[dramatic music]
♪
- Over the years, we've seen hundreds of smiths
walk through our doors to compete for a chance
at becoming a "Forged in Fire" champion.
- Oh, yeah!
- But now, for the first time, we're going to them.
♪
We're scouring the bladesmithing hotbeds
of America, looking for the country's best shops
and their top smiths.
Just like how barbecue is different in Saint Louis
than it is in Texas,
blacksmiths have unique styles and techniques that originate
from the shop they call home.
Each week, one of our judges will travel to one
of the nation's top forges to put their local style
to the test and handpick their top bladesmith
to come back to our home forge.
Each forge's champion will battle
for $20,000 for themselves
and $10,000 of forging equipment for their shop.
- It's anyone's game.
- This is "Forged in Fire: On the Road."
♪
Today, we've traveled halfway across the country
with ABS Master Smith J. Neilson.
- America's home to some of the world's top bladesmiths,
and the forge I chose is where thousands
have gotten their start.
We're heading to the world-renowned
Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing,
located in Texarkana, Texas.
Home of the oldest bladesmithing school
in the world, Bill Moran is a legend.
He not only founded the school
and the American Bladesmith Society,
but he also revived the lost art of Damascus.
And today, smiths from beginners to ABS Master Smiths
travel near and far to learn, refine their skills,
and teach others the craft.
Now three of their top smiths will compete
to represent this shop and me for their chance
at becoming a "Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
- My name is Chris Julian.
I'm 31 years old.
I've been making knives for about seven years.
I'm really excited about coming here and representing
the Bill Moran forge on this competition
and showing y'all what we do out here.
It's gonna be a great time.
- My name is Jaymes Stevens. I'm 37.
The Bill Moran School is the place to go
to really learn how to hone your craft.
So it is kind of surreal feeling
to come back to the school that I learned so much from,
and to be able to come back and represent the school
feels really good.
♪
- I'm Jake Anstaett. I'm 21 years old,
and I have six years' experience.
Knives, hot metal, and a hammer--
that's just my passion, man.
I'm really stoked they gave me the opportunity
to come out here.
This place was here pre-internet,
so this was the only
true bladesmithing school taught by masters.
It's a privilege and an honor to be here.
♪
- Well, bladesmiths, welcome to the competition, guys.
We are thrilled to be here with you in Texarkana
at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
Today, we're being hosted
by this shop's coordinator, Don McIntosh.
Now, this forge was specifically chosen
by our own ABS Master Smith and judge, J. Neilson.
So each of you will not only be representing
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing,
but also J in this competition.
Now, gentlemen, here's how it's gonna go.
The three of you are about to take part in two rounds
of bladesmithing competition.
The end of each one of those rounds,
there will be an elimination.
But if you take home the crown from this forge,
you'll then compete against the other winners
from our road tournament in the final showdown.
♪
Now, gentlemen, there is a lot at stake here
because one of you has the opportunity to come out
on top of this competition, which doesn't mean
you just have bragging rights.
You will also get a check for $20,000 for your pocket.
To make the deal a little bit sweeter,
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing
will also get up to $10,000 worth
of forging equipment and supplies.
Now to kick things off, we're gonna start
with a five-straight-hour bladesmithing round.
We're gonna ask you to build a blade from start to finish.
Since this school's founder Bill Moran is considered
the father of modern day Damascus,
we found it only fitting for you to make
a signature blade in your signature style,
using this.
♪
What you're looking at here are layers of 1075
and 15N20 high carbon steel.
And that's what we want you to use to make
a layered Damascus billet.
Now, because the ABS considers Damascus
to be at least 300 layers thick,
we want you to make your signature blades
with at least 300 layers.
- 300 layers?
How am I gonna do that, forge a blade,
and put a handle on in five hours?
- Once that five hours is up, I'm going to ask you
to turn your blades over to J. Neilson here,
and he's gonna put your blades through a series
of ABS-Master-Smith-inspired tests.
So good luck and stay sharp,
because your time starts now.
Here we go. All right.
