All language subtitles for Forged.in.Fire.S09E26.720p.WEB.h264-KOGi_Legendas01.ENG

[dramatic music]

- Here in The Forge,
we are always raising the bar,

but now we are putting it
at an all-time high.

Everything in this
competition--

from the steel, the blades,
even the tests--

will be some of the biggest
we have ever seen

on The Forge floor.

- I've never built anything
this big.

- Who will rise to
this massive challenge

and take home $10,000?

This is "Forged in Fire:
Supersized."

[intense rock music]

- My name is Robert Lallier.
I'm 41 years old.

I'm from Camden, New York,
and I'm a full-time bladesmith.

I am a competitive person.

I coach football, and I always
tell my boys on the field

it's never fun to lose.

We don't hand out trophies
for second place.

♪ ♪

- My name is Ian Zimmerman.
I'm 19 years old,

and I'm from the small rural
town of Bedford, Pennsylvania.

Probably what got me started
making blades

was just my dad
being a carpenter.

We made a lot of wooden blades.

And I looked at him and I said,

"Wouldn't it be cool
if this with metal?"

And he was like, "Let's do it."
[chuckles]

- My name is Jason Knox,
I'm 43 years old,

and I've been blacksmithing
for about five years.

I really dislike
going to get my hair cut,

and I find that
the back of my neck

is much cooler
when I wear pigtails.

So if I'm expecting to be
in a hot environment,

it's pigtails.

♪ ♪

- My name is Austin Frakes.
I'm 37 years old,

from a little town right
outside of Houston, Texas.

I'm a Sergeant with
the local police department.

Over my professional career,

I've seen a lot of
the ugly side of life.

And a few years ago
I picked up bladesmithing

after watching
"Forged in Fire."

I like to make
beautiful knives.

- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the fourth

in a series of competitions
we are calling

"Forged in Fire: Supersized,"

because everything from
the tests, the challenges,

and the weapons
will be more outrageous

and more difficult
than anything we've done

in this Forge before.

Now, there will be three rounds
of this competition.

At the end of each one,
you will present your work

to our panel of expert judges

and they will critique,
make eliminations,

ultimately ending with
one of you leaving here with

the title of
"Forged in Fire" champion,

and a check for $10,000.

Now, to kick things off, guys,
let's go ahead and talk about

what's on those anvils
under that cloth.

Go ahead and remove 'em for me.

[tense music]

Gentlemen,
what you're holding there

is a massive amount
of W1 steel.

To be exact,
it's 12 pounds of W1.

And that's because today,
we're not asking you to make

your signature blade
in your signature style.

Today, with that W1, guys,
we want you to build this.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

This is the hog splitter,

and it is by far the largest
and heaviest first round blade

we have ever asked smiths
to make in this Forge.

The blade length needs to be
between 22 and 24 inches.

This blade needs to have
a width of at least

four inches long.

Now, it's not a parameter,
guys,

but we recommend that
this is around 8 pounds

when you get finished with it.

- OK, a hog splitter.

And it's not just
a hog splitter,

it's a giant hog splitter.

These lightweight arms
are gonna get a workout

just trying to lift it.

- Now, guys, for the three
of you who are fortunate enough

to join us in the second
round of competition,

you will add handles
to your hog splitters,

turning them into
fully functioning blades.

At which point, again,
the judges will take over

and test for strength and
durability in a bone chop.

And then they'll check
your edge retention

in a pork slice.

We have put three hours
on the clock

for this first round of
the supersized competition,

so good luck and stay sharp.
Your time starts now.

Holy smokes, guys!

I know this is a supersized
competition,

but this one tops the charts.

What makes this challenge
so difficult?

- Well, the biggest part about
this challenge is fullering.

You want to get the width.

This blade is 4 inches wide,
at least,

and it's 22 inches long.

So if you just smash this
two-inch round flat,

you're gonna get something
that's like, three inches wide.

And then you're gonna draw it
for all extra length

that you don't need.

♪ ♪

- This is a lot of steel
to move

in a very short period of time.

Do you want to swap ours out
for the big fullering dies?

- Yeah, I think we should.

- My main concern with
a piece of steel that large s

if I don't heat it up enough,

I'm just gonna work in
stress fractures like crazy.

- Austin, using that first
heat to one draw it out of t

and then go parallel to
those dies and fuller it out.

