Forged in Fire (2015) s01e03 Episode Script

Since the dawn
of human civilization,
mankind has made weapons.
- Whoa!
Bladesmiths have honed
and perfected their craft
over thousands of years.
Oh, yeah!
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.
I'm James Hughes.
I got into making knives
in 2000.
It's the pride of being able to
make something with your hands,
and make a useful piece of art.
I'm Jonathan Porter,
and I'm a farrier--
the fancy word
for a horseshoer--
as well as
a full-time bladesmith.
My name is Ryu Lim.
I was born and raised
in the Philippines.
I'm an ironworker,
and I make blades for a living.
My name is Phil Evans.
I've been making knives
for almost 20 years.
I made my first knife in 1995.
I ground it out of a file and
put a deer antler handle on it.
Gentlemen,
welcome to the forge.
Ahead of you
are three challenges
designed to test your skill.
Each round is against the clock
and of course,
against each other.
After each round,
our panel of judges
will scrutinize your work.
They decide who stays,
and who goes.
It's time to meet our judges.
Solo weapons making export,
J. Neilson.
Rare weapons recreation
specialist, David Baker.
And finally,
edged weapons specialist
and martial artist,
Doug Marcaida.
In front of you,
on your anvils, is a cloth.
Go ahead and lift that up.
That is a train spring
made of high-carbon steel.
Your challenge
is to forge that spring
into a weapon
of your own design
but it should be
in your signature style.
The length of the blade,
not including the tang,
must be between
12 and 16 inches.
And just to spice things up
a little bit,
that blade that you must create
must also have a fuller
that runs over half the length
of the blade.
I'm concerned 'cause
I've never put a fuller
in a knife before.
It's gonna be kind of tricky.
You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.
You will have three hours
to forge your blades.
After your time is up,
one of you will have
to surrender your weapon
and go home.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your ten-minute design window
begins
Now.
My specialty is hunting knives
and fighting knives.
I want to mix those two together
into one blade,
and I want it to work.
In the Philippines,
I forged my first sword
when I was ten years old.
I felt the hot iron
move in my hand,
being formed by the hammer
to my will,
and I felt very powerful.
I loved that sword.
I slept next to it every night.
My knife's gonna be
a large Bowie-style knife.
My specialty knife
is a huntingtility knife.
That is a big, big blade.
Being a proud Texan,
I make a knife
that I can be proud of--
that anybody who carries one
of my knives can be proud of.
I'm making a broken back
or Viking-style seax.
Divided by
I used to work at a horse show,
and they're typically pretty
boring for the farrier.
You're just waiting
on somebody's shoe to fall off.
So I decided at that point
I was going to make some knives,
and after the first couple
that I made,
that's pretty much
what I did at horse shows.
My design is for a Bowie knife
with a hidden tang.
My specialty in knife making
is a hunting knife
or skinning knife, so I wanted
to stick with what I knew.
My dad was blind.
Almost every knife
that I made, I showed him.
He couldn't see it,
but he would feel it.
He could feel imperfections
that I couldn't see,
which made me
a better knife maker.
Gentlemen,
your design window
is now closed.
Your three-hour
forging time begins now.
Here we go.
Threw 'em a little bit
of a loop
on the size of that material.
Yeah.
They're just trying to get
their steel in the fire.
Phil got through part of it.
He took a piece off.
He just took enough off--
He took enough off
to get it fit in there.
- That was a good move.
- Yeah.
All right,
so we're gonna
have number two in the fire.
Looks like James
will be in the fire.
Heat up,
heat up, heat up.
Come on baby, get hot.
Come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Hate waiting on fire!
- There you go. Here we go.
- There you go.
- Oh, my goodness.
- That's all right.
That's a lot
to hold onto there.
I'm struggling with the spring.
I dropped it.
I couldn't get the tongs
to fit right.
That metal is really
fighting Phil.
I really don't know
how I'm gonna get
that spring uncoiled
and get it done in three hours.
He's getting there, though.
He's getting there.
- This is quite a challenge.
- Oh, yeah.
Quite a challenge.
Half an hour gone.
You have two and a half hours
remaining.
Yay!
All these other guys
got their springs in the forge.
I'm falling way behind.
So Ryu's finally got a piece
that he wants to work with,
and he's got his metal
in the forge.
I can make weapons
out of anything.
