[dramatic music]
- Over the years, we've seen hundreds of smiths
walk through our doors to compete
for a chance of 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,
where 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 rock music]
Today, we've traveled over 800 miles south
to one of the country's most prolific
knife-making regions with Ben Abbott.
- America is home to some of the finest
blacksmith shops in the world.
But the forge I chose combines two
of the things I love the most, functionality and beauty.
Today, we're heading to the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop
in Brasstown, North Carolina.
Located in the Appalachians, knives and tools
have been relied on for centuries in this region
for everything from hunting game
to harvesting their thousands of acres of crops
like cotton and tobacco.
And today, some of the country's top metalworkers
call it home.
Now three of their top smiths will compete to represent both
this shop and me for a chance at becoming
a Forged in Fire champion.
♪
- My name is Jesse Bolding.
I'm 26 years old.
And I'm honored to be here.
My connection to this place is I get to assist teaching here,
and I get to do armor classes
and basic blacksmithing and stuff.
I just get to absorb as much as I can here.
I want to compete in "Forged in Fire"
and represent the shop,
and I just will give my best effort.
♪
- I'm Cole Recchia.
I'm 28 years old.
Blacksmithing is my full-time career.
I love my job, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
About two years ago, the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop
had a fellowship position open.
And I feel like my time here has definitely
made me a better blacksmith.
And I'm excited to see what that means here.
♪
- My name is Jason Bevans.
I am 51 years old.
I've been bladesmithing since I was 12,
so I've been doing it for 30--
35--I'm 51, so 19-- no, no, 30--
39? 39?
I can't even do math.
[laughs]
It's a great honor to be here
at the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop.
I've known Clay for years through
the Appalachian Area Chapter of Blacksmiths.
There's a long history of bladesmithing
and blacksmithing in the Appalachian area.
Yeah, we're definitely people that take pride
in making good products.
- Well, bladesmiths, blacksmiths, we are extremely
excited to be joining you here.
You three have been handpicked as some of the best smiths
the region has to offer.
Today, we're being hosted by someone who needs
no introduction to you, an award-winning metal artist
and the coordinator here at the metal shop,
Elizabeth Belz.
And judging this competition is the person
you'll be representing in the finals,
our extremely talented blacksmith
and bladesmith Ben Abbott.
Now, Ben chose this forge because it's known
for its ornate blacksmithing,
so make 'em proud.
♪
The three of you are here to compete in
two rounds of forging competition.
Now, there will be an elimination at the end
of each one of those rounds,
including after the final round
of testing back at our home forge.
But whichever one of you comes out on top,
you will join us back at our home forge
for the final leg of this tournament.
Now, in that final round, you will go up
against three other smiths that we pick up
across America on our travels.
There are high stakes here.
If one of you three wins out in this tournament,
you will take home a personal check for $20,000.
To make the deal a little bit sweeter,
this forge will also get up to $10,000 worth
of forging equipment and supplies.
- I want to give what this place has given me back to it.
And with $10,000, it would help them a lot.
Like, a hydraulic press.
Tons of things that could just be really helpful here.
- Now we're gonna start off with a five-hour forging round
where you're gonna build a blade from start to finish.
Now, as you know, this shop is all about passing down
historic blacksmithing knowledge to keep
that ancient art alive,
and because of that,
we want you to build this.
♪
A traditional blacksmith's knife,
a weapon that combines both ornamental metalwork
and a functional blade.
- I have made lots of blacksmith's knives,
but I'm kind of intimidated making a blade
for these people because they know
what to look for, they know what's good.
So hopefully, I don't let them down.
- Now, what makes this a blacksmiths knife is
its integral construction, meaning that
both the blade and the handle
are all forged from a single piece of metal.
Your blade length will need to be between 9 and 11 inches
from tip to where the cutting edge ends in a straight line.
Now, blacksmiths, because Belz is so well-known
for ornate metal work,
we want you to incorporate artistry
into your blade handles.
To make this blade, you've got one bar of W1 round stock,
so use it wisely.
Now, when the five hours is up, we're gonna start off
by checking for strength and durability
in a blacksmith's tong chop, then check your edge retention
in a pumpkin slice.
You have five hours on the clock.
So good luck, and stay sharp.
Your time starts now.
