxy that smooshed out
whenever I glued
the handle on.
That kind of bothers me.
Ooh, doggies.
What I'd like to see
is Billy work on a blade
that's got a crack on it.
Those flaws in his blade
are fixable,
but he's wasting time.
It's almost like Billy worked
on his handle as a distraction.
You know, "I don't know exactly
what to do about this crack,
but in the meantime,
I'm gonna make a handle."
We're only a half hour
into this.
It could be the most beautiful
handle ever created
With the shortest,
squared-off, broken blade.
I took a risk
in the first round.
I was overambitious.
So in this round,
I'm playing it safe.
I'm going with a fiberglass
handle material that I know.
On my handle, I use seven pins
in order to get a good adhesion
to the blade.
You lose your handles
on your knife,
the knife doesn't function
and you're done.
That's a lot of pins.
Three more pins,
we could go bowling.
Uh-oh. Oh!
That didn't work very well.
That was Matt
with the rotary tool.
My weakest part is finish.
Oh, that's not helpful.
It just takes me a long time.
So now I'm starting to panic
a little bit.
- Sorry.
- No, go.
I'm trying to rush too much,
and I'm gonna break
what I'm doing.
I need to stop panicking.
Oh, come on.
Sometimes bad stuff just happens
in knife making.
- You doing all right, Matt?
- I hate these belts.
The clock's really starting
to get to Matt.
I kind of put myself behind.
I'm not sure I'm gonna be able
to put this together.
You have one hour remaining.
Put your respirators on.
Time's rattling away,
because I was concentrating
on a handle so bad,
I forgot I had time
to work on the blade.
All right, here's the money shot
where I stab myself.
I'm glad to see that he did
a bunch of blade work on that,
did clean it up.
How are you, man?
You know what?
I'm hanging in there.
How about yourself?
I think I'm doing well.
I'll find out in a little bit.
Looking sweet, buddy.
There's 21 minutes left
on the clock,
and they're chitchatting.
I'm gonna do hand sanding
and try to get some of the
rough grinds out of the blade.
I think he's finally
on that blade.
I think we need to watch Billy
very closely
for the next few minutes,
because what he does here,
it's gonna be critical.
I'm hoping he doesn't crack it
off right there in the vise.
You think you could get me
a Band-Aid? Thank you.
In the knife shop,
you're always getting cut.
The best thing's
a little Band-Aid.
You put it on there, blow on it,
hold it,
and you're ready to go again.
10! 9! 8!
7! 6! 5!
4! 3! 2!
1!
Time's up, gentlemen.
Time's up.
Get it off.
I've done all I can
with the blade.
The handle looks really good.
Going to see what they say.
You've all made
some handsome blades,
but can they cut it
in the testing arena?
It's time to find out.
J. will be testing
your blades' strength
and durability
against these steel drums,
followed by
a sharpness test
against these ropes.
Fellow bladesmiths,
I'm gonna take
each of your blades,
and I'm going to take
three attempts
to pierce the steel
up to your serrations.
Rich, you're going
to be first.
We do have a few issues
with the edge.
There's a small crack
up here towards the tip,
and we've got a flake
down towards the bottom.
That's a devastating blow.
I have no idea if I'm gonna
get through that sharpness test
with chips in the blade.
That's a thick-ass rope.
We're gonna do three cuts
on each rope.
I'm ready.
With every slice,
I'm just hoping
it's going to make it
through that rope.
And if not,
that could be the end.
.
Had I given it more thought,
I probably would have changed
the geometry of the blade
to make it cut that rope easier.
Totally different blade, Matt.
Are you ready?
Try to break it.
Really?
You are kidding me.
I rode that thinness down
to the point
where I thought it was just
gonna go right through.
It just went in, like,
a half an inch.
I'm shocked.
A thin blade should go through
with less pressure.
I don't understand why
it didn't go through.
So close.
Billy.
I think you've known
from challenge one
we've had a bit of an issue
with this blade.
A big issue.
We've got three stress fractures
at the serrations.
Yes.
For safety reasons,
I really don't feel comfortable
thrusting this
into a steel drum.
What the ?
He's not gonna do
the thrust test.
What the Sam Heck am I gonna do?
Though you did give us
a finished and sharp knife,
so I would like still
to do the sharpness test.
I'm really thrilled
that J.'s gonna do the cutting
part of the competition.
I really want to see how my
blade cuts through that rope.
Well, Billy, it did
pretty well on the rope.
Got almost all the way through.
It performed well.
Thank you.
Even though the flaws
are in my blade,
my knife did really well
on the cutting competition.
Who knows? I may still have
a chance at this.
Gentlemen.
The judges have made
their decision.
Billy,
you didn't make the cut.
We all loved your handle,
and you put a lot of time
in detailing a blade
that had some real problems
to it.
We all just kind of wish
you had addressed
those fractures
and given your blade
a chance to be put through
the punch test.
So, unfortunately,
we have to let you go.
Billy?
Please surrender your weapon.
I'm feeling
a little disappointed
that I didn't get to move on
to the next part
of this competition.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Appreciate it.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Do I wish
I could have won this thing?
Absolutely.
Rich, Matt, you've made it
to the Forged in Firefinal.
So far,
we've asked you to design
and produce
a weapon of your own choosing.
To claim
the Forged in Firecrown,
you must design and forge
our mystery weapon,
one of the most famous
and revered weapons
from history.
The Japanese katana.
The katana is the traditional
weapon of the samurai,
the noble class of warriors
in feudal Japan
since around 800 A.D.
The katana was formed
from hundreds of thin layers
of the purest steel available.
The quicker draw of the sword
was well suited to combat
where life versus death
depended on the weapon
you carried into battle.
