Forged in Fire (2015) s01e02 Episode Script
Chakram
Since the dawn
of human civilization,
mankind has made weapons.
- Whoa!
Bladesmiths have honed
and perfected their craft
over thousands of years.
And 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,
and by the end of three rounds,
the bladesmiths must deliver
handmade weapons
that are works of art
as well as deadly instruments
of war.
These weapons must survive
explosive tests
as well as the scrutiny
of an expert panel judges.
In the end, only one bladesmith
will take home $10,000
and be crowned
a Forged in Firechampion.
My name is Trenton Tye.
I am not "Trent,
who is a blacksmith."
I am "Trent the blacksmith."
I'm Chad Harding.
I'm all about
the high-performance
blade and knife making.
It needs to exceed what you can
go to the store and buy.
My name is Christopher Farrell.
Being a professional bladesmith,
you don't make a lot of money.
Winning this competition
would make the next year
of operation costs
a lot easier to shoulder.
My name is Grant Marcoux.
I retired and opened up
a full-service blacksmith shop
where I hold classes
in basic and intermediate
bladesmithing.
Gentlemen.
Welcome to the forge.
Ahead of you
are three challenges
that are designed to see
just how good you really are.
After each round,
you will hand your work over
to our judges.
Internationally known
master smith J. Neilson.
World-renowned rare weapons
re-creation specialist
David Baker.
And, finally,
globally recognized
martial artist
and edged weapon specialist
Doug Marcaida.
They will decide
who gets to stay
and who has to go home.
In front of you on the tables,
you'll see a variety
of metal objects:
meat hooks, crowbars, chains,
mower blades, horseshoes.
Your challenge is to take
one or more
of these everyday items
and forge a fully functional
edged weapon of your own design.
This week, the blade parameters
are as follows.
The length of the blade,
not including the tang,
will be no less
than 9 inches in length
and no more than 16 inches
in length.
You will have three hours
to forge your blade.
Remember,
once the three hours is up,
one of you will be asked
to surrender his weapon
and go home.
Your time starts
now.
Okay, here we go.
Chad grabbed a roller bearing.
So did Trenton.
You know, I notice
that Chris grabbed the file.
He grabbed a farrier's rasp,
big file with very big teeth
in it, big dips in it.
I don't know what that metal is,
but it's tough!
I choose the crowbar.
I know I can make
a tough knife out of it.
I mean,
that's a big guy.
He picked a big piece of steel.
I want to see what he's up to.
My style of bladesmithing
would be considered conservative
and traditional.
I'm making a Sheffield school
bowie knife,
because it's a great vehicle
for expressing your skill
as a knifemaker.
There's a lot of ways
to embellish these knives.
Hot stuff!
Hot stuff, baby.
I think in my next life,
I'm gonna get
a snow cone franchise.
We got a comedian
on the floor.
I want to win this
so I can illustrate
to my students
that human beings
have been working metal
for over 3,000 years,
and you're standing
on the shoulders of giants.
Excuse me.
Hot metal!
Get your hot metal here!
[Chad voice-over
I just forged
a couple bearing blades
a few days earlier,
so I'm gonna do bearings.
It's fresh in my mind.
It makes a great blade
if you can take your time
and do it right.
Suck ass.
My style of blade making
is Western influence.
My main focus
is creating a hunter
that serves
more than one purpose,
where you can walk
into the woods with one knife
and come out of the woods okay.
I am inspired
by blades from history,
and then I go off on a tangent
and I make something in a way
that conveys
how I see whatever the idea is
that popped into my head.
The farrier's rasp,
it's got so much character.
You can get a lot of movement
out of that steel.
You can get it to tell
a lot of stories.
I'm used to using old files
which are dull.
The farrier's rasp is not old
and not dull.
You know, I feel like
my hand's a little wet,
and I kind of get a glimpse.
I cut my finger open.
It's just a flesh wound.
So have we already got
some blood on the floor?
That's fine; I just want
to get back to work.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Okay.
Time just keeps moving,
so you have to keep moving.
My signature blade
is a drop-point hunter.
It is practical,
it is efficient,
and if there's anything that
I would have represent me,
that would be it.
And I pee harder
than this thing hits.
Roller bearings
are a type of steel
that is highly prized
in knifemaking.
I started hammer-forging
so that the blade was thinner.
I'm curious to see
what Trenton's going to do,
'cause that steel's getting
really thin.
That looks pretty lean.
I'm going to do everything I can
to make something
that, first, functions
and then, second,
looks really good.
Two hours, gentlemen!
You have two hours remaining!
After I was done bleeding,
you know, I set to getting back
to forging out
the tip of the blade.
Never have a plan.
Every time I make a plan,
the knife changes its mind.
It's basically just opening
communication.
It's just kind of like,
you know, introducing yourself.
"Hello, my name is Chris.
What is your name?"
I like the fact
that Chris has been
pacing himself.
Cool as a cucumber.
I want to be in that moment
with that piece
and see where it wants to go
and feel it.
Somebody turned the heat on
in here.
m a little confused
by Chad's blade.
I'm not sure
what he's doing.
It's not going to be
anywhere near 9 inches.
That's gonna be
a pretty short knife.
I'm going to bring my blade down
just a little bit more,
and then I'm going to grind him.
I'm very confident in my blade
and design.
It's a perfect-shaped hunter,
and that's what I was making.
You got
enough blade there?
Should have.
Is it 9 inches overall?
It's supposed to be
a 9-inch blade.
I think that's 9 inches
not including the tang.
I was making a blade
under the requirements.
I had heard the instructions
wrong.
God!
I up.
I thought
it was 9 inches overall,
not a 9-inch blade.
I was focusing
on a 6-inch hunter.
Oh, son of a bitch.
My heart just sunk.
I knew I had to start over.
I have to modify my blade.
I think there's still a chance.
So I'm trying to get
the maximum length I can
out of my useable steel
that I already have time
invested in.
I go to the forge, reheat,
start drawing out the blade
as much as I can,
'cause there's always a chance
that everything's going
to work out right.
90 minutes!
You have 90 minutes remaining!
This environment
is extremely stressful.
Whoo!
There is a furnace there
that's cooking out
at 2,000 degrees.
It's radiating heat.
When you're hot, you're hot.
You've got that clock going
up there,
and you've got this metal
that you have to make,
and it is intense.
Grant, I mean,
I'm really starting to worry.
He's sweating quite a bit.
I'm afraid
he's gonna hurt himself.
Yeah.
Step back and take a breath.
I do kind of, like,
glance about,
and I notice Grant's having
a little bit of trouble.
This is certainly going
to put him behind.
I don't like this.
I'm gonna stop the clock.
Can we get a medic
on the floor?
Okay.
Okay, your pulse is fast.
- What's happening?
- Oh, no.
Okay.
The paramedic needs
to look at Grant.
We expecting to see
a recovery here?
Oh, yeah.
He doesn't look like a guy
that's gonna give up.
Okay, I'll drink some water,
and I'll rock and roll.
There we go.
The medic checked me out.
I know my own limitation.
And I had to get back to work.
The clock restarts
now.
Heat it and beat it.
