[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- My name is cody kruseman, I am 20 years old,
And I've been bladesmithing for four years now.
I got into bladesmithing because, as a kid,
I always loved the action scenes in movies.
Anytime there was a weapon associated,
I always wanted one.
So eventually, I decided, "you know what?
I'm gonna make one."
- My name is caleb peck. I'm 31 years old,
And I'm a production manager for a flour mill.
Walking out to the forge floor,
It's kind of a surreal feeling for me.
I would love to see a piece of my work on that wall someda,
But I just gotta focus on the final prize.
- My name is tony bravo. I'm 46 years old.
I'm a journeyman lineman and a part-time bladesmit.
Back home, I have a lot of people rooting for me.
I've got two daughters.
My youngest is going off to college,
So those $10,000 would definitely come in handy.
- My name is colin roy. I'm 28,
And I'm a full-time metal fabricator and blacksmith.
It started in my parents' one-car garage.
I almost burned it down twice,
But I finally saved up enough money.
I was able to build my own shop,
And that's where I'm working out of today.
- Bladesmiths, welcome to the forge.
The four of you are here
Because you are talented bladesmiths,
But what we wanna find out
Is which one of you will rise above your peers
And earn the title of "forged in fire" champion
And a solid check for $10,000.
♪ ♪
We've got three rounds of bladesmithing competition
Set up for you. At the end of each one,
You're gonna present your work to our panel of expert judges,
Abs master smith j. Neilson,
Historic weapons re-creation specialist dave baker,
And edged weapon specialist doug marcaida.
Today in the forge,
We're excited to bring back a competition
That is gonna test your ability to make good decisions now
That will, hopefully, help you out
Down the road later.
This is a challenge we are calling now or later.
♪ ♪
So on this table, we have four tiers of challenges.
If you choose an easier round one,
That comes with the hardest round two and vice versa.
If you choose the harder round one,
You will have the easiest round two.
- I see that table, and I'm thinking "oh, crap."
There's so many options.
I just start getting a pit in my stomach.
- So let's talk about your choices.
If, in round one, you wanna go with the easiest challenge,
You can do 100+layer damascus,
But that comes with a keyhole guard and handle.
Your next option, if you wanna go a little bit harder,
You can do the fishhook canister damascus,
But you are gonna cast your pommel and your guard.
Now, stepping it up, you can go with the cube
And stack damascus, and all you'll have to do
Is a two-tone handle and mosaic pins.
And finally, the hardest round one challenge
Is the turkish twist damascus,
But all you have to do is add a g10 handle.
Regardless of what you guys choose,
I want you to make signature blades
Between 13 and 15 inches.
Caleb, you're up first. Are you ready?
- Yes, sir.
- Come on up and pick your poison.
- I'm trying to weigh up my options.
Looking at the fishhook canister
And the 100-layer damascus.
I think I'm gonna go with the fishhook canister.
- Fishhook canister damascus, all right.
- Canister is kind of daunting at first,
But it's a lot easier than you'd think
Because you don't have to worry about cutting and stacking.
♪ ♪
- Colin, you're up.
- I take longer to do fit and finish
Than I do to forge a blade.
I've got to pick whatever is gonna be fastest in round two,
Even if it means I have to hustle more in round one.
- Going with the turkish twist, I love it.
All right, tony, you're up.
- The crucible just scares me.
Obviously, the g10 is gonna be easy.
But your first challenge is the most difficult.
So I'm thinking I can kind of meet in the middle.
- All right, cube and stack damascus.
Cody, you're up last.
- If I choose something extremely hard
For the first round,
Then I might not make it to round two.
That's all I'm thinking about at this moment.
- All right, so you went with the 100+ layer damascu.
♪ ♪
Now, bladesmiths, in round two of this competition,
You'll add handles to your blades,
Turning them into fully functioning weapons,
At which point the judges will check for strength
And durability in a coconut chop
And then check your edge retention
In a water bottle slice.
Good luck. Your time starts now.
♪ ♪
Now everyone is moving with a purpose.
- They all got a lot to do in three hours.
- All right, so same.
I'm doing the 100-layer damascus.
I'm gonna do an initial forge weld of eight layers,
Chop those layers up into seven different pieces,
Re-forge-weld it again, then cut it in half,
And that will give me over 100 layers.
