All language subtitles for Forged.in.Fire.S10E02.WEB.x264-TORRENTGALAXY

[dramatic music]

- Over the years,
we've seen hundreds of smiths

walk through our doors
to compete for a chance

at becoming
a "Forged in Fire" champion.

- Oh, yeah!

- But now, for the first time,

we're going to them.

♪

We're scouring
the bladesmithing hotbeds

of America looking
for the country's best shops

and their top smiths.

Just like how barbecue
is different in St. Louis

than it is in Texas,

blacksmiths have unique
styles and techniques

that originate
from the shop they call home.

♪

Each week,
one of our judges will travel

to one of the nation's
top forges

to put their local style
to the test

and handpick
their top bladesmith

to come back to our home forge.

Each forge's
champion will battle

for $20,000 for themselves

and $10,000 of forging
equipment for their shop.

- It's anyone's game.

- This is
"Forged in Fire: On the Road."

♪

[upbeat music]

Today we hit the dusty trail

with our historic weapons
expert,

Dave Baker.

- We're in Bigfork, Montana.

This state and its people are
all about resourcefulness.

With under seven people
per square mile,

if you want something,
sometimes you just have

to build it yourself.

♪

That motto is the foundation
of our next stop,

the New Agrarian School.

This forge is home to some

of America's
most talented blacksmiths.

And today we have three
of their top smiths competing

to represent
both the shop and me

for a chance to become
a "Forged in Fire" champion.

♪

- My name's Peter Haarklou.
I'm 29.

I grew up on the East Coast,
New Jersey.

What brought me to Montana was
a lot of wild space.

And I was really drawn
to the aesthetics

of the New Agrarian School.

What's cool about
the blacksmithing trade

out here is that
you can make tools

for all the other trades
and be self-sufficient.

♪

- My name is Silas Maddox.

I'm 41 years old.

I've been blacksmithing
for 20 years,

and in my blacksmithing
education,

I traveled sort of as far
and wide as I could manage.

And I came out here,
and I took a class.

That was an awesome experience.

So I'm really proud
of representing

the New Agrarian School,
and I want to do my best

and really showcase this school

in the best light possible.

♪

- I'm Brian Gosling.
I'm 27.

♪

And no, I am definitely not
related to Ryan Gosling.

My favorite thing about
the New Agrarian School,

this place has everything
you can imagine

to be able to make
anything you want.

There's things I don't think
anyone has seen before

until they've come
to this school,

like a three-headed
power hammer.

I'm like a kid in a candy store.

[laughs]

[dramatic music]

- Gentlemen, welcome
to the New Agrarian School.

All right, guys,
today we're being hosted

by the school's founder,
operator,

and accomplished blacksmith
and instructor,

Jeffrey Funk.

His entire focus is
about function,

building tools that work
and work well.

And because this forge is known
for preserving

the art of making what you need,

our historic weapons
re-creation specialist

and resident do-it-yourselfer
Dave Baker chose this forge.

Now, gentlemen,
you're here for a competition

that's built to test every one
of your blacksmithing skills.

It's a tournament
consisting of two legs.

Now, the first leg has
two rounds,

and at the end of each one,
there will be an elimination.

But whichever one of you
comes out on top will join us

back at our forge,
along with three other smiths

we're picking up around America.

Now, you're fighting for
a $20,000 check for yourself,

and this shop right here will
get up to $10,000 worth

of forging equipment
and supplies.

♪

Now guys, here in Montana,
the region is known

for its mountains and forests.

And for decades,
wood products have been

one of the state's top
manufacturing sectors.

Because of that,
we want you to build this.

♪

Gentlemen, this is a froe.

It's an axe-like tool that is
used to split logs into boards

for lumber or for shingles.

Now just make sure
the ones that you make

fall within
these specifications.

The blade itself needs to be
between 10 and 12 inches.

The height,
between 2 1/2 and 3 inches.

And finally, you must have
a handle affixed to your froe

that measures
between 17 and 19 inches.

- I've never made a froe before.

The first time I make anything,

it's usually a disaster.

And so I'm kind of nervous.

- Now guys,
let's talk about steel.

Inside on your anvils,
you'll each find

you have a piece
of 4140 round stock,

and that's all you have
to make your froes.

Now, when you get
the froes finished,

I'm gonna ask you
to pass them over to Dave

to put them
through a series of tests.