Heat it and beat it!
If you want to run
with the big dogs,
you got to get your ass
off the porch.
We've been watching
what's going on over here
with all the drama.
Meanwhile, Trenton over there
is just muscling along.
This blade looks awesome,
and I'm going to now temper
this blade.
As I put the blade in the forge
to get a preheat,
see a dark spot
about a quarter of an inch long.
You've got to be kidding me.
If you see a dark spot in
that blade while it's heating,
it's a crack.
Oh, Trenton's shaking his head.
Trenton's blade cracked.
At this point
in the competition,
how serious is a cracked blade?
Oh, extremely serious.
What you call
a beautiful failure.
But
I got, what, 15 minutes?
If you can't do it with A,
try to do it with B.
If you can't do it with B,
that's where you have to pull it
out of your backside
and improvise.
I need something that cuts.
An axe.
He's just grabbed
one of those mower blades.
I have no idea
what he's doing.
I don't have time
to shape the handle.
I don't have time to do
any fancy little blacksmith
decorative twist
and show off
my blacksmith skills.
No, no, it is time
to hammer crap together.
When all else fails,
use force.
Can he make a new blade
in 20 minutes?
Oh, yeah.
It's not gonna be pretty,
but it might just
pass the test.
I have a 6-inch blade
God!
That I have to stretch 4 inches
to hit the 9-inch requirement,
and I'm pushing my steel
way thinner
than my comfort zone.
I know if it gets too thin,
I risk warpage or cracking.
He's being too aggressive
on a thin piece of steel,
'cause you see
it's bending right out,
and he's got to constantly
fix it.
I measure two or three times.
Once I hit
the 9-inch requirement
I'm going back to the grinder.
That's when I notice a crack.
I don't think there's any hope
for this blade.
Oh, .
Really?
He doesn't have enough time
to reforge another blade
with steel either.
That's gonna take too long.
We're actually into minutes now.
I don't have enough time
to finish out a second blade.
But I'm not going to give up.
I want just to show my kids
to never stop,
you know, always keep trying.
So I go and grab
a railroad spike,
'cause it's the smallest,
easiest thing to draw out
into a knife-shaped object.
I'm gonna try something crazy
with a railroad spike
as my Hail Mary.
Just maybe it'll get me
out of the jam I'm in.
I'm loving this.
Trenton over here
is a fantastic example
of just adapt and charge on.
That's gonna be
one wicked-ass weapon.
Wil, you and I know
that in the realm of combat,
you take anything
and make it work.
You don't give up.
30 seconds!
10, 9, 8
7, 6, 5
4, 3, 2
1!
Bladesmiths, your time is up.
It don't get better than that,
man.
Your challenge was to complete
a fully functional,
finished, edged weapon
of your own design.
Grant, please hand over
your weapon.
Well, Grant, I will say
I do like the basic
traditional design on it.
Got a little bit of an arc
in it,
but you'll probably fix that.
Point taken, sir.
Chris, you may present
your weapon to the judges.
This design was beautiful.
It's got a beautiful feel to it.
A lot of metal there.
Kind of cool.
I mean, at least
you were smiling
throughout the process.
Very inspiring to watch.
Thank you.
Chad, please present your work.
You had a problem.
You sucked it up,
and you went on,
grabbed a spike,
and went to town on it.
Five more minutes,
I might have been able
to finish that profile.
I mean, you know
as well as I do
this looks really rough.
Yeah.
Trenton,
please present your weapon
to the judges.
When we saw
that your blade was broken,
there's nothing worse.
But then you just
threw it all out the window
and said, "I'm just gonna go
for something
pretty damn interesting."
Again, a little trouble
with the first blade.
And as far as
after your grind and quench,
I mean, you've got
serious curve in this edge.
Gentlemen,
based on the parameters
set for this round,
the judges do not need
to deliberate.
Chad, you failed to hand in
a finished blade.
Therefore, you did not meet
the requirements
of the challenge.
Dave will explain.
And I appreciate the effort to
try to get that blade finished,
but you didn't heat-treat
the blade.
It has no edge.
You're not finished
hammering out the basic shape.
It's just too rough
to be accepted
as a completed knife.
I completely understand.
Know that your hard work
to get it done
was certainly appreciated.
Chad
please surrender your weapon.
Thank you, Chad.
I'm gonna leave this competition
still feeling good about myself.
If one or two things
would have changed,
it would have been
a completely different outcome.
But, unfortunately,
there has to be somebody
that goes out the first round.
It sucks, but it still happens.
Gentlemen, congratulations.
You've all made it
to round two of our competition.
In your second challenge,
you will have to take
your blades
and turn them into
fully operational weapons.
If you need to do
additional work to your blade,
now is the time.
But you must also design
and fabricate a handle
out of the range of materials
provided for you.
When the time is up,
your weapon's strength
and durability
will be tested in an ice chop
and its ability to hold an edge
in a specially designed
sharpness test.
There are three hours
on the clock.
Your time starts
Now.
I've already got an idea
of how I want the handle to go,
and I just need to find
a good material to do it with.
So I saw this stuff, and it was
really blue and shiny,
and I was just like,
"That's kind of neat."
I was really excited
about trying some stuff
that I don't normally do.
The first problem
that I ran into
was the fact that the blade
had to be supported.
I made two C-shaped pieces
to go around the back
of the blade
in order to support it
and keep it from breaking.
I wanted to see him
knock that handle off
and put a full tang
or something different on there.
And I'd like to see him
straighten out that blade,
'cause he's got
a heck of a twist in there.
He's not changing that handle.
He's reinforcing
that handle.
That's what I was
afraid of.
I've already made plans
for the $10,000.
About 7,000 of it
is going to go to business,
and I'm leaving 3,000 in reserve
for idiocy and stupidity.
That's my buffer zone.
So 3 grand.
I have a lot of material left
to remove on my knife.
I go to start doing the grind.
I'm worried about that
really thin spot in the blade.
- Right in the middle.
- Right on the edge.
Yup.
And if he's chasing that in,
that blade's just gonna keep
getting smaller
and smaller and smaller.
I only have an hour
and 51 minutes left,
and I have to start working
on this handle now,
so I'm choosing brass
for the guard
and stag horn for the handle.
I'm selecting these materials
because they are specifically
believable
on a 19th-century British-made
Sheffield school bowie.
Okay, we're good to go.
This is all very critical.
Trying to stay in the groove.
I have to make the guard,
and it has to be soldered
in place.
I think I'll be all right,
but I don't have time
to dilly-dally or shilly-shally.
It's a challenge,
and if there is going to be
a mistake,
it's gonna happen now.
.
Oh, no.
Damn it.
It's a real struggle.
The clock is rolling.
This is do or die,
because the future of
the project depends on it.
My blade is in good shape,
so I have to come up
with some kind of wrap
for the handle.
You know, the problem
with what he's doing is,
he's adding more weight
to that.
How heavy is that thing
gonna end up being?
Still not as sharp
as I'd like it to be.
But we're getting there.
I'm back on the grinder,
doing some shaping
to my handle
and cleaning up the blade,
bringing it up
to a higher polish
and bringing my edge further.