[rock music]
- Whoo!
- Belz, explain to me this setup
you have here in the shop.
- Yeah.
So we have 12 separate coal forges around the shop.
- I didn't think about the fact that these guys
have to actually start the coal forges.
- Some of my favorite parts about this competition
are that the coal forge is not gonna be
the detriment it often is.
We do a lot of these competitions.
You reveal the coal forge, and all the contestants are like...
[groaning]
Come on.
Another thing I love about these forges
is they don't have those little hand-crank blowers,
that they sit there like an organ grinder.
- Little turbo engines.
- These all have one blower outside that
feeds a lot of these forges all at the same time.
- Nowhere near enough paper.
- Here, he gave me an extra.
- Thank you, sir.
- You've got people coming in
from all over the world, right?
- Yeah, even blacksmiths
who have been smithing for years
come up here to take classes, which is really great.
- It probably gets pretty crazy in here
when you have a full team of 12 smiths and you're working.
- Yeah, and my office is right above them.
- Oh. - Oh, boy.
- Oh, no.
- I'm very confident burning coal.
I've been using it for years and years.
And I'm excited to use it today.
- When we bring smiths into our shop,
you always see them running around confused
like their pants are on fire.
- I'm just running around like one of my cartoon characters,
like a chicken without a head.
- I'm digging around in everything.
I just can't seem to find the all thread.
Is it right in front of my face?
I feel so dumb right now.
- But now we've got three smiths in front of us
who are very comfortable in this space.
And it's really fun to see them work.
- But to be fair, sometimes their pants are on fire.
- Yeah.
- [laughs]
- Tool's on fire.
- Oh, my God.
♪
- Seems that Cole's coal forge is the hottest right now.
- Cole's rolling.
- I'd be a lot more nervous at the judge's forge
than I am here in the Clay Spencer Shop.
And I think some of my experience
in the shop here in the past will help me
as we go into the challenge.
- So, Ben, why did you choose this shop?
- I chose this forge because of my own work.
I also take pride in making things ornate and beautiful,
and this shop exemplifies that.
I think whoever wins here today will represent me well.
- It's surreal to see Grady, to see Ben,
walking around my old stomping grounds.
I've got butterflies in my stomach.
I'm freaking out. I'm sweating.
I just want to represent
Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop well.
Oh, struggling getting this fire started.
- With only five hours to make a blacksmith blade,
not able to get past that first hurdle
of getting your forge lit--
got to be frustrating.
- My students are mad at me.
I can hear them right now because I yell at them
to get their forges started right,
and I can't even get mine started right, right now.
So stressing in my head a little bit.
You got skills, Mr. Cole.
You're showing me up.
I see it.
- I gave him my extra paper.
- Lots of paper.
- I know.
I know.
- I want Jesse and Cole to do well
because they're great guys.
But I want to do better.
[laughs]
- Why do blacksmiths prefer sometimes the coal forge?
- I mean, if you think about it, anything in history
that you saw made out of iron or steel--
huge gates at Versailles or whatever--
was done in a forge like this.
- I'm starting to sweat and get hot.
That's why I got a do-rag.
I'm bald-headed, so I got to have something
keeps sweat out of my eyes.
♪
- [bleep].
- Oh, no.
Did Jason's go out?
- Yep.
- Ugh.
Oh, crap.
Can't get my fire started.
[laughs]
I told my friends and family I would do my best
to not embarrass myself or them.
I normally don't have trouble starting a fire.
It's kind of embarrassing.
Lots more.
So here I go, panicking.
I hope the coals start burning.
Burn.
There we go.
So I finally got my fire going.
Hopefully this is the only embarrassment I will have.
If that's it, then I'm okay.
♪
- We're in the Appalachian Mountains right now.
Do you think there's anything about that
that affects the style of the work
that comes out of the shop? - Oh, yeah.
They made farming equipment, like plow blades.
They made things they needed to work in the fields.
It was all utilitarian stuff.
- A lot quieter in this forge. - Shh.
- Typically, you've got screaming.
- [laughs]
[machine pounding]
- Oh, [bleep].
That's scared the [bleep] of me.
How the heck is Cole already heated and on the hammer?
- Cole has probably the most experience in coal.
- My first move is to forge my round bar
into a rectangular billet
so I can more easily hold on to it.