Over the centuries,
the katana has taken on
many mythical properties
in legend and culture,
from an ability
to slice through other swords
to splitting a hair.
And it is the sword of choice
for characters
in megahits like Kill Bill
and The Walking Dead.
You must create
an authentic, fully functioning
version of that weapon.
I have mad respect to the guys
who make those things.
A katana is so just
not my thing.
The challenge of making a katana
leveled the playing field
a little bit,
because it was more in my style.
You have five days
to complete this challenge.
And just to give you
the best possible chance,
we're sending you back
to your home forges
for the final round.
After the five days,
you will come back
and present your sword
to the judges.
They will put it
through a series
of high-impact,
high-velocity tests.
Once those tests
are completed,
they will decide
who will be crowned
the Forged in Firechampion
and walk away with a check
for $10,000.
Nice.
Good luck, gentlemen.
We'll see you in five days.
I am absolutely amazed
that I made it this far.
At every stage
of the competition,
I thought, "This is it.
I'm going home."
With five days, I think
I can actually prove my worth.
The next five days, for me,
are going to be
a little more stressful
than for Matt.
I've got no power hammers,
no presses.
Everything is by hand.
The competition was hard,
but I did a good job,
and I went through,
and I'd like to win
10 grand now.
That'd be nice.
I'm gonna go for
a full-hardened blade,
so strong and so fine-grained,
it should outperform
anything else
that anybody can put
on the table.
My goal is to get the blade
to where I can quench it.
So what I'm doing here is,
I'm breaking
all the sharp edges,
because if you got
any sharp edges,
you got a lot better chance
of cracking something.
During the quenching process,
what will happen is,
the molecules
in the edge of the blade
will tighten up, and I'll get
a curve to the blade.
And that's very important
to the process
in this particular sword.
This is where it all happens.
It'll kill me, or it'll make me.
Here we go.
you.
About four seconds
into the quench,
I heard a loud tick.
I knew that was it
and it was all over.
Several cracks along the tip.
I just got the blade way too hot
before I quenched it,
and when you've got
too hot a blade
and you throw it
in cooler water,
then it's a crack.
I'm not gonna say all is lost
just yet.
With only having two days,
it's gonna be tough.
I'm gonna get to work.
That's ready for heat treating.
I'm gonna slide my blade
down there.
About 600 degrees.
I'm just gonna bring it up
and let it cool.
I'm doing this for my son.
I'm doing this so that
he can be proud of me.
See what Daddy's doing?
Setting the stone right now.
Nice.
I like this sword a lot.
I'm still a little apprehensive
about what the judges
are going to be looking for.
I'm just going to cut
a couple water bottles
to make sure
the geometry is good.
That was a successful test cut.
This is a really good sword.
I got one day to go,
so I'm gonna bust my ass,
and I'm gonna try
and get something made
that I'm proud of.
This is my final shot
to stay in the competition.
If this blade doesn't survive,
I'm out.
I'm getting ready.
I'm quenching now.
Gentlemen,
I hope that your time at home
was productive
and inspired.
Matt, can you tell us
a little bit about the process?
I decided to go for
a performance blade,
so I did a pretty good
heat treat on it,
and then I did leather risers
and a leather wrap over the top.
It's a fairly traditional
European design,
but I have seen similar wraps
on katana.
It's not the fanciest sword
I've ever made,
but I'm very proud of the sword.
Rich, what was your thinking
beside the design in this sword?
I went with a modern-style
full-tang handle,
which is not traditional
in a katana.
I actually had a little bit
of a problem
about three days in
and had to make
an entirely new blade,
so I was backed off
by about a day.
With that said, in the end,
it all came out all right.
Great.
To measure how your blades
stand up against flesh,
Doug will cut through
these fish
that are suspended
in a multiple-target
engagement pattern.
Making sushi.
Rich, yours is up.
Let's put it to the test.
Nice.
It will cut.
Yes, it will.
It felt good in the slice.
But the recovery was
a little heavier,
but it still felt like
it'll give me a close shave.
Good job.
Okay, Matt, you're up next.
Are you ready?
Yup.
It doesn't cut, and I'm
a little confused by that.
I don't know why it didn't cut.
It's got a very good feel to it.
It's very light.
It's got a very nice
balance to it.
And
it'll cut.
Now for the kill test.
In this, we have
a ballistics dummy
that pretty much simulates
the human form,
organs and tissues.
The katana traditionally has
a razor-sharp edge.
That allows me to find the gaps
in between the armor.
I'm going to try that
with your blades
to see how well it does.
Rich, you're up first.
Let's take a look
at the damage.
Oh.
The thrust and the slice
went all the way into
the internal organs in here.
And the kill shot went deep
all the way into the liver.
I think, on the kill test,
this will kill.
Okay, Matt, you're up.
Definitely through
the laceration,
he's disemboweled here.
A nice big puncture in here.
That definitely will get
the liver.
I think it's passed
the kill test.
Thank you.
You both obviously brought
deadly implements
of war here.
But now it's time
to lock and load, gentlemen,
because for the strength test,
we're leaving the Forge
and we're heading
to the gun range.
What?
All right, gentlemen.
This is the final test
for the Forged in Fire
championship.
It's the strength test.
Your weapons
will be tested
on their ability
to split a bullet.
Your swords are gonna be
locked into a vise.
Then we're gonna fire a bullet
at your blade.
Don't bring a sword
to a gunfight.
All I can think of
in my head is,
"You're about to destroy
two beautiful swords."
All right, Matt.
You ready?
Break it.
3, 2, 1.
Engage.
- Oh!
- Yes!
- Yes.
- Nice.
The gun fires,
and it breaks the bullet
in three pieces.
I don't even think
the sword moved.
It just--pfft!