Normally, I'd have to use a calculator
'cause I would not be able to figure it out.
I failed math in high school. Look at me now.
The first thing I'm gonna do in this round
Is clean my steel.
If you don't have clean steel,
Your welds are not gonna set.
- They all have different processes,
But the beginning part is all the same.
It's all forge welding.
- I'm very familiar with stack damascus.
I do it all the time.
But if anything goes wrong, then I'm screwed.
♪ ♪
- I'm pretty confident with canister damascus.
It all comes down to the prep work.
I'm filling my can with fishhooks
And 1095 powder.
The thing with canister:
There's always a chance of dead spots.
So I'm taking my time packing that can,
Making sure there's no air in there at all.
Air pockets could cause delams or inclusions
And then a failure during the testing.
Everything looks flush. Give it a few extra taps.
I'm ready to put a cap on it, weld it,
And put it in the forge.
Now it's just to wait and bake.
- Welding!
- The most interesting thing to watch right here
Is that turkish damascus.
- Yeah, what is it? I've never seen that before.
- It's a variation of a twist pattern.
You do a minimum of five bar, twisting them alternately,
Forge welding that into one piece.
- I've only got three hours,
So I'm working two billets at once so I can get double
The amount of work done in the same amount of time,
Because while I'm working on one,
The other one's heating up.
My steel is getting up to a bright yellow,
So I know that it's time for me to set those welds.
♪ ♪
Working with two billets is tough.
If I don't get both of them right on the first try,
It's over.
Billets are looking good, but I can't waste time.
I just have to keep moving.
♪ ♪
- What is the process for the cube and stack?
- It's just like doing any other canister.
It's just smaller.
If I was doing the cube and stack,
I'd forge weld the two cubes,
Slice the side off each of them,
Put those together, forge weld,
And just run with it.
- I do plan to peel the can off
So I can really reveal my pattern.
Put the wite-out in the can,
I'm not gonna lay it on too thick.
It'll take forever to dry.
- I'd leave the can on and not use the wite-out.
It's just more sacrificial material
You can take off later if you need to.
I'm gonna go ahead and set it on the side of the forge
Where it gets a little bit of heat.
Once it's dry, I can get the springs in it,
Pour in my powder,
Close it up, and weld.
- Setting these first welds is a big deal.
If that doesn't stick, then I'm done.
- All right, cody on his first pass on the press.
- Oh, way aggressive.
- Yeah, I'd be setting my welds gently first
Before I start putting that much pressure on billet.
- I get my welds all set, and so far,
I'm feeling great about this billet.
Now I'm gonna have to cut and restack this thing
To get up to a hundred layers. Perfect.
I just wanna make sure that I don't get sent home
Because of parameters.
- Bladesmiths, we are one hour down,
Two hours to go.
- I'm getting ready to take my billet,
Go over to the forge press.
If I don't get these forge well set,
Then I'm probably gonna have to start over.
♪ ♪
Everything feels pretty solid.
Now I'm gonna start drawing out that bar.
So far, so good.
- I got my can forge welded. I went to the power hammer,
And I could feel that my billet is solid.
And I think it's time to peel the cans off.
♪ ♪
- Removing the cans is always fun.
- The first can comes off, so I'm feeling great.
I'm having a little more trouble
With the second can, and the time is going.
- Son of a bitch.
- Get it, tony.
- Tony is trying to knock his can out of the canister.
- I don't know why it's not coming off.
I'm hitting it with all I got. I am giving her hell.
♪ ♪
I get the can off.
Now I'm feeling awesome.
♪ ♪
- What really sets the turkish twist out
From other twists of damascus is that they alternate,
So I need to make sure
That I twist my two billets in different directions.
- Colin got a lot of twists in there.
That's pretty good.
- Now I hope he's keeping track.
If you get the same amount of rotation on each bar,
The stars line up better.
- And I measure my shortest bar,
And I know that's gonna be what I cut in half
For my alternating twists.
All right.
I've got three billets on the anvil.
Once I trim them and then cut them in half,
I'll have six billets.
The rules only call for five,
So I'm going with five billets.
I don't want to screw up.
Which billets go which direction?
So I take my soapstone,
And I mark the direction on them.
I need to make sure that that pattern
Is alternating correctly,
'cause if one of those is in the wrong spot,
I'm going home.
All right, where are my soapstone marks?