And then from there, I want to forge my knife end first.
- What's with the googly-eyed guy?
- [laughs]
- I mean, googly eyes just make everything better.
- Tend to agree with that.
- Everything is going pretty well so far,
but I'm definitely feeling the pressure of the clock.
So I hope I can get it done in time.
- Bladesmiths, you've got four hours remaining
to finish your blades.
- [laughs]
- We call that the bladesmith's finger.
- Yeah.
- Jesse's still struggling to get the coal lit.
- Ugh.
Going insane.
It's been a whole hour of me
just wasting time at this fire.
And I can see that Cole is already
going to the power hammer.
He's got plenty good heat.
And I look over and Jason has got plenty of good stuff.
I'm stressing I'm gonna be out of this competition,
and I haven't even put my foot in the door.
I got to get it started.
- For the first time ever, "Forged in Fire"
is hitting the road to find the best
bladesmiths across America.
And today, we're in Brasstown, North Carolina,
with Ben Abbott, and the competition is fierce.
Jesse is still fighting the coal.
The other two smiths are back and forth
on the power hammer getting to work.
- I really got to get a move on.
I really got to get started.
I'm hoping and praying for this to get started.
I'm stressing
I'm gonna be out of this competition,
and I haven't even put my foot in the door.
I gotta get it started.
- What's that lever up on the top of it,
like the on/off switch?
- That controls the amount of air
they're getting from the blower.
It's the twear.
- Looks like he's using that now, and it's working.
He's got a good flame going.
- Got a little bit, but I just hope it doesn't go out.
- You just gotta believe.
- I got fire!
Hooray!
The fire gods blessed me.
I'm so happy.
- All right.
Jesse's fire's up and running, finally.
- I'm just so glad that it got started.
I hopefully am gonna keep this fire too.
- I'm in the races now.
I don't feel like I'm out of the game,
but I definitely have a lot of catching up to do.
- Something I really love about this shop is
that everywhere you look,
you've got things like the entryway.
You've got the ends of these beams up here.
Everything is not only blacksmith themed,
but it seems like a lot of it was made by the blacksmiths
in the shop itself.
- Yeah.
All of our signage is forged in the shop,
the toilet paper holders, the towel holders in the room.
- Toilet paper holders? - Yeah.
- That'd be my luck.
Hey, I'm here to help.
Make a toilet paper holder.
- You're the plunger guy.
- But how?
- Power hammers are awesome.
Who wouldn't love to take a piece of steel
and just smash the crap out of it?
[laughs]
- Jason is starting with the blade,
drawing back the length.
- The more mass you have after finishing the blade, the more
options you have to make... - I got it.
- The handle of your dreams.
- You don't want to work yourself into a corner
where you have to do a specific handle style.
- The tests are we're going to chop some tongs
and slice some pumpkins.
Chopping into tongs is absolutely scary
because it is metal on metal,
so it is going to do some damage.
- The tong chop-- that's so mean, Ben.
They put this beautiful blacksmith's knife together,
and I'm gonnna swing it as hard as I can
into a pair of tongs.
- Better than a hammer, I guess.
Or torpedo.
- Oh, [bleep].
- This here is what you call a KSO--
Knife-Shaped Object.
[laughs]
- I'm a little behind schedule, I think.
I'm trying to draw out my knife.
And I'm gonna draw out that tang.
- These guys don't just have to stand out above the other two
competitors in this forge.
Whichever one of them comes out on top of these two rounds
is gonna have to come back to our forge
and battle three other smiths
that we picked up around America.
- Yeah.
- There's a ton on the line here.
- I'm doing a lot of hand hammering because
I don't like to use the power hammers.
So I'm in my lane.
I'm trying to flourish.
- This doesn't strike me as a blade
that you can get away with just drawing out a blank
and grinding a finish.
There is gonna be a ton of hammer work.
- Yeah.
As a matter of fact, when I did mine,
it was about 10 minutes on the grinder.
- Really?
So hammer skills are pretty important in getting
ahead of the game on this?
- My knife feels good.
I am not as worried now.
I feel like I have a chance.
[humming]
[rock music]
- My favorite part about this competition is the handle.
The handle is a blank slate.
You can do anything you want.
And I want to see something fun.
- Yeah.