Well, Matt, your sword
split a bullet.
There's no damage on the edge
at all.
Held up extremely well.
That is a real, true sign
of your craftsmanship.
- Thank you.
- Very well done.
All right, Rich, you're up next.
When I look at them
set the gun up and get ready
to shoot that blade,
there's a little bit of doubt
in the back of my mind
thinking, "It may not
survive this."
3, 2, 1, engage.
- Nice!
- Oh, yeah!
- Sweet.
- Ha ha!
- Wow.
- Definitely got a split there.
- Nice.
- Yeah, that's a split.
- I like it.
- That blade didn't even move.
It splits the bullet.
I couldn't have been happier.
My blade held up against Matt's
in every way, shape, or form.
There's no mark on the blade
at all.
Held up perfectly.
No chipping.
Everything looks great.
Thank you.
Congratulations, gentlemen.
You should be proud
of the work that you've done,
which only makes
the judges' decision
that much harder.
We'll see you back at the Forge.
Both of us passed everything.
Our swords performed
like they're supposed to,
and it's up to the judges.
I think the judges have
a very tough decision to make.
Matt, Rich
In just five days,
you have both forged elegant
and lethal
Japanese katanas.
But in this competition,
there can only be one winner
of $10,000.
J.?
Well, Matt, your sword blade
performed beautifully.
It split the bullet
into three pieces,
and we know
it was still even sharp
where the bullet hit it.
That was a great job.
The concern I had, though,
is with the samurai armor,
it did not pierce nearly as much
as I thought it would.
I think there's a little bit
of drag on the blade,
which concerns me,
towards the tip there.
Comments for Rich?
Rich, on the fish cut,
it did quite well.
It is top-heavy,
so it'll slice through.
But then I had to pull back
for recovery
and had to use my other hand.
But I needed it
for recovery also.
The creativity
of your handle set-up
was really nice,
but I have some issues
with the construction,
you know, the pins being
a little too close to the edge.
That's something
that concerns me.
Unfortunately,
in this competition,
there can only be one winner.
Matthew.
You are the Forged in Fire
champion.
Congratulations.
Rich, you did not make the cut.
I wish you had done
a little bit more finish work.
You let the handle get
a little bit skinny,
and it was almost the same
proportions on each side, so
I know you ran
into a time constraint,
but it did split a bullet,
and that's truly
something to be proud of.
I feel a little disappointed,
but the better bladesmith won.
Well, Matt, congratulations.
You are the Forged in Fire
champion.
You're gonna claim
a $10,000 check.
How do you feel?
This is awesome.
Your blade is beautiful.
Not only is it beautiful,
but it's fast.
It cut so cleanly
through the fish.
And on the ballistic dummies,
that just disemboweled it
for the kill test.
Great job.
Blade aside,
I was really impressed
with your handle setup.
Symmetrically,
it was correct.
We could get good control,
good grip on it.
Very nicely done.
This is such a rush.
I want to drive home
and kiss my son.
I am the Forged in Fire
champion.
of human civilization,
mankind has made weapons.
What began with sharpening
sticks and pounding stone
has evolved
into a highly complex skill
requiring the taming of fire
and steel.
Whoa!
The secrets and traditions
of weapon making
have been kept alive by
an elite group of bladesmiths
Heat up, heat up, heat up.
Who have honed and perfected
their skills
over thousands of years.
Now for the first time ever,
these men will go head-to-head
and put their skills
to the ultimate test.
Welcome to the Forge.
It starts with a lump
of raw steel
and a ticking clock
Damn near impossible to
forge your blade in that time.
And by the end of two rounds,
the bladesmiths must present
a weapon
capable of cutting, chopping,
and slicing.
If the blades they create
don't make the grade,
they are eliminated.
The top two craftsmen
then move on to
the final challenge,
where they must create
one of the most iconic weapons
ever made by man.
From the Japanese katana
to the Viking battle axe,
each has its own unique history
as told
through the forging process.
I cut my finger open.
The contestants' weapons must be
works of art
as well as deadly instruments
of war,
and they must survive a battery
of explosive tests,
as well as the scrutiny
of an expert panel of judges.
In the end,
there can be only one,
and he will take home $10,000
and be crowned
a Forged in Firechampion.
My name is Joe Waits.
I'm the head blade maker
at one of the largest
distributors of swords
in the world.
My name is Rich Greenwood.
By day, I work on
swimming pools,
and at night I'm a bladesmith.
My name is Matthew Parkinson.
I've been a blacksmith
for 15 years.
I'm Billy Hilton.
I'm a self-taught blacksmith
and bladesmith.
Welcome, and congratulations
on making it to the Forge.
Getting our first glimpse into
the forging area is amazing.
Everything's picture-perfect.
Between you, the title
of Forged In Firechampion,
and a check for $10,000
are three extremely
difficult challenges
designed to put your
weapon-making skills
to the test.
After each round, you will give
your work to the judges.
They will decide who stays
and who goes.
Two of you will advance
to a final,
where you will forge
one of the greatest weapons
ever made by mankind.
Now it's time to meet
our judges.
First up,
solo weapons-making expert
and internationally known
master bladesmith J. Neilson.
Next, world-renowned swordsmith
and rare weapons re-creation
specialist David Baker.
And finally
edged weapons specialist
and martial artist
Doug Marcaida.
It's time to get to work.
In front of you on your anvil
is a cloth.
Go ahead and lift that up.
That is a bar
of high-carbon steel.
From that lump of raw metal,
you must design and forge
a fully functioning weapon.
The blade itself should be
in your own style.
You have ten minutes to work
on your design
and three hours to forge
your blade.
Normally, it takes me three days
to make a knife.
I don't know how
I'm gonna pull it off.