The epoxy is very gummy still,
and it's still stuck
on the blade.
It's getting stuck
in the grinder belts.
I want to be able to get it
at least cleaned up
to a point where I can
make it look prettyish.
20 minutes!
You have 20 minutes remaining!
It's hard to take my eyes
away from Trenton.
I'm trying to figure out
what the heck he's doing.
Well, that's just it.
Where is he going
with that?
He's spent a lot of time
working on that handle.
He's got to work on that blade.
I see these three pieces
of handle material,
which are antler,
and there was such a gap
in between where
the axe was attached.
It was just kind of
a hollow hole.
I said, "Man, if we put these
on here,
it's gonna be like Predator."
It's like dreadlocks for an axe.
10, 9, 8
7
6, 5, 4
3, 2, 1.
Your work is now complete.
The competition is stiff.
There are three awesome blades
in the shop,
and the judges
have expressed concerns
about the shape of the blade.
And if I don't meet
what they're looking for,
they could send me home.
I pulled off
some wild crap today.
There's no two ways about it.
But guess what.
That blade, as it sits,
will outchop anything else
that's been made in there
this round.
Bladesmiths, I'm gonna take
each of your blades
and do six vertical chops
on these ice blocks
to see how well
your edge holds up
and how it feels in hand.
Grant, you're up first.
Well, Grant, we got
a little bit of a problem
with the edge retention.
I lost about a third of it.
When the edge failed
against the ice,
I realized, "Okay, something
along the process went wrong."
My edge was ground thin
and fine.
It wasn't made to chop
against a hard medium.
I'm disappointed,
but that's the way
the cow chewed the cabbage.
Chris, are you ready?
Yes, sir.
He hit that ice,
and it just went everywhere.
And I was just like, "Whoa,
that was really cool."
I'm ecstatic on the inside.
Like, there's a little me inside
dancing a jig.
Chris, your blade held up
pretty well.
I still would have liked
to have seen
a bit steeper angle
on there,
but it will chop ice.
Thanks.
Trenton.
Ready?
Yes, sir.
Well, Trenton,
that was interesting.
It was like trying to hold on
to an angry goose.
You do have--
with the twist in that blade
and the weight of this,
it's really hard to control.
I mean, it keeps wanting
to glance off
to one side
or the other.
And you've got some chipping
in the blade here as well.
But, uh, it did tear up
that ice block pretty nice.
Yes, it did.
Now it's time to see how
your weapons held their edge.
For this sharpness test,
I'm going to do
a horizontal cut.
This will allow me
to keep it even the same way
so I don't depend
on gravity
to put some weight
into the cut.
Then I'm going to go in front
and I'm going to do
a vertical cut,
a simple slice down to see
how well the edge held.
Grant,
your weapon is up.
It still cuts,
not as deeply
as I'd want it to,
but it cuts.
Chris, yours is up.
Nice.
It cuts.
Okay, Trenton,
yours is up.
It's a ripper.
Gentlemen, you haven't
made this decision easy
for our judges.
We'll now take some time
to deliberate.
Thank you very much.
Oh!
Wasn't that
high drama?
Well, judges,
let's start with Grant's blade.
I liked where Grant was going
originally.
I like the whole bowie idea.
But he just started having
so much trouble,
and the heat treat
and choice of steel
obviously got away from him,
'cause it chipped out so badly
on the ice chop.
It did not perform well.
He just wound up with a blade
that was so thin,
and it obviously failed
the test.
All right, let's move on
to Chris's blade.
Of all of our blades,
that blade has got to be
the most functional
as far as just straight
killing efficiency.
It--it'll make some sandwiches,
I'll guarantee.
I was really leery
about Chris picking
the farrier's rasp,
and there's a lot I would have
liked to have seen done with it.
But it chopped the best,
and it did slice the best.
The handle, you can see
that he's burnt the material
both on the front
and the back,
and that turns into
a sticky glue,
So there were a lot
of finish things
that he could have done
to this material.
Let's move on
to Trenton's weapon.
I mean, this is
wildly creative.
Very decorative.
I mean, he showed
a lot of skills.
But because it was
so unbalanced,
it was very hard to control.
Yes, it will chop ice.
But every time I hit it,
it was deflecting one way,
deflecting the other,
and I'm actually
very disappointed.
But you know what?
Does it chop? Yeah.
Does it slice? Yeah.
Can you remove a door
with it? Yeah.
Can I rip the hood of the car
off with it? You bet.
It's not about what I have
in my hand.
It's what I do with it.
- Okay.
- Okay?
I could do more with this
in modern-day combat
instead of this
hunk-a-dunk over here
that I'm gonna
have to wield heavy--
So you're gonna--
wait, wait, wait.
You're gonna take a weapon
that you already saw fail
into combat.
He had three hours
where he could have
totally altered
the entire design
and structure of this
and made something that
would have performed better.
And instead, he played around
with decorating a wall hanger.
I'm standing here
waiting for the judges
to tell me who's going home,
but I'm half there.
Somebody's gonna go home,
and I don't know who it is.
Bladesmiths,
one of you has to leave
the forge.
You have all produced a weapon
given the time that was provided
for you.
But one of you has to leave
the forge.
Grant, your weapon
didn't make the cut.
We liked the design
you went with.
The problem is,
when we got to testing,
you had that blade crack
and it really didn't cut well.
Kiss of death.
Grant, please surrender
your weapon.
I'm disappointed
that I'm no longer
in the competition.
Thank you, Grant.
The failure of an edge
in a test,
that's the kiss of death.
Chris, Trenton, congratulations.
You've both made it
to the final round
and are one step closer
to $10,000.
So far,
you've come to our forge
and you've made a weapon
of your choosing.
Now you're gonna head back
to your home forge,
and you're gonna create
a weapon of our choosing.
And that mystery weapon is
The chakram.
The chakram
is an Indian throwing weapon
which dates back
hundreds of years.
Warrior Sikhs would throw it
like a Frisbee
or spin it at high speeds
on their fingers
before launching it
into the enemy.
Weapon of the Hindu god Vishnu,
its exotic nature has resulted
in it appearing
in TV and movies.
Oddjob's lethal bowler hat
in the James Bond movie
Goldfinger
was a variation of the weapon,
as was Xena's weapon of choice
in the cult TV series.
The Indian warriors would wear
multiple chakrams into battle,
carrying them around their arms,
their necks,
and even stacked high
on their heads
in specially designed turbans.
Your challenge is to forge
an authentic, working version
of that infamous
throwing weapon.
A chakram
is a whole different cow.
This is a shape that most
knifemakers never touch.
I've never done
one of these before.
I've never even thought
about doing one of these before.
So we'll see what happens.
In five days, you'll return
and present your chakrams
to our judges.
They subject your weapons
to a series
of aerodynamic and explosive
tests.
Once these tests are completed,
they will decide
who will be declared
the Forged in Firechampion
and walks with a check
for $10,000.
I am very excited
to be going home.
I don't have a whole lot
in my shop,
so that's gonna be a challenge.
I am going home to my shop,
where I am king.
Chris is in trouble.
Bladesmiths, are you ready
to forge ahead?
