[rock music]
- Here in The Forge,
we have put hundreds of smiths to the test.
But one fierce competitor has proven himself
time and time again.
- Ben Abbott.
- Through two "Forged in Fire" competitions
and two tough challenges on "Beat the Judges,"
Ben Abbott remains undefeated in this Forge.
Soon, all that could change.
♪ ♪
Tonight, we've gathered three talented bladesmiths
to go head-to-head-to-head
to beat the unbeaten.
- Ben, I'm coming for you, buddy.
- I hope all your tools are that quality.
- Do they have what it takes to finally beat Ben Abbott?
The competition starts now.
♪ ♪
- My name is Andrew Swanger.
I'm 34 years old from Draper, Utah.
I've been bladesmithing about three years.
For a living, I am a police officer,
also a SWAT team sniper team leader.
I'm going to beat Ben because
I'm used to thriving in high-pressure situations.
♪ ♪
- I'm Jesse Hatcher.
I'm 36, from San Marcos, Texas.
A part-time bladesmith,
part-time light and sound engineer.
Just facing Ben is an exciting experience.
Beating him would just be out of this world.
I'm coming for you, Ben.
♪ ♪
- I'm Brandon Franklin,
35 years old from Jonesborough, Tennessee,
and I'm a full-time bladesmith.
The competition doesn't really bother me at all.
I've been a competitive shooter for ten years now.
So I've competed against the best in the shooting world,
so this should be a walk in the park against Ben.
♪ ♪
- Well, bladesmiths, welcome to The Forge.
You guys signed yourself up for a competition
unlike anything we've ever done in this Forge before.
In this competition, there are not three round.
And it's not gonna be a single elimination.
The three of you are going head-to-head-to-head
in five straight hours
of intense bladesmithing competition.
Your blades will need to be quenched, hardened, tempered,
and have a fully functioning handle attached
and ready for testing.
At the end of the five hours,
you're gonna turn your blades over to our judges,
and they're gonna test them.
After testing, there will be a double elimination
because only one of you is gonna stay in the fight
for the title of "Forged in Fire" champion
and a check for $10,000.
♪ ♪
But in order for you to get that cash prize
and the title, you're gonna have to beat the unbeaten.
And, of course, I'm talking about none other
than Ben Abbott himself.
♪ ♪
- Bladesmiths, I've been training hard for this.
I hope you have too.
I hope you guys brought your A-game
'cause I'm coming for you.
And good luck.
- Now, guys, in the spirit of fairness,
Ben Abbott is only gonna be spectating
and watching you guys work, trying to get an idea
of what he's going up against.
♪ ♪
Let's get into it.
This is a challenge we're calling The Rust Bucket.
♪ ♪
[clatters]
Bladesmiths, what we have right here
is a pile of nasty, rusty high-carbon steel.
Your task is to source your materials from this rusty steel
and turn it into a signature blade in your signature style.
- Oh, cool. I guess I'm gonna make a knife
out of a pile of trash,
in five hours nonetheless.
Whew!
Bring it on. [chuckles]
- At the end of the five-hour round,
your blades need to measure between 13 and 15 inches.
You're gonna turn them over to our judges,
and they're gonna check for strength and durability
in a rust bucket chop,
and then check your edge retention
in a leather apron slice.
Bladesmiths, you guys have five hours on the clock.
Good luck. That time starts now.
♪ ♪
- This is a first.
Three bladesmiths vying for the chance
to go up against Ben.
How exciting.
- I've never gotten to see you forge.
- Ah, well, you're in for a treat, my friend.
- I've worked with salvaged stuff before,
but this is an extremely rusty pile of scrap metal.
[chuckles]
- That steel has seen better days.
[laughter] - Yeah.
- So, they're all uneven, rusty pieces,
so my guess would be canister Damascus.
- Yeah, I'd definitely throw it in a can.
- Don't want to do anything I haven't done before,
so I don't want to do a canister.
I want to do a layered Damascus.
I'm looking for metal that's roughly the same size,
relatively flat,
something that I don't have to rework
in order to make it into a billet.
So I get all the rust off with the grinder
and then gave 'em a nice, little acetone bath
just to be sure they're nice and clean
so the forge welds stick.
- What can happen if they didn't spend enough tie
cleaning it up and preparing the metal?
- Delams, cold shuts.