We've got three signature blades
in their signature style.
We just need to have at least 300 layers of Damascus.
So what I'm excited about is this shop
is all about blade-making specifically.
Sometimes, we have competitors who are
blacksmiths who make knives.
These guys are knife makers who make knives.
- And I expect to see good work out of this.
- 300 layers in five hours?
That's a lot to ask for in that amount of time.
- Time management is a massive factor in this competition.
- So on my first stack, I'm going for 14 layers.
I'm gonna go ahead and stretch out my billet
and cut, stack five times.
So it's gonna be 70 layers.
And then my second go around, I can go ahead
and stretch that out again,
and I'm gonna stack it five more times.
That's gonna give me 350 layers,
so I'll be well within the parameters,
as far as our layer count.
- You don't want to have anything possibly come apart.
So clean that steel up.
Might save you some trouble later on.
- It's a pretty picture to have everybody on grinders.
- Oh, I bet. - Grinding at the same time.
- It's fun when we got the four contestants at our shop,
and they're all on that anvil,
swinging the hammer at the same time.
We're just kind of like-- [sings tune]
♪
- 300-layer Damascus did seem to be
a little bit of a challenge.
It's gonna be tough, but I think I can do it.
We start out with 14 different layers, forge that together.
Then we draw that out, cut, and restack.
Then do five sections.
And if I do that twice,
that will render me 350 layers.
- Next class you teach, though, you should
put that clock up on the wall.
Say, OK, class is over in five hours.
- I can't wait to tell them,
"Bladesmiths, you have 10 minutes!"
[laughter]
- A little bit worried.
I'll keep pushing through,
and we'll make something happen.
- Texarkana is the border between Texas and Arkansas,
and I'm super stoked.
I get to represent the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
I get to represent Texas, and hopefully bring home a win.
♪
I'm starting with 14 layers.
I'm gonna draw that out, cut it into six.
That gets me 84.
Draw that out again, cut it into four.
And that gives me 336.
So that gets me up to layer count.
- So Don, we've got propane forges at our forge.
And you said these are natural gas?
- Natural gas.
- Is there any big difference
in the amount of heat it puts out?
- Natural gas doesn't heat as quick,
and it won't get as hot.
- So hopefully, when these guys first put
those billets in there,
they will let that steel sit in there, soak,
and get hot enough so it's actually gonna
have this first successful forge weld.
- There's no rush at this point because if you rush,
that'll just cause you problems later in the competition.
- Who's B.R. Hughes on that big old panel back there?
- B.R. Hughes is one of the founding members of the ABS.
He's the only one that's still living.
- Does he ever come out here?
- Yeah, every class.
And boy, the people just love to meet him.
- That's great.
- He's kind of a legend.
- Oh yeah, B.R. is a super guy.
It's pretty incredible that we're
in America's first bladesmithing school ever.
- No kidding.
- I can't even imagine how many ABS Master Smiths
have gone through this place.
- The American Bladesmithing Society was founded
in 1976 by Bill Moran, Bill Bagwell,
Don Hastings, and B.R. Hughes.
During that time, less than a dozen known bladesmiths
existed in the country.
So the guild was created to encourage the growth
of the craft by increasing resources
available to new smiths
and by setting a fundamental standard
to determine a bladesmith's skill.
Today, smiths must pass extreme performance tests
to earn the rankings of Journeyman and Master Smith.
♪
- Why is it not working here?
♪
Welding.
Plumbing, you don't do a lot of welding.
So I need to work on my welding skills
because I had some major issues with that there.
- We're about 30 minutes in,
and Chris is still at the stick welder.
These little time delays add up and compile
and make this competition a whole lot more difficult.
- Welding!
- That was pretty quick.
Within 30 minutes, Jake got his stack welded together,
heated up, and now he's on the press.
- The first pass is gentle.
You just want light taps to condense it enough
to where your ends don't fray apart,
your center doesn't bulge.
It's just, again, patience.
My welds look good.
Now, I can just get it hot and draw it out.
- Jake has got a good system.