- What he's done is he's
created two flat surfaces.

Now he can start
fullering that out.

Good idea.

♪ ♪

- I've never built
anything this big.

Right away, I'm trying
to draw it out to length.

I'm terrified to not
meet that standard

of a 22 to 24-inch edge.

- Length is easy.

Getting width out of a blade
is where it takes more effort.

- Yeah, the biggest problem

is if you draw
that length out first

you could draw it
to the point where

you don't have enough material

to fuller it into
what you want it to be.

- As soon as I get my bar

to the maximum blade length
requirement,

right away I'm like, I need
to start getting this thing

widened out a little bit.

- All right.

I've gotta move
this piece of steel,

so I'm just squishing
the living hell out of i,

getting it out to length.

- Oh, yeah,
Robert's got to swap up

and start fullering his.
- Oh, yeah.

- And then,
once it's out to length,

then I want to work on
getting it wider,

meeting the parameters.

- My plan is to draw out
a length

for both the edge and the tang.

- Jason's going pretty
aggressive on the press here.

And it's not only
getting very long,

but things are getting
a little bit mangled.

- The work is really
turning into a banana shape.

I'd like to keep the blade
as flat as possible.

That's almost
always impossible

when making
an extremely long piece.

It will be a big challenge

to finish this
and make it straight.

Starting to get tired.

- Bladesmiths,
one hour has elapsed!

- Imagine these smiths
coming in here thinking

they're gonna make
a competition knife,

and then they go,
"Wait a minute.

That's just like
a final weapon!"

Look how big that thing is.

- As this thing gets longer,
what rapidly becomes an issue

is just fitting it
into the forge.

It's hanging out both ends.
It's wanting to slide out.

It's just a huge,
heavy piece of metal.

But it doesn't require a whole
lot of fancy shaping.

It's one big rectangle
that I'm just trying to

push in the right direction.

Ooh, get it!

- I know that
I have the length,

but I'm still struggling trying
to get the width that I need.

OK.

I need at least another inch.

I know for a fact

that if I don't make
four inches, I'm going home.

- Something to keep in mind is,

this is a tool, not a weapon.
It's supposed to be heavy.

And if you run out of width
and you have to gain width

by just making things
thinner and thinner,

you're gonna end up with
something that's actually

too light for our tests.

- This thing is
kicking my butt.

But as I continue to work it,

I really start to see it
widen out.

Sweet.

And, boom, four inches.
I've hit the parameters.

I know that
I at least have a shot.

- Robert's blade's looking like
a meandering river right now.

We've got some sections
that are clearly four inches,

others that are far from it.

- To get this as wide as I cn
to make that four inches,

it's a delicate balance
I have to keep

of not hitting the steel
too much on one side

and not enough on the other.

But you don't want
to thin it up so much

that it's a worthless
paperweight.

- OK, Robert is getting
some width,

but not the width he needs.

- If I don't get it to
four inches, I know I'm done.

So just keep hammering.

[hammer pounding]

♪ ♪

- This is pretty rough.

- Well, it looks like Jason
needs to cool off a little bit.

- [groans]

It is quite heavy
to have something

three feet away from my body
that is that massive.

The straightness
of my blade is very bad.

I'm not sure
how I'm gonna correct it.

It's just a reality
of the situation.

♪ ♪

- Guys, look at Austin's blade.
- Yeah, man.

He's got the length,
got close to the width.

- Getting the shape
that I desire

is taking a lot longer
than I had planned for.

As soon as I get that,

I immediately begin
checking for parameters

to make sure
I haven't overblown anything

or gone way under.

OK, that'll work.

- Right now, Austin seems to be

sitting prettier
than everybody else.

- I wanted to compete in
"Forged in Fire"

because I always push
to do more, to do better.

And I wanted to show my kids,
especially,

that when there
is a challenge,

when something's gonna
make you uncomfortable,

go for it.

♪ ♪

- I'm actually
a student athlete.

I pride myself on being
a good distance runner.

And the stamina
that comes along with

being a distance athlete
absolutely helps,

'cause we train to overcome
that fatigue.

- Ian's done a good job
of getting that width.

Now it's just a question
of how thin is this blade

actually gonna be
when he turns it in?

- Both this and running
require so much stamina.

And you really
wouldn't think it,

but it kicks your butt.