It's not gonna want to weld together.
♪ ♪
- I'm just trying to find similar pieces
that I could at least cut and stack on there
as my first thing and get enough mass.
- How important is it that they match up?
- What ends up happening, if you have a bunch of layers
that are different lengths,
they'll get cold shuts as they smash down and wrap over.
- I immediately grind all of this rust and dirt
off of these pieces
so I can stack them up and weld them,
and then immediately throw it into the forge.
♪ ♪
- Gathering enough of this,
it's really hard to judge how much I need.
- But you're gonna need a lot of material for this.
I mean, what I see alone is not enough material
to make a 14-inch blade.
- So I decide that
the only way I'm gonna get enough stel
for the size knife and style knife that I want
is to make two billets.
- Jesse's welding up two billets.
I'm guessing because
he couldn't find material that all matched.
- That's gonna add two steps, at least,
to your construction.
♪ ♪
Now that's a good color.
- I do a quick little kiss on the press
just to set my welds.
I don't want to get anything too aggressive right now
'cause I could pop my welds loose.
Whoo! It's hot.
My welds look good at this point.
I had a lot of relief come over me,
knowing that I had a nice, solid billet,
and now it was just do what I've done over and over again,
and that's forge a blade.
♪ ♪
- Guys, Andrew's going into the press, getting his welds set.
- I'm trying to take it real slow
so I don't force anything
because these forge welds will just pop.
They won't set right
and we have to start over then.
Come on, baby.
The forge welds are holding.
I could not be more happy.
Ooh.
- Bladesmiths, you're one hour down.
You have four hours left in your competition.
- I get that first billet done.
And hopefully, I can draw out the second billet
the same length as the first one and stack 'em together.
- Oh, look at Jesse.
Setting that weld very tentatively.
- [grunts]
Those welds just aren't taking.
- Ooh.
It looks like it's starting to splay open.
- Yeah, so I ditched the second piece.
- Oh, man. That's not a lot of steel, man.
- I'm hoping that I got enough steel for this sized knife.
♪ ♪
- So, the design that I choose is recurve style
with kind of a sharp point 'cause we're doing a chop
and we're gonna be doing a slice.
- Brandon is very meticulously tapping at it,
making sure he's using every single ounce.
- I actually forge my blades to finish
using the brute de forge method.
It allows you to create a blade
where it is completely forged to its final profile.
And that lends itself very well
to this competition.
- Is this gonna save him time down the road?
- But there physically isn't a lot of material
that he could grind on,
so he can't spend a lot of time grinding.
- I think Ben will be surprised
once I'm up against him
and that he's really got to bring his A-game.
♪ ♪
- My steel's moving well
and getting into the shape that I need.
Kind of just a long drop point, camp hunter-style knife.
I want it fast, I want it quick,
but I also want it durable.
I'm still unsure about the amount of steel that I have.
I know that my steel is pretty thin,
so I decided that I can do a hidden tang knife.
- Jesse's definitely got something that looks like
it's gonna be a through or a hidden tang going on,
but it's a very thin and long blade.
- I'm comfortable with the hidden tang,
but it takes me longer.
I spend a lot more time fitting up that guard,
but I have to make parameters.
♪ ♪
- I want to start shaping the blade.
I'm gonna make a kukri,
or something top-heavy, good for chopping,
but will still cut through leather pretty easy.
So I take hammer and billet to the anvil.
♪ ♪
My favorite hammer.
- Oh, no! Andrew broke his lucky hammer.
- It's freaking snapped my handle right in half.
[chuckles]
Awesome.
- Aw, poor Andrew. - That's terrible.
- I am gonna miss that hammer,
but, you know, that shows exactly how much effort
I'm putting into this, Ben.
Ben, I'm coming for you, buddy.
[laughter]
- I hope all your tools are that quality.
- All right, bladesmiths. You have three hours left.
- I feel like it's a little bit lean.
And I'm worried about that, but I've met parameters
and it's looking like a pretty good knife.
So, I'm ready for the quench.
- Jesse has quenched, and that was hot!
- I've got a nice, hardened blade here
and I feel like I'm in a good position.
♪ ♪
- Now it's time for the quench.
♪ ♪
- There we go.
Brandon to the oil. - All right.
♪ ♪
- It is insanely warped.
- Oh...
- Which is devastating.