For functionality,
he's gonna attempt

to drive it through a log.

We're also gonna attempt
to split this bolt.

You have five hours
to complete your work.

And good luck,
because that time starts now.

♪

- Oh, this is gonna be fun.
- Oh, yeah.

I'm just excited
to come into the shop.

♪

- Here we go.

- This is fun.
This is the first competition

I've done
where I'm watching people work

in a shop that wasn't ours.

- It's a totally different
ballgame.

- You all right over here?

- I don't know what's going on.

- Right off the bat,
these are unlike any forges

I've ever seen before.

Did you design these forges?

- I did.

I've always made every forge.

- They look like pizza ovens.

- Yeah.
[laughs]

- What's with the dome shape?

- If you have a pipe
with open ends,

it goes down and out.

Here, it goes round and round
and slowly out the back.

The flame is in contact
with the refractory

for a greater period of time,

so the reheat time is
much faster.

- [imitates explosion]

- Here we go.

♪

I've lived in Montana
my entire life.

I couldn't imagine
living anywhere else

other than Montana
and around the mountains.

My wife tried to move me
down South one time,

and it didn't go over
so well for her.

[laughs]

Seeing Dave Baker
here in Montana,

judging the work that I'm doing,

this is ridiculous.

Now it's just a waiting game.

- Let's get down to business.

♪

- Silas' forge is a little
hotter than the others.

That's really good.

- That is a pretty big
hunk of steel,

and you need to make sure
you've heated

the entire piece
all the way through

because that metal's
never gonna move.

Patience is the key.

- It's already getting hot,
so we're doing good.

♪

- Are we having a dance
competition over here?

- Yeah.
- [laughs]

- You got to be dancing
when you're forging.

♪

He's got it.
- [laughs]

OK.

There ain't nothing to it
but to do it.

- Holy cow.
Silas is already out

with the bar stock
going over to hammer.

♪

That was fast.

- I really enjoy toolmaking.

I make a lot of kitchen tools.

My favorite is when I run into
somebody out on the street.

They're like,
I have one of your spatulas.

I use it every day.

That really makes it for me.

Come on, big 4140.

- What kind of focus do you see
with most people?

Are they literally looking
to be a blacksmith,

or are they looking to do
more architectural-type work?

- Curriculum here is focused
on tools.

Tools are small enough
that people can fail and fail

and then succeed.

- Yeah.
That's my love life.

[laughing]

- It's a lot of steel.

It's gonna take a while.

My plan is to keep my piece
as hot as I can.

And that's something
I've really learned

here in the shop,
is you really have

to work everything
as hot as you can.

- Look, I'm impressed
with these guys so far.

They're really being patient

and letting that steel heat up.

♪

- Good to go.

- I saw Peter go into this
feeling like

he had the least experience
of anyone,

but I know him well.

He's moving with confidence.

- I grew up on the East Coast,

but what brought me to Montana
was actually Jeffrey Funk

and the New Agrarian School.

Met him in 2018.

I really liked
the tools he was making

and what he was about, and
I saw it as a good opportunity

to really work
with someone closely,

doing a real apprenticeship.

♪

- This shop's like a steampunk
"Alice in Wonderland."

Tell us a little bit
about the triple power hammer.

We've never seen one before.

Why did you build it,
and what makes it

so special and unique?

- What really inspired it is,

you see the plate of steel
that's across

that's the anvil for everything?

Somebody gave me that.

And I was like, what am
I gonna do with that?

And then I realized
the 3-inch thickness

of the plate was exactly
the die thickness.

So it's like,
that's an anvil for everything.

- That's one of the remarkable
things and one of the things

I love about
what you've done here is

that you built
the infrastructure

to build the tools out here
by yourself in the wilderness.

- Being so remote
out here in Bigfork,

did being remote influence you

in the way that you had
to build things on your own?

Or was that just kind of who
you were from the beginning?

- Both.

The availability
of blacksmithing tools,

there was virtually none.

If I wanted something,

I can make it faster
than I can go to town.

And they don't have it
in town anyway.

- Montana earned its nickname,
the Treasure State,

due to its pivotal role
during the American gold rush

in the mid-19th century.

As the remote territory
became flooded

with would-be prospectors,

and with civilization
hundreds of miles away,

miners had to depend
on local blacksmiths to forge

all their tools, including
shovels, picks, and axes,

out of anything and everything
they could find laying around,

often repurposing
or modifying other tools.