Literally anything
by myself with no assistance,
with no help from machines.
I want to do everything by hand,
and want to show people
how I make my blades.
He's beating on
cold steel there.
He's got to get that
a lot hotter.
I believe it's more personal.
You build a relationship
with that blade,
and you give it life.
You give it soul.
Everything that he does
is in a traditional technique.
Wow.
And usually,
they can get away with that,
but with a time element here--
you know, using
these other machines does help.
He might have to learn
how to adapt
and use some of these tools.
Come on, come on, come on,
come on!
So right now, it's just a race
to see who can uncoil
this the fastest, at this point.
And James is the first one
on the press.
I consider myself an artist,
because it's like
any other type of art.
You know, you paint a painting.
You take raw materials,
and you paint a painting.
We do the same thing.
We take raw materials
and we make art.
It looks like Jonathan
is getting the swing of things.
I have this ability
to look at a piece of steel
and just see the atoms.
It's just material
in front of me,
and it's free.
It can be moved
wherever you want,
and we use the heat
as the mode of transportation.
I really enjoy
the process of breaking it down
and putting it
back together again.
I'm having fun, man.
I'm having fun.
Now, Phil's over there,
and he's just working his edge.
Throwing it nice and easy.
When I finally got it
straightened out,
that's when I realize
I'm getting somewhere,
instead ofpinning my wheels.
Ryu's almost got it uncoiled.
Jeez, he's just wasting
time right now,
fighting with that coil.
I know.
The only way I'm gonna catch up
is if I uncoil this,
and I actually
start working on it.
There you go. Just flip it.
- There you go.
- There we go. Yeah.
That's what we want to see.
There you go.
That's a beautiful use
of the hardy hole.
I want to see
what he can do--
He's close enough
to put it in the press,
or in the hammer--
But again,
that's not what
he works with.
All of a sudden,
I felt like
I was gonna pass out.
It's about 100 degrees in here.
I have to leave.
I didn't want it to happen
in front of everybody.
- Oh, what is he thinking?
- What did he just do?
This is it.
I'm done.
This is a disaster.
So he's just going
to the bathroom, I hope.
Wow.
I mean, he's got a lot of time
he's got to make up.
I'm laying down.
In the background,
I could hear
all these hammers pounding.
I need to be out there, man.
I need to go back out there.
I'm losing time.
When I walked back in,
I felt like a gladiator
walking back into the arena.
Get your head in it,
man.
I've never used
these power tools before,
like the power hammer
and the hydraulic press.
But I was running out of time,
and I needed to catch up.
There we go.
That's what I want to see.
Gentlemen,
you have 90 minutes remaining.
Phil's nailing
that spring fuller.
I'm concerned about the fuller
because I've never
put a fuller in a knife before.
And I know if I go too deep
on this fuller,
I may have to start a new blade
or it could just be over for me.
One little slip with that press,
and you could squeeze down
too thin,
and it'll just blow out
the center.
- Oh, wow.
- You got to be very careful.
Oh.
Oh, no.
That's what I was worried about.
He's got it worked out so thin,
it's not just gonna squeeze
down,
'cause there's nothing
supporting the sides.
Right.
He just needs to flatten it out
and move on.
James is spending a lot of time
working that steel,
and he's refined his tip
a couple times.
Needs to deal with it
on the grinder.
Stop stressing your metal.
Every horseshoe
has a fuller.
I can do this.
I'm so concerned about hitting
that fuller in a straight line,
I just let the blade
cool too quickly.
And just forged cold steel.
I'm just cringing every time
he's hitting that cold steel.
Oh, my God!
- What happened?
- Just broke my blade.
Oh!
- All that work.
- How did that happen?
To say that my heart sank
is an understatement.
Well,
where's my spring steel at?
Back to square one.
Don't give up. There you go.
I went back and grabbed some
more steel from that spring.
Bring it home, baby.
So much for the plan!
So much for the plan,
right?
I can do a lot in 45 minutes.
I know I'm gonna have
a lot of work to do,
but as long as I can
turn something in
that's better
than the other guys' stuff,
I'll have a better chance
to get to the second round.
Hey, we got a grinder going.
James is on the grinder.
As I'm grinding,
my eye catches
a little dark line.
damn it.
You know rightway
it's a crack.
Oh, man,
I wanted to scream so loud.