- Yes, sir.
- Yes, sir.
We will see you in five days.
I am feeling awesome
about this final challenge.
I'm in my home element,
I've got all my tools,
and, man, I'm just ready
to rock.
What I had to do is go
to the junkyard
and find a very particular piece
for a jig,
a particular item to allow you
to very carefully control
the contours
of the item you're working on.
And laying under some oak trees,
I find an old oxygen tank.
And so what we have now
is our chakram form.
Next I actually welded a stock,
just someplace to give me
some leverage.
I'm gonna heat the bar
and start bending it
around my jig.
So now I need to weld
these pieces together.
And there we go.
We have a hoop formed.
My interpretation
of a traditional chakram
will involve doing some things
that I don't really do
in my shop.
I don't have anything in my shop
to accommodate this shape.
I was having a little difficulty
with the shaping.
Most people probably have
a jig set up
so that they could pull this
around a lot easier.
I don't have a jig,
so I'm doing a combination
of rounding it
on the horn of the anvil
and using the bevel
to help round it further.
Today I'm actually gonna use
my angle grinder
to kind of get a clean finish
on the piece,
and then I'm gonna start work
on my braided handles.
This is going to be
my base material
for my braided handle.
You normally use it
for knife handles,
but I'm gonna be using this
for the middle of our chakram.
Pretty close.
I'm done
with the initial shaping.
The only issues that I think
I may run into
is forge-welding the seam
of the chakram,
because it might get burned.
The heat is very inconsistent.
It's very difficult
to control precisely
where you're heating up
in a charcoal forge.
.
It got burned.
I have two more days left
to get a chakram
out of my shop.
It's just not gonna work.
Last night, I had some steel
get burned,
so I'm going to cut out
the sections of the chakram
that were ruined
and weld on a new section.
And being a guy who works
mostly with hand tools,
I want to see
if I can pull it off.
It'll work out.
Or it won't.
Well, it ain't perfect, but
And there she is.
The last thing
that I'm going to do
is focus on making her pretty.
I'm going to use
a bronze brazing technique.
It's gonna fit it perfectly.
The last day, it is
hit-it-or-quit-it time.
This is gonna be so kick-ass.
Gentlemen, welcome back
to the forge.
You are within sight
of the finish line
and within striking distance
of $10,000
and the Forged in Fire
championship.
There is just the small matter
of the weapons test.
Chris, tell us a little bit
about your weapon.
I tried to keep it thin
so it'd be a bit light
and easy to throw.
I made it
so that it's just gonna cut
whatever you throw it at.
I had a lot of hurdles
to jump
to make that particular shape,
so I didn't get to do
any testing.
But, you know, I think
it'll do the job.
Trenton, can you tell us
a little bit about your chakram?
Being an architectural
blacksmith,
I actually had
a much easier time
getting the hoop
than Chris did, I think.
Once I saw Trenton's piece,
I was just like,
"Wow, that's really pretty.
All it has to do is cut
something, and it should win."
This is heavy
for a traditional chakram.
This is not
a flying razor blade;
this is more of
a flying cinder block.
Well, it certainly
looked good,
but the only thing that matters
on the battlefield
is how they perform
under pressure.
Doug?
For the strength test,
we're going to take
your chakrams
and see if it was designed well
as a throwing weapon.
We're going to use
a specially designed
mechanical device
that will launch your weapon
into the sugar canes,
because sugar canes
have similar consistency
as human limbs.
If your weapon can cut cleanly
through a sugar cane,
that would indicate
that you have a weapon
that would do mass destruction
in the field of battle.
This device here
is calibrated
so that every throw
is gonna be the same
for each of your designs.
Chris, you're first.
Are you ready?
Yes, sir.
In 3, 2, 1.
Engage!
That's cool.
Well, Chris,
it cut two sugar canes.
I see no indentations
on the edges here.
This will cause maximum damage
in the battlefield.
Good job.
Yes, thank you.
Okay, Trenton.
You're up next.
In 3, 2, 1.
Engage.
I watched mine just kind of do
an overarching arc,
just a bloop.
It hits the sugar cane
very low,
just a couple of inches
off the ground.
However, it shears them,
and that means I'm good.
Well, Trenton,
because of the weight,
obviously,
it didn't fly out as high.
But it did cut.
This definitely will be
an ankle cutter.
Trenton's piece,
it still cutish.
Now for the kill test.
The chakram is primarily
a throwing weapon.
However,
in close-quarter combat,
sometimes throwing a weapon
is not an option.
Trenton, you're up first.
This is designed
to be a handle, correct?
Yes, sir.
So in order
to keep myself safe,
I'm gonna hold the handle,
and I have to protect
the back of my arm with this.
So on the design alone,
that's a concern.
Let's find out what it does.
Well, Trenton,
that performed quite well.
It cut some ribs,
and it disemboweled
the dummy.
It will kill.
Good job, Trenton.
Chris, you're up next.
Excellent.
Wow, well,
it really opened him up
in the belly here, so he's
totally disemboweled.
Definitely cut through
all the way and broke a rib.
It'll kill.
The judges are gonna take
some time
to decide which of you
goes home with the big prize.
I am very certain
that I'm going to take home
the prize,
because it's a beautiful blade,
and it functions.
I think that I have a chance
to win,
but I don't think that I'm
the heavy favorite at all.
Through three rounds
of competition,
you gentlemen have produced
some imaginative, creative,
and memorable weapons.
However, only one
will be declared
the Forged in Firechampion
and receive a check for $10,000.
J.
Well, Trenton, I really liked
the craftsmanship,
and the grind was great.
However, I really could have
done without
all the ornamentation
in the center.
It added a lot of weight.
Overall, it took away from
the actual design of the weapon.
As far as craftsmanship,
you've created some really
beautiful thing to look at.
I mean, it's really gorgeous.
Unfortunately, a chakram
has to be a light, fast weapon,
so I have some problems
with the weight of that weapon.
Chris, you're up next.
Chris, your chakram performed
quite well in the test.
It's very close
to what it was made for.
Unfortunately,
it's crudely made.
Functionality-wise,
it performed great.
You've got a fast, lightweight
blade
that holds up and cuts,
and that's key.
But there's some rough edges
on that weapon of yours.
You have both performed
outstandingly.
However, there can only be
one winner for $10,000.
Chris
you are the Forged in Fire
champion.
Congratulations.
Trenton, unfortunately,
your weapon
did not make the cut.
A chakram has to be
a light, fast weapon,
so I have some problems
with the weight of that weapon.
And once you added
that handle in the middle,
you've left the realm of chakram
and went into the realm
of fantasy.
And it kills me,
because I love looking at it,
but when it came down
to a chakram
that would work in combat,
it had to go to Chris.
Trenton,
please surrender your weapon.
Well, of course
I'm disappointed.
I fought real hard.
Thanks.
I'm sorry.
Man, Chris,
he did a awesome job.
That's the kind of person
you want to lose to.
Chris, congratulations.
You will receive a check
for $10,000.
Congratulations, Chris.
In function and form
and historical accuracy,
your blade performed the best.
I'm a little in shock.