The blade must fall within
the following size parameters.
The length of the blade
should be at least 9 inches
but not more than 11 inches.
And just to spice things up
a little bit,
you must also include
a serrated edge into that blade.
The length of the serration
should be at least 4 inches.
I've done some serrations
in the past,
but it's much more stressful
in this situation.
After three hours,
one of you will be asked
to surrender your weapon
and go home.
Good luck, gentlemen.
Your ten-minute design window
begins now.
I specialize in doing a lot
of historical work.
I'm basing this knife
off of Continental Seax.
It's a German war knife.
Historical stuff always
fascinates me,
'cause it's like being able
to pull this idea of history
into the modern age.
I specialize in practical,
everyday knives,
so my design
is a drop-point bowie.
It's typically a camp knife.
It's for everyday chores.
It'll chop a tree down
and still be able
to cut your apple
when you're ready for dinner.
My inspiration comes from
Japanese blade making.
I'm going with a Tanto blade,
because it fits the style
of knife
that I enjoy making--
hunting, fighting-style knives.
I grew up with a family
of craftsmen
and blue-collar workers.
I think that just gave me
the ability
to not worry about getting
my hands dirty.
My interest in swords began
at an early age
after seeing
Conan The Barbarian.
It's one of
the most iconic movies
and has one of
the most iconic swords.
I'm gonna make a bowie.
It's a classic design,
clip point.
It'll stab right through
whatever they test.
If some great character
like Conan had it,
I think he would feel
comfortable
cutting a giant snake's head off
with it.
Bladesmiths, your ten-minute
design window
is closed.
You may start forging
your blades now!
The clock starts.
I toss my bar into the forge
as soon as the bar's hot,
and then I knocked the bar down
a little bit.
The actual definition of forging
is when you use the plastic
state of metal to deform it,
using blows from a hammer
or pressure from a press
for it to be where I want
and need it to be
for whatever shape
I'm trying to make.
So you ever cooked your beard?
A couple times.
It never gets longer
than this,
'cause I'm always
burning it back.
I try not to shave,
'cause I look like
a perverted Boy Scout.
My strategy for this competition
is to simply get 'er done.
I'm forging right now,
trying to get a little bit
of swag in it,
trying to make it look
a little bit purdy.
What I'm going to do with this
prize money when I win is,
I'm gonna build a bigger shop.
My wife does engraving.
I do knife making.
We're combining the two
into one comfy shop.
Oh, yeah.
Joe's chugging right along.
My main goal
in this competition
is to crush my enemies,
to see them driven before me,
and to hear the lamentations
of their women.
Everything's going
according to plan,
which is slow and easy.
He's being very meticulous.
He may be the kind of guy
that he figures he's got
three hours.
He can do a work of art.
Yeah?
We'll see what happens.
Coming behind you with
a hot piece of steel.
During my career, I've made
over 6,000 blades,
and I do not believe
that anybody else
can even approach that number
in this competition.
It seems that Joe's doing
some thermocycling.
He's brought it up.
He's let it cool
a couple of times now.
He's still got that forge going
full-bore.
You don't want to keep
overheating that tip.
What happens if you burn
the steel?
You're gonna weaken
the structure of the steel.
As I'm watching everybody
bang on their steel and forge
and mine's still heating up,
I'm thinking,
"I may have chosen just
a little too large of blade."
I'm really kind of worried
about Rich.
I'm starting to fall behind.
Am I the only one
that's sweating or what?
Gentlemen!
You have 90 minutes remaining!
He's putting on his bandolier
of belts.
I start getting my geometry
correct on my blade
to make sure everything
is perpendicular, in line.
This is what you call
getting up close and personal,
getting your spark on.
Look at those sparks
coming off of that.
Matt has definitely
jumped ahead.
He's already got a tip
worked out on that sucker.
I got a good amount
of time left.
I'm basically there.
It's all finish work now.
My grandfather was a welder,
and his level of metal working
kind of influenced me
as a child.
I actually named my son
after him.
I'm gonna win this for my son.
I'm gonna win this
for my grandfather.
Once this is down to, like,
almost touchable,
I quench it in water
just so I can handle it
and start filing
the serrations in.
Matt just went in
for a quench.
Oh!
He's got some heat on there yet.
I'm still trying to figure out
what Rich is trying to do.
I don't think Rich is
comfortable with his pace.
Proving a little more difficult
that I thought it'd be.
I'm looking around,
and I'm seeing progress
that the other contestants
are making.
How's it going?
Kind of close to done.
It's kind of making me panic.
.
Man, we got a blade
on the floor.
I'm very concerned.
The more tired and frustrated
you get,
the more drops
you'll wind up with.
And it's like trying
to pick up a dime
without fingernails.
I'm just falling behind,
and it's looking like
I'm just not gonna be able
to get this done.
I think I may bit off more
than I can chew.
Part of the requirement was that
it had to be at least 4 inches
of serration,
so I drew the serrations
in a 4 1/2 inch section
just to make sure
I had a little extra
and not just 4 exactly.
Doug, what difference does
a serrated edge make
to combat?
You don't have to time
to keep sharpening your blade.
Having that option gives you
the function to cut
without having to constantly
keep your blade sharp.
One hour, gentlemen!
You have one hour remaining!
Holy crap!
Right now, it's starting
to feel alive.
The blade's starting to move
like it should.
For a fighting knife,
it's got to move,
and it's really starting.
Oh, .
Oh, no.
- Uh-oh.
- Oh, no.
Ah, come on.
He just broke the blade.
He just lost an inch
off the tip of his blade.
Joe's blade broke.
Just when you think you're done,
always something else pops up.
I think I overshot my
temperature a little bit,
overhardened the tip
of my blade,
and it broke off.