That sucker broke like glass.
Oh, my goodness.
This is heartbreaking.
It's almost impossible
to come back from.
I guess it shows weakness
if you quit,
but hey.
No way.
I'm gonna do this.
I mean, these guys do know
that they have to quench
these things, correct?
I would hope so.
We said a finished blade.
It's not finished
if it's not heat treated.
So does anybody have a weapon
that would pass round one?
Nope.
Gentlemen,
you got less than seven minutes.
I want a fully heat treated,
functional blade.
Come on, Phil.
Put it in the oil,
you're the closest one.
Ryu, get it in the oil.
Come on.
These guys have forgotten
they have to heat treat.
They're just making profiles.
I want to see a finished blade.
If it's long enough,
it's got a fuller,
and it's hardened,
I'll be happy.
Oil! We have a quench.
We have a quench.
- We have a quench.
- Finally!
So we have one contestant
with a fully heat-treated blade
that is eligible for judging.
And another one who can.
He could have done it
ten minutes ago.
Everybody is looking at me
like I'm crazy.
But I know what I'm doing.
Gentlemen,
you have two minutes remaining.
Okay,
so Jonathan's in the oil.
Thank goodness.
One minute.
One minute.
- Seriously? With a minute?
- What? Really?
Less than a minute.
Well, I'll take anything
at this point.
Then seconds.
Nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four, three
- Whoa!
- Two, one.
Gentlemen,
stop what you're doing.
I'm really embarrassed
that I broke that blade,
but I've cranked out a whole
second knife in 45 minutes.
You know, all I had
was a half-smashed
piece of steel there
that's incomplete.
You know, I just couldn't
fulfill the challenge.
Gentlemen, your challenge
was to forge a blade
from a train spring
made of high-carbon steel
that was between
12 and 16 inches.
Additionally,
your blade must include a fuller
that runs at least
half the length of the blade.
Phil, please present
your weapon.
You had a little bit of trouble
during the heat treat.
You got a warp
in this blade.
I like the shape to your knife.
I like the drop
to the handle.
In a chopper, that really adds
a lot to it.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you very much.
Ryu, you may present your weapon
to the judges.
Ryu, the overall shape
is really nice.
Thank you, sir.
I mean, it's gonna be
a nice chopping blade.
Now, one concern I seriously
have is your heat treat,
with a minute left.
I assumed that less
than a minute would be enough
to heat the very edge,
because of the powerful forges
that we have here.
That's a good plan,
especially for a chopping tool.
You know, having the soft back
and the hard edge.
Thank you.
But, in that time,
do you think you got it up
to about
the 1,500 degree range
it needed?
- I believe so, sir.
- Okay.
Looking forward
to putting this to the test.
Thank you.
That is a nice design.
I like the feel of it.
You know, I'm quite familiar
with the panday--
another term for bladesmith,
from the old ways.
The thing that worried me
for a second there
was when
you had to leave the forge.
I thought you quit on us,
but I was glad to see
you come back.
And despite everything
that happened,
you were still able
to forge this weapon.
Thank you.
Jonathan,
please present your weapon
to the judges.
Yeah, there are some issues
with this, definitely.
Absolutely.
You know,
where offset fullers
and everything else.
Yes, sir.
There's quite a bit to be done
with this,
but, at the same time,
you pulled that out
in record time,
and it was really impressive
to watch you move that fast.
Thank you, sir.
I like the shape, Jonathan.
Still needs some work.
It's got a little wiggle in it,
but excellent job.
Thank you.
James, please present
your weapon to the judges.
We've all broken blades,
but I've got to tell you,
fantastic effort.
Man, it's--
I mean you grabbed
another piece of steel,
and you went to town.
I was actually looking forward
to seeing that shape
you were working on too.
It had big sweep to it.
You know, if it hadn't
have broke on the anvil--
But unfortunately,
the blade you're handing us
isn't quenched,
and therefore, can't be a blade.
Yes, sir.
James,
I'd like to say one more thing.
There's metal,
and then there's mettle.
Yes.
And you've shown us
your mettle.
- Please, surrender your weapon.
- Yes, sir.
All I can say is, I made errors
to try to give myself more time,
and it backfired on me.
I did Texas proud
for being who I am,
not for the way
that I performed in there.
Gentlemen,
this is round two.