- What would you do?
- Oh, I'd put a bug on the end of it.
I know a scorpion isn't technically a bug,
but a scorpion tail would be a pretty sweet handle.
- It's an arachnid.
- Go home, Ben.
- [laughs]
- So generally, on a blacksmith's knife's handle,
you would form a taper and wrap it around.
But for my handle,
I want to do something a little different,
and I want to slot punch a hole
down the length of the handle
and then drift that out to form a more ergonomic handle.
- One thing that I don't like about what Cole is doing
is when you split that handle in the middle,
it puts part of that handle above the spine of the blade
and you end up with that blade that's offset
to where the handle usually is.
- I think this is looking kind of cool.
- Cole's knife looks like a half a pair of scissors.
- Yeah. Yeah. - It really does.
That's exactly what it is.
- I'm wondering if the handle is decorated or not.
And maybe I'll change my mind later
and twist it after it's been heat treated.
But as of now, I'm gonna leave this as it is.
Which might be a bad idea.
Who knows?
Time will tell.
- Bladesmiths, you have half the time remaining.
Two and a half hours till we're finished.
♪
It looks like he left a little glob at the end.
- Yeah.
- Now that I've got the blade drawn out,
I'm feeling pretty good.
For the artistic touch, I'm going to try
to do a leaf on the end and curl that around
and have the leaf come up as a guard.
It's important to me for it to be ornate.
For one, it hopefully shows off some of my craftsmanship.
And I hope that it will set me apart from the competition.
- So we got the answer to the glob
at the end of Jason's handle.
It looks like he's turning it into a leaf shape.
- Okay.
- So that's a very traditional blacksmith thing to do.
- Yeah.
- Isn't it just lovely?
So I got my leaf made.
It looks great.
And then I start folding it around.
Yeah, I got too much.
So now I'm starting to sweat it.
It's like, man, I put all this time and effort
into making this leaf.
I've lost that time.
But if I leave this leaf, it's gonna be way too long.
- Jason is cutting that leaf
off the tail of his knife right now.
- That's not good.
- The artistic add-on has to be in the final product.
- Yeah.
- I put all this time and effort into making this leaf,
and now I'm not gonna use it.
So I have to think of something else
to have that decorative element.
- Can you put that leaf back on?
- I think he needs to "leaf" it right there.
- Oh, come on.
- [laughs]
- I didn't know Doug was on this episode.
- Yeah. [laughter]
- So we got a farrier, a jeweler, and a welder
walk into a bar.
- Was it a metal bar?
- Oh, wow.
Oh.
Check, please.
- Jesse's transitioning from that blade section
to the handle, and he's drawing it out.
- I'm going to make a single twist
on the back of the spine,
and then I'm going to wrap it around
decoratively to where it'll curl up to kind of create
as a guard in itself.
Even though it's not super flashy,
it's something that fits parameters
that I know I can do.
- Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
I really like the twist in Jesse's handle.
It gives that artistic flair we're looking for,
and he was able to execute it relatively quickly.
- So it looks like Jason just heated up a piece of metal,
and now he's heating up the oil.
- It gets thinner when you heat it,
and it cools things more rapidly.
- Interesting.
So this is a smart move? - Yeah.
- It starts to smell like French fries in here now.
Somebody could have bought some.
We could have us a French fry.
- Jason's making lunch for everybody.
What are we eating today, Jason?
- Oh, I got some eyeball stew here.
- Great.
- Jason's famous chili.
- I'm full.
- It's quench time.
I'm getting ready to harden my piece.
- A good quench and heat treat is vital for this.
We chop tongs with these things, you know?
You can't get away with mediocre heat treat.
- Basically, anything can go wrong.
And we've just got to hope for the best.
- Here we go. All right. Cole's in the oil.
- Yeah.
♪
- I think that's good.
After the quench, I need to sharpen the blade.
It's a long process, but it's got to be done,
and it's the most important.
- You know, Grady, I really wish
Cole would focus more on the artistry aspect
of this challenge-- it's pretty plain.
- At this point, just making a blacksmith's knife
isn't enough.
All right, bladesmiths.
30 minutes remaining.
- So you have that decorative element.
Plan B is forge out a finial.
- This is a smart move.
- Yeah.
Very purposeful hammer work.