If I can't prove myself here,
I won't be able to prove myself against Ben.
- Brandon's back in the fire.
It looks like he's gonna do another quench.
- Doing that second quench, my biggest concern is
I could break the blade at this point.
♪ ♪
- Two quenches for Brandon.
Hopefully, he likes it this time.
- It works.
So, I've got a much straighter blade.
It's not perfect, but I think I can move forward with i.
♪ ♪
- Whew!
- Finally, Andrew looks like
he's getting ready to quench his blade.
- Nice. - So, here we go.
One more huge step
that could potentially blow this knife all apart.
The quench. [chuckles]
Ah, I'm so nervous, at this point.
- Andrew just quenched.
- Oh, my God. The file skates.
There's no cracks, there's no huge warp.
Something's gotta be off.
This is all going way too well.
[chuckles]
♪ ♪
- All right, bladesmiths. You have two hours left.
You're on the homestretch.
♪ ♪
Brandon is getting his handle fit up.
- It's really important that I nail my handle on this
because two people are gonna be eliminated.
And I've got to make sure that I don't get sent home
because my handle's not comfortable
or it doesn't fit the judges' hands properly.
- You know, at this kind of competition,
you can't be just the top two.
You got to be the number one.
- So I get to the point where it feels great,
but I keep looking at the clock and making sure
that I've got enough time to hopefully put my edge on there.
♪ ♪
- So because I did make the decision
to switch to a hidden tang,
I know that I have to be a lot more meticulous
with this brass guard and the fit of the wood.
It can't shake around and come apart.
I put the blade in it.
Ah.
It's just too wide.
♪ ♪
- Guys, Jesse is drilling new holes
in that block of brass he's using for his guard.
I think he's restarting.
- I'm kind of panicking, but I want to stay calm.
I don't want to screw up the second hole
and then have to do it a third time.
Hey!
I'm able to get a nice fit on it,
and I'm feeling good again.
♪ ♪
- I got the face of the blade cleaned up.
So far, it's feeling pretty good.
I got a warp right where the handle
meets the spine of the blade.
That's not good.
- Is he making a three-point straightening jig?
You're running a pretty big risk of snapping that blade.
- I don't have time to do this,
but I have to make time to do it.
It's so bad, it's gonna affect the way the blade cuts.
I just need to put it in the vise and straighten it out
and pray that it doesn't break when I do it.
- Panic time is coming.
- I'm freaking out at this point.
Whew! - Well, there you go.
- Warp's out.
I am ecstatic.
I've got about 45 minutes now.
I got a lot of work to do and very little time to do it
at this point.
♪ ♪
- I'm looking at my blade.
I've got it ground to where I want it.
And then, I start putting my edge on there.
One of the things that makes me and sets me apart
is I'm not afraid to go too thin on a blade.
- It's coming down to the wire,
and it's gonna be a pretty close competition.
- A lot of this might come down to edge,
you know, on these blades. - Yeah.
- I'm pretty confident that I'll be the one moving forward
and I'll be competing against Ben.
♪ ♪
- So I'm at the grinder shaving that handle.
It feels comfortable.
So I go back to my cutting edge
and trying to get this thing a razor at this point.
It's got to be sharp enough to cut through leather.
♪ ♪
- Ben, it's been nice to have you here,
but you're not allowed to come to the testing.
- No. - Your time's up.
- All right. You guys have fun.
- I'll see you at the reveal, brother.
- So long, Ben. Auf Wiedersehen.
Goodbye. Arrivederci.
- I'm pretty happy with the cutting edge.
I'm still a little worried about the height,
but at this point,
it kind of is what it is, but it's feeling good.
- All right, guys.
You only have ten minutes until your testing.
- I feel like I'm running out of time,
and I still don't have a handle glued to my knife,
I still don't have an edge on it.
I gotta get this done so I can go beat Ben in the final round.
- That handle just isn't to the scale for a blade that big.
It's a little bit on the smaller side.
- I grinded in some finger welds into the handl.
A lot of fingers are a little bit long,
but we'll let the epoxy dry while I work on the edge.
♪ ♪
- Five, four,
three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, turn off your machines,
put down your tools.
This round is over.
- Yeah, buddy.
So I'm looking at my knife, and I'm excited.
I'm feeling great about it.
Don't worry, Ben. I'll take it easy on you.