This spirit of ingenuity is
embedded into the DNA

of both the Big Sky region
and the New Agrarian School.

♪

You really are like the eighth
wonder of the world, man.

♪

It doesn't seem like
Brian is really doing much.

- He's letting
all of that heat out.

It's just not heating up
as quickly as the other guys'.

He's wasting a lot of time.

- [sighs]

It's definitely taking
a little bit longer

than I was expecting
for my material to heat up.

I have to pick it up.

Power hammer.

- And just like that,

everybody's drawing out
their steel,

and we're off to the races.

- It would mean the world
to me to win "Forged in Fire."

My wife told me that if I win
the championship,

and I get the 20 grand,

she's already got
half of it spent.

But the goal is to be able
to build a shop,

so I need to catch up
as fast as I possibly can

so I can win this competition.

♪

- One hour has elapsed!

You've got four hours remaining!

♪

Silas has already
started drawing out

the blade of the froe.

We know they have to punch
and drift the socket.

Is this the path
you'd be taking?

- Well, I'd actually
drift the hole now

so there's more meat
to work with

because you don't want
the walls and the eye

to get too thin and crack.

As long as he's just focusing

on widening out the edges,
that's fine, too.

- You know, there's more
than one way to skin a cat.

- I always find
the hardest part is

getting the cat to stay still.

- [laughs]

♪

- Good to go.

♪

Whew.

- You ready to punch a big hole?

- Yeah.
I want to get it over with.

I've drifted eyes before.

♪

But I've never had to do it
on a clock.

♪

- It looks like
Peter's to the point now

of establishing where he's
gonna be putting his socket.

He's gonna have pretty thick
walls on the socket.

- That is the critical aspect
at this stage.

And he's right in the ballpark.

Not only that you're
exactly dividing the bar,

but you come in exactly
the same distance from the end

on both edges is essential.

Otherwise, you're not gonna
have a straight hole.

- I made it through the hole.

I've got my hole punched.

So I feel pretty good so far.

That's probably good.

- Bladesmiths, you have
three hours remaining!

♪

- Good. Bueno.

I've got the material to size.

Now it's time
for punching the eye.

Go time.

♪

I'm using a technique
punching this hole

that I learned here
at the school from Jeffrey,

of rocking this punch

forward and back a little bit
on each hit.

And that helps
keep the punch loose in there

so it doesn't get stuck.

And I've been blacksmithing
for 20 years,

never thought of it.

But now I do it all the time.

- You can't imagine
how happy that makes me

because it's
the fundamental thing

that I drill into everyone,
including myself.

♪

- So far, so good.

♪

- Right now,
the piece is going good,

and I feel like I'm finally
starting to catch up.

All I can do is focus on
my own work and punch the hole.

- So Brian's at the point now
of establishing

where he's gonna be
putting his socket.

- Oh, look at the angle
of that punch.

We've seen this before.

The problem is,
he's going to make

one side of that wall too thin.

Then when he goes
to drift that hole bigger,

it could cause
the whole thing to crack.

♪

- Ended up stretching
way too much material.

One of the eyes ended up
cracking.

I'm just gonna have
to scrap it and start over.

♪

- Ugh!

I noticed that my holes aren't
lining up perfectly

and that one side is sticking
out farther than the other.

[sighs]

If I decide to keep going,
I'm gonna split this material,

and it's not gonna
hold a handle at all.

My stomach drops.

- Oh, no.

It sounds like Brian's just off.

- The sides are moving faster
than it should,

and it's gonna split right here
if I keep going.

So I got a decision to make,
'cause either I restart

or I keep going.

Clock is ticking, and I have
to make a decision now.

♪

- [bleep].

The sides are moving faster
than it should,

and it's gonna split right here
if I keep going.

So I got a decision to make
'cause either I restart

or I keep going.

[dramatic music]

We'll figure it out.

The only thing
I can think of is,

I can flip it around

and start over
on the other side.

- Well, Brian's starting again
on the opposite side of that.

- That's what he's doing
instead of starting...

- Yeah, it looks
like he's gonna...

- No way.
- Move to the opposite side.

- You know what?
I think that's a good solution.

- That's gotta
be frustrating though.

It took him
an hour and 20 minutes

to get that punch through.
- But hopefully he can

benefit from that experience.

- The other thing he's got,

he's already got that drawn out.

