<i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> - Here in The Forge,
we have put hundreds of smiths</i> to the test,
but one fierce competitor has proven himself
time and time again. - Ben Abbott. <i> - An expert blacksmith
and bladesmith,</i> <i> a fan favorite turned judge,</i> <i> Ben Abbott remains
undefeated in this Forge.</i> <i> His current record
is seven wins and zero losse,</i> but soon,
all that could change. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> Tonight we are bringing back
two smiths</i> <i> from Ben Abbott's first time
competing in this Forge</i> <i> who are looking
to rewrite history.</i> <i> Do they have what it takes
to finally beat Ben Abbott?</i> The competition continues now. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> [rock music]</i> <i> - My name
is Brent Stubblefield.</i> I'm 40 years old,
from Richmond, Virginia. <i> I am a full-time smith,</i> <i> and last time
I competed on "Forged"</i> <i> I was sent home
because of inexperience.</i> - Brent, when heating that
spine, you let that heat travel all the way to the edge,
and that really puts the strength of your blade's
edge in question. <i> - But now I am
a full-time bladesmith,</i> and I'm here to win
and take no prisoners. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - My name is Nathan Zimmerman.
I'm 31. I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, <i> and I'm a full-time bladesmith
and knife sharpener.</i> <i> The last time I competed,</i> <i> I put a bunch of spiderweb
cracks all over the blad.</i> - Well, Nathan,
I can see two large cracks going across the spine,
a few smaller ones, and, plus, we've actually
got lateral cracking. That's a very big issue. <i> - My skills have vastly
improved since last time,</i> <i> so if I were to come back
and beat Ben,</i> <i> it would obviously
be a legendary feat,</i> that's for sure. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Well, Brent, Nathan,
gentlemen, welcome back to The Forge. Now, guys, you have been
selected for an epic rematc. The last time you were here
was back in season two, and that just so happened
to be the same competition that was Ben Abbott's
first time in this Forge. Now, I don't want to get
into the history of it and get into the details,
but we all know how that went. - Ben, congratulations. You are the "Forged in Fire"
champion and will be receiving
a check for $10,000. - Now, one of you
is gonna have the chance to rewrite history and potentially beat Ben
in this Forge, earning you that coveted title
of "Forged in Fire" champion that comes with a check
for $10,000. Since you last met Ben,
he has tallied up quite a few more wins,
and he is currently undefeated with a record of 7-0. So, bladesmiths, you have
your work cut out for you. The two of you are going up
against each other in a five-hour straight
bladesmithing competition, where we want you to build
a signature blade in your signature style,
but before we get in to i, I gotta ask, do you guys think you have what it takes
to take Ben down now? - I hope he's ready. [laughter] - Brent, how about you? - You know,
I'm cautiously optimistic. [laughter]
- That's fair. Ben, do you have anything
to say to the guys before we get going? - I know you guys are feeling
confident and that's good, but all I can say is good luck. - All right, guys,
in this competition, Ben is going
to be solely a spectator. He is not gonna be
testing your weapons. All the crucial decisions
are gonna be left up to Dave and Doug;
they're gonna be the ones deciding which one of you will be going forward to the
final round of the competition to face Ben. Now, I said you guys
are gonna be building your signature blades, but as far as techniques go, we're gonna leave that up
to the Wheel of Forging. I'm gonna spin the wheel
for each one of you, and wherever it lands
is the technique you must use
to build your blade. Brent, you're up first. - All right.
- Let's see what you get. - I really don't want
that wheel to land <i> on Canister Damascus.</i> I want to make
a pattern Damascus <i> and show that I can do that.</i> - I gotta say, Brent,
you are about the luckiest guy that's walked
through this Forge. You just landed on Choose
Your Own Pattern Damascus. I gotta ask,
what do you want to do? - I want to do something
that'll really wow the judges. Twisted crushed Ws,
we'll see how that looks. - That is
a massively tall order. You think you have
what it takes? - We're not gonna win
this thing without taking a few risks. - That is very, very true.
Nate, you're up. You ready? - Yeah. Come on, same thing. <i> There was a couple options
on there</i> <i> that I really don't want</i> to have to be doing
in this competition <i> because having to do
a jelly roll,</i> <i> having to do a Turkish twist,</i> is just something
that I don't think that I could do
within the allotted time. - You have to do
Raindrop Pattern Damascus. <i> - Raindrop Damascus
is something</i> <i> I've done quite a few times</i> <i> and I've played around with
a lot.</i> The most difficult part
of this process for me is gonna be making sure
that I have clean forge welds. - Now, guys, once the clock
expires, the judges are gonna check your blades
for strength and durability in a log chop
and check your edge retentin in an apple slice.
You guys ready? - Ready.