♪ ♪
- All right, gentlemen.
I think you know what time it is.
It's time for the strength test.
Test the overall construction of your blade.
- I'm gonna take them and smash them
into our rusty buckets here.
Sounds like fun, doesn't it? - So fun.
- All right, Andrew. You're up first.
You ready? - Give it hell.
Man, it looks tough.
You're literally chopping into a piece of metal.
That's essentially the same thing
that my knife is made out of.
So, hopefully, I've made the knife stronger
than this bucket is at this point.
♪ ♪
God. [laughter]
[blows raspberry]
- Glad you're wearing your brown pants?
- Oh, yeah. That was a good choice.
[laughter]
- All right, so Andrew, I'm gonna start back here.
Your finger welds makes this blade
a little bit hard to control.
It's not uncomfortable.
It's just hard to figure out what the best grip is.
- Okay.
- On your edge, it's still a sharp edge.
All in all, your blade held up well.
The grinds look great. It's a really nice shape.
I think it did very well.
Good job. - Thank you.
- All right, Jesse. You ready for this?
- Oh, yeah. - You sure?
[laughter]
- After seeing that go down, I'm just feeling crazy.
Going into my test,
I don't know what to expect.
There's always that chance that it might break.
♪ ♪
- It stayed together. - It stayed together.
- All right, Jessie.
Again, I'm gonna start back here on the handle.
How big are your hands?
[laughter]
That's almost 2 inches of material
that doesn't need to be there.
The saving grace is this contouring you put in here.
My fingers set in there pretty good.
The construction's nice-looking.
You've got some spots of glinting,
but no major deflection on the edge, which is great.
Well, it held up well. Good job.
- Thank you, David.
- Brandon, you're up. You ready?
- Break it, you buy it.
- No.
[laughter]
♪ ♪
- I did go with a finer edge
just so it would perform well
in the sharpness test,
so I'm hoping that my blade stays sharp.
♪ ♪
[laughter]
♪ ♪
[chuckles] Yeah.
- All right, Brandon, I really like the way this looks.
You have a very acute edge on this,
but you nailed your heat treat.
There's no damage.
I'm going to name this knife Bucket Splitter.
[laughter]
Excellent job. Well done.
- Thanks.
- Nice job. - Yeah.
♪ ♪
- All right, bladesmiths. This is the sharpness test.
The leather apron slice.
♪ ♪
Andrew, you're up first. You ready for this?
- Slice it up. - All right, let's do this.
- This is no ordinary leather apron.
I don't even know what kind of animal
this leather comes off of.
A Tyrannosaurus rex or something.
The thickest leather I've ever seen in my life.
Feeling really nervous now.
Heart's pounding. Sweating.
The anticipation is killing me.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- All right, Andrew, let's talk about your kukri here.
Your tip does puncture.
The edge here is sharp,
but you also have an obtuse grind.
And it does cut, but it also likes to hang up in there.
But overall, your kukri, it will cut.
- Thank you.
- All right, Jesse, your turn. So are you ready?
- Ready. - All right, let's do thi.
♪ ♪
- [inhales deeply]
♪ ♪
[clears throat] - All right, Jessie.
Let's talk about your weapon here.
During the test, it's lost a lot of its edges.
I can really play around with this
and move my finger around that, and it's not cutting that.
But it still did cut the apron.
So overall, it will cut. - Thank you, Doug.
- All right, Brandon. Are you ready?
- I'm ready. - Let's do this.
♪ ♪
All right, Brandon, let's talk about your weapon here.
Your edge is razor sharp.
Puncturing and cutting, it was smooth like butter.
Now, on the corner of this apron,
when I slashed through it, I can't really say
why it didn't cut; I was expecting it to.
It could be the weight, but it is a sharp edge.
I wouldn't run my hand through it.
It feels good in the hand, and it will cut.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
- Tight race, guys.
Well, bladesmiths, before we get into eliminations,
I want to say, it's been an absolute pleasure
watching you guys in a five-hour competitio,
taking rusty steel and turning them
into beautiful and functional blades.
You're all very talented smiths
and you all have what it takes to be here.
But I'm unfortunately gonna be sending two of you home.
The judges have talked it through,
and the first smith who's gonna be leaving The Forge is...
♪ ♪
Jessie, unfortunately your blade didn't make the cut.
And Doug's gonna tell you why.