- Bladesmiths, you've got
60 minutes remaining!

- As I'm working
this hog splitter,

I start sweating profusely.

And my arms are
really feeling heavy.

Oh, my goodness.

- Can we get someone
to look at Jason?

I'm nervous.
He's really, really...

starting to look unhealthy.

[dramatic music]

- I think it's safe to say
this is by far

the hardest weapon we have
ever asked smiths to make

in the first round
of competition

and I'd say it's showing.

- You OK?

- I'm--I'm getting
a little exhausted.

- Oh, no.

- Looks like the medic
just took Jason off.

- This is an especially taxing
competition, heat-wise.

Not only are they standing
in front of the forges

like all smiths are
in this competition,

but this is
a 4-inch by 22-inch billet

that is screaming hot.

- I feel like I'm making
progress as I go.

I mean, honestly,
it's a big piece of flat steel

is all this thing is.

You can see it slowly
starting to become

not just a hog splitter,
a giant hog splitter.

- Robert looks like
he's got some decent widt.

- Yeah, but just
toward the tip.

Doesn't have a consistent
four inches throughout.

- Then it's a little bit
of straightening

that you have the time for,
and then heat treat.

- Bladesmiths, you're down
to the final 30 minutes!

♪ ♪

- All right.

- Stepping outside into a cool
spot where there aren't

12 forge burners going,
pretty refreshing.

I'm gonna need every second
of this clock

in order to make this thing
look like a hog splitter.

♪ ♪

- Austin is the first one
in the oil.

What kind of things
can we expect

to go wrong during a quench?

- Because these ones
are relatively thin

and really wide,

there's a lot more opportunity
for any part of that

to cause some stress
to make a warp.

- [laughs]

That's terrible.

There is indeed a warp,

so I throw it into
a straightening jig.

OK, that'll work.

I think we're good.

Overall, I'm really pleased
with how it turned out.

I know this is something
that I can clean up

and turn into something
presentable.

♪ ♪

- Ian is quenched, guys.

- I pull it up
and it's pretty darn straight.

It's not perfect, but I mean,
I can work with this

and I'm happy.

♪ ♪

- I'm at length.
Now it's time to

widen it out to four inches.
Don't be dumb.

You've gotta get it
to four inches.

It's a parameter.

- Bladesmiths,
you got five minutes left!

- There's no time.
Just get it heat treated.

You don't want to go home
because

you don't have
a heat treated blade.

- All right,
Robert's quenched now as well.

- My blade looks OK,

but my biggest concern
is not meeting parameters.

My boy told me,
"Don't be the first one out."

And, hopefully,
I can make him happy.

♪ ♪

- All right.
Jason quenched, guys.

That's four 22 to 24-inch
hog splitters in the oil

in under three hours.

Unreal.

- Look at that warp.

- My blade is pretty wobbly.

I don't have time
to make it straight.

- Five, four, three, two, one!

Bladesmiths,
turn off your machines.

Put down your tools.
This round is over!

- I am fairly confident
that I've met parameters,

but the tang looks ugly.

The edge wanders
all over the place.

I'm bringing a lot of flaws
into this judging.

- All right, gentlemen,
in the past three hours,

we asked you to take
a massive amount of steel,

12 pounds of W1,

and turn them into
hog splitters.

But, guys, the time has come
for the first critique.

Austin, you're up first.
Please present your work.

♪ ♪

- All right, Austin.
Well, it's close, man.

There's some
whoopity-doos and stuff,

but your edge
is remarkably straight.

Really well done
paying attention

to the part that's important.
[chuckles]

You really nailed it
on the dimensions.

Now it's just a matter
of refinement.

Well done.

- All right, Jason, your turn.
Please present your work.

♪ ♪

- All right, Jason,
you did it.

You turned in a nice profile
with this hog spitter.

But the one thing
that gives me pause

is that your blade itself has
some warps and twists to it.

So if you move to
the second round,

you want to straighten
that out.

Good job.

- Ian,
please present your work.

♪ ♪

- So, Ian, right off,

you've got the profile
on its way.

But there's a little
bit of straightening

to do with your blade.

And since
it's so lean already,

there's no room to grind
any of it out.

So if you're gonna
straighten that out,

you're gonna probably
have to use some heat.

But so far, so good.

Well done.

- All right, Robert, you're up.
Please present your work.