- I start getting my blade form to shape,
Just a real basic camp knife.
You need something that has a good spine
That can withstand coconuts and a good edge
That can still stay sharp to cut the water bottles.
I got a good-looking blade, good-looking shape.
I think with my profile,
It'll hold up during testing.
- Bladesmiths, you have one hour remaining.
♪ ♪
- So I've welded my two cubes together.
I go to the press.
I give it a couple of light squeezes
Just to make sure that I get a solid weld.
It's time to go to the power hammer
And start drawing it out.
- I'm really worried about tony.
- He's got a very small billet.
- I don't think that's enough for a 13-to-15-inch blade.
It's gonna be difficult.
- As I'm getting my length,
I realize I may not have enough steel.
I'm going back to the ruler,
And I'm marking where I need that edge to be.
I have to use every millimeter.
One more. I just meet the parameter.
I got the length.
It's starting to feel like, "hey, I'm gonna make this."
But definitely worried
That I'm running a little thin.
So I gotta be careful
Because in the quench,
A thin blade may warp or crack.
♪ ♪
- My five billets are tacked together.
Now it is time to forge weld 'em.
I'm juggling back and forth between big blue and the press
To make sure I get my billet nice and flat.
Now that the billet's together, and it's holding.
I wanna start getting the tang worked out,
Forging it down pretty aggressively.
Oh, you bitch.
It splits wide open.
The first thing that comes to my mind is,
"I'm going home." [bleep]
The delamination could be bad because there's
A lot of force on it. It could break.
- Cutting that off.
- I cut the pieces of the billet off.
Hope I got enough steel in there.
It doesn't look like it traveled anywhere.
Just in case, I'm gonna get it back into the forge,
Make sure anything that may not completely set
Will be.
Oh, yes!
- I have my final billet with 112 layers
Stacked, welded, and in the forge,
And now I need to get moving.
- I think cody is the only one
Who's really falling behind.
- At first, it starts to weld fairly decently,
But then just the very edge of it starts to not set.
Oh, crap.
- And his billet
Is splitting straight down the middle.
- This is a very big problem. I should restart the billet,
But I can't because I don't have enough time to do that.
If I can't figure out a way to fix it,
Then I'm done. I'm going home.
[bleep]
- Either peel it up, try to clean it, and flux it,
And reweld it, or just cut that off.
- This is a very big problem. I should restart the billet,
But I don't have enough time to do that.
I need to get up to welding temperature again
And then try and reset those welds.
I am not working for perfection at this point,
So I just have to use what I have.
I think those welds are set. I just wish I had more time.
♪ ♪
- Guys, caleb's in the oil.
- He quenched that with the can on.
That kind of works to keep any cracking from happening.
- Coming out of the quench, everything went good.
I got a good-looking blade, but it's pretty freaking thick.
I gotta get this mild steel can off.
I'm looking at the clock. I'm looking at what I have,
Thinking I should've forged t a little thinner,
But I'm just gonna pitch a tent and keep grinding.
♪ ♪
- I'm looking at the clock. I realize
That it's time to start getting ready for the quenc.
Being that my blade is thin,
I am worried that I may get a fracture in the blade.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony quenched.
In the beginning, it looked like
He didn't have enough steel to make this happen.
He came through.
- It looks straight, but as I'm grinding,
I notice a warp.
Damn it.
Not good.
I'm trying to grind it out, and--
But I can tell it's still there.
But it's really all I can do
Because I cannot take off any more steel.
- Mother [bleep].
♪ ♪
- The last thing I wanna see when I quench this
Is a crack in the steel.
♪ ♪
- It's quite impressive the way colin is working.
- He knows what he's doing.
I'm very excited to see that turkish quench.
♪ ♪
- Looks like I'm in good shape.
I know those judges. They wanna see
That damascus pattern,
And so I have to give it
A nice, flat surface
That's gonna accept a really good etch.
Oh, sweet!
- I've got a rough profile. I know I need to go ahead
And start setting up for the quench.
If those welds didn't set, there is a very good chance
That my billet could break in half.
You're the man.
♪ ♪
I pull it out of the quench. I think I'm okay.
- All right, all the smiths have now quenched.
- As I'm grinding, I see tiny cracks
Start traveling up my blade to where I can see it move.
After the quench, there were no cracks there,
So I don't know what happened.
