Original subtitles

Since the dawn of human civilization, mankind has made weapons.

What began with sharpening sticks and pounding stones has evolved into a

complex skill requiring the taming of fire and steel.

Whoa! The secrets and traditions of weapon making have been kept alive by an

elite group of bladesmiths. Heat up, heat up, heat up! Who have honed and

perfected their skills over thousands of years.

Now, for the first time ever, these men will go head -to -head and put their

skills to the ultimate test.

Welcome to the forge.

It starts with a lump of raw steel and a ticking clock.

Damn near impossible to forge a blade in that time.

And by the end of two rounds, the bladesmiths must present a weapon

cutting, chopping, and slicing.

If the blades they create don't make a grade, they are eliminated.

Hot! The top two craftsmen then move on to the final challenge, where they must

create one of the most iconic weapons ever made by man. From the Japanese

to the Viking battle axe, each has its own unique history as told through the

forging process.

Cut my finger open. The contestants' weapons must be works of art as well as

deadly instruments of war, and they must survive a battery of explosive tests.

as well as the scrutiny of an expert panel of judges.

In the end, there can be only one, and he will take home $10 ,000 and be

a Forged in Fire champion.

My name is Joe Waits and I'm the head blade maker at one of the largest

distributors of swords in the world.

My name is Rich Greenwood. By day I work on swimming pools and at night I'm a

bladesmith. My name is Matthew Parkinson.

I've been a blacksmith for 15 years.

I'm Billy Hilton. I'm a self -taught blacksmith and bladesmith.

Welcome and congratulations on making it to the forge.

Getting our first glimpse into the forging area is amazing.

Everything's picture perfect.

Between you, the title of Forged in Fire champion, and a check for $10 ,000 are

three extremely difficult challenges designed to put your weapon -making

to the test.

After each round, you will give your work to the judges. They will decide who

stays and who goes. Two of you will advance to a final, where you will forge

of the greatest weapons ever made by mankind.

Now it's time to meet our judges.

First up...

Solo weapons making expert and internationally known master bladesmith,

Nielsen. Next, world -renowned swordsmith and rare weapons recreation

specialist, David Baker.

And finally, edged weapons specialist and martial artist, Doug Marcaida.

Time to get to work.

In front of you on your anvil is a cloth.

Go ahead and lift that up.

That is a bar of high -carbon steel.

From that lump of raw metal, you must design and forge a fully functioning

weapon. The blade itself should be in your own style.

You have ten minutes to work on your design and three hours to forge your

Normally, it takes me three days to make a knife.

I don't know how I'm going to pull it off. The blade must fall within the

following size parameters.

The length of the blade should be at least 9 inches, but not more than 11

inches. And just to spice things up a little bit, you must also include a

serrated edge into that blade.

The length of the serration should be at least 4 inches.

I've done some serrations in the past, but it's much more stressful in this

situation. After three hours, one of you will be asked to surrender your weapon

and go home.

Good luck, gentlemen. Your 10 -minute design window begins now.

I specialize in doing a lot of historical work.

I'm basing this knife on Continental Sax's German war knife.

Historical stuff always fascinates me because it's like being able to pull

idea of history into the modern age.

I specialize in practical everyday knives.

So my design is a drop point buoy. It's typically a camp knife just for everyday

chores. It'll chop a tree down and still be able to cut your apple when you're

ready for dinner.

My inspiration comes from Japanese blade making.

I'm going with the tanto blade because it fits the style of knife that I enjoy

making. Hunting, fighting style knives.

I grew up with a family of craftsmen and blue collar workers.

I think that just gave me the ability to not worry about getting my hands dirty.

My interest in swords began at an early age after seeing Conan the Barbarian.

It's one of the most iconic movies and has one of the most iconic swords.

I'm going to make a buoy. It's a classic design, clip point. It'll stab right

through whatever they test.

If some great character like Conan had it, I think he would feel comfortable

cutting a giant snake's head off with it.

Bladesmiths, your 10 -minute design window is closed. You may start forging

blade now.