- Ready. - Let the epic battle begin.
Your time starts now. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right. - Ben, you seem pretty tickled
about this one. - Yeah, man, you know,
these are buddies of mine, so it's just really great
to see these guys again. - Now, are you concerned?
- Yeah. Yeah. I'm concerned. These are good smiths,
and, you know, we belong to a larger group that freely shares information
to and fro. So I don't really have
any secrets from these guys. - That can be dangerous. - I only have five hours to do
this really complex pattern. <i> I am trying to go
above and beyond.</i> <i> I want to show the judges
that I'm not afraid</i> <i> to risk everything</i> because this is my chance
to prove that I've got what it takes
to beat the unbeaten. <i> So I want to get that steel
stacked and welded</i> <i> and in the forge immediately.</i> <i> There's so many things
that have to go right.</i> <i> Nothing can go wrong.</i> I have to hit the bull's-eye
with this build. <i> - Brent got to choose
whatever he wanted to do,</i> but he chose crushed W twisted. - Yeah.
- Never seen it. No idea. Please explain. <i> - All right.
So you take your stack</i> <i> and you stack it up as normal,
you'll forge weld it togethe,</i> then you turn it on its side
and you squeeze it, <i> and what that does
is it takes those layers</i> <i> and it crushes them
into sort of like a U-shape.</i> Then you restack that again
and you squeeze it again, <i> and they get more crushed
and they actually,</i> <i> instead of just being a U,</i> <i> they've become Ws
all the way down the billing.</i> <i> And if you twist it,
every now and then you see</i> <i> a little bit of that pattern
as it comes around.</i> <i> - I tack it up</i> and get it into the forge
in 17 minutes flat. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - Coming into this competition
a second time,</i> my focus is slightly different. <i> I'm not trying to make
the best knife I've ever mad.</i> <i> I'm really trying to just mae
a blade that will,</i> first off, be finished. Second off,
not have any cracks. <i> Third off, perform well
in the challenges</i> because I think that
that's what's gonna make me go on
to the second round. I gotta keep 'em in order. My game plan is to get
my steel cleaned, <i> 'cause that's, I think,
the most important step</i> <i> in forge welding.</i> - It's only 15 layers
is what he's got right now. When he draws that out,
is that anywhere near enough to be able to see that raindrop or does he have to
draw, cut, stack? - Yeah. I would love
to see him draw that out, cut in in at least five pieces, maybe six pieces, restack that. - Yeah. With a few layers
you end up with raindrop that looks kind of like a ring
and a dot, and that's borin. <i> - I know that I have
a low layer count.</i> I can make it look a lot cooler with a higher layer count,
but I don't want <i> to have to forge weld
twice in this round.</i> <i> So I think I can make it work
as long as I drill</i> my holes deep enough,
I forge my blade thin enough, and I don't grind
all that raindrop away. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - I have my billet up to heat,</i> so not it's time
to squish some welds. <i> This has to go
absolutely perfect.</i> This is a really
complex pattern. I just don't have
the time to restart. <i> I know that I've
gotta get that in there</i> <i> and give it just
some nice light compression</i> and get it right back
in the forge. - Oh... - Any weakness in those
initial forge welds will shear apart later, destroying my chances
at winning. <i> The forge weld looked okay,</i> but we won't know
until much later. - I think he's positive
that those welds have held and now it's about
drawing that billet out as quickly as he can. - And that's really important. Time management is absolutely
paramount in this competition. - Not only that, he's got
to cut and stack it, but after the next build
it's got to be almost like a square
so he can twist it. - That's right. <i> - I'm not doing amazing,
but I'm doing okay.</i> I go over to the chop saw
and cut it up. Once everything's
stacked to my liking, <i> I take it over
to the welder, tack it up,</i> put it back in the forge again. <i> I really want to have
this thing forged out</i> <i> at about the two-hour mark.</i> I think I'll be okay,
if everything goes perfect. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - We're getting
pretty close here. <i> So once the billet
is about the same temperature</i> <i> as the forge, I take it out</i> <i> and I lightly press it
on the forge press</i> just to set the welds
very lightly. - Now, that's a good color.