Chris isn't here anymore;
please leave a message.
of human civilization,
mankind has made weapons.
- Whoa!
Bladesmiths have honed
and perfected their craft
over thousands of years.
And 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,
and by the end of three rounds,
the bladesmiths must deliver
handmade weapons
that are works of art
as well as deadly instruments
of war.
These weapons must survive
explosive tests
as well as the scrutiny
of an expert panel judges.
In the end, only one bladesmith
will take home $10,000
and be crowned
a Forged in Firechampion.
My name is Trenton Tye.
I am not "Trent,
who is a blacksmith."
I am "Trent the blacksmith."
I'm Chad Harding.
I'm all about
the high-performance
blade and knife making.
It needs to exceed what you can
go to the store and buy.
My name is Christopher Farrell.
Being a professional bladesmith,
you don't make a lot of money.
Winning this competition
would make the next year
of operation costs
a lot easier to shoulder.
My name is Grant Marcoux.
I retired and opened up
a full-service blacksmith shop
where I hold classes
in basic and intermediate
bladesmithing.
Gentlemen.
Welcome to the forge.
Ahead of you
are three challenges
that are designed to see
just how good you really are.
After each round,
you will hand your work over
to our judges.
Internationally known
master smith J. Neilson.
World-renowned rare weapons
re-creation specialist
David Baker.
And, finally,
globally recognized
martial artist
and edged weapon specialist
Doug Marcaida.
They will decide
who gets to stay
and who has to go home.
In front of you on the tables,
you'll see a variety
of metal objects:
meat hooks, crowbars, chains,
mower blades, horseshoes.
Your challenge is to take
one or more
of these everyday items
and forge a fully functional
edged weapon of your own design.
This week, the blade parameters
are as follows.
The length of the blade,
not including the tang,
will be no less
than 9 inches in length
and no more than 16 inches
in length.
You will have three hours
to forge your blade.
Remember,
once the three hours is up,
one of you will be asked
to surrender his weapon
and go home.
Your time starts
now.
Okay, here we go.
Chad grabbed a roller bearing.
So did Trenton.
You know, I notice
that Chris grabbed the file.
He grabbed a farrier's rasp,
big file with very big teeth
in it, big dips in it.
I don't know what that metal is,
but it's tough!
I choose the crowbar.
I know I can make
a tough knife out of it.
I mean,
that's a big guy.
He picked a big piece of steel.
I want to see what he's up to.
My style of bladesmithing
would be considered conservative
and traditional.
I'm making a Sheffield school
bowie knife,
because it's a great vehicle
for expressing your skill
as a knifemaker.
There's a lot of ways
to embellish these knives.
Hot stuff!
Hot stuff, baby.
I think in my next life,
I'm gonna get
a snow cone franchise.
We got a comedian
on the floor.
I want to win this
so I can illustrate
to my students
that human beings
have been working metal
for over 3,000 years,
and you're standing
on the shoulders of giants.
Excuse me.
Hot metal!
Get your hot metal here!
[Chad voice-over
I just forged
a couple bearing blades
a few days earlier,
so I'm gonna do bearings.
It's fresh in my mind.
It makes a great blade
if you can take your time
and do it right.
Suck ass.
My style of blade making
is Western influence.
My main focus
is creating a hunter
that serves
more than one purpose,
where you can walk
into the woods with one knife
and come out of the woods okay.
I am inspired
by blades from history,
and then I go off on a tangent
and I make something in a way
that conveys
how I see whatever the idea is
that popped into my head.
The farrier's rasp,
it's got so much character.
You can get a lot of movement
out of that steel.
You can get it to tell
a lot of stories.
I'm used to using old files
which are dull.
The farrier's rasp is not old
and not dull.
You know, I feel like
my hand's a little wet,
and I kind of get a glimpse.
I cut my finger open.
It's just a flesh wound.
So have we already got
some blood on the floor?
That's fine; I just want
to get back to work.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Okay.
Time just keeps moving,
so you have to keep moving.
My signature blade
is a drop-point hunter.
It is practical,
it is efficient,
and if there's anything that
I would have represent me,
that would be it.
And I pee harder
than this thing hits.
Roller bearings
are a type of steel
that is highly prized
in knifemaking.
I started hammer-forging
so that the blade was thinner.
I'm curious to see
what Trenton's going to do,
'cause that steel's getting
really thin.
That looks pretty lean.
I'm going to do everything I can
to make something
that, first, functions
and then, second,
looks really good.
Two hours, gentlemen!
You have two hours remaining!
After I was done bleeding,
you know, I set to getting back
to forging out
the tip of the blade.
Never have a plan.
Every time I make a plan,
the knife changes its mind.
It's basically just opening
communication.
It's just kind of like,
you know, introducing yourself.
"Hello, my name is Chris.
What is your name?"
I like the fact
that Chris has been
pacing himself.
Cool as a cucumber.
I want to be in that moment
with that piece
and see where it wants to go
and feel it.
Somebody turned the heat on
in here.
m a little confused
by Chad's blade.
I'm not sure
what he's doing.
It's not going to be
anywhere near 9 inches.
That's gonna be
a pretty short knife.
I'm going to bring my blade down
just a little bit more,
and then I'm going to grind him.
I'm very confident in my blade
and design.
It's a perfect-shaped hunter,
and that's what I was making.
You got
enough blade there?
Should have.
Is it 9 inches overall?
It's supposed to be
a 9-inch blade.
I think that's 9 inches
not including the tang.
I was making a blade
under the requirements.
I had heard the instructions
wrong.
God!
I up.
I thought
it was 9 inches overall,
not a 9-inch blade.
I was focusing
on a 6-inch hunter.
Oh, son of a bitch.
My heart just sunk.
I knew I had to start over.
I have to modify my blade.
I think there's still a chance.
So I'm trying to get
the maximum length I can
out of my useable steel
that I already have time
invested in.
I go to the forge, reheat,
start drawing out the blade
as much as I can,
'cause there's always a chance
that everything's going
to work out right.
90 minutes!
You have 90 minutes remaining!
This environment
is extremely stressful.
Whoo!
There is a furnace there
that's cooking out
at 2,000 degrees.
It's radiating heat.
When you're hot, you're hot.
You've got that clock going
up there,
and you've got this metal
that you have to make,
and it is intense.
Grant, I mean,
I'm really starting to worry.
He's sweating quite a bit.
I'm afraid
he's gonna hurt himself.
Yeah.
Step back and take a breath.
I do kind of, like,
glance about,
and I notice Grant's having
a little bit of trouble.
This is certainly going
to put him behind.
I don't like this.
I'm gonna stop the clock.
Can we get a medic
on the floor?
Okay.
Okay, your pulse is fast.
- What's happening?
- Oh, no.
Okay.
The paramedic needs
to look at Grant.
We expecting to see
a recovery here?
Oh, yeah.
He doesn't look like a guy
that's gonna give up.
Okay, I'll drink some water,
and I'll rock and roll.
There we go.
The medic checked me out.
I know my own limitation.
And I had to get back to work.
The clock restarts
now.
Heat it and beat it.
Heat it and beat it!