He's moving along nicely.
♪
- So working on this first billet,
what's their primary goal to set themselves
up for the next step?
- Stretching that steel out,
and hoping their math is right.
- Hoping their math is right?
[laughs]
- The layers actually multiply pretty quickly.
- Oh, yeah.
Jaymes's forge welds are looking
very evenly colored, very solid.
I think he's gonna cut it and stack pretty soon here.
♪
It's about time.
Chris is off the welder, into the fire.
What I'm concerned about is he's gonna
have to go back to the welding station
at least two more times in this competition.
- Hey, I need to take some welding lessons from you,
apparently. - [laughs]
- I'm behind, and I'm not liking this one bit.
It's stressing me out.
And golly, I'm hoping I can catch up to the guys in time.
- All right, guys, one hour has elapsed.
You've got four hours remaining.
That was not something that Chris wanted to hear,
'cause he's significantly behind at this point.
- I still gotta cut, stack again twice.
I need to hurry up and get on that.
- Forge!
- Jake's already on the chop saw.
He's cutting up for his next stack.
- I'm curious to see how many pieces he's cutting,
how he's gonna stack that up.
- I get to 24 inches, cut it into six equal lengths,
which gives me 84 layers.
♪
Then, I notice there's a delam at the top.
I don't wanna forge in delams.
- We have the first potential mishap going on.
- I think we might be seeing a little stress
flaring up on Jake.
- This is where the mind game comes in.
He was so used to being the front runner.
- I know this is gonna cause me trouble
if I don't take care of that now.
So I'll try to grind out that layer
and try to get that delam out.
I should be already welded by now, but it's all good.
Adapt and overcome.
♪
- Ow!
- Golly!
- Son of a bitch.
- We're in the danger zone.
- Yeah, no kidding, man.
I just got pegged.
- He's trying to blind us so you can't see his blade
when you're judging it.
- Oh, [bleep]. Hey!
My bad. [laughs]
- Damn Texas snowstorm.
- That's it.
[laughter]
- All right, Jaymes is the first one
into this final stack.
I've got to say, he's got pretty
uneven lengths on his layers.
- Yeah, hopefully he doesn't start folding
those ends over on each other,
causing cold shuts in the ends.
♪
- He's going more aggressive than he did the last time.
- Yeah.
♪
- Mm, that's gonna suck.
- Going to forge!
I see that I have a delamination forming.
I just had one separate.
- Oh, no.
- You can see that back corner,
when he has putting it in there,
there was a really bright white spot in there.
There might be a gap in the welds.
- Oh.
- If I let this problem stay in the material,
I could forge weld a bad spot into it,
and it would come apart.
- OK, so we got a bakery going on
at Jaymes's workstation here.
And I think what Jaymes is trying to do
is close up those uneven ends, get between those seams,
and clean out any junk that might be in there,
and then seal the entire billet up.
And now I want a donut.
- You want a what? - I want a donut.
Now I want a powdered donut.
♪
- Jaymes doesn't seem like he's upset, by the looks of him.
So I think his billet's doing OK.
- One thing I will say about these three smiths--
can't complain about their forge welding skills.
They've been doing a good job.
- It just goes to show that this shop is put together
extremely well, and you've got smiths who
are talented fighting today.
- Well, this is not their first ball game on Damascus.
- Yep.
♪
- Bill Moran is sometimes referred to as the father
of modern-day Damascus because he is known for taking
the ancient craft of forge welding steel
and updating it for modern times.
For centuries, blacksmiths and bladesmiths would
forge weld different steels together
and fold them over repeatedly
to create a stronger blade.
By the mid-1900s, the increase in use of machines
and mass-produced steel led most bladesmiths
to use the stock removal method to make a knife
out of a solid bar of steel.
Bill Moran wanted to change that
and encourage more people to use
the traditional blacksmithing methods to create knives.
In the 1970s, he began experimenting
with forge welding layers of steel together,
which gave his knives a stunning pattern
without sacrificing strength and durability.
By rediscovering this lost art,
Bill was successful in reigniting the passion
for forging blades across the country.