- That's it. <i> Once I know my billet
is solid,</i> I really feel a lot better about my chances
in this competition. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - My second stack is welded,</i> and now I gotta get it
back to welding heat so that I can twist it. - You really want
to get this twist looking kind of like
all thread. It needs to be really,
really twisted for that pattern
to really show up well. <i> [dramatic music]</i> - I'm 150 pounds soaking wet, <i> so I'm kind of struggling
with this thing.</i> Now, one of the things
about not being able to twist it
as much as I'd like, is it leaves bigger,
wider deep places <i> that will create all kinds
of cold shuts and nasty stuf,</i> but that's gonna
be a concern for later. <i> I gotta get moving.</i> No more. <i> It wore me out,
but I got it done.</i> Not as tight as I want it,
but I got a twist in ther, which is all
I told them I would do. <i> - I really enjoy building
my tools of the task,</i> so decide to do this
complex spider shape <i> with a curved cutting edge</i> <i> because that'll chop wood
very well.</i> I want to put a bit of a guard
on my blade for safety. Any big knife like this
should have a finger catch or something like that. I'm just hitting
into the edge of the anvil, <i> very carefully,
because that could be</i> <i> a point of stress
where it could break.</i> <i> It could cost me
later in the competition.</i> But I do think it's cool
to be true to my own style <i> and make a blade that really
looks like something</i> that might come out of my shop. All righty. Right after I put that step in, <i> I'm feeling pretty good.</i> So I head over
to the drill press <i> and start drilling
into the blade</i> <i> to get my raindrop pattern.</i> - Is raindrop
on the same level as the twisted crushed Ws? - Well, I would say it's not the same level of difficulty, but done correctly,
it's just as dramatic. - Oh, yes. Oh, yes. <i> - I know that
I've gotta be quenched</i> <i> by about the two-hour mark</i> <i> if I have any hope
to finish on time.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right. Brent is quenched. - I can't believe
how straight it is. Now I can take it back
to the grinder and grind my shape
just like I want. <i> - So really all I want to
accomplish in this first roud</i> is have one of my knives
get tested by the judges <i> because I didn't get
to do that the first time</i> <i> I was on the competition.</i> - Nathan, I loved what you
were doing with that design, <i> but you put so many structural
flaws in that blade</i> that we cannot test that blade. <i> - But I'm expecting
much better results</i> <i> this time than previously,</i> because I know my blade
doesn't have cracks, I know my forge welds
are at least solid. - Shazam!
- Nathan's in the oil. - Good color for Nathan. <i> - I pull it out, and I'm very
happy with my quench,</i> but if I take
a freshly quenched blade and try to chop a log with it,
it's gonna snap in half because it's very, very hard
and it's very brittle. <i> So I temper it just</i> <i> to bring that hardness
down a little bit</i> <i> and make it faster to grind
and make it tougher.</i> - When I'm doing any kind
of a torch temper, I like to get that blade
completely clean because I want to see
where the color's moving and how deep
it's moving through and how quickly
it's moving through the blade. - So you'd go and do, like,
a quick pass on the grinder, just to expose...
- Oh, yeah. <i> - So the temper
went pretty well.</i> I didn't overheat
any of my spots. <i> But I hear Brent grinding away
across the shop.</i> The time is starting
to tick down, I know I have a lot left to do, so I decide to move on
to the handle. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right, bladesmiths,
you have one hour left. <i> [rock music]</i> <i> - So I'm grinding away
all this extra material,</i> <i> and right by the bolster</i> where it's not as thick
as I would like, <i> there's a little place
on both sides</i> <i> that could be fissures
for a break.</i> [bleep]. - Uh, that's not a good sign. <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> - This could be disastrous.</i> - If it's a deep enough crack,
it's a structural issue. <i> - If I can't fix this blade
right now,</i> I'm not gonna
be the one facing Ben. <i> I just decide
to go tack-weld it.</i> - Not a good time for Brent to
have to weld on to his blade. - No. - If it's a deep enough crack,
it's a structural issue. - People get sent home
for that, so you just--
you want to address it. <i> - Now, there's a risk to this
because it's easy</i> <i> to overheat your edge,
and the last time</i> <i> I competed on the competitio,
I was sent home</i> <i> because I overheated
the edge of my blade</i> <i> while I was trying
to take a warp out of it.</i> <i> [dramatic music]</i> - Did you notice the color in
the center of Brent's blade? - Yes, I did. Yes, I did.
- [laughing] - There's little to no hardness right in the center
of Brent's blade now. <i> - And I really don't want
to do that this time.</i> <i> It may give me some weld
in the pattern,</i> but hopefully this one little
tack-weld on that spot won't look too bad. All right. <i> It looks consolidated,
but time is running out.</i> I need to get this handle done. - Bladesmiths, you guys
are down to 45 minutes. <i> [rock music]</i> <i> - Time is starting
to tick down,</i> and I know I have
to get the handle scales fit up and shaped. <i> I like to put
a tapered handle.</i> <i> It has a little more mass
up at the top of the handle</i> <i> and a little less at the back.</i> It makes a really comfortable
handle and also helps with the balance of the knife. There we go. So I get the tang of my knife
ground approximately flat. <i> I epoxy it all together with
some quarter inch steel pins.</i> I know that I can't waste
the five minutes that the epoxy is drying,
so I clamp it up and I immediately start
trying to thin my edge don and get the finish that I know
I need to show off <i> the Damascus pattern
that I made.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - There's 30 minutes left.</i> <i> I've got the handle installed,</i> but I've gotta let it cure
before I can shape it. <i> I'm going to finish grinding
while the epoxy is setting up,</i> and I'm hoping that I can get
that pattern etch to sharpen the blade
in the last few minutes, <i> and I want to make sure that
my edge geometry is robust</i> <i> so that it's great
at chopping that log.</i> I check the edge, make sure
it feels pretty good, and put it in the acid. - Fifteen minutes left, guys.
