WIL WILLIS: Paul,
Steven, congratulations. You're both one step closer to
the title of "Forged in Fire" champion and a
check for 10 grand. All that you need to do
now is go home and recreate an iconic weapon from history. That weapon is the Ngombe Ngulu. Good luck, bladesmiths. We'll see you in five days. [MUSIC PLAYING] STEVEN: I want to get going. My shop is-- I often refer to it
as a hobbit hole. This is a fire breathing
spider that'll eat you alive. I make weird stuff. And this is really weird. If that doesn't lop off a
head, I don't know what will. This blade is a really difficult
one to shape because there's a lot of curvature. To get a blade like
this to balance, I've got to do a
lot of hammerwork. And I've got to
be really careful not to cancel out everything
I do on each hammer strip. [MUSIC PLAYING] PAUL: My competition is Steven,
who's a great young smith. He doesn't have the kind
of experience that I do. But none of us
have any experience making a Ngombe Ngulu. So it's going to
be a tough race. I'm deciding to
use a leaf spring. The Ngombe used
salvaged materials that already had holes
or shapes cut in it and formed their
pieces around them. I'm gonna drop a drift right
down that hole to see if I can get the hole to open up. I'm going to try to achieve
good balance with this blade. It's a really unusual shape so
that it feels good in the hand and that it will swing nicely. [MUSIC PLAYING] STEVEN: Now, I'm feeling
the pressure cause I knew that I had a lot to do today. Propane, I need to
kick this sucker up. Time to heat treat. This is a really critical
point in this process. There's a lot that
could go wrong. If the blade is
going to fail, I-- I will know very quickly
after it's hardened. [MUSIC PLAYING] There is a warp. [BLEEPS] It's in the main
section of the blade. If I try to straighten it,
and it cracks, I'm in trouble. Oh [BLEEPS]. PAUL: Today, I'm going
to have to heat treat. I pretty much have to
widen the whole top. I hate to take the time to
carve up my heat treat furnace. But I really don't have any
other options at this point. I'm feeling pretty
nervous right now. There's a lot that
could go wrong. I could get a really
bad warp, or the blade could fail to harden,
and I'd have to start the process over again. [MUSIC PLAYING] Man, I hope that that's not
like an omen right there. [LAUGHS] Oh hell, I'm going to go for it. That's good. [MUSIC PLAYING] It doesn't look any worse
than it did when I put it in. That is such a huge relief. Today is the day that
everything has to be done. Yesterday, I was able to get all
of the warp out in the temper. That was a relief. I am putting the
handle on right now. And I need to make sure
that I don't settle for gaps and misalignment. I highly doubt I'll hit
the marks that Paul will hit just because
he has so much more experience with this finish. And so the stakes
are much higher. So this epoxy works very fast. And I'm becoming very
aware of the closing window of time I have here
to get everything assembled. [MUSIC PLAYING] Oh [BLEEP]. I cracked the last
piece in the handle. A mistake has been made. There's no going back. I have just enough African
blackwood to replace my last piece on the handle. At this point in time,
it's really precious. [MUSIC PLAYING] PAUL: When I make
knives, I try and pay attention to the small details. I'll take the nickname
"Captain Meticulous." The first thing I'm
getting at this morning are the globes that
are a required element on the end of the handle. The globes could be thought
of as a really large pommel. They're using wood instead
of metal as a counterweight. That'll make it really
accurate to the Ngombe Ngulu. We've got scales cut. I made a weighted pommel nut
to put on to the very end so that I can dial
in the-- the balance. I'm adding a leather spacer,
which will act like a cushion. This will all dampen vibration
like a shock absorber. The last detail is doing
the leather handle wrap. It's going to be a great grip. So this is a 1 inch
thick manilla rope. It's a standard test for
a lot of knife edge stuff. The worst case scenario
would be to find out that my edge doesn't hold up. Go about like that. Something like that
could send me home. And here we go. And that is a pass. [MUSIC PLAYING] WIL WILLIS: Bladesmiths,
welcome back to the forge. You've had five days
at your home forges to work on your finale weapons. You know what's next,
the weapons test. Dave? Gentlemen, this is