There's five minutes left in the round.
There's nothing I can do to address these,
So I gotta at least make this knife
Look somewhat presentable.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
Gentlemen, turn off your machines.
Put down your tools.
Round one in this competition is over.
- 100-layer damascus seemed like a good choice,
But I probably should have gone with something
That doesn't require as much welding.
I'm going to have a lot of work to do in round two.
- All right, bladesmiths,
You guys took your choice techniques
And turned them into 13-15 inch blades.
But the time has come for the judges
To critique that work
And decide who's gonna be heading home.
Cody, you chose the 100+ layer damascus.
Please present your work.
♪ ♪
- I like the profile...
Other than what happens kind of from here back.
This seam along the spine here...
Now, I'm hoping that that can be ground away.
Other than that, you've got a little bit
Of a warp in the blade,
But your edge looks solid.
Good job. - Thank you.
- All right, caleb, first round,
You had fishhook canister damascus.
Ready for critique? - Yes, sir.
- Let's see it.
♪ ♪
- You still got a lot of mass in here, which is a good thing
Because there's a warp in there,
But I don't see any issues with the steel at all.
Real nice job. - Thank you, sir.
- Tony, you chose the cube and stack damascus.
Let's see what you got.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony, let's talk about your blade here.
I love the profile.
It reminds me of an itak that we used in the philippines
For cutting coconuts, but it's a very thin blade.
And you have a pronounced warp that needs to be taken care o.
Otherwise, the steel is solid. Good job.
- Thank you.
- All right, colin, you had the turkish twist.
Let's see what you came up with.
♪ ♪
- All right, colin,
Today's daredevil in the forge.
This came out very nice.
One thing that does concern me: You've got a seam here
That runs down into the choil and into the blade edge.
It's doesn't seem like it's very deep,
But this is really a bad spot
To have steel that's not stuck together.
But otherwise, good job.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
- Gentlemen, in this competition,
Only three of you can move forward into the second round,
Which means somebody's heading home.
And the bladesmith leaving the forge is...
♪ ♪
Cody.
Unfortunately, although you worked very hard
And you presented a blade, it's not gonna make the cut,
And doug's gonna tell you why.
- Cody, first up, I commend you for turning in
100-layer damascus in a three-hour challenge,
But the warp, the seams...
Your blade has the most issues going to the second round,
And for that reason, we're sending you home.
- I understand.
- Well, cody, I'm gonna have to ask you
To please surrender your work and leave the forge floor.
- The clock got the best of me.
The standards that I normally produce
Are a thousand times better than what I produced today.
I gave everything that I could,
And I'm just happy
That I was able to turn in a completed blade.
- Well, bladesmiths, congratulations.
The three of you are moving forward
Into the second round of this competition.
We're gonna find out if your first-round challenge choice
Is gonna pay off.
Caleb, you're gonna have to cast a pommel
And a guard out of bronze.
Tony, you've got a two-tone handle
That's gonna need some mosaic pins.
And colin, you went with the most difficult
Round one challenge,
So in this second round of the competition,
You just have to add a g10 handle.
Regardless of how difficult your challenge is,
You all only have two hours on the clock to complete it.
At the end of this round,
The judges are gonna test your blades
For strength and durability in a coconut chop.
Then they're gonna check your edge retention
In a water bottle slice.
Good luck. Stay sharp.
Your time starts now.
♪ ♪
We have three different techniques going on,
All of which are personally chosen poisons.
♪ ♪
- I'm starting the casting immediately.
Since I've never done any kind of casting,
That's gonna be the challenge for me.
So stand by. [laughs]
- Well, it looks like caleb's
Just digging out a hole in the sand.
So I think he is just gonna cast a big old block
And grind to shape.
- The bronze needs to liquefy inside the foundry.
So while it's over there, heating it up,
I'm gonna start grinding out this warp.
- That foundry is gonna take probably 10-12 minutes
To heat that bronze to liquid.
- I'm grinding out this warp, ad it's actually coming out.
I'm very pleased with how everything is going so far.
- I almost guarantee caleb is very jealous of colin.
All colin has to do is slap on a couple of g10 handles,
Clean it up. He's good to go.
- [groans] let's see.
No.
There's tons of g10 selection in the pantry.
Most of it, though, is really bright colors.