♪
Jake's been over here, grinding on those pieces
for a good 20 minutes.
- Yeah, Jake was about 30 minutes ahead.
Now, he's about 30 minutes behind.
- Yeah.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
- Press!
Chasing that delam ate up a lot of my time.
But I just have to stay calm and just do what I know.
And what I know how to do is forge.
- Jake is on the press.
This is his second forge weld.
It seems like he's kind of rushing a little bit,
so this is where mistakes can happen.
- Yeah.
- I got my 84-layer count drawn out to 20 inches.
I'm gonna cut it into four lengths, restack,
weld, and that should bring it to 336 layers.
I'm back in the game.
I'm right with everyone else.
It's anyone's game.
- All right, gentlemen, with two hours down,
you've got three hours left.
How do you guys feel about the competition so far?
- Can't remember the last one of these competitions
where it was such a tight race.
All these smiths are really good, very impressive.
I'd be happy with any of them winning
and representing me in the finals.
♪
- I have now reached my layer count,
and so now I need to get all that material
into dimensions that I can use to make a knife.
- Jaymes's blade is still really thick.
- He's planning on doing some serious grinding, or--
- I hope so.
- For the design that I have in mind, the Bowie style,
I knew it needed a clip point.
It needed a large, sweeping cutting radius
and a fairly solid handle to cut or to be useful.
Phew!
Shooting fire.
- Since the Damascus is done,
now it's time to forge a knife.
I'm gonna make a camp knife/Bowie,
something that has kind of rugged edge geometry
but is also durable enough to chop through stuff
and hold up.
I got my blade rough forged.
Time to do a couple of thermal cycles
and get ready to quench.
♪
- Just trying to get it shaped out the way I want it
and hopefully get it heat treated.
So that way, I can get onto the handle.
'Cause the sooner I get on that handle, the better.
- You know how many smiths who've come through here
who are now Journeymen or Masters?
- I know at one time, just about every Master Smith
had come through this program.
- Just about.
- Gotta address a couple things.
- This school was basically a godsend for a lot of people
because there was no internet.
You're lucky if you could find a VHS tape
on how to make knives.
Maybe a couple of books out there,
but there wasn't a lot unless you knew somebody.
- That's it.
- I ended up wanting to do a recurve Bowie Knife.
I've done the design before.
It's something that's familiar with me.
And I know it should do good for this challenge
'cause I've used it in other knife competitions.
- These guys quickly become standalone bladesmiths.
They're gonna go somewhere in this industry.
- Mm-hmm.
- That's why they're here.
- Good choices.
♪
- Everything can go wrong in a quench.
My blade could break.
It could split open and delam.
Anything can happen.
♪
[grunts] Whoo!
- Jake's the first one to quench a blade.
- Oh, nice.
This is the part where it's like the horses
are coming around the track.
You see who's gonna pull out now.
- Quench went well.
It's all in one piece.
My blade is hard.
I'm happy.
That I made it this far in the competition
without anything catastrophic, it's exhilarating.
But I need to throw a handle on there.
- Don, is there any specific reason you only
have the one quench tank here?
- Yeah, no.
[laughter]
- They get that extra 10 grand here,
they can get another quench tank.
- Yeah, fair enough.
♪
All right, Jaymes is quenched.
That's two down.
- I ensure that everything is solid,
but I'm slightly concerned about the time.
I need to hurry up and get my handle finished.
I need to get it attached to the blade.
But if I keep working,
I know I can complete the task.
♪
- All right, checking magnetism.
♪
All right, three smiths with quenched blades.
- Nice.
- Last but not least, Chris is done.
- I don't have any warps.
I'm happy about it.
I need to get the handle on ASAP.
♪
- I got my holes drilled, so now it's time
to get this handle going.
- All right, gentlemen, we are down to the final hour.
- I see that clock.
And you try not to focus on it,
but it gets to you.
- Slap that epoxy on there, Jake.
- Look at that.
Being very liberal with it.