Clock starts. I toss my bar in the forge. As soon as the bar is hot, I

bar down a little bit.

The actual definition of forging is when you use the plastic state of metal to

deform it. Using blows from a hammer or pressure from a press made it to be

where I want it and need it to be for whatever shape I'm trying to make.

So you ever cook your beard?

A couple times. It never gets longer than this because I'm always burning it

back. I try not to shave because I look like a perverted Boy Scout.

My strategy for this competition is to simply get her done.

I'm forging right now.

Trying to get a little bit of swag in it, trying to make it look a little bit

pretty. What I'm going to do with this prize money when I win is I want to

a bigger shop. My wife does engraving. I do knife making. We're combining the

two into one comfy shop.

Oh, yeah.

Joe's chugging right along.

My main goal in this competition is to crush my enemies, to see them driven

before me, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

Everything's going according to plan, which is slow and easy. Just being very

meticulous. He may be the kind of guy that he figures he's got three hours, he

could do a work of art. Three hours.

We'll see what happens.

Coming behind you with a hot piece of steel.

During my career, I've made over 6 ,000 blades, and I do not believe that

anybody else can even approach that number in this competition.

It seems that Joe's doing some thermocycling. He's brought it up. He's

cool a couple of times now.

He's still got that forge going full forward. You don't want to keep

that tip.

What happens if you burn the steel? It's going to weaken the structure of the

steel.

I'm watching everybody bang on their steel and forge, and mine's still

up. I'm thinking I may have chosen just a little too large a blade.

Yeah, I'm really kind of worried about Rich.

I'm starting to fall behind.

Am I the only one that's sweating or what? Gentlemen, you have 90 minutes

remaining.

I've got the forging process done. I'm heading to the grinders. He's putting on

his bandolier belt.

I start getting my geometry correct on my blade to make sure everything's

perpendicular in line.

This is what you call getting up close and personal. Getting your spark on.

Look at those sparks coming off of it.

It's getting hot up in here tonight.

Matt definitely jumped ahead. He's already got a tip worked out on that

I got it.

A good amount of time left. I'm basically there. It's all finished work

My grandfather was a welder, and his love of metalworking kind of influenced

as a child.

I actually named my son after him. I'm going to win this for my son. I'm going

to win this for my grandfather.

He wins this down to, like, almost touchable. I quench it in water just so

handle it and start filing the serrations in.

Matt just went in for a quench.

Oh, he's got some heat on there, yeah.

I'm still trying to figure out what Rich is trying to do. I don't think Rich is

comfortable with this tape.

Proving a little more difficult than I thought it'd be.

I'm looking around and I'm seeing progress that the other contestants are

making. How's it going?

Pretty close to done.

It's kind of making me panic.

And I've got a blade on the floor. Very concerned.

The more tired and frustrated you get, the more drops you wind up with.

It's like trying to pick up a dime without fingernails.

I'm just falling behind and it's looking like I'm just not going to be able to

get this done.

I think I may have bit off more than I could chew.

Part of the requirement was it had to be at least four inches of serration. So I

drew in the serrations a four and a half inch section just to make sure I had a

little extra on that, not just four.

Exactly. Doug, what difference does a serrated edge make to combat?

You don't have time to keep sharpening your blade. Having that option gives you

the function to cut without having to constantly keep your blade sharp.

I hate serrations.

One hour, gentlemen.

You have one hour remaining.

Holy crap.

Right now, it's starting to feel alive. The blade's starting to move like it

should. For a fighting knife, it's got to move. And it's really starting.

What's happening? Oh, no.

Uh -oh. Oh, no.

Ah, come on.

He just broke the blade.

He just lost an inch off the tip of his blade. Joe's blade broke.

Just when you think you're done, always something else pops up.

I think I overshot my temperature a little bit, overhardened the tip of my

blade, and it broke off.

I'm hoping he makes the length. I'm hoping that he dropped below.

Nine to 11 inches, and maybe an inch and a half of that thing came off. I'm

coming in short, so it is over.

I believe I've just lost the entire thing.

He's walking.