I like things that are a little simpler.
So I go for the red and black.
Yeah.
♪ ♪
- Colin's got the easiest round two,
But he needs to cut down that tang
And do something with the seams that showed up.
- I start grinding as much material off as I ca.
If I don't fix the delamination,
They could split and even break apart.
That's game over.
I'm seeing that delamination go awa.
I'm so relieved.
♪ ♪
- The mosaic pin doesn't seem too hard.
I grab a red dye for the pins,
So when I start grinding on 'em,
You can see the pattern in that red.
- Red epoxy is gonna give it a little bit more flair.
- Well, great.
- My pins are looking great. Everything is solid.
Now I gotta get my two-tone handle going.
I'm more of a natural, scales kind of guy.
So I start to work on two pieces of wood and my liner.
- Tony's two-part handle construction
Is probably riskier than the guard and the pommel ar.
If you don't get them glued up probably,
They can cut loose in a test.
- Bladesmiths, you have one hour remaining.
♪ ♪
- I see that the--the material's
Actually ready to pour.
I have to be very careful because if I spill it,
Then I gotta start this process all over again.
- We're pouring.
- Pour that bronze! Pour that bronze!
- As the bronze is setting in the sand,
I'm letting it cool down. I take both pieces out.
My guard actually looks pretty cool.
And as far as the pommel goes, it's a big chunk of bronz.
So I decided to cut it in half.
But right now,
I still got a lot of things that I gotta do.
And that decision to make a harder round two
Is really messing with me right now.
- I quenched the entire blade,
But I tried to leave the tang out
'cause I wanted that to still be soft,
Knowing that I have to drill holes in it
To pin my handle on.
♪ ♪
I drill my first hole, no problem.
I start drilling my second hole.
Mother [bleep].
Even though I didn't quench the entre tang,
There was still enough heat in there,
And it probably got hard.
- Colin's running into his first little hiccup.
♪ ♪
- I grab the mapp gas torch,
And I start heating up that point
To make drilling those holes through the handle easier.
I'm making sure that I keep the blade
Submerged in water
So that I don't have to risk any heat
Getting into the cutting edge that might soften it.
- There you go.
- Drill bit goes through, but I'm tight on time.
But the only way I can keep up with it is to keep moving.
- While my wood scales are drying,
I'm moving to straightening out my blad.
- I think tony's got more than one bend in that blade,
So trying to straighten that out is gonna be tricky.
He's gonna have to put some kind of heat to it.
- But you gotta be careful
That you don't heat it up too much.
You don't want that heat to travel down to your edge.
If my blade gets too hot, I can ruin the tamper,
And it won't hold up to these tests.
I am worried at this point.
- Oh, boy, he's got no room for error.
- Moment of truth.
- My wrap looks a lot better. I know my edge is solid.
So I'm feeling great.
♪ ♪
- Bladesmiths, you have 30 minutes remaining.
- Now that my scales are roughed out,
I wanna make sure that I get my knife in the ferric chloride
Before it's too late. Cool.
The pattern looks awesome.
It shines right through. It's time to glue my handle on.
- I do like the fact that colin did a lot of extra etching
To bring that pattern out,
But that handle is really small.
- I'd like to put some more time into my scale,
But I look at the clock,
And I just don't have the time to do it.
I really have to put a sharp edge on this knif.
- I only have a few more minutes, and I'm frantic.
It's crunch time.
I got the pommel threaded and fitted up,
But time is not my side.
There's a good possibility that I might not finish.
- He's working in panic mode.
It's never a good mode to work in.
- I get the handle shaped up the best I could
And put a super rushed edge on this thing.
Hopefully, it holds up during the testing.
- Tony, you need to get rolling on that handle.
That thing's huge.
I think he's got a bar of soap in his hands.
- I'm trying to get some contour.
When I hold that handle, it needs to stay in my hand.
If it rolls, the judges won't be able to wield it correctly.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
Gentlemen, round two is over.
♪ ♪
- Looking at my blade, it's not pretty at all.
The handle is what really bothers me.
We'll see how the handle holds up in testing.
♪ ♪
- All right, gentlemen, you know what time it is.
It's time for the strength test,
The coconut chop.
Now, this test is all about what these coconuts do
To your knife and not the other way aroun.
Colin, you're up. Are you ready?
- Yes, sir. - Okay.