- I can talk to you for days about finials,
because I've made a bunch of them.
I don't have time to talk about that,
because I've got to get mine quenched.
I just basically want to use these hot coals.
And I'm just gonna ride it back and forth in the coals.
Then it'll be go time.
I'm scared to death it's gonna crack
or I'm gonna hear a tink or something.
Hopefully, all those molecules in the steel and the grain
in the steel will realign itself and do its magic thing
and, poof, Bob's your uncle, and there's your blade.
[laughs]
- Jason's quenched too, now.
- So far, I'm good.
Great.
- Jesse is the only smith left to quench his blade.
♪
- Quenched that blade way too hot.
When it's that hot when you go for the quench,
you run a bigger risk of cracking, warping,
- Whoo!
Now I got to make sure that all these components
are just right.
♪
- I'm really impressed with all these smiths today.
I feel really confident that any one of them
will represent me and this shop really well
and could win the whole thing.
- Trying to use what little time I have to make it better.
And I've got, you know,
pretty good-sized sausages here,
so kind of take a peek over at Ben.
I don't know if my hands are the same size,
but anyway, I think I'm okay as far as how the fit
and finish and feel goes.
That'll do, donkey.
It's a great honor to be able to compete and represent Ben
and the Appalachian region.
♪
- I can't unsee the scissors.
- [laughs] - You've ruined it.
- You're welcome.
- It's done.
- Now we're just trying to put some file marks
along this back side of the handle to give it
kind of like an artistic flair.
- What do you guys think of Cole's artistic addition
to his blade?
- Minimalist.
- Yeah.
- The art is in the eye of the beholder, technically.
- Well, in this case, it's in the eye of the judges.
- Yeah.
[scraping]
- It is a good way to get ahead of your opponents,
to make that noise over and over again.
- Not me.
- Like a mean cricket.
[rock music]
- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bladesmiths, turn off your machines.
Put down your tools. This round is over.
- I'm done.
And I'm satisfied.
I am not excited to get to see this thing tested,
because no bladesmith wants to see
their blade put through destructive,
devastating torture.
And all I can do is hope that it withstands Ben's cutting.
[laughs]
[dramatic music]
- Bladesmiths, welcome to the dynamic
strength and sharpness test.
First, to test the strength of your blades,
I'll be bashing them into this pair of tongs.
And then to test the edge retention
and the overall feel,
I'll be cutting into these gourds.
Jesse, you're up first. You ready?
- Yes, sir.
- All right.
♪
- I'm horribly nervous.
Knives are absolutely not intended to be
pounded into tongs.
My heart's absolutely beating out of my chest.
Is it gonna perform?
Is it gonna chip?
Is it gonna explode?
I'm just freaking out right now.
♪
- My heart's absolutely beating out of my chest.
I'm nervous. I'm stressing.
I think the worst-case scenario is, it's gonna explode.
The handle's gonna be uncomfortable.
There's so many issues that I'm just
kind of thinking about over my head.
♪
- [groans]
♪
All right, Jesse.
Starting off, it's got a good look to it.
I mean, it's a classic blacksmith-looking knife.
Main thing for me, though, is that the edge,
in the testing, took a lot of chipping.
It's possible that the steel was
a little too hot during the quench,
which can do some stuff. But it held up.
It's just now a serrated knife.
Moving back to your handle, the soft twists and the curl--
it's cool.
It's really neat.
All in all, it's all in one piece.
Still straight.
Nice job.
- Thank you.
- All right, Cole. You're up next.
You ready? - Yeah.
- All right.
- So I'm seeing Jesse's knife chipped,
and my heart's starting to beat.
I'm getting a little nervous 'cause I know
there's gonna be some destruction
when they chop into those tongs.
The edge could chip. It could crack.
It could fold over.
The handle could break in half.
Really, anything could go wrong.
♪
- All right, Cole.
Well, first off, looking at this knife,
it's not the most artistic expression that I've seen.
I wish it had a bit more flair, a bit more artistry.
Moving on to your blade, the edge did
end up taking some chipping.
And then back here, there's actually rolls that I can
get my fingernail underneath.
It did affect the cutting in the cut test.
As I cut down to the gourds,
I could feel the resistance pretty rapidly.
But at the end of the day, nice job.