Your second challenge
is to turn your blades
into fully-functioning,
operational weapons.
You must design and affix
a handle to your blade
using the range of materials
provided for you.
You will have just three hours.
You can use that time to address
any problems or issues
that you had from round one.
When the time runs out,
your weapons' strength
and durability will be tested
in a coconut chop,
as well as its ability
to hold an edge
in a specially designed
sharpness test.
After this challenge,
only two of you will advance
to the final round.
Your time starts
Now.
Had I have finished the first
blade without cracking it,
three hours would be a cakewalk.
But I have so much catch-up
to do that I am just terrified
that my time management is gonna
become the biggest issue.
Oh, God.
My first thing to tackle is
to assess the fullering issue.
He's slowed that grinder
down quite a bit.
Well, he's trying
to clean up his fuller.
Okay.
The fullers,
they are the thing that I hate.
And I'm having a really
hard time lining these up.
He does not look happy
with his second blade.
And I hope that doesn't sit
like a cloud
hanging over him
during the second challenge.
First thing is to try to fix
my fuller,
and make it the right length,
and get it cleaned up
as much as I can.
I like what Phil's doing.
Phil's got a dremel bit
in the drill press,
using the vice as a guide
to clean up his fuller.
- Oh, okay.
- That's clever.
I'm a fifth generation
craftsman,
and there's a lot of projects
that have had to be done
in timely manners,
and we just do what it takes
to get it done.
My strategy for this round
is sharpen the knife
and finish the file work.
Then put a very simple
but a functional
handle on the blade.
It's like a man-powered
belt grinder.
There you go,
that's exactly what it is.
We've got all the modern
versions of the tools
that he's making.
And he wants the primitive
versions.
And he wants
the primitive versions.
How does that affect
his time, overall?
It's gonna kill him.
In my head,
I already had
kind of a color palette.
Which,
I know I want to use copper.
Because I'm gonna use
the copper,
I try and find a really neutral,
highly-figured burl wood
for the bulk of the handle.
- Almost an hour.
- You all right?
Yeah.
At this point,
I need to get that bolster
on the tang.
I have 45 minutes left.
It's enough time
to get everything done,
but I cannot have
anything else go wrong.
- There we go.
- Dang.
.
[heavy rock ch
That's what I was worried about.
I'm thinking too much,
and I'm not paying
enough attention,
and I pressed too hard
on that bolster
and it snaps in half.
Jonathan can definitely
pull this out.
He just needs to make sure
he doesn't get frustrated.
I don't have enough time
to do what I want to do.
I'm gonna take this
as a failure,
and I'm gonna make the handle
as good as I can make it.
Come on baby, come on baby,
come on baby, come on.
Another 1/8 inch,
come on.
One hour.
You have one hour
to complete your work.
The epoxy hasn't set up
in the pins,
so they're not holding it solid.
So now,
I have to go to the anvil
and peen 'em on both sides
so it'll hold
the handle material
to the tang and the blad
The warp on this blade is
a little worse than I thought,
but I don't want to risk
trying to straighten it
and cracking the blade.
So I'm gonna grind it
the way that it is,
and finish it out
with the warp in.
I'm the type of guy who doesn't
overthink anything, really.
So when it comes to
choosing handle,
I'm just gonna pick
the colors I like.
Now, I understand the fact that
it's great watching someone do
hand work and everything else,
but in a three-hour challenge,
you know, sometimes you got
to cut to the chase.
I like to do it all by hand,
but here's something
the judges don't know about me.
I'm actually really bad-ass
with an angle grinder.
Oh, my God.
It looks like somebody threw
a hand grenade
into a flour factory over there.
It's just another day
at the office.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Your time is up.
I look at the other guys' blade,
and they look pretty ordinary,
and mine doesn't.
So I think that gives me
a little bit of an edge.
I feel very good
about the blade.
As far as the strength
and the durability,
I think it'll do fine.
Maybe somebody has a failure.
Maybe it's me.
But that would definitely
be something
that I wouldn't see coming.
Gentlemen,
this is the weapons test.
First, J. is gonna test
your weapons' strength
and durability
in a coconut chop.
J.?
Bladesmiths,
this is gonna test
the heat-treated edges
of your blades
and see how well
they hold up
against these tough,
fibrous shells.
I'm gonna do one chop
per coconut,
three coconuts per blade.