So he's not going back
to square one.

- His blade,
should he get that far,

could be a little thinner
and be the right length.

♪

- Oh, man.

12 inches is right there.

I have my eye done,

but I can see that I'm an inch
under the 12-inch parameters.

If I don't meet parameters,
I'm gonna go home.

And I want to move on
to the next round,

so I need to draw out
that blade quickly

and try to finish this thing up.

Going to the power hammer.

- These smiths are
really lucking out

just with the equipment
you've got in here.

Your shop is so well set up.

You'd have a breakdown if
you ever walked into my shop.

I'm here at my new place.

You can see the... [laughs]

I just don't have a tall enough
ceiling in here.

Yeah, there we go.

[laughing]

♪

- Here we go.
Now we finally get to see

the triple hammer in action.

♪

- I built this machine
when I was working

on a lot of tools
that were forged very thin,

and I needed a way
to change the orientation

of my hammer dies very quickly.

- That's so smart.

- Oh, yeah, she's ready.

This shop is incredible.

I mean, Jeffrey's triple
power hammer is very unique.

And all the machines
that he's built

here in Montana all by himself,
and figuring it out,

he's definitely like
a mad scientist.

- All right, bladesmiths,
three hours have elapsed!

You've got two hours left!

♪

- I start to make
my second hole,

hoping that I have
enough material.

Come on.

But as I look at it,

the eye is too thin
for a second hole,

and it isn't gonna work.

♪

- How are you feeling?
- Not so good.

I'm thinking I needed
to start over completely now.

- True.

♪

I'm starting over.

I don't have...
It's not gonna work.

I gotta start over.

- Oh, no, guys.

I think Brian's made
the decision

to scrap this one,
start over from a new cylinder.

Jeffrey, how long did it take
you to make your froe?

- 1 hour, 35 minutes.
- OK, so they've still got

enough time
to completely restart.

- If they do it now.

- [bleep].
I'm gonna do as much as I can

with the time I've got.

- The first time I competed,

I fell into all the traps
in The Forge.

I looked at the clock.

I looked at what
my opponent was doing.

Made me rush a portion.

♪

[bleep].

Well, that ain't good.

You have to step away
from the forge,

just step away
from all this stuff,

and rethink the process
while doing something else.

- Yep.

♪

- I think we're getting
pretty close to two quenches.

Peter and Silas are really
starting to hone things in,

lighter taps.

- Don't worry, guys, I'll be
the first one in the oil.

- You better not be
the first one in the oil.

That means something went
really wrong for us.

- [laughs]

- I've got my froe blade
drawn out to length,

so I'm ready to quench.

I'm worried about cracking

because I don't have time
to start over.

So I'm gonna be very careful

to make sure I get it right
the first time.

♪

Quenching.

♪

- Peter's quenched.

- First of the group.

- Whoo-hoo.

I pull it out,
and it looks good.

I'm gonna take it outside
and do some basic grinding.

- My question is,
why are your grinders

outside in the snow?

- In a school situation,
if there was grinders in here,

you'd never get a break
from the noise.

[laughter]

♪

- Gentlemen, your froes need
to be finished in 60 minutes!

♪

- [sighs]

- How are you doing over there?
Are you hanging in there?

Have you started
punching another hole?

Not yet.
- Not yet.

- You got this.

I feel bad for Brian.

He is taking on
a Herculean task right now.

And I can see that he's
getting tired and frustrated.

I know that it's gonna
be a big push

for him to complete this,

and I got my fingers crossed
for him.

I want him to succeed.

♪

OK, quenching.

♪

- All right,
Silas is in the oil.

♪

- Perfect.

All seems good.

So now that this thing is
quenched,

I've gotta get it ground,

gotta get an edge put on it.

And then I have
to get my handle done,

and I've only got an hour
to do this.

That's a lot of work yet to do.

I'm gonna be going
right down to the end.

- Two quenched and one, Brian,

still has a lot of work to do.

Still hasn't gotten that second
punch and drift done.

He's struggling,
but he hasn't given up.

- Clock is ticking.

I have to punch the hole
all over again,

for the third time.

♪

Hopefully, it doesn't fail
catastrophically.

♪

Ugh!

- Brian's steel,

look at how it's gray
where he's hitting.

- Yeah.
- There's no way

he's making any progress.

- It should be bright orange...
- Yeah.