Can't quit.

Don't quit.

Hey, Joe. Yeah.

You can still finish that blade. You can just grind it down. It might be able to

make it into the final challenge.

Go for it, man. Just do what you can with the time you have left. Don't walk

on it. You've worked too hard.

He made a point.

I wouldn't have the elegant look I was going for, but I could have a reformed

tip on the grinder. He could still pull it off. As long as he's still got nine

inches of blade there, he's good to go.

Look at the difference in Richard's blade.

Winning this competition is very important to me. I would like to expand

and make it larger and easier to work in.

He can pull this off. With a beard like that, all things are possible. Yeah.

30 minutes. You have 30 minutes remaining.

So it looks like Joe has ground a tip back into that blade. Yeah, and it took

about a total of six, seven minutes.

I think I was able to recover. I not only have a reformed tip, but I still

a blade that's lengthy enough, and I may actually be able to move forward.

It's how you react to collision.

I don't know how you react. I usually throw the blade across the room. Yeah,

if it doesn't break again, then it's okay.

The serrated edge part is throwing me out of whack.

I didn't get my serrated edges deep enough, and I washed them out in the

grinding process.

I'm trying to tweak it the best I can with the minutes that I have left.

Every dog has its day, and this ain't mine.

30 seconds!

30 seconds remaining!

Right now we can all take a breath. Yeah.

At this point, I don't know if my blade is good enough to continue in the

competition, but I've already been through the worst -case scenario.

Nothing worse than what has already happened to me can happen to me at this

point. It can happen again, but that can only be as bad as what's already

happened.

Your challenge was to forge a 9 - to 11 -inch blade out of a bar of high -carbon

steel. The blade must have at least 4 inches of serrations.

Now it's time for the judges to take a look at your work.

Joe, please present your weapon to the judges.

Good job on sucking it up and reworking it.

But the obvious question is the tip issue you had.

You lost about an inch of that tip.

How do you feel about the rework that you did?

I'm not necessarily pleased with the way the tip structure is now versus the way

it was initially.

I think it's functional.

When that tip came off and you decided to finish what you started, it's even

more telling of what a master bladesmith does.

You adapted, you improvised, and you overcame.

It's still a functional weapon.

But it's the best weapon that remains to be seen.

But thank you for not giving up. Thank you.

Rich, you're up next.

Oh, it's, uh... Definitely a beefy blade, and it's definitely got the scare

factor. I'm curious to see how well it'll perform.

As you were grinding away and we're going, he's got nothing, he's got no

serrations. A minute later, you're like, which actually is kind of a neat look.

Matt, it's your turn.

Well, I really love what you did with the serration.

You took a lot of time just laying that in nice and flowing, so it's got a

really clean look.

You did stretch it out quite a bit, and your tip is a lot more tapered than your

original drawing.

How do you think that's going to hold up?

I think this will be all right. I leave myself just a little bit short on

material, and I wanted to make sure I had the length.

It's always a fine line. It's a very fine line.

Billy, you're last up.

I like the overall design of the knife.

It's a good point, good profile.

You also got hung up on the serrations.

Actually, what I did was on the grinder, I dug in too deep on one side, and I

had to work on that.

Okay. I like the design.

Did you measure the length of this serration?

I did.

Four and an eighth is what I came up with.

Thank you.

Obviously, the judges have much to discuss.

They'll need some time to make their decision.

Thank you.

Bam.

That was rough.

We have a lot to discuss.

I put a top of finger off in there or something.

Let's start with Matt's blade.

I mean, he seemed like he knew what he was doing. He gave us a clean blade.

It's a little thin on the tip to thrust.

And it's nicely done for a hand to work on a three -hour job.

Let's take a look at Richard's zombie killer.

You know, if he had designed this and said, I'm going to make the most badass,

post -apocalyptic zombie -killing machine I ever could, I mean, he's

right there.

But it wasn't what he was shooting for. He was shooting for more of a classic

Tonto with a large blade and a long handle.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In terms of calling it crude, once again,

it's heat of function.