- Jessie, that was a nice-looking blade,
but the choice of grind and edge that you put in there
took some damage in the strength test
and just underperformed in the sharpness test.
For those reasons, we're sending you home.
- Understood. - Well, Jesse,
you're a fierce competitor and you have what it takes
to fight in this Forge, but unfortunately,
your time in this competition has ended
and I have to ask you to please step off the Forge floor.
- Thank you, guys. That was a blast.
This was an incredibly tough challenge
because that time crunch is real.
Didn't get what I wanted to get done,
but I'm proud of what I did today,
and it didn't break.
♪ ♪
- All right, guys, now it is down to the two of you,
one of which is gonna be going forward
in this competition, head-to-head with Ben Abbott,
trying to beat the unbeaten.
The judges have made their final decision.
The man who's gonna be going against
our very own Ben Abbott, the undefeated...
♪ ♪
Brandon. Congratulations.
Now, Andrew, you're talented,
but unfortunately, your blade didn't make the cut.
And Dave's gonna tell you why.
- Andrew, I think you forged a beautiful kukri there,
but your choice of edge geometry and that handle shape
kinda hurt you in that sharpness test.
That's why we're letting you go.
- I understand. - Andrew, again,
thank you for coming out, thank you for fighting.
It was a pleasure watching you work, but unfortunately,
your time in this competition has ended.
I'm gonna have to ask you to please step off
the Forge floor. - Congratulations, brother.
Well deserved. - Thanks, man.
- It sucks losing,
but I'm happy with my performance.
I'm proud of the weapon I turned in.
I'm gonna put a new handle on my hammer and get back to work.
- Brandon, congratulations, man.
You are moving forward into the final round of this competition
where you're gonna choose what blade you're gonna be building
as well as what technique you're gonna be using
to build that blade.
You're going head-to-head against Ben Abbott.
He's undefeated, 4:0 right now.
How are you feeling? - I feel great.
- Yeah? You ready? - Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- All right, bud. Well, this is the last time
you're gonna see these two judges
because they are going into the final testing completely blind.
So if there's anything you want to say to 'em,
say it now.
- Be gentle. - "Be gentle."
They don't know what that word means.
- Going up against Ben,
he's clearly proven himself time and time again.
But he's never gone against me.
I'm gonna give him a run for his money.
- Well, Brandon, man, congratulations.
You just came off a huge win
against two formidable opponents,
which means you're still in contention for the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion and that check for $10,000.
But in order to take home the win,
you've got a lot of work ahead of you
because you're gonna have to go against an undefeated opponent
who has a lot of experience in this Forge.
And that guy is Ben Abbott.
- I've been preparing for this competition,
but Brandon seems to be a very talented smith.
When I was watching the first part of this competition,
I was impressed by his efforts.
Congratulations. - Thank you.
- This is weird. - [cackles]
- But, guys, I gotta tell you,
I am extremely excited for this competition.
And if you guys probably noticed,
the table is empty.
Dave and Doug, for fairness' sake,
are gonna be out of The Forge
for this entire forging process.
They're only gonna enter when it comes time to test.
And they will be doing so completely blind.
You guys will have eight hours to build a blade
from start to finish.
Brandon, you had the opportunity to choose
what blade and what technique you're both gonna use,
so you got a little bit of an upper hand here.
But Ben, you ready to find out what you're building?
- Yeah, let's do it.
- The weapon that Brandon chose
from the "Forged in Fire" vault is...
♪ ♪
the messer.
♪ ♪
- The messer traces its origins back
to 15th century Germany.
While these swords range in size,
they are distinguished by the intricate hilts and guards.
Back in season six of "Forged in Fire,"
two smiths were tasked to recreate
a massive version of this weapon,
where the competition ultimately went
to the lighter, better balanced blade.
- Now guys, this is a pretty intricate blade,
but make sure you fall within these parameters.
Your messer's blade needs to be between 22 and 24 inches.
The base width of that blade
cannot be any less than 2 inches.
You need to have a disconnected knuckle bow,
a rear-facing quillian, a small side guard,
and finish it all off with a pommel.
♪ ♪
Brandon, not only did you choose the weapon,
but you got the opportunity to choose the technique as wel.
Ben, you're gonna be building your blade using thi.
♪ ♪
Layered Damascus.