♪ ♪

- All right, Robert.

In general, I think
you've got a great shape.

But just by eyeball,
this looks like

the narrowest blade
that I've seen so far.

So we're gonna give it
a little look.

So here, you're 3 and 3/4.

And you don't hit 4 inches
till that.

So there's a large section
of this blade that's under

the four inch minimum
that we were asking for.

[dramatic music]

- All right, Robert.

Unfortunately, because of
that parameter failure,

your time in this competition
has ended.

At this point in time,
I'll have to ask you

to please step off
The Forge floor.

♪ ♪

- I didn't make parameters.
It happens.

Just trying to get
the metal pulled out

just wasn't gonna happen.

It was a very big challenge.

And the time crunch
was just too much

to try to get it all done
in three hours.

- Well, gentlemen,
congratulations.

You made it past
the first round

of this supersized challenge,
which means

the three of you
are joining us in round two.

Now, as far as
handle materials go, gentlemen,

sorry to say
the pantry is off limits.

In order to complete
your blades,

we have supplied
these 5-foot long 2x2s,

and that's all
you have available

to make your handle scales.

Once this round is complete,

you will turn your hog
splitters over to our judges

and they will check for
strength and durability

in a bone chop,

and then check your edge
retention in a pork slice.

Now, bladesmiths, you only have
two hours in this round

of the competition,
so good luck.

You've got a lot of work
ahead of you.

Your time starts now.

[intense rock music]

The first three hours
of this challenge

was really difficult.
They did a great job with it,

but they still have a massive
amount of work to do.

- First thing I need to do,
I have a warp in my blade;

I want to do my best to fix it.

- Looks like Ian's gonna be
using some heat here.

- Yep.
If you're planning on

using heat to manipulate
the metal,

wouldn't that be something
you wanted to do now

before getting the handle on?
- Yeah.

- If I'm not careful,
I could overheat my blade.

And that would totally destroy
the temper in the edge.

So I take it out of
the vise real quick,

and I'm just trying and trying
to get that warp out.

- Is this too much risk?

- This is a huge risk.
[laughter]

♪ ♪

- All right.

It's still not all the way out,

but I need to start grinding
this blade.

♪ ♪

- The first thing
I've got to do

is get it into the profile
that I want.

And, of course, I know that my
knife has got to go on a diet.

It's gotta lose some weight.

- If Austin plays
his cards right,

he's got a potential
of just running away

with this competition,
turning in a very beautiful

and functional blade.
- Yeah.

Yeah, his profile is looking
spot on right now.

- Yeah.

- [groans]

This round, I have two hours.

I don't have time to address
the large warp in my blade.

So I'm focusing on my handle.

I am stressed about
the time in this round.

I'd be lying
if I didn't say that

the fatigue
from the first round

isn't affecting me right now.

But maximum effort.
It's all I can do.

♪ ♪

- I do not want to rush
at the end of this

to put a handle on.

If I do that,
the handle's gonna be crap.

On a weapon this big,

the handle is
massively important

'cause if it's not comfortabe
in your hand,

it's gonna hurt
every single swing.

- Nobody is used to gluing up
scales of this magnitude.

- This is where you take
the top off the epoxy

and you just--sploosh.
- Sure, but the thing is,

it just takes
a super thin coating of epoxy.

It's not like filling the gap.
- Yeah.

- This is pretty easy to just
take a popsicle stick

and go--
[squelching noise]

- Very cool.

- Bladesmiths, you are now

halfway through
this handle round!

You've got 60 minutes
remaining!

- I'm pretty sure that an hour
is gonna give me plenty of time

to get a handle on it.

However, pin alignment
is very important.

And to ensure that I drill
the holes in the right spo,

I use a handy little hairpin
that I made for my daughter

to mark the wood.

I made it too thick.
It was too heavy.

So I just--I decided
to use that one for my shop.

I'm really happy to put
some handles on this thing,

and I'm really looking forward
to seeing the judges

put it to the test.

Ooh, OK.

♪ ♪

- I'm trying to get
these handle scales attached,

and I realize that
it's not fitting well.

- I haven't seen Jason
deal with that

really wobbly warp in his tang.

That's gonna make fitting
a handle really difficult.

- I need to work very quickly

to have this epoxy cure
while it's all together.

And this is where some
bad decisions come about.