♪ ♪
- I don't usually test them on coconuts.
They've got that hard layer on both sides.
Dave's getting ready.
I'm getting more and more nervous
Just waiting for him to take that first swing.
♪ ♪
- Yeah. [laughs]
♪ ♪
- All right, so colin, I was worried
That the handle would be a little bit on the thin side,
But actually, the way it flares,
It was really comfortable in my hand.
The only issue we have is this section.
I kind of blew a piece out right here on the edge.
But other than that, it's a great-looking piece.
Well done. - Thank you very much.
- Tony, you're ready? - Yes, sir.
- Promise I'll be gentle. [laughs]
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
- After seeing colin's chip on his blade,
My heart kind of dropped, thinking "wow.
My blade's a lot thinner than his."
We might have a little problem here.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony, as far as your handle goes,
If it were any shorter, it wouldn't fit me,
But it fits me just fine. Having that little flare
At the end it's really nice retentio.
You got, like, 90% of that warp out of there, which is great.
I don't see any issue with your edge.
You did a great job. Well done.
- Thank you, sir.
- Caleb, you're ready?
- Yes, sir. - Okay.
♪ ♪
- By far, what I'm worried about is the handle.
It's blocky. It's very big.
And with the amount of force that david puts in that blade,
The handle construction could just blow apart.
♪ ♪
- All right, caleb, it is still in one piece,
But my issue is really your back here in the handle.
It's really just kind of a big mass
As supposed to having a handle shape to it.
Every time I swing it,
I have to adjust it and hold it.
But the blade is still together, so well done.
- Thank you, sir.
♪ ♪
- All right, bladesmiths, this is the sharpness test,
The water bottle slice.
What I'm gonna do is take your weapon
And try to cut through cleanly on these water bottles.
Colin, you're up first. Are you ready for this?
- Yes, sir. - All right, let's do this.
♪ ♪
- [laughs] yeah!
♪ ♪
- All right, colin, let's talk about your blade.
The balance on this blade feels good.
Despite missing a little piece right there,
It was not an issue at all
To cut through the water bottles.
Overall, sir, your turkish damascus blade
Will cut.
Tony, are you ready?
- Yes, sir. - Let's do this.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony, let's talk about your blade here.
Your edge is sharp, because even on the three bottles
That it did not cut, on the back side,
There are clean slices on that. I just run out of blade.
Overall, sir, your blade, it will cut.
- Roger.
- All right, caleb, your turn. So are you ready?
- Yes, sir. - Let's do this.
♪ ♪
- All right, caleb, let's talk about your weapon here.
The kind of design that you have on your blade hee
Is very obtuse, almost like an ax.
It cuts the bottles, but also tends to push it.
But I'd say all the way up to the last bottle, it cut.
♪ ♪
- Gentlemen, this was not an easy competition.
In the first two rounds, you dictated the difficulty.
For two of you, it pays off
'cause you're gonna be moving forward
In the third round of this challenge.
But that means one of you is heading home.
The judges have made their decision,
And the bladesmith leaving the forge is...
♪ ♪
Caleb.
- Caleb, we know you're a great bladesmith,
But you just run out of time.
The thick edge, that handle setup...
Those are the reasons we're sending you home.
- I understand.
- Caleb, it was an honor
Watching you out there, but unfortunately,
At this time, I'm gonna have to ask you
To please step off the forge floor.
- Thank you, guys, for having me.
♪ ♪
Looking back, I should have pushed the envelope
On the first round
Just so I could have an easier round two.
But my decision in round one ended up biting me in the butt.
Anyway, it was a great experience overall,
And it was an honor to be on the competition.
♪ ♪
- Tony, colin, congratulations.
The two of you are moving forward in the third
And final round of this competition.
Now, in this last round, we're gonna send you back
To your home forges to build an iconic weapon from history.
Gentlemen, we want you to build this,
The burmese dha.
- Holy molly. - Hell, yeah.
- The burmese dha traces its roots back
To 16th-century southeast asia.
The single-edged, double-handed sword,
Features a slightly curved blade
Designed to inflict deep,
Deadly slashes against enemies in battle.
The weapon was so effective,
Soldiers continued to use it in combat
Through world war ii,
Where u.S.-Aided resistance forces
Known as kachin rangers wielded this blade
Fighting in the hills of myanmar.