♪
Don, what kind of handle material
are you guys supplying for these knives?
- Most of it is a maple.
- Good, sturdy handle wood.
- Good wood.
- You guys source it locally?
- Yes. - Really?
- Yeah. As a matter of fact,
knife making friend cut the tree
and brought it up here and give it to me.
- That's great.
I need better friends.
- Thanks.
- I was talking about you.
[laughs]
- At this point, I'm ready to start drilling
the holes in the handle.
♪
Oh.
- It starts throwing shavings and then stops.
- Nope.
- We probably should have called ahead
and let you know to get some more drill bits.
We run through them so fast.
♪
- Oh!
And there's a broken drill bit.
- Oh!
- I don't have time for this.
One more 1/8 inch drill bit, please.
These drill bits are gonna be my pins.
- There, he's officially got the most
expensive pins in his handle.
- The tang is too hard.
So I have to stop, get the torch,
and warm it back up to soften it.
But I can take the heat treatment out of the blade
if I let that heat creep up too far into my blade.
I want to make sure that it all stays in the handle
so it has a very sturdy, strong edge.
- This is one of those sink or swim moments.
- He's got the torch way too hot.
[tense music]
I'm slightly concerned about the time,
'cause I'm getting close.
So at this point, I need to hurry up
and get my holes drilled.
All right, going back to the table.
And then start my glue up process.
♪
- Chris went ahead and drilled his holes
before he quenched the blade.
So now he's got handle scales on.
- He can focus every bit of energy on shaping the handle.
- As far as shaping the handle, I knew that shape that
I needed to make it kind of fit in the hand real nice
and not want to turn in the hand.
Because if the handle isn't comfortable,
the other person is not going to want to use it.
But there's not a whole lot of time on the clock
to do this right now.
♪
- I think Chris might be overestimating
the size of your hand.
- Might be.
- This thing looks like a knife for giants.
♪
Start finishing up!
You've only got two minutes.
[up-tempo rock music]
♪
- Two minutes can be a long time
if you're holding your breath.
[laughter]
- I'm sure a couple of these guys probably are,
'cause they know what's coming next.
- Yep. - Five, four,
three, two, one.
Well done, gentlemen.
Stand by for testing.
- The clock hit zero, I got a knife,
and I can't believe I produced this in five hours.
I couldn't be more pumped.
- Bladesmiths, welcome to testing.
♪
Since we're at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing,
I figured we'd do some ABS-style testing.
In order to be an ABS Master Smith to move in ranks,
they must pass through a series of tests,
two of which we have here today.
We're gonna start with the 2x4 chop,
see how your edges hold up.
Then we're gonna see if we can cut through that rope.
Jake, you're up first. You ready to go?
- Yes, sir. Let's do it.
♪
I'm glad they picked me to go first,
but a little nerve-racking.
J is the knife breaker, man. [laughs]
♪
- [grunting]
♪
[tense music]
♪
- All right, Jake, nice job.
Blade edge held up well.
It's still sharp.
You've got a nice edge on this,
but it's not a very toothy edge.
So it didn't really bite into the rope quite as much.
But overall, everything held together.
Nice job. - Thank you, sir.
- Jaymes, you ready?
- I'm ready. - Let's do it.
♪
- I'm excited, but I'm also a little bit nervous
to see how it's going to perform.
The knife could break,
but I'm pretty confident in my heat treat abilities.
And I hope J does not hold back one bit.
♪
[grunting]
♪
- [whispering] Nice.
♪
- Jaymes, 350 layers, nice work.
But I think I'm gonna turn in my dumbbells,
just carry this knife with me.
A lot of thickness here.
Kind of became a problem with the rope cut,
and you do have a delam right here on that edge.
♪
But everything's tight.
Your steel looks good.
The handle's fine. Nice job.
- Appreciate it. Thank you.
- All right, Chris, ready to go?
- As ready as I'll ever be.
♪
I'm freaking out.
I'm nervous as all get out.
Both Jaymes' and Jake's blades performed awesome.