♪ ♪
- I picked layered Damascus, not picking a specific coun,
hoping Ben would get caught up
trying to do a lot of intricate patterns
because the hard part about this particular sword
is the handle.
So I'm hoping that is a trip-up for Ben.
- When the eight hours is complete
and your blades are finished,
the judges are gonna come back and put your blades
through some dynamic multi-target tests.
Doug's gonna start it off with a KEAL test on a pig carcass
and a vine slice for sharpness.
And Dave's gonna step in,
do a strength and durability check
on an armor and shield chop,
and then check your edge retention
in a medieval painting slice.
I'm excited to see how this all turns out.
So, good luck, bladesmiths.
You have eight hours to complete your messer swords.
And that time starts now.
♪ ♪
- The moment the clock started,
both these smiths sprinted to their steel,
grabbed it, and started the process.
You know they've already both got a plan
and they're running with it.
- Going up against Ben, being 4:0,
I really hope that I'm the one to beat him.
- Hey, Brandon, talk me through what you got.
How many layers did you start with?
- That's a great question. - [laughs]
- I think I've got 18 layers right now.
- So you've got 18 layers.
Do you have any concerns as of right now?
- I'm going up against Ben,
so I've got to really bring my A-game.
- All right, well, you've got 7 hours and 40 minutes
to complete it.
Go ahead. - Thanks.
- Ben is literally sprinting around The Forge.
He's going far faster
than any smith I've ever seen on this Forge floor.
- One thing I've learned in this competition
is every second is important.
- Look at the speed that Ben's working in.
I mean, he's just going for it.
- So, as soon as Grady tells me to go,
I'm up there, I'm grabbing steel.
- Talk to me, Ben.
Show me what you got and how you're gonna stack it.
- 19 layers in there. - Yeah.
- I'm gonna squeeze that down, draw it out,
cut it into five, restack it to 90.
- Okay. - Draw that out to 12 inches.
Cut it in half.
Put it on either side of this 80CrV2, yeah.
- So you're gonna have 181 layers.
- Yeah. - Oh, fantastic.
- I'm really putting all my eggs
in the basket of this Damascus
'cause it's going to take a long time.
But I think at the end of the day,
the pattern is gonna be gorgeous
and I'm gonna end up with a keen edge
that will hopefully not get damaged in the strength test.
There's a madness to my method.
♪ ♪
- So I've got my main billet forge-welded up.
And right now, I'm getting ready to cut it.
And I'm gonna stack it back on itself and draw it out
just to give it a little bit more complex of a pattern.
- Brandon's got a manageable-size billet,
but there is a chance he's gonna have to stretch it
to its limits just like he did in the first round.
Brandon is very meticulously tapping at it,
making sure he's using every single ounce.
- It's clearly a solid billet.
So now, I know I need to get this billet to a half-inch,
so I'm creating a kiss block for the press.
That allows me to make sure that my billet
is all the same thickness all the way down,
which is really important,
because making another stack of Damascus
is gonna eat up a lot of my time.
I feel pretty good at this point,
but I gotta keep up with Ben.
I've got to stay on my toes.
So you having fun yet?
- I'm having a blast, man. This is awesome.
I have never seen a bigger billet
getting weld-set on this Forge floor.
♪ ♪
- Holy cow.
- Ben's billet already started splitting open
right when he set his first weld.
- I start to panic.
It's so tall, I can't get the compression
that I need all the way through.
Instead of going to Blu at this point,
I have to go to the press.
- So it goes to show you, nobody's immune to problems.
It's just a matter of how you overcome that adversity,
how you keep pushing forward.
♪ ♪
- It feels like my billet is together now.
Yeah, it's good.
♪ ♪
- Got my tip roughly where I want it.
And then, I go over and create this subtle distal taper.
A lot of bladesmiths grind to it,
but I definitely want to set myself up
for less work later on at the grinder.
♪ ♪
- Ben and Brandon, you guys are halfway throug.
You have four hours left in this competition.
♪ ♪
- I've finally started working on a blade.
♪ ♪
The parameters are that at the base,
I'm 2 inches wide, but I want 2 1/4.
Because I want to make sure that grinding,
I don't get smaller than that,
I take it over to the anvil and cross-pean it
for a little extra width so that I have enough
that I can grind a little bit away and not have to worry.