- I hope this is pretty. <i> I pull it out of the etch.</i> The twisted crushed W pattern
looks great. <i> It has some really bold line,</i> and I'm just really hoping
that it's gonna be something that the judges
just haven't seen before. - We got five minutes
on the clock. Fare thee well, buddy.
- All right, brother. - See you later. - I'll see you guys
on the other side. - All right, Ben. - Yeah, you better
get ready, Ben. <i> - At this point, I have
basically a sharpened edge,</i> <i> but I also know that I need
to get a good finish</i> on this blade to show off
the Damascus pattern, <i> so I want to make sure
that's all etched.</i> - Nate is etching. <i> - I'm really happy to see</i> that there's rings
all over the blade. Some of them are not very bold. <i> That's because I have
a low layer count,</i> <i> but they are on both sides
of the blade</i> and I'm really thrilled
to see that. <i> I'm feeling pretty good
about my blade.</i> I'm happy
that my pattern's showing. I'm happy that it feels good,
so I'm really hoping that my blade performs
well in the testing here. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Five, four, three, two, one. Bladesmiths,
turn off your machines, put down those blades. This round is over. <i> - Previously on
the competition,</i> my blade didn't even
get tested, so I'm thrilled
to be able to see that and I'm excited to see
how my blade performs. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right, gentlemen. It's time for the strength
test, the log chop. Now, to test
the overall strength and construction
of your blades, I'll be chopping
into this log multiple times. Now, this is not about
what your blades do to the log, but what that log
can do to your blades. And Brent, you're up first.
You ready? - Go for it, Dave. <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> I want to get through this
so bad, but these wooden logs</i> <i> are a lot tougher
than wooden dowels.</i> The bark's all been shaved off, so there's gonna
be no soft stuff. We're going right
into the hard stuff. <i> I'm really nervous.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - That flew straight by. - Brent, you can see
right there, that brown. - Yeah. - There was some kind of
a microfracture in there that when I hit this,
it made contact just behind it and it just peeled off,
you know? You know, the grain structure
looks great, but that crack being right
where it was on the spine, it looks like it was just
one of those microfractures that you just don't see. What can I say? - Last thing I expected,
to be honest with you. - Me too. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right, Brent. Unfortunately, your blade did suffer
a catastrophic failure on the first strike
of the test, so we cannot continue
testing your blade. But you're not
out of the fight yet because, Nathan,
in order to move forward into the final round
of the competition and go against Ben,
you have to completely survive one of the same strikes
on our log. Are you ready? - Yeah.
- All right. Let's do it.
- Let's see it. <i> Right now,
I just need my blade</i> <i> to make it through one strike</i> <i> and then I'm off
to face Ben Abbott.</i> <i> So I'm excited,
but also a little bit nervou.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> Oh, [bleep].
- Oh! - No. No! - You've got to be kidding me.
- Come on. <i> [dramatic music]</i> - Exact same thing,
microfracture right there. You can see the brown. - Yeah. Yeah.
I can see it from here. - It's etched in to it. Yeah.
- God, come on. - I know how you feel, man.
- [laughing] Yeah. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Well, bladesmiths,
you've put us in a very unique situation. Just two minutes ago,
we had two beautiful blades coming out
of a five-hour competitio, but now, after two strikes, we have two
broken beautiful blades. The time has come
for the judges to discuss your blades
and make a difficult decision. They've got to decide
which one of you is gonna be moving forward
in this competition and facing Ben. So while they discuss,
I'm gonna ask the both of you to please
step off the Forge floor. - I'm hoping that because
my blade bit in so deep, <i> that they'll pick my blade,</i> <i> but it's all gonna
be up in the air now,</i> and it's completely up
to the judges' decision. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - So, guys, we've got two
broken blades, both beautiful,
but only one of these guys can move forward
in the final round. So have at it.
Dave, what do you think? - I think both smiths
did a great job. I just think that Brent's
willingness to risk and do a complicated pattern <i> and have it come out
as well as it did</i> is top-notch work. - Okay.