After each one,
I'm gonna check,
see any chipping,
warping,
any issues.
Phil, you're up first.
Are you ready?
Yes, sir.
Let's do it.
I'm feeling a little nervous.
I think I'm sweating more now
than I did
during the forging part
of the competition.
J. cut the first coconut,
and it just kind of
slid off the table
and didn't cut right through it.
Oh, my gosh.
Son of a bitch.
I couldn't believe
that it broke off like that.
I thought it would really
chop through the coconut
with no problem.
And now I'm in a situation
where I think
the only way I can move on
is if one of the other guys'
blades break.
Well, Phil, I got to say,
it felt really good in hand.
I wish it had
a little more weight to it.
But, unfortunately,
it broke.
So I'm not gonna
be able to continue
with the sharpness test.
Yeah.
Ryu,
you're up next.
I'm not nervous right now.
I'm actually pretty excited
that they're gonna put my blade
to the test.
I want to see what happens.
Nice.
All right, Ryu,
congratulations.
You went through the coconuts.
Concerns about your heat treat,
though.
What used to be
a straight blade
is no longer straight.
Jonathan,
you ready to put your weapon
up against the coconuts?
We're gonna do it anyway.
I know.
I'm certain that my knife
is about to shatter
into a million pieces.
It's just not built
to chop through coconuts.
if my knife's gonna hold up
to those coconuts,
'cause they really do look
pretty ominous sitting up there.
Feeling better now,
Jonathan?
Your edge held up well.
No warping.
Boxy handle, though.
It's a little hard to control.
But overall, good job.
Gonna pass it off to Doug now
for the sharpness test.
Okay, Ryu,
what I'm gonna do now is,
I'm just gonna see
if it's held its edge.
What I'm gonna do is,
I'm just gonna do
a horizontal cut.
I won't depend on power.
I'm just gonna walk through.
I think it cuts.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
I'm pretty happy with the way
my blade performed.
It bent, instead of break.
So that's a good thing.
Okay, Jonathan.
Let's see if it held its edge.
Like hot iron through butter.
Very good.
There's a slight bit of comfort
knowing that someone
had a complete failure,
but what I turned in
is not something
to just go in front of them
and expect praise about.
Gentlemen,
the judges have come
to a decision.
Phil,
you did not make the cut.
I really liked
where you were going
with the blade,
and your edge actually held up
well during the coconut chop.
But obviously, there was
an issue with your heat treat,
and you had the tip fly off.
Because of that,
we can't let you continue.
I understand.
Phil, please surrender
your weapon.
I'm disappointed in myself.
Thank you, gentlemen.
I appreciate the opportunity.
I obviously agree
with the decision,
but yeah, I was looking forward
to moving on.
I really saw myself
in the finals.
Ryu, Jonathan,
you made it through
to the final round.
So far,
you've designed
and presented
a weapon
in your own styles.
Now we're gonna send you back
to your home forges
where you will make one of the
most iconic weapons
from history--
the Viking battle axe.
The Viking battle axe
was a brutal killing weapon
that played a significant role
throughout history.
Viking warriors
were mostly farmers,
so when going off to fight,
they would pick the tool
they had close at hand,
which was often
a woodcutting axe.
When later models
took on shapes
more convenient
to the fighting man,
the battle axe was born.
The haft was made of wood,
and the curved head
allowed the axe to be used
to hook an opponent's ankle,
throwing him off balance
and onto the ground--
positioning the Viking
to go in for the kill
with the large,
razor-sharp cutting edge.
The battle axe has a long
and colorful association
with fantasy film
and literature,
being the weapon of choice
for the dwarves
in The Lord of the Rings
and The Hobbit,
as well as for the players
of fantasy computer games
such as World of Warcraft.
It must be a working,
fully functional version
of that lethal weapon.
You will have five days
to complete this challenge.
I love making axes.
It's so fun
to take a giant block of metal
and move it so many
different directions.
I've come this far
with only my skills
and my hands,
and even though
I don't have the proper tools
to produce a Viking axe,
I'm going to come back
with a bad-ass one.
After five days,
you will present
your battle axes to the judges,
where they will put them through
a series of rigorous
and dynamic tests.
Once those tests are completed,
one of you will walk out of here
with a check for $10,000--
and the title
of Forged in Firechampion.