I'm hoping he makes the length.
I'm hoping he didn't drop below.
9 to 11 inches,
and maybe 1 1/2 inches
of that thing came off.
I'm coming in short,
so it is over.
I believe I've just lost
the entire thing.
- Can't quit.
- Don't quit.
Don't quit.
- Hey, Joe.
- Yeah.
You can still finish that blade.
You can just grind it down.
It might be able to make it
into the final challenge.
Go for it, man.
Just do what you can with
the time you have left.
Don't walk out on it;
you've worked too hard.
He made a point.
I wouldn't have the elegant look
I was going for,
but I could have a reformed tip
on the grinder.
He could still pull it off.
As long as he's still got
9 inches of blade there,
he's good to go.
Look at the difference
in Rich's blade.
Winning this competition
is very important to me.
I would like to expand
my shop
and make it larger and easier
to work in.
He can pull this off.
With a beard like that,
all things are possible.
Yes.
30 minutes!
You have 30 minutes remaining!
So it looks like Joe
has ground a tip
back into that blade.
Yeah, and it took him, what,
about a total of 6, 7 minutes?
I think I was able to recover.
I not only have a reformed tip,
but I still have a blade
that's lengthy enough,
and I may actually be able
to move forward.
It's how you react
to situations.
I don't know how you react.
I usually throw the blade
across the room.
Yeah, and if it doesn't
break again,
then it's okay.
The serrated edge part
is throwing me out of whack.
I didn't get my serrated edges
deep enough,
and I washed 'em out
in the grinding process.
I'm trying to tweak it
the best I can
with the minutes
that I have left.
Every dog has its day,
and this ain't mine.
30 seconds!
30 seconds remaining!
10, 9,
8, 7,
6, 5,
4, 3,
2, 1.
Set 'em down, gentlemen!
Time is up!
- Wow.
- Unreal.
I know; we can all
take a breath.
Yeah.
At this point, I don't know
if my blade
is good enough to continue
in the competition,
but I've already been through
the worst-case scenario.
Nothing worse than what has
already happened to me
can happen to me at this point.
It can happen again, but that
could only be as bad
as what's already happened.
Your challenge was to forge
a 9-to-11-inch blade
out of a bar
of high-carbon steel.
The blade must have at least
4 inches of serrations.
Now it's time for the judges
to take a look at your work.
Joe, please present your weapon
to the judges.
Good job on sucking it up
and reworking it.
But the obvious question is
the tip issue you had.
You lost about an inch
of that tip.
How do you feel about the rework
that you did?
I'm not necessarily pleased
with the way the tip structure
is now
versus the way it was initially.
I think it's functional.
Yeah.
When that tip came off
and you decided
to finish what you started
is even more telling of what
a master bladesmith does.
You adapted, you improvised,
and you overcame.
It's still a functional weapon.
But is it the best weapon?
That remains to be seen.
But thank you
for not giving up.
Thank you.
Rich,
you're up next.
It's definitely a beefy blade,
and it's definitely got
the scare factor.
I'm curious to see how well
it performs.
As you were grinding away,
and we're going,
"He's got nothing.
He's got no serrations."
A minute later, you're like
Which actually is kind of
a neat look.
Matt, it's your turn.
Well, I really love what you did
with the serration.
You took a lot of time just
laying that in nice and slow,
and so it's got
a really clean look.
Thank you.
You did stretch it out
quite a bit,
and your tip is a lot more
tapered
than your original drawing.
How do you think that's gonna
hold up?
I think this will be all right.
Leaving myself just a little bit
short on material,
and I wanted to make sure
I had the length.
It's always a fine line.
It's a very fine line.
Billy, you're last up.
I like the overall design
of the knife.
It's a good point,
good profile.
You also got hung up
on the serrations.
Actually, what I did was,
on the grinder,
I dug in too deep on one side,
and I had to work on that.
Okay.
I like the design.
Did you measure the
length of this serration?
I did.
4 1/8 is what I came up with.
Thank you.
Obviously, the judges
have much to discuss.
They'll need some time to make
their decision.
Thank you.
Wow.
That was rough.
We have a lot to discuss.
I hope they don't chop a finger
off in there or something.
Let's start with Matt's blade.
I mean, he seemed like
he knew what he's doing.
He gave us a clean blade.
It's a little thin
on the tip to thrust.
And it's nicely done
for handwork
on a three-hour job.
Let's take a look
at Rich's zombie killer.
You know, if he had
designed this and said,
"I'm going to make the most
badass post-apocalyptic
zombie killing machine
I ever could,"
I mean, he's almost right there.
But it wasn't what he was
shooting for.
He was shooting for more
of a classic Tanto
with a large blade
and a long handle.
Beauty is in the eye
of beholder.
In terms of calling it crude,
once again,
let's see the function.
Worst-case scenario, you could
beat somebody to death with it.
Let's look at Joe's blade.
He broke a tip off,
and he reground.
He gets credit for that.
But
you got multiple fractures
up the tip.
I'm counting two, three,
four, five.
We've already seen that tip
break once,
so we know how brittle
this tip is.
Let's go ahead
and measure Joe's blade.
The overall length of the blade
is
just shy of 9 1/2 inches,
and the length of his
serrations
Yeah, by 1/8th of an inch,
he's under.
That is unfortunate.
Let's take a look
at Billy's blade.
Well, again, I like Billy's
overall profile.
Can we get a measurement?
So on the serrations,
we have
Wow.
Oh, he's way short.
He's almost 1/2 inch
under.
We got more cracks too.
There is one, two, three
big cracks.
So we've got two guys
who didn't meet the specs
for the length of the serration,
but we can only remove
one of them this round.
So it all comes down to quality.
Have we made our decision?
Yeah.