Doug, what do you think? - Both smiths present us
with great Damascus patterns through the process
they chose; it really shows. So both blades broke, but one blade,
if push comes to shove, I can try to test it
for a sharpness test. There's enough blade there
to cut apples. The other one doesn't. - So for you guys,
is this just coming down to which break is worse? - Yeah.
- Yeah. Brent's blade broke with that
much blade and a handle, whereas Nathan's blade
broke right at the handle. There's just nowhere
to hold that blade anymore. - All right, so it sounds like both of you guys
are on the same page. - I think so.
- Are you ready? - Mm-hmm.
- Yeah. - Let's call them back in. <i> ♪ ♪</i> Bladesmiths, one of you
is still moving forward into the final round
to face Ben, going for that redemption,
a check for $10,000, and the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion. And the bladesmith
that's gonna be joining us in the final round
and facing Ben Abbott is... <i> ♪ ♪</i> Brent. Congratulations. - Good job, buddy. - I wish winning felt better.
- [laughs] - Nathan, man,
you fought extremely hard, but unfortunately your blade
did not make the cut, and Dave Baker
is gonna tell you why. - Nathan, you brought us
a great-looking blade that was really comfortable
in my hand, but it came down
to where that blade broke. Brent's blade still has about
4 inches of blade on it, and yours, there's just no way
to hold onto it anymore. - Sure. That's fair. - Well, Nathan,
unfortunately, due to the fact that you no longer have
a viable blade, your time in this competition
has ended. I'm gonna have to ask you to please step off
the Forge floor. <i> - I had a fun time here,</i> and I was confident
that I put out a good blade, but just that
one little section with some wonky forging
led to a tiny crack, <i> that led to the blade
snapping right in half.</i> I'm excited to see
what Ben and Brent pull out. <i> I know Brent's gonna kick ass,</i> <i> I know Ben's gonna kick ass,</i> so we'll see what happens. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Brent, congratulations, man. You made it through
the five-hour challenge, and that means
you're going forward in the final round
of the competition. You're gonna get
a second chance at Ben Abbott in a competition
of your choosing. Are you ready? - Yeah.
I feel like the last few years of my life have been, like,
leading up to this point, and I am just ready
to rock on that. The whole reason I came here
was to go up against Ben, so it's such a relief. It feels so good
to get that chance. - Well, Brent,
it may be unconventional, but you made it to the final
round of this competition. You're gonna go
head-to-head against the smith whose current record
is seven wins and zero losses, and to see
if you have what it takes to beat the unbeaten. <i> ♪ ♪</i> Ben Abbott. - Brent, big surprise. <i> Brent and I have been friends
ever since that first episod.</i> That was a hell of a time.
[laughs] I know he's an amazing smith,
so I'm gonna have to <i> go all out plus a little
to keep the streak going.</i> - Well, bladesmiths,
I gotta say, guys, I am thoroughly thrilled
about this competition, not only because we got
two talented smiths here, but because you guys have
a little bit of history. You know each other, you've
worked side by side before, and I'm very, very excited
to see you guys battle it out. In the next eight hours,
gentlemen, you will be going head-to-head
in a bladesmithing competition where you need to make a blade
from start to finish. Now, as you guys can see,
Dave and Doug are not gonna be joining us
for this round. For fairness, they're not
gonna have a clue whose blade is whose when
they get into testing. Now, Brent, because you won
the last round, you were able to choose
whatever blade you wanted from our "Forge of Fire" vault that you wanted yourself
and Ben to build. So for the next eight hours,
you are both gonna be working diligently
to build this. <i> [dramatic music]</i> The Ida Sword. - [chuckling]
Oh, an Ida. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - The Ida Sword</i> <i> used by the Yoruba people
of West Africa</i> <i> features a double-edged,
leaf-shaped blade</i> <i> ideal for harvesting crops
in the fields</i> <i> as well as inflicting lethal
slashes and stabs in battle.</i> <i> This deadly weapon appeared</i> <i> in season four
of "Forged in Fire,"</i> <i> where both smiths produced
ornate Damascus patterns,</i> <i> but one smith's mistake
during his quench</i> <i> caused his sword to chip
during the strength test,</i> <i> costing him the competition.</i> - Your blade length needs to be
between 23 and 25 inches. You have quad hollows giving you
a double-edged blade, and you have
an integral bolster to put on. <i> - The biggest part
of this blade</i> is the quad hollow grind. <i> It's just not one
of my strong suits.</i> I really feel a little bit
on my back foot on this one. - Now, Brent, along
with choosing the weapon, you were able to choose
the technique that you'll both use
to build your Ida Swords. Bladesmiths, in eight hours, you need to make
your Ida Swords using this. What you have here
are stacks of 1095 and 15N20 along with wrought iron chain. We want you to combine
those three elements in the Damascus San Mai. - Cool. - Now, Brent, because this
is your second time in this competition
and your second shot at the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion, we wanted to raise the bar
a little bit and see if Ben
had any spins he wanted to put on this competition. So, Ben, you've got anything? - Yeah. I think that that
there's something missing from that stack up, Brent. I think we need
a little nickel. - Ooh.