And I'm really worried about my blade
and how it's gonna perform with the chop test
and the rope cut.
♪
- [grunting]
♪
- Good job, Chris.
- Thank you.
- 350 layers, nicely done.
Your Damascus looks fine.
Got just a tiny bit of shine, tiny bit of glint.
But there's no real damage to the edge.
Overall, nice job.
- Thank you.
- The judges are about to announce who's going home.
I'm pretty nervous because everyone's blades
held up the same.
So it's anyone's game at this point.
♪
- Well, guys, first off, if I was wearing a cowboy hat,
I'd tip it to you for a job well done.
But this is a competition, and one of you
does have to go home.
And the bladesmith leaving is...
[suspenseful music]
Jaymes.
Unfortunately, your blade did not make the cut,
and J. Neilson's gonna tell you why.
- Yeah, Jaymes. I gotta give you credit.
We asked for 300 layers.
You gave us 350, completely functional blade.
But the weight of that blade was an issue.
And you're the only blade that had a seam.
And that seam actually ran into the edge of the blade.
That's the reason we're letting you go.
- Understood.
- Jaymes, we really appreciate that you're here,
and you fought so hard,
but your time in this competition has ended.
I'm gonna have to ask you to please
step off the testing floor.
- I agree with the judge's decision.
I gave it my 110% effort, and I'm pleased with it.
Having gone through the Bill Moran School,
all the things that I learned, they all came into play,
and I hope it shows.
♪
- Guys, congratulations on making
it through the first round.
That means the two of you are still in this tournament
and in the running for $20,000 going to yourselves
and an extra $10,000 that could be
coming back here to the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
Now as you probably noticed, this competition has
been all about the ABS theme.
And we figured we'd keep that going into this next round,
where we're sending you back to your home forges
to build this.
[dramatic music]
ABS Master Smith's quillon dagger.
[both chuckle]
The quillon dagger dates back to 13th century Europe,
where it was popular with everyone from the basic soldier
to the highest knights.
Featuring a sharply tapered, double-edged blade
with a pointed tip, this weapon was designed
to deliver deadly stabs and thrusts through armor
during close-quarters combat,
as well as protect the wielder's hands
with its namesake guard.
Today, in order to earn a Master Smith's rating
in the American Bladesmith Society,
a smith must forge this Damascus dagger
and have it pass through rigorous evaluation.
♪
But, guys, you're so talented.
We figured, why not supersize this a little bit
and have you build a short sword version
of the dagger?
Just make sure they fall within these parameters:
Your blade length, measured from tip
to where it meets the guard,
needs to be between 18 and 20 inches.
Needs to be double-edged, have a medial ridge,
a cross guard with intricate quillons,
a fluted handle, and a functional pommel.
And as I'm sure you expected,
we're of course going to ask you to make
the blade with Damascus steel.
I'm sorry in advance.
I think you guys have your work cut out for you.
But you're both very talented, so good luck, gentlemen.
We'll see you back at our forge in four days.
- Hey, good luck, man. - Good luck to you.
♪
- We're at my home forge right now in Plano, Texas.
I gotta bring a win home
for the Lone Star State. [laughs]
My goal for day one is to start forging a blade
and get 300 layers.
About to do my first forge weld.
♪
Think those are pretty solid forge welds.
♪
I got it to the length I want
and got to cut my billet up, prep it again.
You know, I restacked into four pieces.
Now I got a pretty solid forge weld.
So just gonna keep stretching her out,
get it up to about 27 inches, and get my knife going.
♪
As I'm drawing up my billet, something's not right.
We're getting a little too thin.
I don't have enough material.
21 and 1/2, that's--
it's not where I need to be.
I'm really bummed out with myself right now.
[bleep], dude.
- As I'm drawing up my billet, something's not right.
[bleep]
I don't have enough material,
so I'm freaking out a little bit.
21 and 1/2, that's--
it's not where I need to be.
And then realized, I left out a piece of steel.
[bleep]
Right here is the piece.
I cannot believe-- [laughs] I left this out.
I knew I was forgetting something.