- When you take it back
to the forge.

♪

This is hard to watch here.

- Come on.

The punch just isn't driving
the way I want it,

and I don't have the time
to be goofing around here.

So I decided to just
give it some time

and let it heat up so that
I can drift it the right way.

- So Brian stepped outside
to grind his handle material

while his metal is heating up.

- That's really good

because he can leave that there
for ten minutes.

- Exactly.
- And hopefully he does.

- Right, 'cause then it's gonna
be a different temperature.

It's gonna move quicker for him.

- You're better off
having coffee.

It'll be faster to come back
when that thing's white.

- You are speaking our language.

- Oh, yeah.
- We see this every single day.

- I am feeling stressed.

I'm hoping
that the piece is hot enough

that I can start
working it again.

Whoo!
That is screaming hot now.

♪

- I can't wait
for the time to run out

so we can get 'em tested.

- Speak for yourself, "I can't
wait for the time to run out."

- My bad.
[laughter]

You're doing great, man.

♪

- Got it.

Whoo-hoo.

[vocalizes]
I just can't help myself

but get excited.

Yes.

- Brian got through.

- Oh, that's awesome.

Having a slug out
and he's still in the running.

- I'm gonna nickname
this little piece

"The Little Slug That Could."

I am definitely proud
that I did not quit.

If I can at least get
this thing quenched

and get a handle on it,
I have a chance.

- I'm gonna need every last
inch of this piece of wood.

I've gotta get this handle made,

and it is trickier
than it might seem

because it has a friction fit
into the socket,

and that's gotta be perfect.

♪

We're getting close.

- We got Peter and Silas
outside forming their handles,

and it's a really critical point

'cause if they do over-grind

with this friction fit
into the socket,

it won't be a functional froe,

and they're gonna have
to restart the handle.

- I'm almost there.

♪

- Gentlemen, you are down
to the final five!

♪

- Oh, I'm staring at the clock,

counting the seconds
as they go down.

Hopefully my steel can
heat up fast enough.

- Brian is giving it everything.

And I think we're getting
pretty close to quenching.

I think he's kind of
met parameters,

as long as he gets a handle on.

- I am feeling stressed
beyond belief at this point.

I am going to turn in
something hard.

I refuse to give up.

I just need to work as fast
as I possibly can.

- Gentlemen, two minutes left!

- Quenching!

♪

- Look at that.
- There we go.

- We've got three
quenched blades.

- Through it all,
Brian came through,

gave us a quenched froe.

- He never stopped.
- Yeah.

- Start of this competition
to the end,

he has not stopped moving,

he has not stopped
swinging the hammer.

Now all he has to do is quickly
attach that handle,

and he'll meet parameters.

[blade thunks]

- Ohh!

That sucks.

- Brian just sent his blade to
the bottom of the quench tank.

He's gonna spend all his time
fishing it out of that tank.

This is heartbreaking.
He could have spent that time

putting a handle on that thing.

- Five, four, three, two, one.

Bladesmiths,
turn off your machines.

Put down your tools.
This round is over.

♪

- Well, Brian, nice effort, man.

- Yeah, seriously.
Way to finish hard.

♪

- I feel defeated.

I didn't get as far
as I wanted to,

but I got it quenched, and
I got something I turned in.

And I'm proud of it.

♪

- Well, gentlemen, what a round.

It's been an honor
watching you work

here at Jeffrey Funk's forge,

here at the New Agrarian School.

But the time's come
for us to figure out

who's joining us in the next
round of this tournament,

and who's gonna be heading home.

Now, we would typically
start testing,

but unfortunately, Brian,

you were unable to affix
the handle to your froe,

therefore missing parameters,
which means we cannot test it.

I want to say, I hope
you're proud of yourself.

You never gave up.

But your time
in this competition has ended.

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please step off

the testing floor.

♪

- This is not the outcome
I was hoping for.

If only I had just
a little bit more time,

I definitely think
I could have made it.

I definitely think
that Silas and Peter have

what it takes to win this thing
and kick butt and take names

and win it all for us.

I am not gonna make
any more froes,

probably for the rest
of my life.

- Well, Peter, Silas, gentlemen,

I can see you've got a little
bit of relief in your eyes.

But unfortunately, you can't
get too comfortable yet.

♪

In order to find out
if your tools function,

we've got to go
through the testing still.

And if one of your froes
does not perform,

you will be out
of this competition.