- Ooh. All right. So we're talking
Damascus Go Mai now. - Yes, we are. I really enjoy adding nickel
to my San Mai, making it into a Go Mai. <i> The transition between
the dark cutting edge</i> <i> and whatever you put
above the nickel,</i> <i> it really pops to the eye.</i> I think it's really beautiful. - When that eight hours is up, we're gonna start off
with a dynamic KEAL test on a ballistics dummy
and a pork loin slice. Then Dave's gonna take over and put your blades through
a dynamic strength test with a ammo can chop
and a foam dummy slice. Good luck.
Your time starts now. <i> [rock music]</i> - This is unchartered waters
going on right now. Now, the process these smiths
are gonna have to go through in order
to get this built correct, we've seen before;
we've seen Damascus. - Whoa. Dagnabbit. <i> - We've seen Go Mai.</i> - Charlie wanted to go Go Mai 'cause he wanted
a thicker blade. <i> - We've seen nickel used.</i> <i> - I've never worked
with nickel before.</i> This is gonna be
a bit of a challenge for me. - But we've never seen all
of them put together in one. This is gonna be
very interesting. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - The whole reason I came hee
was to go against Ben,</i> <i> so it feels so great
to get that chance.</i> <i> But after this last testing,
I'm a little rattled.</i> The first time
I was on this competition, my blade didn't hold up
that well to the testing. - Brent, we definitely
have waves in the blade. <i> - This time, I thought
I had a great knife,</i> <i> and it exploded,</i> <i> so I want to make a blade</i> <i> that can pass
the "Forged in Fire" testing.</i> - How are you feeling, bud?
- Pretty good. Pretty good. - So what's your plan
for the billet? You went with
the crushed Ws last time, you saw how that worked out. - No. You know what we're
gonna do here, we're gonna stage
the parameters, so I'm gonna go
with a natural pattern. - Okay.
- Some people call it random. It's natural when I do it.
- [laughs] <i> ♪ ♪</i> There is a lot on the line
here for Ben. If he loses one competition, he will no longer
be the unbeaten. <i> - I feel really good
about my record so far,</i> but every single challenge
is a brand new mystery and a potential failure,
and I don't want to lose. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> I draw the wrought iron,</i> <i> and while that's heating up,
I clean up the steel</i> <i> that I'm gonna use
for my Damascus billet.</i> <i> I'm gonna go with a 26-layer</i> alternating stack
of 1095 and 15N20, <i> draw it out
to a 24 plus inches long,</i> <i> cut it into six pieces,
and make 156 layers</i> <i> that I will make the core
of my Ida Sword out of.</i> Ninety percent
of what you're gonna see at the end of the day
is gonna be the Damascus, <i> so I really want
to put extra effort in</i> <i> to that Damascus
to make it beautiful.</i> <i> - So as my billet's coming up
to heat in the forge,</i> I'm working on forging out
my wrought iron. - Is there anything specific
about wrought iron that makes it more difficult
to work with? - It can split really easy,
so if I'm not really careful and open this just slow
at real high heat, then this can tear;
I don't want to do that, so I'm just gonna open it up, as painful as it is,
a little slower. Now it's time
to squish some welds. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> This feels really solid,
really good,</i> but I have to move on because
I know that this sword build is gonna take
every minute that I have. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - After the welds are set,
I get the billet to length.</i> <i> Now it's time to start
grinding all that scale off</i> of both sides of that billet so that I can cut it
and restack it. - This is a really
important moment for Ben. If he doesn't get the faces
of this steel, the billet, cleaned up,
when he cuts and restacks it he runs the risk
of having delaminations or cold shuts
in that final billet. <i> - So I cut all my pieces
to 4 inches long.</i> <i> There's a huge risk
each time I win.</i> It becomes more
and more important <i> to keep the streak going.</i> I don't want to get a first
number and a second number. I like "0" as a second number. <i> So as this billet
is heating up,</i> I try to select a nice piece
of wood for my handle. - Brent just put his
final stack in the forge. So he's got a Damascus center collided with the nickel
and then the wrought iron. - I'm getting a little nervous. <i> This is a critical moment</i> 'cause I've got to have
good welds. There we go. <i> It looks good, it's not
splitting apart at the ends</i> in any significant way,
and I'm really happy with it. - Brent, Ben, you guys
have four hours left. We're halfway through. Now on Ben's side of The Forge, he's going for a high-layered
Damascus in the core. Then he's still got
to collide it with the nickel and the wrought iron and go back
for another fourth weld. <i> - All I've got now
is one more weld</i> to get the wrought iron
and nickel stuck onto this billet,
and I am off to the races. - Ben is welding up
his final stack. He's got a lot of work to do to catch up
to where Brent's at right now. <i> - This is both the scariest</i> <i> and most fun part
about this build.</i> If the weld doesn't stick,
it would be catastrophic. <i> This weld has to take.</i> ♪ ♪ Now I'm relatively confident