If you want to run
with the big dogs,
you got to get your ass
off the porch.
We've been watching
what's going on over here
with all the drama.
Meanwhile, Trenton over there
is just muscling along.
This blade looks awesome,
and I'm going to now temper
this blade.
As I put the blade in the forge
to get a preheat,
see a dark spot
about a quarter of an inch long.
You've got to be kidding me.
If you see a dark spot in
that blade while it's heating,
it's a crack.
Oh, Trenton's shaking his head.
Trenton's blade cracked.
At this point
in the competition,
how serious is a cracked blade?
Oh, extremely serious.
What you call
a beautiful failure.
But
I got, what, 15 minutes?
If you can't do it with A,
try to do it with B.
If you can't do it with B,
that's where you have to pull it
out of your backside
and improvise.
I need something that cuts.
An axe.
He's just grabbed
one of those mower blades.
I have no idea
what he's doing.
I don't have time
to shape the handle.
I don't have time to do
any fancy little blacksmith
decorative twist
and show off
my blacksmith skills.
No, no, it is time
to hammer crap together.
When all else fails,
use force.
Can he make a new blade
in 20 minutes?
Oh, yeah.
It's not gonna be pretty,
but it might just
pass the test.
I have a 6-inch blade
God!
That I have to stretch 4 inches
to hit the 9-inch requirement,
and I'm pushing my steel
way thinner
than my comfort zone.
I know if it gets too thin,
I risk warpage or cracking.
He's being too aggressive
on a thin piece of steel,
'cause you see
it's bending right out,
and he's got to constantly
fix it.
I measure two or three times.
Once I hit
the 9-inch requirement
I'm going back to the grinder.
That's when I notice a crack.
I don't think there's any hope
for this blade.
Oh, .
Really?
He doesn't have enough time
to reforge another blade
with steel either.
That's gonna take too long.
We're actually into minutes now.
I don't have enough time
to finish out a second blade.
But I'm not going to give up.
I want just to show my kids
to never stop,
you know, always keep trying.
So I go and grab
a railroad spike,
'cause it's the smallest,
easiest thing to draw out
into a knife-shaped object.
I'm gonna try something crazy
with a railroad spike
as my Hail Mary.
Just maybe it'll get me
out of the jam I'm in.
I'm loving this.
Trenton over here
is a fantastic example
of just adapt and charge on.
That's gonna be
one wicked-ass weapon.
Wil, you and I know
that in the realm of combat,
you take anything
and make it work.
You don't give up.
30 seconds!
10, 9, 8
7, 6, 5
4, 3, 2
1!
Bladesmiths, your time is up.
It don't get better than that,
man.
Your challenge was to complete
a fully functional,
finished, edged weapon
of your own design.
Grant, please hand over
your weapon.
Well, Grant, I will say
I do like the basic
traditional design on it.
Got a little bit of an arc
in it,
but you'll probably fix that.
Point taken, sir.
Chris, you may present
your weapon to the judges.
This design was beautiful.
It's got a beautiful feel to it.
A lot of metal there.
Kind of cool.
I mean, at least
you were smiling
throughout the process.
Very inspiring to watch.
Thank you.
Chad, please present your work.
You had a problem.
You sucked it up,
and you went on,
grabbed a spike,
and went to town on it.
Five more minutes,
I might have been able
to finish that profile.
I mean, you know
as well as I do
this looks really rough.
Yeah.
Trenton,
please present your weapon
to the judges.
When we saw
that your blade was broken,
there's nothing worse.
But then you just
threw it all out the window
and said, "I'm just gonna go
for something
pretty damn interesting."
Again, a little trouble
with the first blade.
And as far as
after your grind and quench,
I mean, you've got
serious curve in this edge.
Gentlemen,
based on the parameters
set for this round,
the judges do not need
to deliberate.
Chad, you failed to hand in
a finished blade.
Therefore, you did not meet
the requirements
of the challenge.
Dave will explain.
And I appreciate the effort to
try to get that blade finished,
but you didn't heat-treat
the blade.
It has no edge.
You're not finished
hammering out the basic shape.
It's just too rough
to be accepted
as a completed knife.
I completely understand.
Know that your hard work
to get it done
was certainly appreciated.
Chad
please surrender your weapon.
Thank you, Chad.
I'm gonna leave this competition
still feeling good about myself.
If one or two things
would have changed,
it would have been
a completely different outcome.
But, unfortunately,
there has to be somebody
that goes out the first round.
It sucks, but it still happens.
Gentlemen, congratulations.
You've all made it
to round two of our competition.
In your second challenge,
you will have to take
your blades
and turn them into
fully operational weapons.
If you need to do
additional work to your blade,
now is the time.
But you must also design
and fabricate a handle
out of the range of materials
provided for you.
When the time is up,
your weapon's strength
and durability
will be tested in an ice chop
and its ability to hold an edge
in a specially designed
sharpness test.
There are three hours
on the clock.
Your time starts
Now.
I've already got an idea
of how I want the handle to go,
and I just need to find
a good material to do it with.
So I saw this stuff, and it was
really blue and shiny,
and I was just like,
"That's kind of neat."
I was really excited
about trying some stuff
that I don't normally do.
The first problem
that I ran into
was the fact that the blade
had to be supported.
I made two C-shaped pieces
to go around the back
of the blade
in order to support it
and keep it from breaking.
I wanted to see him
knock that handle off
and put a full tang
or something different on there.
And I'd like to see him
straighten out that blade,
'cause he's got
a heck of a twist in there.
He's not changing that handle.
He's reinforcing
that handle.
That's what I was
afraid of.
I've already made plans
for the $10,000.
About 7,000 of it
is going to go to business,
and I'm leaving 3,000 in reserve
for idiocy and stupidity.
That's my buffer zone.
So 3 grand.
I have a lot of material left
to remove on my knife.
I go to start doing the grind.
I'm worried about that
really thin spot in the blade.
- Right in the middle.
- Right on the edge.
Yup.
And if he's chasing that in,
that blade's just gonna keep
getting smaller
and smaller and smaller.
I only have an hour
and 51 minutes left,
and I have to start working
on this handle now,
so I'm choosing brass
for the guard
and stag horn for the handle.
I'm selecting these materials
because they are specifically
believable
on a 19th-century British-made
Sheffield school bowie.
Okay, we're good to go.
This is all very critical.
Trying to stay in the groove.
I have to make the guard,
and it has to be soldered
in place.
I think I'll be all right,
but I don't have time
to dilly-dally or shilly-shally.
It's a challenge,
and if there is going to be
a mistake,
it's gonna happen now.
.
Oh, no.
Damn it.
It's a real struggle.
The clock is rolling.
This is do or die,
because the future of
the project depends on it.
My blade is in good shape,
so I have to come up
with some kind of wrap
for the handle.
You know, the problem
with what he's doing is,
he's adding more weight
to that.
How heavy is that thing
gonna end up being?
Still not as sharp
as I'd like it to be.
But we're getting there.
I'm back on the grinder,
doing some shaping
to my handle
and cleaning up the blade,
bringing it up
to a higher polish
and bringing my edge further.