Good luck, gentlemen.
I'm back at the Dog House,
and it feels
a lot more comfortable here
than it did
in the first two rounds.
I'm doing a multiple layer,
patterned steel battle axe.
The Vikings, they used a lot
of multi-layered steel.
Overall, this will be
one sturdy axe.
I am super pumped
about this battle axe.
I just feel like the judges
never saw what I can do.
They just saw how well
I can save my butt.
So I'm going to hand them
the absolute best thing
I have ever made
in my entire life.
The studio shop
had everything, man.
I got the bare bones.
Only the basics.
My forge is basically
a cast-iron pot
with a hole
drilled in the bottom,
where I attached a black pipe.
And on that black pipe,
I attached a hair dryer.
Using the hair dryer,
I introduce more oxygen.
And the more oxygen
you put in,
the hotter it gets.
I've made smaller axes before,
but I've never made an axe
this big.
I'm gonna stretch out the metal,
and I'm gonna wrap
it around a pipe
to make an eye for the handle.
I really have no heat,
because it's so big
it doesn't fit in my forge.
I had to make some adjustments
to remedy that.
When you're working
with high powered power tools,
you got to remember--
safety first.
You got to wear
some eye protection,
and respirator.
The way it's going right now,
I'm not getting enough heat.
I'm losing a lot of heat
very quickly.
So I might start over.
Or make a new forge.
The competition is definitely
affecting me.
I don't know why
I don't just come in here
and forge like I always do,
but this contest sort of
just messes me up.
Man!
I just wasn't paying attention.
I took my eye off it,
and I cooked it.
It's done.
I got to start over.
Unbelievable!
The first forge wasn't working
because it was too small.
So I added a satellite dish
around it.
So I'll be able
to add more coal,
and make a bigger fire.
Looking good right now.
I can move onto the fun part.
What is this?
The firefighters came,
and unfortunately,
I was delayed an hour.
Your biggest thing
that we got to deal with
is the fact that you're
I have to move the forge
and reposition everything.
Hopefully it doesn't affect me
too much towards the end.
- Thank you, sir.
- Good luck to you.
Appreciate it.
I really wish you good luck,
and I hope you win.
I forged another axe head,
and this time,
the blade held together.
I think the judges are gonna
be impressed
with the axe in general.
We're buttoned up with
a really nice, top-notch handle
with leather wraps
that go along with the head
that we've worked so hard for.
It's an end result
that I think looks good
and I'm proud of.
So no matter what they think,
I'm proud of what I'm gonna put
in front of them this round.
Last night,
I finished the blade.
And now, we're gonna
start working on the handle.
I don't have electric saw,
so I'm gonna
have to carve this down.
I spent the last hour
pounding in the handle
at the same time making it.
It was tough,
but I'm just really curious
what the judges
are gonna say, really.
A battle axe doesn't have
to be smooth and shiny.
It just has to work.
It doesn't have
to be pretty to split skulls.
[heavy rock ch
Gentlemen,
welcome back to the forge.
I hope that your five days
at home were very productive.
Jonathan,
how did it go for you?
It was a lot bumpier
than I envisioned.
I really like the undercut
and the contours in it.
Not only did I build you
a battle axe,
I made my own metal,
and then made an axe
from that metal.
I feel like it's a $10,000
weapon, that's for sure.
How'd it go, Ryu?
It was a bit
of a challenge.
I left the whole piece raw,
and rough.
That says a lot about me
and how I make my blades.
It's hand-forged,
and I want it to look
like it's hand-forged.
I don't want to clean it up
and mirror polish it.
Especially
it's a Viking axe.
I don't think Vikings cared
for a mirror polish back then.
They're not a bunch
of pretty boys.
Well, the $10,000
and the title of Forged in Fire
champion are so close,
you can probably taste it.
But each of your blades will
have to endure three trials.
There will be a kill test,
a chop test,
and a strength test.
First is the kill test.
Doug?
To test the lethality
of your axe,
I will strike the side
of the beef here,
and see what kind of damage
it does.
Jonathan,
you're up first.
I'm ready.
I'm looking at the rack of meat,
and I'm not sure if the axe
is gonna hold up.
Let's try it.
Your edge held.
It crushed through three bones.
It will kill.
Yes, it will.
For the next test,
I'm gonna pass it over
to our European
historical weapons expert.