I fell short so tomorrow, I'll have to add
that other piece of steel in,
try to get my length to where
I can start forging out a blade.
♪
- It's morning of day one.
I'm ready to get started on this quillon short sword.
[chuckles]
Glad that I'm getting to represent Arkansas
and my friends and the Bill Moran School.
They would be happy with how I did on this challenge.
Got a good squish on it.
It's looking pretty good to me so far.
♪
So I have enough material to work the tang and work my kit,
and it came out phenomenal.
So far, so good. [laughs]
- It's beginning of day two.
Yesterday, realized my billet's a little short.
And I left out a piece of steel.
It was bumped up against my chop saw.
So I'm gonna chop it up,
add that other piece of steel in,
and try to get my length.
♪
This looks really good,
so that middle layer is the one I left out, like an idiot.
But we're going to reincorporate that,
and that has 25 layers.
I think it's gonna look really cool.
Let's get rocking and rolling.
♪
Everything looks to be going pretty solid.
Time to get my blade looking like a knife.
♪
I was a little behind on day one,
but I caught up and got 344 layers.
Hell yeah.
That's looking good.
So I couldn't be more pleased with how today went.
Got a sword, man.
- It's morning of day two.
Now that the blade's forged to where I want it,
hope that this quench works out.
If this thing ends up cracking, I'm out of the competition.
Okay.
♪
This blade's quenched.
I'm happy about that.
♪
And oh my goodness, it's hard.
I'm like, yes.
[laughs]
- Beginning of day four.
Yesterday on day three, got my blade heat treated.
♪
I just gotta get everything fit up,
and start shaping my handle material.
It's not gonna be the best flute.
♪
I, myself, am a perfectionist,
especially with my craft and what I do with my work.
I'm real OCD, and I like to nitpick my stuff
and just make it as good as I can make it
when fitting up a handle.
♪
The whole build was super challenging,
but I'm grateful to be a part of this competition,
and I'm super proud to represent
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
Holy [bleep], guys.
Ha! I got that done!
I got that done.
That looks so frickin' cool.
Badass.
- It's morning of day four.
It's crazy how quickly things have gone with this.
Yesterday, I did a whole bunch of work on the handle pieces.
So only things I need to do is put an edge on it,
glue up the handle, and it's ready to go.
♪
Both my guard and my pommel,
they are made out of mild steel.
♪
There you go.
The weapon is put together, peened on, looks good.
So I get to play with it a little bit.
♪
[chuckles]
I think it will definitely cut.
♪
[tense music]
♪
- Well, gentlemen, Don, welcome to our testing grounds.
Now, last time we saw you, it was at your home field
at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing
in Texarkana, Texas.
We gave you four days to come back here
with a short sword version
of the Master Bladesmith's daggers.
And guys, I gotta say, they both look phenomenal.
But before we put these blades through a series of tests,
I want to hear about them.
So Chris, tell us about yours.
♪
- It was a lot of fun to make.
95 layers of Damascus,
mild steel guard and pommel.
I can't remember exactly what kind of wood it was,
but it felt pretty dense.
So I thought it would work for the handle.
- It looks good. - Thank you.
- Jake, how about you? - It was fun, man.
I enjoyed it.
♪
It's 344 layers of Damascus
with a wrought iron guard and pommel,
copper accents, and a bog oak handle.
- Phenomenal work, guys.
All right, gentlemen, the time has come.
We've got to find out which one of you
is moving forward in the next leg of the tournament,
staying in contention for that $20,000 check for yourselves
and an additional $10,000 that could go back to Don
and the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
And to do that, we've gotta put your blades
through a series of tests.
Before those tests, I'm gonna hand you over to J.
♪
- Well, bladesmiths, your big blade versions
of the Master Smith quillon dagger
look really nice.
But looking good is one thing.
Functionality is more important.
So I'm gonna take both of your short swords
and do a series of thrusts and chops
on this ballistics dummy rig.
Chris, you're up first. You ready to go?
- As ready as I'll ever be. - Let's do it.