- Thanks.
- All right, Jason. You're up next. You ready?
- I'm about to vomit, but go ahead.
- All right. This'll be fun, then.
♪
- After seeing Jesse and Cole's knives
take the damage that they took,
I'm very concerned that mine will too.
My brain, I'm screaming,
"It's gonna break! It's gonna break!
I'm sorry." [laughs]
♪
Here we go, fellers.
♪
- All right, Jason.
That handle is really cool looking.
I like the offset square corners.
I like the way that the curl matches into the front.
And it has the added benefit of being
comfortable and easy to hold.
The edge-- it took some chipping.
None of these have rolled in any way.
It's just chipped out.
You know, you put a real fine edge on it, which is great.
But this is W1 steel going against tong handles.
Maybe a more robust edge would have been
the right choice here.
But it's all here.
It looks great.
Nice job.
- Thank you, sir.
♪
I think we all tested equally,
so it's anybody's game at this moment.
But hopefully, overall, my design of my handle
will stand out above the rest
and at least keep me going forward.
♪
- All right, gentlemen.
I've got to say, it's been an absolute joy
to join you here at the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop
and watch you work.
You're all three very talented smiths.
But this is a competition,
which means that we can only take two of you on
to the next leg.
The bladesmith leaving The Forge is...
♪
Cole.
Unfortunately, your blade did not make the cut.
And Ben's gonna explain why.
- Well, Cole, watching you work out there,
it's very obvious to me that you're a very talented smith.
But all three of these blades performed about equally
in the testing, so we had to take a closer look
at the craftsmanship and the artistry
that we asked for.
And yours fell just a little short
of that of your opponents.
And that's why we're letting you go.
- Well, Cole, it's been an absolute pleasure.
But unfortunately, your time in this competition has ended.
I'm gonna have to ask you to please step
off the testing floor.
♪
- I'm proud of the work I put out.
I think I, you know, tried my best.
I did what I could.
And ultimately, it just wasn't up to the cut.
The other competitors are great blacksmiths.
They're great bladesmiths.
I think that these guys have a good chance
of winning the whole thing.
I hope they do, because it would be awesome
to give back $10,000
to the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop.
♪
- Jesse, Jason. Gentlemen, congratulations.
You guys are moving forward in the second round
of this competition, which means that one of you
has the potential of going all the way
to the final round of the tournament
and taking home a check for $20,000.
And this shop right here will get up
to $10,000 worth of forging equipment and supplies.
Now, typically, at this point,
I'd be asking you to go home for four days
to build an iconic weapon from history.
But because you're blacksmiths,
I want you to build an iconic tool.
Gentlemen, we want you to build this.
♪
- I'm freaking out over here.
- Gentlemen, we want you to build this.
♪
A four-tined pitchfork.
♪
The four-tined pitchfork was first created
by European farmers during the Middle Ages,
and remains a popular agrarian tool
in the Appalachian region.
Featuring long, pointed tines made for stabbing and pitching
piles of hay, peasants also discovered
they were sharp enough to inflict deadly stabs
and thrusts against the upper classes
during uprisings and riots.
The pitchfork was instrumental in the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion,
where farmers and distillers in Western Pennsylvania
raised arms in protest of a federal whiskey tax.
♪
The overall length will need to be between 68 and 70 inches.
The width of your pitchfork needs to be between 5 1/2
and 6 1/2 inches.
And each of those four tines needs to be
between 11 and 13 inches long.
- Like, what in the world? A pitchfork?
I am a bladesmith.
I am not a pitchfork-smith.
But now the gauntlet is thrown down, I have to do it,
and I'll do it.
Here we go.
Let's go home and make a pitchfork.
[laughs]
- Even though you both represent
Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop,
you will each go back to your own home forges
to make this tool.
Now, guys, you're both extremely talented smiths
and artists, so we expect two pitchforks
that an angry villager would be proud to wield.
Good luck, guys.
We'll see you back at our forge in four days.
- All right, buddy.
♪
- I really like working at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
It's kind of like my second home.
But I feel pretty good coming back to my home forge.
I really hope I represent Ben Abbott
and the Appalachian area well.
And I hope that my home team
of the John C. Campbell Blacksmith Shop--
I hope they're really looking forward to see what I do.