So I'm gonna "froe" you
over to Dave.

- [chuckles]

♪

- All right, gentlemen,
it's time

for our functionality test.

♪

So we're gonna take your froes,

we're gonna split some wood,

as well as cutting that bolt,

see how they hold up.

All right, you ready for this?
- Yes, sir.

- Peter, you're up first.

♪

- I'm feeling nervous.
We're chopping [bleep] bolts.

My blade could crack in half,

so I'm crossing my fingers.

♪

♪

♪

- All right, Peter.
Man, this thing is a beast.

But as far as damage goes,
cutting through that bolt,

it's just got the teeniest
little burr right here.

Other than that, it's spot-on.

Went through the log
without a problem.

Nicely done.

- Thank you.

- All right, Silas,
you ready for this?

- I am.
- All right.

This is fun.

♪

- I'm not feeling great.

If the worst happened,
and this thing cracked,

it would be a disaster.

I'm hoping that it does well.

♪

♪

♪

♪

- All right, Silas.
Cut the wood really nicely,

and it took zero damage
cutting that bolt.

Well done, guys.
Both of you, congratulations.

- Thank you, sir.
- You did a fantastic job.

♪

- Well, gentlemen,
phenomenal work.

You both smoked
through the smithing portion.

You made it through the test
without a problem.

And now you're both
moving forward

into the next round
of this tournament.

Now, in this round,
we're sending you back

to your home forge for four days

to build another iconic tool

that was built
by Jeffrey Funk himself.

Guys, we want you
to build this...

♪

The double bit felling axe.

♪

Since the 19th century,
the double bit felling axe has

been a favorite tool
of North American lumberjacks.

Revolutionary because of its
simplistic design,

this axe features
two different heads,

one with a thicker edge
designed for delivering

deep felling chops
on massive trees,

and the other with a finer
edge ideal for dropping limbs,

making it essential for life
in the remote wilderness.

This axe is so synonymous with
the American frontiersman,

it has even been featured
in the folk tales

of the giant lumberjack
Paul Bunyan.

♪

When you bring your blades back,

make sure they fall within
these following parameters.

The eye needs to have a height
between 2 1/2 and 3 inches.

It needs to swell on either side

to the blades measuring
between 4 and 5 inches.

And the overall length of
the entire tool itself needs

to be between 37 and 39 inches
from the bottom of the eye.

- This double bit axe is
a real challenge.

It's a complicated forging

that is more complex
than it looks on the surface.

But where I live is one
of the last places

where this axe was
in regular use in this country,

and so I'm excited to try
to carry that torch forward.

♪

- Now, gentlemen,
you're both clearly

extremely talented smiths,

but only one of you can join us

in the final round
of this tournament.

You will each go back
to your own home forges

to make this tool.

Gentlemen, good luck.

We'll see you back at our forge

in four days.

- Bam.
Let's go.

♪

It feels great to be back home.

My game plan today is
to forge my axe,

and then punching the hole.

This hydraulic press is new
to me.

I built it a year ago.

It's a really fast,
accurate way to punch holes.

It needs to be exactly
in the center.

If the punch isn't
going the right direction,

it could certainly
have repercussions

when I go to make my axe.

Oh, [bleep]!

♪

Off by a half an inch.

So I'm gonna start over.

I'm trying to give myself
some marks

where I want my eye to be.

♪

I'm getting my second
piece going here,

so fingers crossed this one
ends up in the right place.

♪

If this goes wrong,
I'll have to start over,

and I don't have time for that.

♪

Pretty clean cut.

Yeah, looks good.

♪

I'm really excited.

I feel good
about my progress today.

If this is the biggest
challenge I have

in this build,
I'm pretty happy with that.

♪

- This is day one
of my challenge.

This is the starting billet

for the axe right here.

♪

Probably the biggest tool
I've made is

an 8-pound sledgehammer,

but I've never made an axe
of this size.

I'm starting to get
a little worried

'cause I've only got four days.

Now that I've forged
this billet,

I want to punch this eye by hand

to make sure
I don't make a mistake.

♪

Yeah, I like how that looks.

I'm gonna flip it over.

♪

So I'm almost to the center
of the axe,

and I'm getting pretty close

to shearing that plug
out of the center.

What I'm hoping to see is
that the plug comes out

nice and clean.

♪

And the plug is out.

There it goes.