Worst -case scenario, you can...

beat somebody to death with it.

Let's look at Joe's blade.

He broke a tip off and he reground.

He gets credit for that.

But we've got multiple fractures up in the tip. I'm counting two,

three, four, five.

We've already seen that tip break once.

So we know how brittle this tip is. Let's go ahead and measure Joe's blade.

The overall length of the blade is...

Just shy of nine and a half inches.

And the length of his serrations, yeah, by an eighth of an inch. He's under.

That is unfortunate.

Let's take a look at Billy's blade.

Well, again, I like Billy's overall profile.

Can we get a measurement? So on the serrations we have, wow.

Oh, he's way shorter. Three -eighths under. He's almost a half an inch under.

got more cracks, too.

There's one, two, three big cracks.

So we've got two guys who didn't meet the specs for the length of serration,

we can only remove one of them this round. So it all comes down to quality.

Have we made our decision?

Yeah. Yes, we have.

Yeah. We're all in agreement.

I think so. Okay.

Let's go tell our bladesmiths.

I'm freaking out. I have a big possible mistake.

I may be going home today.

I know my blade's not up to par. My only hope at this point is somebody made a

worse blade than I did.

Gentlemen, the judges have made their decision.

All of your blades made the size parameters for this challenge.

However, two of your blades did not meet the required length.

of serration.

Rich, Matt, you're safe.

Well done.

Billy, Joe, one of you will be going home.

The judges have made their decision.

Joe, you did not make the cut.

Joe, we had a few different issues to work with.

You were an eighth of an inch short on those serrations.

And actually, if you had had one more serration, you'd have made the

we asked for.

Also, when we saw that tip break, we also saw the grain structure, which was

very coarse from overheating in the forage.

And we saw the lines from stress fractures up on the blade.

I don't think that tip would hold up.

Joe, please surrender your weapon.

I overheated my steel, and there's no excuses for that.

Right now, I wish I'd have been a bit more cautious with my temperatures. I

well with the forging. I did well with design, I believe.

It's just what should have been my strengths I allowed to become my

Gentlemen, you've made it through to round two.

Your second challenge is to turn your blades into fully functioning weapons.

There are three hours on the clock.

You must design and fabricate a handle from the materials provided for you.

You can use that time to do any further work on your blade if you feel the need.

When the time runs out, your blades will be tested for strength and durability

and also their ability to hold an edge in a specially designed sharpness test.

Only two of you will move forward to the final.

Your time starts now.

I run over the handle materials and I start looking for something that's hefty

enough for a knife this size. Antler or bones, something that I can use the

natural material as the finish.

Because if I have to start polishing out a handle, I'm never going to make the

time. God, that is an awful sound.

Antler is really strong, but the pith where the blood flows through it is very

weak and you just need to remove all of it. I think this deer had a calcium

deficiency.

So I drill out as much as I possibly can and then I fit that handle through the

tang. I have a hidden tang knife. This is the classic system of how swords were

assembled all the way through medieval era.

That's a bad deal right there.

I chose to go with the might part of the handle material, and it looks a little

bit sexy, if I don't say.

Bam! Now I need to think about how I'm going to attach my handle to the knife.

can use bolts, and I can drill appropriate -sized holes for these to

and Dennis don't say that in my mouth.

and to actually screw together and put complete tension on the knife handle

itself.

Now I'm cleaning up all the epoxy that smushed out whenever I glued the handle

on. What I'd like to see is

Billy work on a blade that's got a crack on it. Those flaws in his blade are

fixable, but he's wasting time.

It's almost like Billy worked on his handle as a distraction.

You know, I don't know exactly what to do about this crack, but in the

I'm going to make a handle.

We're only a half hour into this. I'm killing you already.

This is going to be the most beautiful handle ever created with the shortest

squared off broken blade.

I took a risk in the first round. I was overambitious.

So in this round, I'm playing it safe. I'm going with a fiberglass handle

material that I know.

On my handle, I used seven pins in order to get a good adhesion to the blade.

You lose your handles on your knife, the knife doesn't function, and you're

done. A lot of pins.