♪
Right now, I'm forging down in between the tines
and the socket first, because I feel
like if I do that and then cut the tines,
I could spend more time on the tines
and they won't be in my way.
I'm gonna be doing it out of 5160 spring steel
that we recycled from a car.
I don't know how much material I'm gonna need,
so I'm gonna use just kind of all this to start off with.
I definitely don't need this much,
but I want to try to give me a little bit room of error.
I don't know exactly if it's getting to where it's
supposed to be, but I'm definitely feeling good
about where I am in comparison to where I started.
[laughs]
- It would be an absolute honor to represent
the Appalachian area and the Clay Spencer Shop.
So I've got to figure out some way to make a pitchfork.
Today, the main goal is to get the socket made.
I've got to get the seam on the socket right,
'cause if you don't, it can split open,
and it could basically come out of the handle.
It'll look okay.
Whenever it's done, you won't even be able to see it.
All these welds will be ground away.
Now that I've got it welded, next step:
I gotta get these tines cut out.
So it'll be a while.
All right. It's the end of the day.
I got my goal reached, and I'm done, and I'm tired.
That's the end.
Ready for tomorrow, day two.
♪
- It's the morning of day two.
My plan for today is I'm going to establish my pitchfork
to what it should be.
I got to make sure this is right.
I really want to focus on getting
the lines equal to each other.
If I have one tine bigger than the other one,
it's gonna make it awkward,
and I'll have to do a lot more forging on it.
I like it.
After I get all of the lines equal,
I want to start chiseling down and fullering,
spreading out those tines.
Starting.
Push those open just a little.
I don't want to stretch them too much.
I don't know how far it'll stretch.
So I want to keep just doing that nice and slow.
I don't want to overheat it or even work it too cold,
because I might put in some stress crack
that I won't be able to see or know about until later.
It's a slow process, but I'm getting there.
Feel pretty good about my progress.
I accomplished a lot, I think.
I feel pretty confident with all of the things I did today.
Slowly but surely, it looks like a pitchfork.
[scoffs]
♪
- Day three.
Yesterday, I quenched.
I'm really excited about that.
Yeah.
Today, I want to try to make a snake
out of twisted Damascus.
In the forge we go.
And then I'll have the snake coming up
and wrapped around the handle.
So that'll be a nice little decorative touch.
♪
Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop-- they're mostly known
for ornamental iron works.
Hopefully, I'll make everybody proud.
And I hope that it will set me apart from the competition.
Now, I don't like that.
So now that I've got the shape overall,
it looks like a straight snake.
But I want the snake to be curled up
and wrapped around the handle.
And it split.
It broke.
By this time, I'm getting pretty mad.
♪
And it split. It broke.
Yeah, I'm sitting there looking at it,
and it looks like a piece of hot garbage.
Can't do anything with it.
I need something that can put me over the top
against my competition.
So I start looking at it.
And then I put some bluing on the pitchfork.
And it makes it look a little different,
a little better.
That set it off.
I think it looks really cool now.
♪
- It's the morning of day four.
On day three, I got the heat treat
and the quench really good.
It's looking okay so far.
Hooray!
I have to get the handle done today.
Pitchfork has to be artistic,
so I want to do a fractal burning
because I hope to represent my home team
of the John C. Campbell Folk School.
Fractal burning--it's a little box
with a neon power supply
with essentially, like, metal nails.
If done right, it looks really cool.
It's a slow process. You just turn on the power.
It does its thing.
Don't touch it.
Turn it off.
Move it.
Turn it back on.
I like the build.
Torch and pitchfork.
Hooray!
I really hope I didn't let my family
at John C. Campbell down.
I know Belz will hit me with a piece of steel.
I know it.
She's vicious, that Belz.
But I love her.
I need a person beside me for the photo.
♪
- Day four.
I am just about done.
Everything's looking great.
So time to move on to the handle.
Okay. Here we go.
So this thing has such a good fit,
it's really hard to get in.
Basically forcing and forcing and forcing,
and it ain't going.
Are you kidding me?
All I can do is just ram her home.
Just hope it don't break.
Because if it breaks, man, I'm going
to be in a world of trouble.
And there's no way I can start over at this point.
♪
It's there.
I got my handle together.
I'm basically done.
So now I gotta test this thing out.