I would say that's
a pretty good punch.

That's what I punched out
of the center of my axe billet.

Now that it's out,
I'm gonna hang onto it

for a good luck charm.
[laughs]

♪

- It's the morning of day two.

Finished forging my axe.

We're ready to do our hardening.

I'm gonna normalize it,

taking several heats
up to critical temperature,

and just letting it air cool.

And that allows
the grain structure

of the tool steel to be strong.

OK, here we go.

♪

I just quenched my axe.

Everything went great.

No warps, no breaks.

I'm right on schedule today,

but there's still more
to be done.

♪

- It is day three
of my challenge.

I just got into the parameters
yesterday

with my foraging and quenching.

Next thing to do is go ahead
and drill a single hole

from my axe eye
to make parameters.

Later, we'll have a pin to
mechanically hold the handle

to the axe as an extra
safety precaution.

♪

Oh, shiznit.

The drill bit basically
destroyed itself.

I should have drilled
this hole through my axe

before I heat-treated it.

Because this is hardened,

I just think I need to heat up
the center of the eye there,

just to make it softer.

This is not what I thought
I'd be doing right now,

but I'm adapting.

♪

Whew.

Hallelujah.

Now I'm gonna go ahead
and quench it again.

This is a really
critical moment.

The blade could crack
or get real warped.

[dramatic music]

♪

Looks pretty good so far.

I don't see any signs
of warpage.

I'm feeling pretty good
about it.

The quench has gone well.

It's been a long day.

I want to start fresh tomorrow

for hanging the axe-head.

♪

- Day four.
My plan for today is

to get my axe edge set,

and then I'm gonna
put on the handle.

So yeah, we're looking good.

I am going to gun blue my axe.

The gun blue gives it
a nice black color,

so it'll have
a really nice contrast

between the dark body of the axe

and the polished-out bits.

It could help
put me over the edge.

I'm cutting the slot
for my wedge.

This is the visible part of it,

and you want to make sure
that it's right in the center.

♪

Looking good.

♪

I really love
how this axe looks.

I want to do
the New Agrarian School proud.

♪

- This is day four
of my challenge.

It's gonna be a marathon.

First thing this morning,
I'm going

to start working on my handle.

It's important
that this fits tight,

mostly from a safety
point of view,

but also from a practical
point of view,

'cause if I want
to win this thing,

I gotta put everything I've
got into building this axe.

♪

Looks good so far.

Everything's nice and tight.

I'm gonna test this by just
cutting a small sapling.

Feel like I'm going to war
with this battle-axe here.

♪

Oh, baby, look at that chop.

♪

I'm excited to represent Jeffrey

and the New Agrarian School.

I'm looking forward
to the judges' forge.

♪

So far, I'm pretty happy
with it.

♪

- Peter, Jeffrey, Silas,
welcome to our forge.

We gave you four days
to put together

your very best
double bit felling axes,

and I've got to say,
they look fantastic.

But we've got to find out
which one of you is

moving forward into the final
leg of this tournament

and still in the fight
for $20,000

and $10,000 worth
of forging equipment

for the New Agrarian School.

Now, before we get
into the testing,

I want to find out
what you think about them.

So Peter, tell me about yours.

♪

- I forged 4 1/2 inches
of 4140 for the axe-head

and a nice hickory
for my handle,

and did an oil finish on
the handle and the axe-head.

♪

- It looks good.

Silas, tell us about yours.

♪

- My axe is forged from 4140

and it's got a hickory handle.

I made a couple
of double bit axes in my past,

but this is by far
the nicest one.

And so I hope it performs well.

♪

- Well, gentlemen I got to say,

both your axes look
strong and sharp.

We have to find out which one
of you is moving forward

into the final leg
of this tournament.

In order to find out
which one it is,

we got testing with Dave.

♪

- All right, gentlemen,
first off,

we've got a functionality test.

♪

I'll be taking your axes,
using both bits,

and chopping into our log here.

Peter, you're up first.
Are you ready?

- I'm ready.
- OK.

♪

- I'm nervous.
Because I quenched twice,

there's absolutely potential
that one of my edges may

show some deflection
on the edge.

♪

♪

♪

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

- So right off, Peter,
looking at your axe,

the symmetry is really nice.

Everything's got a really
good shape to it.

The handle's super comfortable,
very smooth.

As far as the edges go,

one edge held up.