Three more pins, we could go bowling.

Uh -oh.

Uh -oh. That didn't work very well. That was Matt with the rotary tool.

My weakest part is to finish.

It just takes me a long time.

So now I'm starting to panic a little bit.

Sorry. Go, go. I'm trying to rush too much, and I'm going to break what I'm

doing. I need to stop panicking.

Oh, come on.

Sometimes bad stuff just happens at night.

All right, Matt. I hate these belts. The clock's really starting to get to Matt.

I kind of put myself behind.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to put this together.

You have one hour remaining.

Put your respirators on.

I'm rattling away because I was concentrating on the handle so bad. I

had time to work on the blade.

All right, here's the money shot where I stab myself.

I'm glad to see that he did a bunch of blade work on that, did clean it up. How

are you, man?

You know what? I'm hanging in there. How about you?

I think I'm doing well. We'll find out in a little bit. Looking sweet, brother.

21 minutes left on the clock, and they're chit -chatting. I'm going to do

sanding and try to get some of the rough grinds out of the blade. I think he's

finally on that blade.

I think we need to watch Billy very closely for the next few minutes because

what he does here, it's going to be critical.

I'm hoping he doesn't crack it off right there in the light.

They think they can get me a Band -Aid.

In the knife shop, you're always getting cut. The best thing is a little Band

-Aid. Put it on there, blow on it, hold it, and you're ready to go again.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three,

two. One.

Time's up, gentlemen. Time's up.

I've done all I can with the blade. The handle looks really good. Going to see

what they say.

You've all made some handsome blades, but can they cut it in the testing

Time to find out.

Jay will be testing your blade's strength and durability against these

drums, followed by a sharpness test against these ropes.

Fellow bladesmith, I'm going to take each of your blades, and I'm going to

three attempts to pierce the steel up to your serrations.

Rich, you're going to be first.

We do have a few

issues. With the edge, there's a small crack up here towards the tip, and we've

got a flake down towards the bottom.

That's a devastating blow. I have no idea if I'm going to get through that

sharpness test with chips in the blade.

That's a thick -ass rope.

We're going to do three cuts on each rope.

I'm ready.

With every slice, I'm just hoping it's going to make it through that rope. And

if not, that could be the end.

Had I given it more thought, I probably would have changed the geometry of the

blade to make it cut that rope easier.

Totally different blade, Matt. Are you ready?

Got to break it.

You are kidding me.

I rode that thinness down to the point where I thought it was just going to go

right through. It just went in like a half an inch. I'm shocked.

A thin blade should go through with less pressure. I don't understand why it

didn't go through. So close.

Billy, I think you've known from challenge one.

We've had a bit of an issue with this blade.

A big issue.

We've got three stress factors at the serrations.

For safety reasons, I really don't feel comfortable thrusting this into a steel

drum.

He's not going to do the thrust test.

What the same heck am I going to do?

Though you did give us a finished and sharp knife, so I would like still to

The sharpness test.

I'm really thrilled that Jay's going to do the cutting part of the competition.

I really want to see how my blade cuts through that rope.

Oh, Billy, it did pretty well on the rope.

Got almost all the way through.

It performed well. Thank you.

Even though the flaws are in my blade, my knife did really well on the cutting

competition. Who knows? I may still have a chance at this.

Gentlemen, the judges have made their decision.

Billy, you didn't make the cut.

We all loved your handle and you put a lot of time in detailing a blade that

some real problems to it.

We all just kind of wish you had addressed those fractures and given your

at least a chance to be put through the puncture test.

So, unfortunately, you have to go.

Billy, please surrender your weapon.

I feel a little disappointed that I didn't get to move on to the next part

this competition.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Appreciate it.

Do I wish I could have won this thing?

Absolutely.

Rich. Matt, you've made it to the Forged in Fire final.

So far, we've asked you to design and produce a weapon of your own choosing.

To claim the Forged in Fire crown, you must design and forge our mystery

one of the most famous and revered weapons from history.

The Japanese Katana.