The epoxy is very gummy still,
and it's still stuck
on the blade.
It's getting stuck
in the grinder belts.
I want to be able to get it
at least cleaned up
to a point where I can
make it look prettyish.
20 minutes!
You have 20 minutes remaining!
It's hard to take my eyes
away from Trenton.
I'm trying to figure out
what the heck he's doing.
Well, that's just it.
Where is he going
with that?
He's spent a lot of time
working on that handle.
He's got to work on that blade.
I see these three pieces
of handle material,
which are antler,
and there was such a gap
in between where
the axe was attached.
It was just kind of
a hollow hole.
I said, "Man, if we put these
on here,
it's gonna be like Predator."
It's like dreadlocks for an axe.
10, 9, 8
7
6, 5, 4
3, 2, 1.
Your work is now complete.
The competition is stiff.
There are three awesome blades
in the shop,
and the judges
have expressed concerns
about the shape of the blade.
And if I don't meet
what they're looking for,
they could send me home.
I pulled off
some wild crap today.
There's no two ways about it.
But guess what.
That blade, as it sits,
will outchop anything else
that's been made in there
this round.
Bladesmiths, I'm gonna take
each of your blades
and do six vertical chops
on these ice blocks
to see how well
your edge holds up
and how it feels in hand.
Grant, you're up first.
Well, Grant, we got
a little bit of a problem
with the edge retention.
I lost about a third of it.
When the edge failed
against the ice,
I realized, "Okay, something
along the process went wrong."
My edge was ground thin
and fine.
It wasn't made to chop
against a hard medium.
I'm disappointed,
but that's the way
the cow chewed the cabbage.
Chris, are you ready?
Yes, sir.
He hit that ice,
and it just went everywhere.
And I was just like, "Whoa,
that was really cool."
I'm ecstatic on the inside.
Like, there's a little me inside
dancing a jig.
Chris, your blade held up
pretty well.
I still would have liked
to have seen
a bit steeper angle
on there,
but it will chop ice.
Thanks.
Trenton.
Ready?
Yes, sir.
Well, Trenton,
that was interesting.
It was like trying to hold on
to an angry goose.
You do have--
with the twist in that blade
and the weight of this,
it's really hard to control.
I mean, it keeps wanting
to glance off
to one side
or the other.
And you've got some chipping
in the blade here as well.
But, uh, it did tear up
that ice block pretty nice.
Yes, it did.
Now it's time to see how
your weapons held their edge.
For this sharpness test,
I'm going to do
a horizontal cut.
This will allow me
to keep it even the same way
so I don't depend
on gravity
to put some weight
into the cut.
Then I'm going to go in front
and I'm going to do
a vertical cut,
a simple slice down to see
how well the edge held.
Grant,
your weapon is up.
It still cuts,
not as deeply
as I'd want it to,
but it cuts.
Chris, yours is up.
Nice.
It cuts.
Okay, Trenton,
yours is up.
It's a ripper.
Gentlemen, you haven't
made this decision easy
for our judges.
We'll now take some time
to deliberate.
Thank you very much.
Oh!
Wasn't that
high drama?
Well, judges,
let's start with Grant's blade.
I liked where Grant was going
originally.
I like the whole bowie idea.
But he just started having
so much trouble,
and the heat treat
and choice of steel
obviously got away from him,
'cause it chipped out so badly
on the ice chop.
It did not perform well.
He just wound up with a blade
that was so thin,
and it obviously failed
the test.
All right, let's move on
to Chris's blade.
Of all of our blades,
that blade has got to be
the most functional
as far as just straight
killing efficiency.
It--it'll make some sandwiches,
I'll guarantee.
I was really leery
about Chris picking
the farrier's rasp,
and there's a lot I would have
liked to have seen done with it.
But it chopped the best,
and it did slice the best.
The handle, you can see
that he's burnt the material
both on the front
and the back,
and that turns into
a sticky glue,
So there were a lot
of finish things
that he could have done
to this material.
Let's move on
to Trenton's weapon.
I mean, this is
wildly creative.
Very decorative.
I mean, he showed
a lot of skills.
But because it was
so unbalanced,
it was very hard to control.
Yes, it will chop ice.
But every time I hit it,
it was deflecting one way,
deflecting the other,
and I'm actually
very disappointed.
But you know what?
Does it chop? Yeah.
Does it slice? Yeah.
Can you remove a door
with it? Yeah.
Can I rip the hood of the car
off with it? You bet.
It's not about what I have
in my hand.
It's what I do with it.
- Okay.
- Okay?
I could do more with this
in modern-day combat
instead of this
hunk-a-dunk over here
that I'm gonna
have to wield heavy--
So you're gonna--
wait, wait, wait.
You're gonna take a weapon
that you already saw fail
into combat.
He had three hours
where he could have
totally altered
the entire design
and structure of this
and made something that
would have performed better.
And instead, he played around
with decorating a wall hanger.
I'm standing here
waiting for the judges
to tell me who's going home,
but I'm half there.
Somebody's gonna go home,
and I don't know who it is.
Bladesmiths,
one of you has to leave
the forge.
You have all produced a weapon
given the time that was provided
for you.
But one of you has to leave
the forge.
Grant, your weapon
didn't make the cut.
We liked the design
you went with.
The problem is,
when we got to testing,
you had that blade crack
and it really didn't cut well.
Kiss of death.
Grant, please surrender
your weapon.
I'm disappointed
that I'm no longer
in the competition.
Thank you, Grant.
The failure of an edge
in a test,
that's the kiss of death.
Chris, Trenton, congratulations.
You've both made it
to the final round
and are one step closer
to $10,000.
So far,
you've come to our forge
and you've made a weapon
of your choosing.
Now you're gonna head back
to your home forge,
and you're gonna create
a weapon of our choosing.
And that mystery weapon is
The chakram.
The chakram
is an Indian throwing weapon
which dates back
hundreds of years.
Warrior Sikhs would throw it
like a Frisbee
or spin it at high speeds
on their fingers
before launching it
into the enemy.
Weapon of the Hindu god Vishnu,
its exotic nature has resulted
in it appearing
in TV and movies.
Oddjob's lethal bowler hat
in the James Bond movie
Goldfinger
was a variation of the weapon,
as was Xena's weapon of choice
in the cult TV series.
The Indian warriors would wear
multiple chakrams into battle,
carrying them around their arms,
their necks,
and even stacked high
on their heads
in specially designed turbans.
Your challenge is to forge
an authentic, working version
of that infamous
throwing weapon.
A chakram
is a whole different cow.
This is a shape that most
knifemakers never touch.
I've never done
one of these before.
I've never even thought
about doing one of these before.
So we'll see what happens.
In five days, you'll return
and present your chakrams
to our judges.
They subject your weapons
to a series
of aerodynamic and explosive
tests.
Once these tests are completed,
they will decide
who will be declared
the Forged in Firechampion
and walks with a check
for $10,000.
I am very excited
to be going home.
I don't have a whole lot
in my shop,
so that's gonna be a challenge.
I am going home to my shop,
where I am king.
Chris is in trouble.
Bladesmiths, are you ready
to forge ahead?
- Yes, sir.