There's not any kind
of deflection on it.

The other edge has
the smallest deflection,

but I feel like I could
definitely drop a tree

with this axe, so nicely done.

- Thank you.

- All right, Silas, you ready?

- Yes, sir.
- OK.

♪

- I put a ton of work
into this axe,

and part of me is crying
that it's gonna be smashed.

Peter's axe had
some slight rolling,

so I'm not sure
how my axe will perform.

But I'm hoping
that it will hold up.

♪

♪

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

- All right, Silas.
Right off the bat,

this is a really,
really pretty axe.

♪

It's a little bit lighter
in the head.

The handle construction,
very smooth.

A little bit more obtuse
of an edge than Peter's,

which is a good thing
because there's no deflection

or any edge damage at all.

So really well done.

- Thank you.

[dramatic music]

♪

- All right, gentlemen, we've
had our functionality test,

and that went well,
so now it's time to have

some good, old-fashioned
"Forged in Fire" fun.

We're gonna test your weapons
in a way

that they've never been
designed to be tested.

We're gonna smash them
into these pots and that can.

♪

Peter, you're up first.
You ready?

- I'm ready.
- OK.

♪

[music building]

[hard rock music]

♪

♪

- [exhales]

[suspenseful music]

- Well, Peter, once you get
momentum with this axe,

man, it's going.

But your edge did take
some damage here.

After the test, there's
some rolling on your edge

where I can...
[metal dinging]

Hook my fingernail on it.

And then on the other edge,

you've got a couple small chips.

- Mm-hmm.
- All in all,

everything's still
right and tight.

It still feels good.

So nicely done.

- Thank you.

- All right, Silas, you ready?

- I'm ready.

♪

My kid did tell me
I needed to be ready

to chop some concrete blocks,
so I built my axe for this.

And I hope my axe performs well.

[music building]

♪

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

- All right, Silas.

One of your edges has
a little bit of rolling to it.

Not too much.

Still sharp.

Other side really didn't take
much damage at all.

I really do like how smooth
you got this handle.

When I'm swinging it,
it just travels

through my hand really easily.

It's comfortable to use.

You did a good job.
Thank you.

- Thank you.

♪

- You have fun?
- Oh, yeah.

You know, smashing things.

It's what I do.

- Both of you guys did
a phenomenal job,

but the time has come for us
to decide which one of you will

be moving forward
into the final leg,

fighting against
three other smiths

we pick up across America.

- Peter made a really nice axe.

Ultimately, I believe
this is gonna come down

to how they perform,
but you never know.

♪

- Well, gentlemen,
we started this first leg

of the tournament
in beautiful Bigfork, Montana,

Jeffrey,
at your New Agrarian School,

with you guys building
your froes.

You did a great job there.
And I got to say,

you both did a phenomenal job
here with your felling axes.

But in this tournament,
only one of you can

move forward to fight
three other smiths

that are coming
from across America.

Dave has made
his final decision,

and the smith moving forward
in this tournament is...

♪

Silas.
Congratulations.

Now, Peter, you did a great job.

You're a talented smith,
but unfortunately,

your blade did not make the cut,

and Dave's gonna tell you why.

- Peter, this really came down
to two things.

The chip your blade took

and then the rolling
on your edge would

eventually affect
its functionality.

And those are the reasons
we're letting you go.

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

watching you work,
but unfortunately,

your time
in this tournament has ended.

I want to say thank you
for coming out.

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

to please step off
The Forge floor.

- Sure.

I'm really happy with the axe
I was able to make

and how it performed.

This is the first time
I'd built an axe

of that size and caliber.

And I think that Silas is
a really competent blacksmith.

I have no doubt that moving
on with the competition,

he's gonna do well.

♪

- Well, Silas, congratulations.

That means you are one step
closer to a $20,000 check

to go into your pocket and
$10,000 in gear and supplies

to go to Jeffrey Funk's
New Agrarian School.

Silas, that means
you are joining us

in the second leg
of this tournament

to fight three other smiths
that we're picking up

across America
for the final battle.

Very well done, man.
Good job.

- I'm excited to move on
to the next round.

I'm naturally
a competitive person.

Peter is an incredibly
talented dude,

and, you know, it all came
down to the testing.

And I hope that I've made
Jeffrey and Dave proud.

This is certainly the nicest
axe I've ever made,

and I'm ready to bring my all
to the next round.

♪