Dave?
Thanks, Doug.
Gentlemen,
the Viking axe was designed
to create the maximum amount
of carnage on the battlefield.
To test it,
in the chop test,
I'm gonna take five blows
against this hardened
panel of oak.
Oak was the common building
material of the time,
and this was the breaching tool
of the time.
I'm ready.
All right.
I don't know if I can crawl
through that,
but it seemed to do the job.
That round handle, though.
Boy, it wants to twist
in your hand.
Bit of an issue.
Overall,
it felt pretty good.
Ryu, You're up next.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Let's do it.
I'm hoping that the judges
will push my axe over the limit.
I want them to throw everything
they got at that axe.
I don't think my axe can fail.
The handle's a little slippery.
So first couple of tries
it was slipping off,
I had to make sure
it didn't go fly off my hand.
You cut about three
and into the fourth bone.
This, I believe,
is a killer.
- Good job.
- Thank you very much.
Dave?
My axe may not be pretty,
but it can definitely
split some skulls.
Well, felt pretty good.
My hand could travel
on that handle.
Whereas with that leather wrap,
I couldn't really move my hand
while I was swinging.
Nice job.
Thank you.
Well, gentlemen,
your weapons have performed
well thus far.
But it's not over yet.
We're gonna see
just how much punishment
your weapons can take
in our strength test.
Doug?
For the strength test,
your axes will be placed
in a specially designed
impact device.
The arm is set
to deliver maximum force
at the point of impact.
We will deliver three strikes
on the shield.
That will give us
a good indication
of how much pressure
your axe can take.
Let's see if your weapon
will survive this test.
Jonathan, let's test it.
This is the only point
in the testing
that I'm a little afraid
about how it's gonna hold up
because that machine
looks really mean.
Three,
two, one
Engaging.
Engaging.
Engaging.
I don't see any clear
indentations on your edge.
A little indentation
on the shield,
and your haft
seems to have held.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
Ryu, you're next.
Three,
two, one.
Engaging.
When I saw the first strike,
I was just disappointed.
I just wanted more power.
Engaging.
That split the shield in half,
and all the way through.
Edge held.
Haft is still secure.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
I think this is gonna be
a tough decision for the judges,
and that's what I want.
I want it to be fair.
Ryu, Jonathan,
you've had five days
to create a Viking battle axe
of your own design,
and you've both done
marvelous work.
However,
there can only be one champion.
J.
Ryu, I really like the profile
that your Viking axe
brought out.
You know, the feeling it,
the look of it.
I wish there was a little more
belly to the blade,
but we also have
some symmetry issues.
Where your blade coming off
the eye at a slight cant,
and the blade edge along
the handle is a bit off also.
So those are points
that concern me.
Doug.
The design of your battle axe
really allowed me
to feel the blade in my hand.
Good job.
Jonathan, I like the pattern
welding you did.
I mean,
that was a great touch.
Your fit up on your haft
was great,
and I loved the profile,
but you kind of lost track
on the handle.
The roundedness of your handle
does give it a tendency
to move around too much,
to where it doesn't feel like
you can tell
where the edge of the blade is
at all times.
You have both done yourselves
proud as bladesmiths.
However,
in this competition,
there can only be one winner.
Ryu.
You are the Forged in Fire
champion.
Congratulations.
Good job, buddy.
Good job.
Jonathan,
your weapon
did not make the cut.
There was some great aspects
to your blade,
but a slaggy scale
on a blade,
the sloppiness up top,
and the biggest thing
that hurt you
was that dowel handle.
Even though you did a nice job
adding some pigskin to it,
it just wasn't enough
to get over the fact
that that blade wanted to swing
around in people's hands.
Jonathan,
please surrender your weapon.
I mean, I'm totally proud
of the work that I'd done.
I mean, I turned in a laminated
Viking battle axe.
So I'm not--
I'm not by any means going home
'cause I didn't do enough.
In this case,
Ryu just did a better job.
I feel very proud right now.
I worked really hard for this.
I guess it paid off.
The stress level got to you
in the first challenge.
You were able
to pull it together.
I mean, you got a few issues,
but you brought a true weapon
you should definitely
be proud of.
Thank you, sir.
I put my soul into
forging that axe.
I gave it everything I had.
And now,
I walk out as a champion.