- Now gentlemen, when you're building your dhas,
You need to follow these parameters.
You guys need to include a curved blade
That measures between 21 and 23 inches.
You need to include a guard and a two-handed handle.
- Hell, yeah.
The profile of it is exactly what I was hoping to make.
I cannot wait to go home and work on this.
- Bladesmiths, you guys will have four days
To build your burmese dhas.
So good luck. See you then.
♪ ♪
- I'm feeling pretty good, really looking forward
To getting started on this sword.
It's go time.
I'm gonna be working with a damascus pattern,
Trying to go above and beyond.
I'm in it to win it right now.
Beautiful.
I'll be using 15n20, 1080, and 1095.
15n20 is gonna really give those bright finishes,
And the 1080 and 1095 give it a lot of strength.
It's working out great.
I'm way ahead of schedule.
I can get the blade quenched today.
If I don't quench this blade at the right temperature,
I'll have to start over.
All right, I think we're going for it.
It's now or never.
I feel my whole body tense up as I dunk it in the oil.
Yep, we're good.
Right where I wanted to be by the end of the day.
I can't wait to see what's in store for day two.
That looks [bleep] cool.
♪ ♪
- I'm back in my home forge.
We're about to start to build on the burmese dha.
All right, here we go. So the game plan for day one
Is to make a 100-layer damascus billet.
I gotta give it that wow factor.
It's heavy, a big billet.
I'm gonna stack it to 25, stretch that out,
And then cut it in fours, restack it, making 100.
This is a timed competition,
So you wanna make sure that everything sticks
And you got a solid piece of steel.
I've got my 100-layer billet. Overall, I feel great.
Now I can't wait till this is over.
♪ ♪
- Day two, I wanna keep the momentum going,
Just get this done, and start grinding that blade down.
There's a lot of meat to take away.
Ugh. And that's when I see it.
I got a really big warp in the blade.
Ah, that sucks.
It's a bit of a corkscrew.
That's something I can't bend or grind out.
Looks like I'm gonna have to re-quench my blade.
I am dreading having to quench again.
[bleep]
Every time is another chance
My blade could crack and I'm at square one.
Let's see what happens.
♪ ♪
The blade goes in the oil, comes out.
I get it clamped down.
Looks like I got the warp almost out of it.
It looks good enough for now.
I think we're good.
- At the start of day three,
We have a heat-treated and tempered blade,
And now I'm going to blue the spine
To give it some more durability.
I don't know what they're gonna test it with,
So I want it to be strong as all get out.
Now I'm starting to see some color.
We're getting there.
So by keeping the blade in the wet sand,
It's gonna act as an insulator,
And it's gonna prevent the heat from traveling down.
Little by little.
If I do it right,
I'm gonna have a shock-absorbing spine,
And it will withstand any type of test that they put on it.
I didn't get a complete blue. We got half a blue.
But you know what? I think we're good.
- Day four.
It's really great being this close to the end,
But I don't wanna get too comfortable.
I wanna make sure that I still put
Everything I have into this to get it done.
That is perfect.
I get my handle all fit together.
Everything's looking really good.
And I spent a lot of time polishing everything,
Getting a really nice finish on it.
This is one of the best blades I've ever made.
In my mind, this is a winning weapon.
Tony, I'll see you at the competition.
Better bring your a-game.
- Day four.
Today is pretty much a fit and finish day.
I chose to go with osage orange on my handle material
Because it's a hardwood.
It'll survive any blow that they're gonna give it.
Everything's good. I got it fitted.
It looks great. It's gonna do some damage.
♪ ♪
[bleep] I almost hit the ground.
[laughs]
♪ ♪
- Well, tony, colin, welcome back to the forge.
It's great to have you.
You brought us two burmese dhas that are masterpieces.
Before we get into the testing, I wanna hear about 'em.
Tony, how did it go for you?
- Construction is 1084, 15n20, 100-layer damascus
With a osage orange handle and a brass pommel.
- Colin, how about you?
- The blade is made out of 15n20, 1080, and 1095,
The guard and pommel are turned 1045,
And the handle is ebony.
- Well, guys, your blades look awesome,
But we only have one way we can find out
Which one of them is gonna be worth $10,000
And the title of "forged in fire" champion,
And that's with a couple of tests.
And up first, the keal. Doug?