- Now, that's under
a ton of tension.

So if that glue
doesn't hold 100%,

it'll pop loose.

- I don't feel
I have time to wait

on these handle scales to cure.

I have to run over
to the grinder

and really start
shaping my handle.

♪ ♪

[bleep].

- Oh, Jason's handle
just split open.

- Oh, no.

I think the problem is,
is that the bend is so big

that there's no way to get
the front and the back

together at the same time.
- Yeah.

- I need to make
these handle scales work

because I don't feel that I
have time at all to start over.

So I just grab
the gap filling super glue

and start squirting it
all throughout there.

And the tang is finally

starting to stick
to the handle scales.

- Jason's handle's like,
70% glue

and like, 30% handle right now.
- [chuckles]

- I am absolutely worried

this handle's going to
come apart during testing.

♪ ♪

- Bladesmiths, you guys are
down to 30 minutes left!

♪ ♪

- I've never had to shape
a handle this quickly before.

But I'm feeling extremely good
with how it's coming along.

I'm constantly pulling
it aside from the grinder

and swinging it around,
feeling my hands,

feeling the weight distribution
just to see what it feels like.

Whoo! We're getting somewhere.

As I get closer to being done,
these next couple of minutes.

I just need to get it as pretty
and aesthetically pleasing

as I possibly can.

- Ian, taking a little time
to use the torch

to apply some color.
- It looks pretty decent.

And, like, I--I mean,
I would use it.

[chuckles]

- Shaping the handle
takes a little bit longer

than I was hoping for.

With the time
left on the clock,

I will go for a very rough
appleseed edge on it.

- Not only is it
how good of an edge

can they put on it
to begin with,

it's what edge does it have

after chopping
a bunch of bones?

- I mean, sharpen it
like an axe.

I mean, that's what these are.
It's an axe for cutting pig.

- It's there.
It's got an edge.

Hopefully,
it survives the tests

and hopefully,
I get to continue.

♪ ♪

- As time's running out,

I'm still rounding the edges
of my handle scales.

But I also need to get a sharp
edge on my hog splitter.

♪ ♪

Ooh!
- Oh, snap!

- You all right?
- Yeah, yeah.

- You can see how hard
he's grinding on it,

that he blew that belt
right off the grinder.

- It's got to be hard
keeping that wobbly edge

from catching the belt.

[belt thumps]
- See?

- Number two.

It's so frustrating
to have those belts pop.

- Gotta change something up.

- I'm gonna go edge down.

I come to my senses and turn
the edge of my blade downward.

I don't know how much time
I have left.

I just got to get through this
and hope for the best.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Five, four, three, two, one!

Bladesmiths,
put down your tools.

This round is over!

- Based simply on looking,

I can tell that my knife
is much heavier

than my competitor's knives.

And I honestly have no idea
how testing's gonna go.

♪ ♪

- All right, bladesmiths,
welcome to the strength test:

the bone chop.

♪ ♪

Ian, you're up first.
You ready?

- No.
[laughter]

- Well, we gotta do it, dude.
We gotta do it.

♪ ♪

- These bones are, like,
several inches thick.

Like, they're no joke.

I'm not gonna lie. I think
I peed my pants a little bit.

How on Earth is my blade
gonna withstand this?

♪ ♪

[loud bang]

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

- Ooh!

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- All right, Ian.

Blade held up great.

No problems with
anything coming loose.

One issue I have is

there's a couple of rolls
that happened.

Moving back to your handle,
I like a lot about this handle.

I like the shape of it.

I wish there had been
a little kick down,

but it didn't really
get in my way.

And, you know,
it did a great job

doing what it's supposed to do,
so nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, Jason, you're up.
You ready?

- Maximum effort.

- Maximum effort, engaged.

♪ ♪

- With the issues I had
constructing my handle,

I'm not confident

that my handle scales
are gonna stay on.

We're gonna find out.

[suspenseful music]

[suspenseful music]

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

- [exhales slowly]

♪ ♪

Hope that handle
didn't come apart.

♪ ♪

- All right, Jason.

It's all in one piece.
Nice job for that.

Your overall shape is rough,

and there's a lot of wiggle.

But the huge issue I've got

is this tiny little burr
right here.

It's razor sharp,
and it cut my hand.

♪ ♪

This part is supposed
to cause damage...

- Yeah.
- Not this part.