that this billet is welded. But because of my choice
to restack my billet, <i> it's put me behind.</i> <i> I need to catch up to Brent.</i> <i> [rock music]</i> <i> - The shape and profile
of this sword</i> <i> is a little tricky 'cause</i> <i> it's nice and flowing
like a leaf or a reed,</i> <i> but then I have to contend
with this quad hollow grind,</i> so we have to be able to take
those grinds from all the wy from the hilt to the tip
and keep that central lin, as well as our edges,
as straight as possible. <i> So I have this idea
that maybe I can make tooling</i> to try to press in
some of this hollow grind. - Brent built his own dyes
for the press using some wrought iron
cylinders next to each other
on the bottom and on the to. - Let's see if it works. The center spine
that I forged in on my tooling <i> is not really straight;
it's very lumpy,</i> but I have so much to do,
I have to move on. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - The next step is to cut
the shoulders for the bolster, where the bolster
matches up to the handle, <i> and my first squeeze
is on the tang side</i> <i> of what's gonna be my bolster.</i> I have to be
really careful here <i> because it could end up being
a weak spot, it could break.</i> <i> So I'm paying
very close attention</i> to make sure
I don't over squeeze that junction
between bolster and blade. You look a little tired, Brent. Why don't you take a nap, man? - You think you're, like,
lulling me into, like, a sense of security,
you're not, man. - [laughs] <i> The bolster is looking
really good,</i> and now it's time
for the quench. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Ben went from being
relatively far behind and now he's the first one
quenched. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - This is a critical moment
because this is the moment</i> where this thing
becomes a sword. It's warped, so I'm going
straight to the leg vice to start to look
at straightening. I don't love that I'm pulling
on this blade back and forth to bend it
into the correct shape, <i> but of course
it's very brittle from quench</i> and I could break it. - This is dangerous, 'cause
if anything happens right now, he's only got three hours left to completely build
a new blade. <i> - If I go too far
and snap my blade,</i> it's all over for me. <i> I won't be able to finish.</i> [grunts] - Okay. Let's stick with that. I've got a really warpy blade, <i> but I still have a lot of mass
on this blade,</i> so I can grind a little
off of this side, a little off of that, and find a center
that's straight. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - It's time to start working
on the quad hollows.</i> What makes a quad hollow grind
tricky is to do correctly it needs
to have a medial ridge, <i> so if you waver,</i> it's very easy to see,
and it looks bad, <i> so it's gonna take
a lot of work to get right.</i> Good stuff. The hollow grinds
are looking good. <i> It's time to start working
on the handle.</i> - You're running out of time,
guys. You have one hour left. - I take my blade
out of the temper, and I realize that I gotta
get this handle going. - On Brent's side, he's doing
a multi-piece through tang
handle construction. He's gonna have brass,
wood, and then a brass pommel
on his blade. - I want to make sure
it indexes well and it's not too round;
I want those judges to fel <i> like it was shaped
proportionate to their hands.</i> I just want it to be
comfortable for them to use, and safe, of course. I finally get
the thing shaped up. I just grab that handle
and feel that sword, and this moment is the first
moment I felt like a sword. It's great. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Ben's now gonna get
his acid etch on his blade. We're gonna see
that beautiful 156 layers pop. <i> - I've given all the time
I can give</i> <i> to the blade and the acid.</i> It's now time to take a look. Dude! It looks boss.
I mean, I see the nickel, I see the wrought iron
in the center, and I'm super excited. <i> It's just a matter
of the last little bits now.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Five, four, three, two, one.
Great work. Please put down your blades and prepare yourselves
for testing. <i> - So I'm finished
with my blade.</i> <i> I'm really happy
with the way it looks,</i> <i> and I look at Brent's blade,
and I'm intimidated.</i> I really want to win, <i> and my thus far
undefeated record</i> <i> is on the line.</i> <i> Now it's all down
to the testing.</i> - Doug, Dave, guys, you missed yet another
intense competition. Brent decided
he wanted he and Ben to build the Ida Sword,
so now you guys got your chance to put
your hands on the weapons and I want to hear
what you think. Doug, what do you think
of silver? <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - I really like the overall
symmetry of the blade,</i> the way it feels, the grinds, and the way it just,
you know, transitions nicel. - Now let's talk about gold. <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> - I like the configuration
of gold's handle.</i> The flare it's got
fits my hand really nicely. It's easier
to control that weapon. But once you move forward,
things start changing. The edge is still in line, but the medial ridge
is moving like that. - Ready to put them to work?