The Katana is the traditional weapon of the samurai, the noble class of warriors

of feudal Japan since around 800 AD.

The katana was formed from hundreds of thin layers of the purest steel

available. The quicker draw of the sword was well -suited to combat, where life

versus death depended on the weapon you carried in the battle.

Over the centuries, the katana has taken on many mythical properties in legend

and culture, from an ability to slice through a sword to splitting a hair. And

it is the sword of choice for characters in mega -hits like Kill Bill and The

Walking Dead.

You must create an authentic, fully functioning version of that weapon.

Got mad respect to the guys who make those things. A katana is so just not my

thing. The challenge of making a katana leveled the playing field a little bit

because it was more in my style.

You have five days to complete this challenge.

And just to give you the best possible chance, we're sending you back to your

home forges for the final round.

After the five days, you will come back and present your sword to the judges.

They will put it through a series of high -impact, high -velocity tests.

Once those tests are completed, they will decide who will be crowned the

in Fire champion and walk away with a check for $10 ,000.

Good luck, gentlemen. We'll see you in five days.

I'm absolutely amazed that I made it this far. At every stage of the

competition, I thought, this is it. I'm going home with five days. I think I can

actually prove my worth.

The next five days for me are going to be a little more stressful than for

I've got no power hammers, no presses.

Everything is by hand.

Competition was hard, but I did a good job, and I went through, and I'd like to

win 10 grand now. That'd be nice.

I'm going to go for a full hardened blade. So strong and so fine -grained,

should outperform anything else that anybody can put on the table.

My goal is to get the blade to where I can quench it.

So what I'm doing here is I'm breaking all the sharp edges, because you got any

sharp edges, you got a lot better chance of cracking something.

During the quenching process, what will happen is the molecules in the edge of

the blade will tighten up and I'll get a curve to the blade. And that's very

important to the process in that particular sword.

This is where it all happens.

It'll kill me or it'll make me.

Here we go.

About four seconds into the quench, I heard a loud tick.

I knew that was it. It was all over.

Several cracks along the tip.

I just got the blade way too hot before I quenched it. And when you've got too

hot a blade and you throw it in cooler water, tends to crack.

I'm not going to say all is lost just yet.

With only having two days, it's going to be tough.

I'm going to get to work.

That's ready for heat treating.

I'm going to slide my blade down there about 600 degrees.

I'm just going to bring it up and let it cool.

I'm doing this for my son. I'm doing this so that he can be proud of me.

What that he's doing? Setting the stone right now.

I like this sword a lot.

Still a little apprehensive about what the judges are going to be looking for.

I'm just going to cut a couple of water balls to make sure the geometry is good.

That was a successful test cut.

This is a really good sword.

I got one day to go, so I'm going to buck my ass and I'm going to try and get

something made that I'm proud of. This is my final shot to stay in the

competition. This blade doesn't survive.

I'm out.

Getting ready.

I'm clenching now.

Gentlemen, I hope that your time at home was productive and inspired.

Matt, can you tell us a little bit about the process?

I decided to go for a performance blade, so I did a pretty good heat treat on

it, and then I did leather risers and a leather wrap over the top. It's a fairly

traditional European design, but I have seen similar wraps on katana.

It's not the fanciest sword I've ever made, but I'm very proud of this sword.

Rich, what was your thinking behind the design of this one?

I went with a modern style full tang handle, which is not traditional in a

katana. I actually had a little bit of a problem about three days in and had to

make an entirely new blade. So I was backed off by about a day.

With that said, in the end, it all came out all right. Great.

To measure how your blades stand up against flesh.

Doug will cut through these fish that are suspended in a multiple target

engagement pattern.

Make it sushi.

Rich, yours is up.

Split to the test.

It will cut.

Yes, it will.

It felt good in a slice.

Good. But the recovery was a little heavier, but it still felt like it'll

me a close shave.

Good job.

Okay, Matt, you're up next. Are you ready? Yep.

It doesn't cut.

And I'm a little confused by that. I don't know why it didn't cut.

It's got a very good feel to it. It's very light.