But your edge held up
really well, so nice job.

- Thank you.

- Austin, your turn.

You ready?
- Yes, sir.

♪ ♪

The bone chop is a brutal way
to test a blade.

But I made this hog splitter
specifically to do that,

so we'll see if it works.

[suspenseful music]

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

- OK.

[dramatic music]

- All right, Austin.

Your edge held up really well.

Here, there's a little bit
of glinting

where most of
the bone chop was,

but it's minor.

It's a smooth
and comfortable handle,

and it swung like
a ton of bricks.

Nice job.
- Thank you.

- [claps]

♪ ♪

All right, bladesmiths.

Welcome to
the sharpness test...

♪ ♪

The pork slice.

Ian, you're first.

Are you ready?
- Yes.

- All right, let's do this.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

All right, Ian.
It's got a nice feel to it.

It's got a nice profile.

Now, your edge has that
cleaver chopping edge.

It's not razor sharp,

but it's sharp enough
to chop into this pork slice.

Overall, your hog splitter,
it will cut.

- Thank you.

- All right, Jason, are you
ready to go ham on ham?

- Oh, maybe?

- All right,
let's do it anyways.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

I'm gonna cut another judge.

♪ ♪

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- All right, Jason.

You have a sharp edge,

which is just as sharp
as the burr right there.

But in terms of function,

your hog splitter
will spit a hog.

- Thank you.

- All right, Austin, your turn.

You ready?
- Yes, sir.

- Let's do this.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

- Nice.

[dramatic music]

- All right, Austin.

Now, that's a hog splitter.

Almost split it in half.

Your edge has a cleaver-like
edge that cuts deep.

Overall, your hog splitter
will split a hog.

- Thank you.

- That was awesome.

Well, gentlemen, in this
supersized competition,

you all successfully built
the largest first round blade

we have ever asked smiths
to make in this Forge.

And you guys all have
a ton to be proud of.

But, at the end of the day,
only two of you can join s

in the final round
of this competition.

The bladesmith leaving
The Forge is...

[dramatic music]

Jason.

Unfortunately,
your blade didn't make the cut.

And Ben's gonna tell you why.

♪ ♪

- Well, Jason, first off
I gotta commend you

for being able to move
and manipulate

that huge bar of steel.

But, at the end of the day,

your handle had burrs
and sharp edges,

and it cut my hand.

That's why
we're letting you go.

- I'm sorry about your hand.
- 'Tis but a scratch.

- Well, Jason, you got a ton
to be proud of,

but unfortunately your time
in this competition has ended.

I'm gonna have to ask you

to please step off
The Forge floor.

- All right.
Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- The judges made
the right decision.

My blade failed in kind of
the worst way possible.

It hurt a judge.

It's disappointing,
but I feel lucky

to have not burned off
a pigtail.

However, if I had burned off
a pigtail,

it would've been a great story.

♪ ♪

- Ian, Austin, congratulations.
Your hard work has paid off,

and you guys are moving into
the third and final round

of this supersized competition.

In this final round,
you're going back to

your home forges for four days

to build an iconic weapon
from history.

Bladesmiths,
we want you to build this.

♪ ♪

The Japanese greatsword.

♪ ♪

- The Japanese greatsword
arose in popularity

during the 14th century.

Reaching lengths
of up to five feet long,

this massive, single edged,
slightly curved blade

was designed to deliver
deep, penetrating cuts

upon enemy soldiers
on foot or horseback alike.

While this enormous weapon
became too impractical

for battle
by the 17th century,

it can still be seen
in many action films,

including the classic
1954 Kurosawa movie,

"Seven Samurai."

- It is one of
the largest swords

in the samurai's arsenal.

And the ones you bring back

need to fall within
these parameters.

Your blade needs to be
slightly curved, single edged,

and have a length
between 42 and 44 inches.

Now, the hilt needs to feature
a habaki, a tsuba,

a fuchi, and a kashira,

as well as a traditional
Japanese handle wrap.

- I am making a 5-foot long
object from hell.

Not only is it a big sword,

it is a very intricate sword

with a lot of handle detail.

- Good luck, gentlemen.
We will see you in four days.

♪ ♪

[exciting rock music]

- We're at my home forge
in Alvin, Texas.

I'm making
a Japanese greatsword.

[forge roaring]

This is going to be
an extremely difficult buil.