I'm the undefeated "Forged in Fire" champion
with the most wins of anyone on this entire competition.
If I were to have missed parameters,
that would be really embarrassing.
♪ ♪
- Even though this is eight hours,
which may seem like a long time,
in order to get it done in that time,
you have to multitask.
So when I'm doing some thermal cycling,
I want to work on that guard.
Part of the reason that I chose this blade
was because of this guard
and the fact that so many parts of it covers the handl.
So you've got to be really methodical
about how you put this together
'cause you can get yourself in a trap.
Do a quick test fit, and it fits up the first tim.
And it's just this huge sense of relief.
♪ ♪
- Ben's the first one in the oil,
and I could see the terror in Brandon's eyes.
♪ ♪
- It looks great. I'm happy.
The next step is to get it into the temper oven.
We're in the middle of building this sword,
and I already feel close on time.
I really got to kick into higher gear.
♪ ♪
- Brandon's getting ready for his quench.
- We're at a point of no return.
If I break this blade, I could not finish this blad.
♪ ♪
I see a nice, straight blade,
and then it's into the tempering ove.
♪ ♪
- The pressure's on. The clock is ticking.
You guys have two hours remaining.
- I'm going for a relatively fine edge on this
because 80CrV2 can hold its shape pretty well.
♪ ♪
- Ben has been sitting at that grinder
for a long time now.
He's only got less than an hour and a half left on the clock.
I think Ben should really start spending
a little bit more time on his handle.
If not, this is gonna be a race to the finish.
On the other side of the Forge, Brandon is spending
a lot of time jumping from task to task.
I think it is a great element.
- I'm really nervous about fitting this handle up
because I know with the multiple components going on,
it's going to eat up a lot of my time.
I'm kind of struggling with the pin,
so I got to be careful here.
I could risk cracking my handle material.
- Brandon's running into what looks like
the first major hurdle.
He's having a hard time getting the pin
through both sides.
- I knew this handle was gonna be hard,
but not this hard.
- Honestly, now is the time to start getting scared.
He's running out of time.
♪ ♪
- I'm kind of struggling with the pin,
so I got to be careful here
because I could risk cracking my handle material.
♪ ♪
Luckily, hitting it with a hammer was enough
to drive it home where it needed to be,
but I still have to sharpen this thing too.
So now, I really need to move it up a gear
and get this thing done.
♪ ♪
- I've never made a guard like this before,
but I'm trying to do my steps
in a very period-correct way.
The way it was done in the period
is you make the guard all in one piece.
And then, you'd have the side guard that has a tang to it,
and you pean it over on the far side.
It's a difficult thing to do your first time in a rush.
♪ ♪
Is that damn thing on the [bleep] damn wrong side?
In my haste,
I had riveted it to the wrong side of the guard.
[screams]
I'm left with one option.
Cut that side guard off,
weld it back on the other side.
It's really annoying to me because
if I had just done that from the beginning,
I would have saved 20 minutes.
Classy.
Just like Stephen Hawking said,
"Time is a bitch."
♪ ♪
- Guys, you are down to only 30 minutes.
Keep working.
- Time is ticking away,
and if I turn in a dull blade, I'm going home.
- Brandon's getting that edge refined.
If it's gonna be anything
like that first blade we saw from him,
this thing is going to be a razor blade.
- I'm going for the same edge geometry
I went through in round one
because it chopped through a bucket like a lightsaber.
So I just want to work that as much as I can
with the few seconds I have left on the clock.
♪ ♪
- One of the things I know as a judge
is that the handle has to be comfortable.
But there are spots on this handle
I can't get to with the grinder
because the knuckle bow is there
or the side guard is there.
I'm panicking.
- Ben knows that he needs to clean this up.
The question is, does he have enough time to do it?
- In all the times that I've competed on this competition,
this one's been more difficult.
I think it's because I invested so much time upfront
working on the blade.
So, at this point,
the only thing I can think to do
is grab a hand file and work with a hand fil.
My heart is beating out of my chest.
I might not finish this thing.
- Five, four,
three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, turn off your machines, put down your tools.
This eight-hour competition is over.
- I'm really proud of the Damascus pattern,
but the fit and finish on there
is just not where I'd like it to be.
- Well, Dave, Doug, guys, welcome back.
I got to tell you, you just missed out on the coolest thing
I've ever seen in this Forge.