It's got a very nice balance to it.

And... It'll cut.

Now for the kill test.

In this, we have a ballistics dummy that... pretty much simulates the human

form, organs, and tissues.

The katana traditionally has a razor -sharp edge.

That allows me to find the gaps in between the armor. I'm going to try that

your blade, see how well it does.

Rich, you're up first.

Let's take a look at the damage.

The thrust and the slice went all the way into the internal organs in here.

And the kill shot went deep all the way into the liver.

I think on the kill test, this will kill.

Okay, Matt, you're up.

Definitely through the laceration, he's disemboweled here.

A nice, big puncture in here. That definitely will get the liver.

I think it's past the kill test.

Thank you.

You've both obviously brought deadly implements of war here.

But now, it's time to lock and load, gentlemen.

Because for the strength test, we're leaving the forge.

We're heading to the gun range.

What?

All right, gentlemen.

This is the final test for the Forged in Fire Championship.

It's the strength test.

Your weapons will be tested on their ability to split a bullet.

Your swords are going to be locked into a vice.

Then we're going to fire a bullet at your blade.

Don't bring a sword to a gunfight.

All I can think of in my head is you're about to destroy two beautiful swords.

All right, Matt, you ready?

Park it.

Three, two, one, engage.

Oh, yeah!

Yeah!

The gun fires, and it breaks the bullet in three pieces.

I don't even think the sword moved.

It just... Well, Matt, your sword split a bullet.

There's no damage on the edge at all.

Held up extremely well. That is a real true sign of your craftsmanship.

Thank you. Very well done.

All right, Rich, you're up next.

When I look at him set the gun up and get ready to shoot that blade, there's a

little bit of doubt in the back of my mind thinking it may not survive this.

Three, two, one, engage.

Oh, yeah!

Great.

I like it. That blade didn't even move.

With the bullet, I couldn't have been happier. My blade held up against Matt

every way, shape, or form.

There's no mark on the blade at all. Held up perfectly.

No chipping.

Everything looks great.

Thank you.

Congratulations, gentlemen. You should be proud of the work that you've done,

which only makes the judge's decision that much harder.

We'll see you back at the forge.

Thank you. Both of us passed everything.

Our stories performed like they're supposed to, and it's up to the judges.

I think the judges have a very tough decision to make.

Matt, Rich.

In just five days, you have both forged elegant and lethal Japanese katanas.

But in this competition, there can only be one winner of $10 ,000.

Jay? Well, Matt, your sword blade performed beautifully.

Split the bullet into three pieces.

I mean, it was still even sharp where the bullet hit it. That was a great job.

The concern I had, though, is with the samurai armor, it did not pierce nearly

as much as I thought it would. I think there's a little bit of drag in the

blade, which concerns me towards the tip there.

Comments for Rich?

Rich, on the fish cut, it did quite well. It is top -heavy, so it'll slice

through, but then I had to pull back for recovery and had to use my other hand,

but I needed it for recovery also.

The creativity of your handle set -up was really nice, but I have some issues

with the construction. It tends to be a little too close to the edge. That's

something that concerns me.

Unfortunately, in this competition, there can only be one winner.

Matt, you are the Forged to Fire champion.

Congratulations.

Good job, man.

Rich, you did not make the cut. I wish you had done a little bit more finish

work. You let the handle get a little bit skinny, and it was almost the same

proportions on each side, so I know you ran into a time constraint, but it did

split a bullet, and truly something to be proud of. I feel a little

disappointed, but...

The better bladesmith wants.

Well, Matt, congratulations.

You are the Forged in Fire champion.

You're going to claim a $10 ,000 check. How do you feel? This is awesome.

Your blade is beautiful. Not only is it beautiful, but it's fast. It cuts so

cleanly through the fish and on the ballistic dummies that just disemboweled

for the field test. Great job.

Blade aside, I was really impressed with your handle setup.

Symmetrically, it was correct. We get good control, good grip on it. Very

done. This is such a rush. I want to drive home and kiss my son.

I'm the Forged in Fire champion.