- Oh, yeah. - Let's do it.
- Let's get to it. I'll call them in. <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Well, Brent, Ben,
congratulations on making it through
that very difficult eight-hour build
for your Ida Swords. It's coming down to this. Gentlemen, the stakes are high. Ben, you're trying to keep
your unbeaten streak of 7-0 going. Brent, you're trying to be
the first smith to beat Ben, taking home the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion and getting a check
for $10,000. Best way, gentlemen,
we know how to find out which one of your swords
is gonna come out on top-- by putting them
through a few tests. And up first, we have
the KEAL test with Doug. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right, bladesmiths. Welcome to the dynamic
KEAL test. To find out lethal
your Ida Swords are, I'm gonna cut through
this ballistics dummy and pork loins.
You guys ready? - Yes, sir.
- All right. Let's do this. - My blade broke in half
on the first round... <i> ♪ ♪</i> So the stakes are high, <i> and I'm just ready to see wht
Doug can do with this thing.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> [dramatic rock music]</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right, guys,
the first thing about this is when you pick it up,
it's forward heavy 'cause you have
thicker grinds right here. But when you swing it,
it's manageable. I like the flare
that he put over there 'cause it's really giving me
a nice counterbalance, especially when you're
swinging something that has
a forward weight to it. Overall, it will KEAL. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - I'm most concerned that
my blade is gonna be heavier than Brent's
because it's bigger in profile <i> and heavier
sometimes can be worse.</i> ♪ ♪ <i> [dramatic rock music]</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - All right, gentlemen. When I pick up this blade, I can feel
the distribution of the weight be far more even
compared to gold's over here. When I'm cutting this,
because of that distribution, it's even a deeper chop
into this ballistics dummy. Now, when I'm grabbing
onto the handle here, actually it feels good,
it's ovoid, I can really tell
where the edge is. Overall, it will KEAL. <i> [rock music]</i> - All right, gentlemen. It's time for our combined
strength and sharpness test, the ammo crate chop
and foam dummy slice. Gold anvil's up. <i> - During the strength test,
anything can happen.</i> <i> It can have bending or warping
and, of course, breakage,</i> and I definitely
do not want breakage <i> for the second time
in competition.</i> <i> I'm really nervous.</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> - So right off,
when you pick up this weapo, there's a lot of weight
up here in this blade. But in that test, the blade
took a warp right there. As far as the edges
of the blade go, they held up quite well. But there's really
no getting around that bend. <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> All right. This thing
is a superior cutter. Those cuts took maybe
half the effort to get deeper into that target. As far as the strength test
goes, it took no damage. Nice piece. <i> [suspenseful music]</i> - Well, bladesmiths,
in eight hours you were both tasked to build
a very difficult blade with an even more
difficult technique, but in this competition
only one of you can come out on top. The winner of today's
"Forged in Fire" competition is... <i> ♪ ♪</i> Ben Abbott,
you are now 8-0, buddy. Congratulations. Brent, man, you're good. You're an unbelievable smith, but unfortunately, you didn't
come out on top today, and Dave Baker
is gonna tell you why. - Brent, I know how difficult
this blade is to make and you did a great job
making it, but you did take a slight bend
in the strength test, and those uneven grinds towards the front
of this blade, those are the two reasons
we chose the other sword. - Well, Brent, again,
I want to say thank you for coming back
and letting us all watch you work in the Forge;
it was a pleasure, but unfortunately
you're not the champion today. This time I'm gonna have
to ask you to please step of the Forge floor. <i> - I was able to do something
pretty incredible,</i> I think, in eight hours, but Ben's a whole nother level. It looks like he took
four days on it, <i> like a normal challenge.</i> <i> Unbelievable.</i> I'm a two-time loser.
[chuckles] <i> ♪ ♪</i> - Ben, Ben, Ben.
- Holy guacamole. - Current record of 8-0
in The Forge. How are you feeling? - I feel amazing.
I'm super excited. Brent is such an amazing smith, and to be able to pull off
a win against him, I just feel absolutely amazing. <i> But here I am,
still undefeated.</i> <i> With any luck, I'll be able
to keep this streak alive</i> <i> forever and a day.</i> <i> There's a lot of smiths
out there</i> <i> that might want
to take me down,</i> but I'm here, I'm ready. Bring it on.