This is a massive sword.

I need to move it
19 inches by hand

'cause I don't have
any power equipment.

That first heat
really showed me

just how difficult and long
this is gonna take

with a hand hammer.

I've gotta switch over
to a lighter hammer,

'cause I'm just worn out.

This thing is
absolutely ridiculous.

It's huge. It's obscene.

I'm nearly at
the end of day one,

and I've got almost
a foot to go in length.

I've gotta pick up
some time in day two.

♪ ♪

- We're back in my home forge
in Bedford, Pennsylvania.

It's day one.

I'm excited.
[chuckles]

First thing
I'm gonna do is just

try to forge out this blade.

It is a monster of a blade,

and I just want to get it
all roughed out.

Oh, yeah.

I'm so glad I have a press.

I know that I can draw
material quickly with that.

All right,
so we are pretty much

at length
to where I want to be.

I'm pretty much done,

and I'm ready to get it up
to temperature and quench it.

So my gas forge
isn't actually big enough

to do the heat treating.

So what I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna dig a ditch

and make kind of like,
a redneck coal forge.

I have the blade in there.

I'm just watching
the temperature

and just making sure
I don't overheat it.

Things are definitely
heating up,

literally.
[chuckles]

[dramatic music]

[file scraping]
It's hardened.

I am really happy with
how it came out.

End of day one.

Today, I got a lot farther
than what I thought I would.

My brain's, like, fried.
[chuckles]

Sweet.
[chuckles]

- Today is the start
of day two.

It's frustratingly slow
progress from yesterday.

Hoping I can get it
to length quickly

and get this thing quenched
as quick as possible.

It's right in between
the two parameters.

Perfect!

Almost like I planned it.

The heat treating process
is going to be difficult,

due to the extreme length

and the fact that I've only got
an 18-inch long forge.

♪ ♪

We are skating.

I know the blade
is good and hard.

I feel pretty good about
today's progress.

Not quite what I originally
had planned for,

but still on schedule.

Happy dance.

All right,
that's enough of that.

- Day three.

So next thing I need to do is
I need to shape this handle,

and get it actually ergonomic
and feeling good in your hans

'cause this handle's
pretty big.

All right.

It's starting to fit
my hands really good.

I really like it.

It is now
a fully functional sword.

This thing is a beast.
[chuckles]

[cackles]
Evil laughter.

- We are at day four.
Ready to get this over with.

I am putting on faux,
not real, alligator skin,

to give this sword a little bit
of my Texas heritage

down here on
the dirty third coast.

Everything looks good so far.

Now it's just time
for the handle wrap.

Just trying to make it
so that it's not uncomfortable

for the judges' hands.

My hands are now
cramping severely

as I'm doing this nearly
21 inches of braid.

As I finish it up,
I think it looks pretty cool.

It just needs an edge,
and then it's test time.

I did grind the blade thin.

And I'm hoping that the lighter
weight and the thinner profile

will help it cut better

while still being thick enough
to retain its edge

during the damage test.

Whoa!

[chuckles]

- It's morning of day four.

First thing that I'm gonna do
is start working the kashir.

That's really the biggest
thing I have to work on now,

and I just need
to get that done

so I can focus on
the handle wrapping.

So I got the kashira put on.
It's shaped.

I really like it.

I am ready for--
yeah, making it look cool.

I start wrapping this handle.
It's going really nicely.

The brown and black contrast
is awesome.

It's starting to look like
a finished product.

Here we go. Very nice fit.

♪ ♪

Cool.
[chuckles]

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- Bladesmiths, welcome back
to the final round

of our supersized competition.

Both your blades look
absolutely stunning.

But before we get to testing
those blades,

we want to hear about them.
So, Ian, tell us about yours.

♪ ♪

- It was an absolute beast
to make.

The whole blade was forged
out of 5160 spring steel.

- Absolutely stunning.

- Now, Austin, how about you?
How'd it go?

♪ ♪

- The blade has been forged
from 5160 spring steel,

with mild steel
for the fittings

and copper for the habaki.

- Guys, I got to say, these are
absolutely stunning pieces.

But, gentlemen, as you know,

in order to find out
which one of you

is coming out on top
in this competition,

we've got a couple
supersized tests for you.

To start things off,
I'm gonna hand you off to Doug.