- Yes, sir.
We will see you in five days.
I am feeling awesome
about this final challenge.
I'm in my home element,
I've got all my tools,
and, man, I'm just ready
to rock.
What I had to do is go
to the junkyard
and find a very particular piece
for a jig,
a particular item to allow you
to very carefully control
the contours
of the item you're working on.
And laying under some oak trees,
I find an old oxygen tank.
And so what we have now
is our chakram form.
Next I actually welded a stock,
just someplace to give me
some leverage.
I'm gonna heat the bar
and start bending it
around my jig.
So now I need to weld
these pieces together.
And there we go.
We have a hoop formed.
My interpretation
of a traditional chakram
will involve doing some things
that I don't really do
in my shop.
I don't have anything in my shop
to accommodate this shape.
I was having a little difficulty
with the shaping.
Most people probably have
a jig set up
so that they could pull this
around a lot easier.
I don't have a jig,
so I'm doing a combination
of rounding it
on the horn of the anvil
and using the bevel
to help round it further.
Today I'm actually gonna use
my angle grinder
to kind of get a clean finish
on the piece,
and then I'm gonna start work
on my braided handles.
This is going to be
my base material
for my braided handle.
You normally use it
for knife handles,
but I'm gonna be using this
for the middle of our chakram.
Pretty close.
I'm done
with the initial shaping.
The only issues that I think
I may run into
is forge-welding the seam
of the chakram,
because it might get burned.
The heat is very inconsistent.
It's very difficult
to control precisely
where you're heating up
in a charcoal forge.
.
It got burned.
I have two more days left
to get a chakram
out of my shop.
It's just not gonna work.
Last night, I had some steel
get burned,
so I'm going to cut out
the sections of the chakram
that were ruined
and weld on a new section.
And being a guy who works
mostly with hand tools,
I want to see
if I can pull it off.
It'll work out.
Or it won't.
Well, it ain't perfect, but
And there she is.
The last thing
that I'm going to do
is focus on making her pretty.
I'm going to use
a bronze brazing technique.
It's gonna fit it perfectly.
The last day, it is
hit-it-or-quit-it time.
This is gonna be so kick-ass.
Gentlemen, welcome back
to the forge.
You are within sight
of the finish line
and within striking distance
of $10,000
and the Forged in Fire
championship.
There is just the small matter
of the weapons test.
Chris, tell us a little bit
about your weapon.
I tried to keep it thin
so it'd be a bit light
and easy to throw.
I made it
so that it's just gonna cut
whatever you throw it at.
I had a lot of hurdles
to jump
to make that particular shape,
so I didn't get to do
any testing.
But, you know, I think
it'll do the job.
Trenton, can you tell us
a little bit about your chakram?
Being an architectural
blacksmith,
I actually had
a much easier time
getting the hoop
than Chris did, I think.
Once I saw Trenton's piece,
I was just like,
"Wow, that's really pretty.
All it has to do is cut
something, and it should win."
This is heavy
for a traditional chakram.
This is not
a flying razor blade;
this is more of
a flying cinder block.
Well, it certainly
looked good,
but the only thing that matters
on the battlefield
is how they perform
under pressure.
Doug?
For the strength test,
we're going to take
your chakrams
and see if it was designed well
as a throwing weapon.
We're going to use
a specially designed
mechanical device
that will launch your weapon
into the sugar canes,
because sugar canes
have similar consistency
as human limbs.
If your weapon can cut cleanly
through a sugar cane,
that would indicate
that you have a weapon
that would do mass destruction
in the field of battle.
This device here
is calibrated
so that every throw
is gonna be the same
for each of your designs.
Chris, you're first.
Are you ready?
Yes, sir.
In 3, 2, 1.
Engage!
That's cool.
Well, Chris,
it cut two sugar canes.
I see no indentations
on the edges here.
This will cause maximum damage
in the battlefield.
Good job.
Yes, thank you.
Okay, Trenton.
You're up next.
In 3, 2, 1.
Engage.
I watched mine just kind of do
an overarching arc,
just a bloop.
It hits the sugar cane
very low,
just a couple of inches
off the ground.
However, it shears them,
and that means I'm good.
Well, Trenton,
because of the weight,
obviously,
it didn't fly out as high.
But it did cut.
This definitely will be
an ankle cutter.
Trenton's piece,
it still cutish.
Now for the kill test.
The chakram is primarily
a throwing weapon.
However,
in close-quarter combat,
sometimes throwing a weapon
is not an option.
Trenton, you're up first.
This is designed
to be a handle, correct?
Yes, sir.
So in order
to keep myself safe,
I'm gonna hold the handle,
and I have to protect
the back of my arm with this.
So on the design alone,
that's a concern.
Let's find out what it does.
Well, Trenton,
that performed quite well.
It cut some ribs,
and it disemboweled
the dummy.
It will kill.
Good job, Trenton.
Chris, you're up next.
Excellent.
Wow, well,
it really opened him up
in the belly here, so he's
totally disemboweled.
Definitely cut through
all the way and broke a rib.
It'll kill.
The judges are gonna take
some time
to decide which of you
goes home with the big prize.
I am very certain
that I'm going to take home
the prize,
because it's a beautiful blade,
and it functions.
I think that I have a chance
to win,
but I don't think that I'm
the heavy favorite at all.
Through three rounds
of competition,
you gentlemen have produced
some imaginative, creative,
and memorable weapons.
However, only one
will be declared
the Forged in Firechampion
and receive a check for $10,000.
J.
Well, Trenton, I really liked
the craftsmanship,
and the grind was great.
However, I really could have
done without
all the ornamentation
in the center.
It added a lot of weight.
Overall, it took away from
the actual design of the weapon.
As far as craftsmanship,
you've created some really
beautiful thing to look at.
I mean, it's really gorgeous.
Unfortunately, a chakram
has to be a light, fast weapon,
so I have some problems
with the weight of that weapon.
Chris, you're up next.
Chris, your chakram performed
quite well in the test.
It's very close
to what it was made for.
Unfortunately,
it's crudely made.
Functionality-wise,
it performed great.
You've got a fast, lightweight
blade
that holds up and cuts,
and that's key.
But there's some rough edges
on that weapon of yours.
You have both performed
outstandingly.
However, there can only be
one winner for $10,000.
Chris
you are the Forged in Fire
champion.
Congratulations.
Trenton, unfortunately,
your weapon
did not make the cut.
A chakram has to be
a light, fast weapon,
so I have some problems
with the weight of that weapon.
And once you added
that handle in the middle,
you've left the realm of chakram
and went into the realm
of fantasy.
And it kills me,
because I love looking at it,
but when it came down
to a chakram
that would work in combat,
it had to go to Chris.
Trenton,
please surrender your weapon.
Well, of course
I'm disappointed.
I fought real hard.
Thanks.
I'm sorry.
Man, Chris,
he did a awesome job.
That's the kind of person
you want to lose to.
Chris, congratulations.
You will receive a check
for $10,000.
Congratulations, Chris.
In function and form
and historical accuracy,
your blade performed the best.
I'm a little in shock.
Chris isn't here anymore;
please leave a message.