Congratulations, bladesmiths. Your work has elevated
you to the third round of this competition. Now we're sending you
back to your home forges so that you can recreate an
iconic weapon from history. And that weapon
is the cinquedea. Developed in Italy
during the Renaissance, the cinquedea gained popularity
among civilian noblemen. This large, double-edged
sword delivered lethal cuts in close quarter attacks,
and was worn on the hip to be swiftly drawn in times
of threatening encounters. Derived from the Italian
word for the number five, the name cinquedea represents
the blade measuring five fingers wide
at the base, which became an excellent canvas
for intricate artwork. With functionality in
mind, swordsmiths also included fullers to
lighten the weight of this otherwise heavy sword. Although the cinquedea
lost its popularity after the 16th century,
it has recently made a comeback in the video
game "Assassin's Creed." Good luck, bladesmiths. We're here in my
forge in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on the big island. This is going to be
the most challenging thing I've made so far. I don't even know
how to pronounce it. I'm using [INAUDIBLE]
that I got at a junkyard. I find there's a beauty in
taking something that somebody would throw away, and
making it into something they'd keep forever. So I'm trying to incorporate
the rest of this metal into an integral guard by
bending these pieces down. I literally do
everything by eye. I rarely measure anything. You know, so it's not
going to do this perfectly symmetrical piece,
but it's going to have the had and felt look. They didn't do it back
then on some machine. They were doing it by hand. This acute swell is not
comfortable in your hand. It's like, the opposite. Got the shape outlined. I got the fuller started. I'm excited to do this. It's day three. Having to cut a hole in the
back of my forge took some time, but I feel like I made
good progress on the blade. I've got it profiled
the way that I want. Feels a lot better
in the hand now. So now it's coming to the
most challenging part-- putting in the fullers. So I've got the
blade in the mill, and the milling bit is just
skating right over the surface. It's polishing,
it's not cutting. So option B is to try
freehanding it with a file. And the file is just dancing
over the surface of the blade, so option C is to try to
freehand it on the grinder. Bet this looks terrible. This is, like, a perfect
storm of anxiety. Doing something for the first
time that's very challenging. How to solve this problem? $10,000 on the line. So I use a smaller milling
bit, and lo and behold, it just starts biting
into that steel, just the way I want it to. It's cutting a slot. Smiths who are sneering at
me for not forging them in. Day three, and it's hard to
sleep because all I think about is this sword. I want to show to the judges
that I'm not afraid of work, and that I can
accomplish something that I put my mind to. It's the most important step. I'm about to hit a heat treat. I couldn't wait to do it all
day, and now that it's time, I'm scared because
it could fail. Worst case scenario,
my blade could warp. It could crack. And then I would have
to start all over again. No warps. No bends. We're straight. [SIGH] File tested it. It's hard. So I'm happy. This is still a competition. It's not like the stress is off. Anything could happen
at any given time. It's day four. It's time for the heat treat. My heart is beating fast. It's just this feeling,
this culmination-- it's the climax of the story. If anything is
going to go wrong, it's going to happen now. As I'm watching
it, I can visibly see it starting to curl over. If I'm going to keep this blade
straight, now is the time. Don't you do it. Don't you do it! Don't you bend! Ah-ha-ha! Boys and girls, we have
got a hard, straight blade. I'm happy, I'm relieved. I can finish now. Now it's just a matter
of assembling the pieces, getting everything fit and
finished, tight, and square, and sharp. Day five. This is it. Just kind of Messing with
the guard a little bit. Trying to make it a
little bit more fancy. I'm feeling the pressure because
David Baker, and J Neilson, and Doug are going to look
at it extremely closely. And it's pretty nerve-wracking. But at the end of the day, I
feel confident that my balloon is strong. And I would take it to battle. What do you think? You think you could win? Mhm. I hope so. My son, Maddox, and I would
watch this competition, and now that I get to
show him a sword that I made for the competition,
we're both in a little dream right now. You proud of your daddy? Yeah. Give me a kiss. The cinquedea was
used for civilian dress, but it served one purpose-- to kill. I will take your weapon
and deliver killing blows to this pig carcass. Daniel, you're up first.
You ready? Yes, sir. All right, Daniel. On the backhand slash,
it cut all the way through and lacerated the ribs. On the other edge, it
cut the spine in half. The balance of the blade makes
it very wieldable in combat. Your weapon will kill. Thank you. All right, Neil, you ready? I'm ready. Let's do this. OK, Neil, this is heavier
compared to Dan's blade. But the edges are sharp
enough to lacerate the spine all the way through. The base and the weight
allows for a power slash. Overall, your
cinquedea will kill. Good job. Up next is the sharpness test. We will test both of
the edges of your blades by delivering a strike
across these ratchet straps. Daniel, you're up first.
You ready? Yes, sir. Let's do this. My hand will tend to choke
up all the way to the guard. There's a weight
distribution that basically pulls the blade away. Definitely the
sword, on both sides, is easy enough to slash through
and deliver a slice that cuts through all these ratchets. Your blade, sir, will cut. Thank you. Good job. Neil, your turn. You ready? Ready. Let's do this. The dimensions of your
handle really fit my hand. Anywhere I go, it stays
right where it has to be. Your edge easily cut through
these ratchets on both sides. Your blade will cut. Good job. Well done. Gentlemen, to test the
strength of your weapon, I'm going to chop into
this ice block four times with each edge of your sword. Dan, you're up. Are you ready?
- Yes, sir. OK. Now the other side. Well, I don't see any
chipping or warping, so the edge held up very nicely. That guard is so lean
that as I'm striking, the blade wants to
turn in my hand. OK. But it did a good job. Nicely done. So Neil, your turn. You ready? Ready. Now the other side. This is heavy. You see the cinquedea
with the multiple fullers, and the purpose of that is
to take that mass out of it. It's not balanced
badly, because you've got really thick tang on there. I see no damage. I can't feel any rolling,
so it held up beautifully. Nicely done. Thank you. Gentlemen, you've both
done fantastic work. But in this arena
of competition, there can only be one
"Forged in Fire" champion. Neil, congratulations. You are the "Forged
in Fire" champion. Dan, it's that time. Please surrender your weapon. I came here to win. I wanted to win, but Neil made
something that was better. I'm going to go home, I'm
going to go back to my life, and I'm going to go
back to my craft. I still love bladesmithing. Neil, you picked
a hell of a way to tell the world
that you're here. Congratulations. You are the "Forged
in Fire" champion, and will be receiving
that check for $10,000. What are you feeling right now? It's overwhelming. Great job. My son is going to
be ecstatic that I won. We've been watching
this show on the couch last season, to me being on it. "Forged in Fire" champion. That's me. So crazy.