- I see the Viking helmet.
I see the shield there.
I'm wondering OK, am I gonna have an edge roll on this?
'Cause as soon as he hits that helmet,
it could damage my edge.
♪
[hard rock music]
♪
[grunting]
♪
- [laughs]
- Just kick the [bleep] shield off.
- Who needs a sword?
♪
All right, Chris, nice job.
Very well balanced.
With the fluting you have on this handle,
it was a good grip.
The shield wanted to put up a bit of a fight,
but we made it through.
- Yes, sir.
- The only thing I have to say negative
is the alignment,
'cause I'm holding the handle vertically,
and you can see that blade curves off to one side.
But all in all, everything's sharp.
Everything is tight.
Nice job. - Thank you.
- All right, Jake, you ready to go?
- I'm ready.
- All right, let's do it.
- It's a little nerve-racking having J
about to start destroying stuff with my sword.
My biggest fear is that metal helmet.
If my blade chips or glints,
that could be the thing that sends me home.
♪
- [grunting]
♪
- All right, Jake, nice job.
Everything's still in alignment.
Nothing wrong with the edge.
Nothing chipped out or anything.
Everything's tight.
I like the counterbalance you put
in here with the wrought iron.
The fluting on here gave me a good grip.
So overall, very nice job.
- Thank you, sir.
♪
- All right, bladesmiths, now we know
your blades are functional.
Next, we're gonna see how strong they are
and how well they hold up in our strength test.
♪
Chris, you're up first again. You ready?
- Yes, sir. - All right, let's do it.
♪
[heavy metal music]
♪
All right, Chris, real nice.
Good grip, able to hold on no problem.
You do have some glinting.
♪
So you can hear that? - Yes, sir.
- That's the worst one right there.
So you do have some edge damage.
But obviously, it was still sharp enough
to cut through those bags.
Again, that blade being kicked off throws off the thrusting.
Overall though, nice job.
- Thank you.
- Jake, ready again?
- Let's do it.
[suspenseful music]
♪
[heavy metal music]
♪
- All right, Jake, nice job.
Cut deeply into the steel.
There's some glinting.
It's got a little bit of a roll.
Aside from that, everything is still straight.
Good job. - Thank you.
♪
- Well, gentlemen, this is it.
We started this competition back in Texarkana
with you guys putting together Damascus blades,
and you went above and beyond.
But only one of you can come out on top
of the Texarkana leg of this tournament
and move forward into the final leg,
fighting against three other smiths
we pick up across America.
And the winner of this leg, who will be representing
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing
and J. Neilson is...
♪
Jake.
Congratulations.
Now Chris, unfortunately, your blade did not make the cut.
And J is gonna tell you why.
- Chris, you should be very proud of your work.
Did a great job.
But that bend in the blade--
honestly, if this was a Master Smith test,
it wouldn't have been picked up from that.
Second of all, your edge took more damage during the testing
than your competitor's.
That's why we're letting you go.
- Well, Chris, we want to say thank you for coming out.
You're clearly a very talented smith.
But unfortunately, your time in this competition has ended.
I'm gonna have to ask you to please
step off the forge floor.
- Thanks, man.
All in all, I'm just happy with how my blade performed.
I completely agree with his decision to vote me off.
♪
I'm pretty sure Jacob has what it takes
to win the whole thing.
I'm looking forward to seeing him win.
♪
- Jake, congratulations. That makes you the winner
of the Texarkana leg of this tournament.
You're moving forward in the final leg,
still fighting for that $20,000 to go
in your pocket and $10,000 in gears and supplies
to go back to Don and the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
- I don't even know how to feel.
This is so cool.
It was anyone's game.
It was such a close fight from the beginning
at Texarkana to here.
Chris has been an awesome competitor,
but I took home the victory today.
And I don't even know what to do.
[laughs] It's pretty awesome.
- Congratulations. - Yes, sir.
- Very, very well done. - It was a pleasure.
I'll be representing the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing
in the next leg of this challenge,
and I'm super excited.
So let's get after it.
♪