Enemy watermelon spotted.
Here we go.
Oh!
That took his head off.
[giggles] Yah!
I'm really excited to go back to the Forged in Fire forge.
I feel pretty confident that whatever they test it on,
it will survive.
[laughs]
♪
- Well, Jesse, Jason, Belz, welcome to our forge.
After four days of you putting together four-tine pitchforks,
I gotta say, they look fantastic.
But we've got to find out now which one of you
will be going forward into the final leg of this tournament,
still in the fight for $20,000 to go into your pocket,
and an additional $10,000 worth of forging equipment
to go to Belz and the school.
But before we test your forks, I want to hear about it.
So Jesse, tell us about yours.
♪
- It's made from 5160.
It's an ash handle with a geometric bottom on it.
I burned it with doing some fractal burning
on the bottom as well.
I hope it does well.
- All right.
Jason, how about you?
♪
- I forged mine from a piece of leaf spring 5160 steel.
And I used hickory for a handle.
I was gonna do some Damascus,
but that didn't go right.
So hopefully it'll hold up.
- The forks look great.
Belz, you ready to see them tested?
- I'm ready. - All right.
Gentlemen, I'm gonna hand you over to Ben Abbott.
♪
- All right, bladesmiths.
Welcome to the strength and functionality part
of this competition.
I'm gonna start by taking your pitchforks
and checking the functionality of them by doing what they do,
putting some hay into a barrow.
Afterwards, I'm gonna test the angry villager side
of these things by attacking the sandman.
And then lastly, I'm gonna test their strength
by bashing them into the side of this wheelbarrow.
Jesse, you're up first.
You ready? - Yes, sir.
- Being in the Forged in Fire forge
definitely feels daunting.
It's a lot. And I'm, of course, nervous.
I haven't had anything tested like this.
I don't know how the heat treat will go.
I don't know if it will explode.
And you never know.
♪
- I'm, of course, nervous.
I don't know how the heat treat will go.
I don't know if it will explode.
And you never know.
[rock music]
♪
[groans] - Oh, no.
- [groans] I knew it.
Oh.
♪
- All right, Jesse.
Man, up until that last hit, things were going great.
The grain looks great.
It's a nice and tight grain in there,
so that wasn't any problem.
But I'm guessing on some
of the strikes in the wheelbarrow,
just that one interface
where the socket goes from being round
to being flat-- and it has a little bit
of an elbow underneath there--
I think that that was enough of a stress riser
to cause this fracture.
- Well, thank you, sir.
♪
- Jesse, you survived every one of the strikes
except for the last one.
But unfortunately, because your pitchfork did break,
it's considered a catastrophic failure.
And therefore, we cannot continue testing it.
But you're not out of this fight yet.
Jason, in order to move forward
into the final leg of the tournament,
you are going to have to survive
all nine strikes.
Are you ready?
- I am now.
- All right, Ben. Take it away.
♪
- So watching Ben take that pitchfork, I'm sweating it.
There was a spot just past the socket.
I kind of ground it thin right there.
And that might possibly break right there,
especially seeing Jesse's break in the same spot.
So kind of worried.
♪
- Nice.
♪
- Well, Jesse, unfortunately for you, that means your time
in this competition has ended.
You will not be joining us in the final round.
We want to say thank you for coming out, fighting so hard.
But at this point in time, I'm gonna have
to ask you to please step off the Forge floor.
- Thank you for letting me be here.
My pitchfork broke.
I didn't expect it to break the way it did.
But stuff happens.
And I'm happy to be here.
I have learned a lot.
But also, it was an extremely fun time.
And I'm rooting for Mr. Jason in the final round,
because he has done such amazing work.
I think he's got a great position.
♪
- Jason, 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 Belz
and the John C. Campbell Folk School.
But you've got a long road ahead of you,
'cause you've got to get through three other smiths
that we picked up across America.
Before we send you out, I want to ask you
to come up here, shake our hands,
and wish you good luck.
- I'm excited.
And I think I've said before, I'm not a pitchfork-smith,
but I guess I am now because I've made one, and it passed.
I'm excited to be the one moving forward to represent
Ben and John C. Campbell.
Hopefully, I'll do them well, and hopefully, I'll win,
and we'll all go home happy.
♪