Eight straight hours where they had to build these messers,
and it came down to the last second.
All right, guys, you had a minute to look them ove.
Let's start with the red one.
What do you guys think about that?
- It's got a nice weight to it.
The balance is a little bit forward, but it's not bad.
- Now let's talk about gold.
- What I'm hesitant about is a lot of the setup
on this blade relies on welds.
And those welds, of course,
a failure point that might be built into the blade.
- You guys ready to put 'em to the test?
- Absolutely. - Looking forward to it.
- Well, let's do it and call the smiths in.
♪ ♪
All right, guys. We are finally here.
And there's a lot on the line.
Ben, if you take home the win,
you're continuing your winning streak
and going on with a record of 5:0.
Now, Brandon, if you take home the win,
you're leaving here with the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion and a check for $10,000.
In order for us to find out which one of your blades
is gonna come out on top,
we have to put them through a series of tests.
So I'm gonna give you to Doug for the first one.
♪ ♪
- Bladesmiths, this is the dynamic KEAL test.
To find out how lethal your weapons are,
I'm gonna your swords, cut through the vines,
and deliver some lethal blows on this pig carcass.
It's time to have fun.
♪ ♪
- Going into a vine slice,
if you have a dull blade, that's gonna bounce.
And then when you come to the pig,
you're cutting through bone,
which can cause chipping or rolling.
So I'm hoping that I have no snags.
♪ ♪
- All right, guys.
First up, the handle construction,
it's a little bit on the blocky side,
but it's comfortable.
Why? Because it's light.
Every cut, every one of them
was very deep on this pig carcass.
Overall, this eight-hour messer sword will KEAL.
♪ ♪
- I'm pretty confident that my sword is not gonna break,
but something might chip, something might roll.
Anything is possible.
I'm--I'm just nervous.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- So, right off the bat,
I really appreciate the flare on a heavier blade like this
because it does allow me to control it.
The weight of this cuts very deep.
It thrusts nicely and delivers all the way ou.
A blade like this, it will KEAL.
♪ ♪
- All right, gentlemen, a little bit of history.
In 1570, Joachim Meyer's treatise
on the use of the dussack was published,
the training manual for the messer.
So, we know that it was used by peasant soldiers
as well as nobility.
So to that end, our dynamic strength test.
Gentlemen, I'll be taking your messes
and attacking our armored warrior here.
After that, we'll see what kind of edge you have left
by slicing that painting.
You guys ready? Both: Oh, yeah.
- Okay.
♪ ♪
All right, so right off, it's taken a couple of rolls
that I can feel with the fingernail
and then a couple small, minor chips.
But for hitting armor, it's not so bad.
All in all, our gold anvil did a good job.
♪ ♪
All right, so as far as the edge goe,
nothing's come off and nothing's really rolled over.
So, all in all, I think the red anvil did a really nice job.
♪ ♪
- [clears throat]
Now, guys,
the judges had a very difficult decision to make.
And they came up with a final decision
that they both agreed upon.
The winner of this "Forged in Fire" competition is...
♪ ♪
Ben Abbott with the red anvil. - What?!
- Congratulations!
- [breathlessly] No way.
- Now, Brandon, you absolutely smoked this competition,
but unfortunately, your messer didn't make the cut today
and Dave Baker's gonna tell you why.
- Brandon, you did a great job on that messer.
It's fast and it's deadly.
This basically came down to damage and some design choices.
- Fair enough.
- I could honestly say you're one
of the most talented smiths I've ever laid my eyes on.
- Thank you.
- We appreciate all of your hard work in this competition,
but unfortunately, I'm gonna have to ask you
to please step off the Forge floor.
- Thank you for the time, guys. - Thank you. Good job, man.
- Awesome work. - Thanks, Ben.
- Today just wasn't my day, but I think I turned in
an absolute phenomenal blade
that stacked up against one of the best, Ben Abbott.
♪ ♪
- All right, Ben. You did it.
Your messer took home the win again.
You're now 5:0, man. Congratulations!
[applause]
- This was an extremely close competition.
Brandon is a hell of a competitor.
He made a really good messer sword.
And I was actually practicing
my happy-faced concession speech.
- You ready for more?
- Yep! Let's do it. [laughter]
Any bladesmiths who want to come in here
and challenge me in my own house,
I'm here. Ready for you.