- Bladesmiths, welcome to the keal test.
♪ ♪
Your burmese dhas are beautiful,
But are they deadly?
To find that out, I'm gonna take your weapos
To deliver some lethal blows on this pig carcass.
Tony, you're up first. You ready for this?
- Absolutely.
- All right, so am I. Let's do this.
- Going first in the competition does set
A little level of anxiety because I have to set the bar.
I know I have a strong, strong blade,
But anything can happen.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony, let's talk about your weapon here.
This is a gorgeous piece. The handle construction for me
Is a little bit on the larger side,
But every cut, every thrust, is very sharp on this pig carcass.
And overall, sir, your burmese dha, it will keal.
- Thank you, sir.
- All right, colin, your turn, sir.
You ready? - Yup.
- All right, let's do this.
- I'm a little worried.
There is a lot
Of really tough bone in that pig.
I'm hoping that when doug hits that spine,
That warp doesn't any worse.
♪ ♪
Whew.
♪ ♪
[snickers]
♪ ♪
Oh, come on.
♪ ♪
- That was a big slice.
- All right, colin, let's talk about your weapon here.
Stunningly beautiful damascus pattern,
Beautiful handle, easier to control
'cause it's a little bit smaller.
Now, your edge is very sharp.
Your tip thrust and slashes nicely,
But you already had a little bit of a warp earlier.
Now, it's even more pronounced.
But overall, sir, your weapon, it will keal.
- Hell, yeah.
- Bladesmiths, welcome to our strength test.
Now I'm going to take your beautiful damascus swords
And beat the heck out 'em
Against these guys in the armor and shields and helmets.
Now, what your blades do to these dummies
Is not as important to me
As what the dummies do to your blades.
Tony, you're up first. Ready to go?
- Get you something. - I can do that.
♪ ♪
- Definitely worried about that,
The initial impact.
They're trying to break your blade.
It could be disastrous.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony, breathe. This held up well.
You do have a little glinting here and there,
But compared to what was done to that, that's great.
The blade's still straight.
Everything else is still razor-sharp.
Good job. - Hot diggity dog.
- All right, colin, how are you feeling, bud?
- Well, we'll know when it's done.
- Well, let's find out then.
♪ ♪
- Here we go.
♪ ♪
- Colin, you survived.
I'm gonna start with your handle.
The smaller diameter gives me a little more control,
A little easier to hold on to, but counterbalance is nice.
We've got some minor glinting.
But you still got a good edge on there.
It's still sharp.
So overall, nice job.
- Thank you.
- All right, bladesmiths, this is the sharpness test,
The tatami mat slice. I'm gonna take your weapon
And try to slash across these tatami mats.
Tony, you're up first. Are you ready for this?
- Let's do it, sir.
- Let's do it.
♪ ♪
- All right, tony, let's talk about your weapon here.
Your edge does cut very well.
Overall, sir, your weapon, it will cut.
- Thank you.
- Colin, your turn, sir. You ready?
- Yup, let's do it. - Let's do it.
♪ ♪
- All right, colin, let's talk about your weapon here.
When the edges make contact with the tatami mats,
It will cut.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
- All right, guys, your burmese dhas showed
That you are both very skilled bladesmiths.
But the judges have decided
Who the "forged in fire" champion is.
And today, that smith is...
♪ ♪
Tony, congratulations.
Now, colin, you crushed it, but unfortunately,
You're not the "forged in fire" champion today,
And doug's gonna tell you why.
- Colin, you brought us a beautiful weapon,
But your weapon was the only one that took some damage
During the keal test, where you developed the warp.
That's the reason you didn't win today.
- Understood.
- Well, colin, unfortunately, your time
In this competition has ended. I'm gonna have to ask you
To please step off the forge floor,
But thank you for your hard work.
- Thank you. I'm really disappointed
That I'm getting sent home for that stupid warp.
I should've just made a new blade,
But it was a real close competition.
If I'm gonna lose to someone, I'm glad it was tony.
[bleep] warps.
- Well, tony, it was not an easy road,
But you did it. You are the newest
"forged in fire" champion.
And you just won yourself a check for $10,000.
Congratulations.
- This challenge really made me realize,
Whatever you wanna do,
Go out and do it. Just be the best at it.
My name is tony, and I am the "forged in fire" champion.
♪ ♪