Yes, we have.
- Yeah.
- We're all in agreement?
- I think so.
- All in agreement.
Okay, let's go tell
our bladesmiths.
I'm freaking out.
I have a big possible mistake.
I may be going home today.
I know my blade's not up to par.
My only hope at this point is,
somebody made a worse blade
than I did.
Gentlemen, the judges
have made their decision.
All of your blades
made the size parameters
for this challenge.
However, two of your blades
did not meet the required
length of serration.
Rich
Matt
you are safe.
Well done.
Billy
and Joe,
one of you
will be going home.
The judges have made
their decision.
Joe
you did not make the cut.
Well, Joe,
we had a few different issues
to work with.
You were 1/8th of an inch short
on those serrations.
And, actually, if you
had had one more serration,
you'd have made the parameters
we asked for.
Also, when we saw
the tip break,
we also saw the grain structure.
It was very coarse
from overheating in the forge.
And we saw the lines
from the stress fractures
up on the blade.
I don't think that tip
would hold up.
Joe?
Please surrender your weapon.
I overheated my steel,
and there's no excuses for that.
Right now, I wish I'd have been
a bit more cautious
with my temperatures.
I did well with the forging.
I did well with the design,
I believe.
It's just what should have been
my strengths,
I allowed to become
my weaknesses.
Gentlemen, you've made it
through to round two.
Your second challenge
is to turn your blades
into fully functioning weapons.
There are three hours
on the clock.
You must design and fabricate
a handle
from the materials provided
for you.
You can use that time to do
any further work on your blade
if you feel the need.
When the time runs out,
your blades will be tested
for strength and durability
and also their ability
to hold an edge
in a specially designed
sharpness test.
Only two of you will move
forward to the final.
Your time starts
now.
Oh, yeah.
I run over
to the handle materials,
and I start looking
for something
that's hefty enough
for a knife this size,
antler or bone,
something that I can use
the natural material
as the finish,
'cause if I have to start
polishing out a handle,
I'm never gonna make the time.
God, that is an awful sound.
Antler is really strong,
but the pith,
where the blood flows
through it, is very weak,
and you just need to remove
all of it.
I think this deer had
a calcium deficiency.
So I drill out as much
as I possibly can,
and then I fit that handle
through the tang.
I have a hidden tang knife.
This is the classic system
of how swords were assembled
all the way through
medieval era.
That's a bad deal right there.
I chose to go with some
micarta handle material,
and it looks a little bit sexy,
if I don't say.
Wham.
Now I need to think about
how I'm gonna attach
my handle to the knife.
Or I can use bolts
and I can drill
appropriate-size holes
for these to fit in.
Hope my dentist don't see that
in my mouth.
And they actually screw together
and put complete tension
on the knife handle itself.
Now I'm cleaning up all
the epoxy that smooshed out
whenever I glued
the handle on.
That kind of bothers me.
Ooh, doggies.
What I'd like to see
is Billy work on a blade
that's got a crack on it.
Those flaws in his blade
are fixable,
but he's wasting time.
It's almost like Billy worked
on his handle as a distraction.
You know, "I don't know exactly
what to do about this crack,
but in the meantime,
I'm gonna make a handle."
We're only a half hour
into this.
It could be the most beautiful
handle ever created
With the shortest,
squared-off, broken blade.
I took a risk
in the first round.
I was overambitious.
So in this round,
I'm playing it safe.
I'm going with a fiberglass
handle material that I know.
On my handle, I use seven pins
in order to get a good adhesion
to the blade.
You lose your handles
on your knife,
the knife doesn't function
and you're done.
That's a lot of pins.
Three more pins,
we could go bowling.
Uh-oh. Oh!
That didn't work very well.
That was Matt
with the rotary tool.
My weakest part is finish.
Oh, that's not helpful.
It just takes me a long time.
So now I'm starting to panic
a little bit.
- Sorry.
- No, go.
I'm trying to rush too much,
and I'm gonna break
what I'm doing.
I need to stop panicking.
Oh, come on.
Sometimes bad stuff just happens
in knife making.
- You doing all right, Matt?
- I hate these belts.
The clock's really starting
to get to Matt.
I kind of put myself behind.
I'm not sure I'm gonna be able
to put this together.
You have one hour remaining.
Put your respirators on.
Time's rattling away,
because I was concentrating
on a handle so bad,
I forgot I had time
to work on the blade.
All right, here's the money shot
where I stab myself.
I'm glad to see that he did
a bunch of blade work on that,
did clean it up.
How are you, man?
You know what?
I'm hanging in there.
How about yourself?
I think I'm doing well.
I'll find out in a little bit.
Looking sweet, buddy.
There's 21 minutes left
on the clock,
and they're chitchatting.
I'm gonna do hand sanding
and try to get some of the
rough grinds out of the blade.
I think he's finally
on that blade.
I think we need to watch Billy
very closely
for the next few minutes,
because what he does here,
it's gonna be critical.
I'm hoping he doesn't crack it
off right there in the vise.
You think you could get me
a Band-Aid? Thank you.
In the knife shop,
you're always getting cut.
The best thing's
a little Band-Aid.
You put it on there, blow on it,
hold it,
and you're ready to go again.
10! 9! 8!
7! 6! 5!
4! 3! 2!
1!
Time's up, gentlemen.
Time's up.
Get it off.
I've done all I can
with the blade.
The handle looks really good.
Going to see what they say.
You've all made
some handsome blades,
but can they cut it
in the testing arena?
It's time to find out.
J. will be testing
your blades' strength
and durability
against these steel drums,
followed by
a sharpness test
against these ropes.
Fellow bladesmiths,
I'm gonna take
each of your blades,
and I'm going to take
three attempts
to pierce the steel
up to your serrations.