♪ ♪

- Bladesmiths, welcome to
the dynamic KEAL test.

It's with great disappointment

that I have to say that
I will not be able to

wield your weapons to test it.

But Dave Baker will be enjoying
and doing your tests.

Ian, you're up first.
You ready for this?

- Go for it.

- Take it away.

- I have no fear
it's gonna go through the pi.

My fear is the bamboo.

I'm terrified of it
just, like, shattering,

and just the blade being in
two pieces at the end of this.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [grunts]

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

- [whispering]
Oh, my gosh.

- [grunting]

♪ ♪

- [quietly] Oh, man.

- [grunting]

- [exhales]

♪ ♪

- So, Ian, right off,

scale-wise,
perfect for my hand.

The wrap is really well
dialed in.

Your blade, every single one
of those cuts was deadly.

Your edge is still
a razorblade.

It lost no edge, whatsoever.

Nicely done.
- Thank you.

- All right, Austin, you ready?

- Yes, sir.

♪ ♪

Going into the tests,
I have concerns that

my bevels are too thin,

and that I will take edge
damage in a strength test.

♪ ♪

- [grunts]

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

[grunting]

[dramatic music]

- All right, Austin.

Right off, your sword has
a lot of height to it.

And it's got a lot
of mass to it.

But it's really nicely
balanced, which I like.

An issue: there are some
dull spots on your blade,

dull enough that I can run
my finger back and forth on it.

But I really like
the look of this blade.

Nicely done.
- Thank you.

[suspenseful music]

- All right, bladesmiths,
welcome to my dynamic test,

the steel wind chime
and fish slice.

♪ ♪

Ian, you're up first.
You ready for this?

- Not really.

- Well, get ready.
It's comin'.

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

[clattering]

- Oh.

[clattering]

♪ ♪

[clattering]

[dramatic music]

- All right, Ian,
first things first.

I'm impressed.

This edge doesn't really show
much of any indication

that it had been smashed
into steel wind chimes.

You know, you could see
the cuts on all these fish

are nice and clean.

The handle wrap is
really comfortable.

The dimensions are good.

All in all, nice job.

- Thank you.

- All right, Austin,
you're up, man.

How you feeling?
- Let's get it over with.

- All right.
[chuckles]

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- Phew.

[clattering]

♪ ♪

[clattering]

♪ ♪

[clattering]

♪ ♪

[groans]

[dramatic music]

- All right, Austin.

Well, you're all in one piece.
Well done.

Where I was hitting
the wind chimes,

each time I hit them,

you lost more and more
of your edge.

There's some rolls that I can
get a fingernail underneath.

So as I was progressing
through the fish,

they became more and more
difficult to cut through.

But, all in all,
I think you did a great job.

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

- Bladesmiths,
you both impressed us

the entire competition.

But at the end of it, only one
of you can come out on top

and earn the title of
"Forged in Fire" champion

and a check for $10,000.

Today's
"Forged in Fire" champion is...

Ian.
Very well done.

Austin, unfortunately,
your blade did not make the cut

and Doug's gonna tell you why.

- Austin, what it came down
to is the dulling you took

during our test.

It just underperformed

on the dynamic KEAL
and sharpness tests.

And those are the reasons
why you didn't win today.

- I agree completely.

- Well, Austin, it's been
an absolute pleasure

watching you pound steel
in The Forge

and come out
with two massive blades.

But, unfortunately, your time
in this competition has ended.

I want to say thank you
for coming out,

but I'm gonna have to
ask you to please

step off The Forge floor.
- Thanks, y'all.

I don't like to lose,

but Ian's a great guy
to lose to.

That definitely
makes it easier.

I made a mistake when
I sharpened the sword.

I thought my bevels were
far too thin,

so I put a fat edge on it
and it cost me.

I'm gonna get
right back into it,

and probably crank out
a few swords.

But they're gonna be
normal people sized sword.

♪ ♪

- Well, Ian,
congratulations, man.

That makes you
a "Forged in Fire" champ,

and you'll be getting
a check for $10,000.

Very well done.
[applause]

- I'm still kind of in shock,
still a little shaky

but really excited
and really thankful.

- How you feeling, bud?

- Pretty good.
[chuckles]

Thank--thank you guys.

The amount of people
that I've met,

the knowing what I can do in
such a short amount of time,

it's just--I learned so much.

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