the sharpness test. To test the sharpness
of your blades, I'll be cutting into
our cane man here. Paul, you ready? Yes. I feel good. I know that the geometry behind
my edge is thin and convex. So it should cut through
the cane very well. [MUSIC PLAYING] DAVID BAKER: This is
what I love to see come back in the third round. This feels like a weapon. It cuts like a weapon. It went right through that cane. You nailed it. Thank you. All right, Steven. You ready for this? Yes, sir. STEVEN: Dave is clearly
excited about Paul's blade, which is great for Paul. I'm a little worried
because I want him to be excited on my blade, too. But we'll see. [MUSIC PLAYING] Your weapon, it's the
same weapon, different feel. It's a different weight. It's a different balance. But the cuts, you can see,
it just passed right through. There wasn't any
resistance on that cane. Nicely done. STEVEN: And that felt
really good to hear. Never expected to
make it this far based on how round one went. And it just feels
good to have made something that's effective. Gentlemen, to
test the strength and durability of
your blades, I'm going to chop into these clay pots. This is not about what
your blades do to the pots. It's what these pots
can do to your blades. Paul, you're up first. PAUL: Hitting something
as hard as a clay pot, I don't have any idea what
it's going to do to my edge. [MUSIC PLAYING] The balance is
really nice on this. It's heavy where it
needs to be heavy. When you're swinging it,
you know where it's going. There's a slight roll on
the edge of your blade right here that I can get
a fingernail on that. Everything down at the handle
and the guard are still tight. Yeah, other than that one roll,
it seems to have held up well. All right, Steven,
it's your turn. Are you ready for this? Yes, sir. DAVID BAKER: OK. [MUSIC PLAYING] Nice and straight. I don't really see
anything out of alignment. Your blade's a little
bit heavier than Paul's. But it's got a good feel. It's got a good balance. The wood you've
got in the handle and the extension of this
handle has put the balance in a really nice place. Cool. DAVID BAKER: Yeah, I can't feel
any deformation on the edge. Well done. Thank you. DAVID BAKER: Next
up, the kill test. Doug? I know what the
weapon was used for. And I'm starting to wonder
pretty hardcore what we're about to do to these dummies. Bladesmiths, this
is the kill test. The Ngombe Ngulu wasn't just
a weapon used by tribal chiefs to show status. It was also known as "The
Beheading Sword of the Congo." So to see what kind of lethal
damage your weapon will do, I will take your Ngombe Ngulu,
and I'll deliver lethal slashes on this ballistics dummy. [MUSIC PLAYING] [LAUGHTER] Oh my god. That was bad ass. All right, Paul. Let's talk about
your Ngombe Ngulu. It feels good in the hand. It's got a razor's edge here
that upon its initial delivery into the gut, that dug in deep
all the way in to the bowel. Yeah. DOUG MARCAIDA: Now, for
its intended purpose of going up to decapitate
the head, well, come on. It's got no head. It's dead. Your weapon will kill. Thank you. DOUG MARCAIDA:
All right, Steven. It's your turn.
You ready? Yes, sir. [MUSIC PLAYING] DOUG MARCAIDA:
All right, Steven. Your blade is sharp. It lacerated all the
way into the bowels. As you can see, that cut
through the jaw and all the way through the head. The wood that you have
here, it's smooth, but it's the indexing
that you have with it, the way you have it flattened
out and avoid that feels good in the hand. Awesome. And it will kill. Thanks. WIL WILLIS: Paul, Steven,
the judge's deliberation is complete. The "Forged in
Fire" champion is-- [MUSIC PLAYING] --Steven. Congratulations. You are the "Forged
in Fire" champion. Paul, thank you very
much for turning in such a beautiful weapon. But now, I have to ask
you to surrender it. And please leave the forge. PAUL: I certainly accept
the judge's decision. First thing I'm gonna do when
I get home is clean my shop and get on with
what I usually make. Steven, congratulations. You are the "Forged
in Fire" champion and will be receiving
a check for 10 grand. How do you feel? I feel great. [LAUGHS] It's a little surreal. I damn well proved what
I came in here to prove. I am creative and that I
can make a functional weapon and that you don't have to
be the most experienced. If you put your heart into
stuff, things, you know, can turn out well. It was fun as hell. And I'm glad that
I came out on top. [MUSIC PLAYING]