Rich, you're going
to be first.
We do have a few issues
with the edge.
There's a small crack
up here towards the tip,
and we've got a flake
down towards the bottom.
That's a devastating blow.
I have no idea if I'm gonna
get through that sharpness test
with chips in the blade.
That's a thick-ass rope.
We're gonna do three cuts
on each rope.
I'm ready.
With every slice,
I'm just hoping
it's going to make it
through that rope.
And if not,
that could be the end.
.
Had I given it more thought,
I probably would have changed
the geometry of the blade
to make it cut that rope easier.
Totally different blade, Matt.
Are you ready?
Try to break it.
Really?
You are kidding me.
I rode that thinness down
to the point
where I thought it was just
gonna go right through.
It just went in, like,
a half an inch.
I'm shocked.
A thin blade should go through
with less pressure.
I don't understand why
it didn't go through.
So close.
Billy.
I think you've known
from challenge one
we've had a bit of an issue
with this blade.
A big issue.
We've got three stress fractures
at the serrations.
Yes.
For safety reasons,
I really don't feel comfortable
thrusting this
into a steel drum.
What the ?
He's not gonna do
the thrust test.
What the Sam Heck am I gonna do?
Though you did give us
a finished and sharp knife,
so I would like still
to do the sharpness test.
I'm really thrilled
that J.'s gonna do the cutting
part of the competition.
I really want to see how my
blade cuts through that rope.
Well, Billy, it did
pretty well on the rope.
Got almost all the way through.
It performed well.
Thank you.
Even though the flaws
are in my blade,
my knife did really well
on the cutting competition.
Who knows? I may still have
a chance at this.
Gentlemen.
The judges have made
their decision.
Billy,
you didn't make the cut.
We all loved your handle,
and you put a lot of time
in detailing a blade
that had some real problems
to it.
We all just kind of wish
you had addressed
those fractures
and given your blade
a chance to be put through
the punch test.
So, unfortunately,
we have to let you go.
Billy?
Please surrender your weapon.
I'm feeling
a little disappointed
that I didn't get to move on
to the next part
of this competition.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Appreciate it.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Do I wish
I could have won this thing?
Absolutely.
Rich, Matt, you've made it
to the Forged in Firefinal.
So far,
we've asked you to design
and produce
a weapon of your own choosing.
To claim
the Forged in Firecrown,
you must design and forge
our mystery weapon,
one of the most famous
and revered weapons
from history.
The Japanese katana.
The katana is the traditional
weapon of the samurai,
the noble class of warriors
in feudal Japan
since around 800 A.D.
The katana was formed
from hundreds of thin layers
of the purest steel available.
The quicker draw of the sword
was well suited to combat
where life versus death
depended on the weapon
you carried into battle.
Over the centuries,
the katana has taken on
many mythical properties
in legend and culture,
from an ability
to slice through other swords
to splitting a hair.
And it is the sword of choice
for characters
in megahits like Kill Bill
and The Walking Dead.
You must create
an authentic, fully functioning
version of that weapon.
I have mad respect to the guys
who make those things.
A katana is so just
not my thing.
The challenge of making a katana
leveled the playing field
a little bit,
because it was more in my style.
You have five days
to complete this challenge.
And just to give you
the best possible chance,
we're sending you back
to your home forges
for the final round.
After the five days,
you will come back
and present your sword
to the judges.
They will put it
through a series
of high-impact,
high-velocity tests.
Once those tests
are completed,
they will decide
who will be crowned
the Forged in Firechampion
and walk away with a check
for $10,000.
Nice.
Good luck, gentlemen.
We'll see you in five days.
I am absolutely amazed
that I made it this far.
At every stage
of the competition,
I thought, "This is it.
I'm going home."
With five days, I think
I can actually prove my worth.
The next five days, for me,
are going to be
a little more stressful
than for Matt.
I've got no power hammers,
no presses.
Everything is by hand.
The competition was hard,
but I did a good job,
and I went through,
and I'd like to win
10 grand now.
That'd be nice.
I'm gonna go for
a full-hardened blade,
so strong and so fine-grained,
it should outperform
anything else
that anybody can put
on the table.
My goal is to get the blade
to where I can quench it.
So what I'm doing here is,
I'm breaking
all the sharp edges,
because if you got
any sharp edges,
you got a lot better chance
of cracking something.
During the quenching process,
what will happen is,
the molecules
in the edge of the blade
will tighten up, and I'll get
a curve to the blade.
And that's very important
to the process
in this particular sword.
This is where it all happens.
It'll kill me, or it'll make me.
Here we go.
you.
About four seconds
into the quench,
I heard a loud tick.
I knew that was it
and it was all over.
Several cracks along the tip.
I just got the blade way too hot
before I quenched it,
and when you've got
too hot a blade
and you throw it
in cooler water,
then it's a crack.
I'm not gonna say all is lost
just yet.
With only having two days,
it's gonna be tough.
I'm gonna get to work.
That's ready for heat treating.
I'm gonna slide my blade
down there.
About 600 degrees.
I'm just gonna bring it up
and let it cool.
I'm doing this for my son.
I'm doing this so that
he can be proud of me.
See what Daddy's doing?
Setting the stone right now.
Nice.
I like this sword a lot.
I'm still a little apprehensive
about what the judges
are going to be looking for.
I'm just going to cut
a couple water bottles
to make sure
the geometry is good.
That was a successful test cut.
This is a really good sword.
I got one day to go,
so I'm gonna bust my ass,
and I'm gonna try
and get something made
that I'm proud of.
This is my final shot
to stay in the competition.
If this blade doesn't survive,
I'm out.
I'm getting ready.
I'm quenching now.
Gentlemen,
I hope that your time at home
was productive
and inspired.
Matt, can you tell us
a little bit about the process?
I decided to go for
a performance blade,
so I did a pretty good
heat treat on it,
and then I did leather risers
and a leather wrap over the top.
It's a fairly traditional
European design,
but I have seen similar wraps
on katana.
It's not the fanciest sword
I've ever made,
but I'm very proud of the sword.
Rich, what was your thinking
beside the design in this sword?
I went with a modern-style
full-tang handle,
which is not traditional
in a katana.
I actually had a little bit
of a problem
about three days in
and had to make
an entirely new blade,
so I was backed off
by about a day.
With that said, in the end,
it all came out all right.
Great.
To measure how your blades
stand up against flesh,
Doug will cut through
these fish
that are suspended
in a multiple-target
engagement pattern.
Making sushi.
Rich, yours is up.
Let's put it to the test.
Nice.
It will cut.
Yes, it will.
It felt good in the slice.
But the recovery was
a little heavier,
but it still felt like
it'll give me a close shave.
Good job.
Okay, Matt, you're up next.
Are you ready?
Yup.
It doesn't cut, and I'm
a little confused by that.
I don't know why it didn't cut.
It's got a very good feel to it.
It's very light.
It's got a very nice
balance to it.
And
it'll cut.
Now for the kill test.
In this, we have
a ballistics dummy
that pretty much simulates
the human form,
organs and tissues.
The katana traditionally has
a razor-sharp edge.
That allows me to find the gaps
in between the armor.
I'm going to try that
with your blades
to see how well it does.
Rich, you're up first.
Let's take a look
at the damage.
Oh.
The thrust and the slice
went all the way into
the internal organs in here.
And the kill shot went deep
all the way into the liver.
I think, on the kill test,
this will kill.
Okay, Matt, you're up.
Definitely through
the laceration,
he's disemboweled here.
A nice big puncture in here.
That definitely will get
the liver.
I think it's passed
the kill test.
Thank you.
You both obviously brought
deadly implements
of war here.
But now it's time
to lock and load, gentlemen,
because for the strength test,
we're leaving the Forge
and we're heading
to the gun range.
What?
All right, gentlemen.
This is the final test
for the Forged in Fire
championship.
It's the strength test.
Your weapons
will be tested
on their ability
to split a bullet.
Your swords are gonna be
locked into a vise.
Then we're gonna fire a bullet
at your blade.
Don't bring a sword
to a gunfight.
All I can think of
in my head is,
"You're about to destroy
two beautiful swords."
All right, Matt.
You ready?
Break it.
3, 2, 1.
Engage.
- Oh!
- Yes!
- Yes.
- Nice.
The gun fires,
and it breaks the bullet
in three pieces.
I don't even think
the sword moved.
It just--pfft!
Well, Matt, your sword
split a bullet.
There's no damage on the edge
at all.
Held up extremely well.
That is a real, true sign
of your craftsmanship.
- Thank you.
- Very well done.
All right, Rich, you're up next.
When I look at them
set the gun up and get ready
to shoot that blade,
there's a little bit of doubt
in the back of my mind
thinking, "It may not
survive this."
3, 2, 1, engage.
- Nice!
- Oh, yeah!
- Sweet.
- Ha ha!
- Wow.
- Definitely got a split there.
- Nice.
- Yeah, that's a split.
- I like it.
- That blade didn't even move.
It splits the bullet.
I couldn't have been happier.
My blade held up against Matt's
in every way, shape, or form.
There's no mark on the blade
at all.
Held up perfectly.
No chipping.
Everything looks great.
Thank you.
Congratulations, gentlemen.
You should be proud
of the work that you've done,
which only makes
the judges' decision
that much harder.
We'll see you back at the Forge.
Both of us passed everything.
Our swords performed
like they're supposed to,
and it's up to the judges.
I think the judges have
a very tough decision to make.
Matt, Rich
In just five days,
you have both forged elegant
and lethal
Japanese katanas.
But in this competition,
there can only be one winner
of $10,000.
J.?
Well, Matt, your sword blade
performed beautifully.
It split the bullet
into three pieces,
and we know
it was still even sharp
where the bullet hit it.
That was a great job.
The concern I had, though,
is with the samurai armor,
it did not pierce nearly as much
as I thought it would.
I think there's a little bit
of drag on the blade,
which concerns me,
towards the tip there.
Comments for Rich?
Rich, on the fish cut,
it did quite well.
It is top-heavy,
so it'll slice through.
But then I had to pull back
for recovery
and had to use my other hand.
But I needed it
for recovery also.
The creativity
of your handle set-up
was really nice,
but I have some issues
with the construction,
you know, the pins being
a little too close to the edge.
That's something
that concerns me.
Unfortunately,
in this competition,
there can only be one winner.
Matthew.
You are the Forged in Fire
champion.
Congratulations.
Rich, you did not make the cut.
I wish you had done
a little bit more finish work.
You let the handle get
a little bit skinny,
and it was almost the same
proportions on each side, so
I know you ran
into a time constraint,
but it did split a bullet,
and that's truly
something to be proud of.
I feel a little disappointed,
but the better bladesmith won.
Well, Matt, congratulations.
You are the Forged in Fire
champion.
You're gonna claim
a $10,000 check.
How do you feel?
This is awesome.
Your blade is beautiful.
Not only is it beautiful,
but it's fast.
It cut so cleanly
through the fish.
And on the ballistic dummies,
that just disemboweled it
for the kill test.
Great job.
Blade aside,
I was really impressed
with your handle setup.
Symmetrically,
it was correct.
We could get good control,
good grip on it.
Very nicely done.
This is such a rush.
I want to drive home
and kiss my son.
I am the Forged in Fire
champion.