[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 Saint 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."
♪
For our next stop, we are traveling
over 1,000 miles with our resident edge weapons expert,
Doug Marcaida.
- We’re heading to Combat Ready Art
in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Once a manufacturing hub to automobiles,
paper, and railway supplies, the area has been transformed
into a thriving art community.
And the forge I chose specializes
in making blades and props for theater and stage combat.
Now, three of their top smiths will compete
to represent both this shop and me for their chance
at becoming a "Forged in Fire" champion.
♪
- My name is Jackson Scythe. I am 19.
One summer, my parents asked me,
"What are you gonna do this summer?
"You’re not gonna, you know,
sit and just play video games."
So I said, "I want to try blacksmithing."
My dad found Combat Ready Art.
I just come here every couple of weeks
for a couple of hours and do some blacksmithing.
The whole building is just all about creativity.
If you look around this room,
there’s just tons of art everywhere.
It’s beautiful, honestly.
- My name is Breanna Lanier. I’m 32 years old.
Here at Combat Ready Art, they really love for you
to put your artistic spin on things.
I’m really excited to test my skills,
so I’m really looking forward to this challenge.
♪
- My name is Blake Maddox. I am 32 years old.
Bladesmithing has always been something
that I’ve been interested in.
When I was in college, I got to take some
metal sculpture classes.
From there, I was able to do some welding,
and that was really what kind of sparked my interest.
And having the ability to come here
and start bladesmithing at this forge
was really just what took it to the next level.
♪
- Well, bladesmiths, I know I speak for all three of us
when I say we are excited to be here with you
at Combat Ready Art in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Now, hosting us today at the forge
is your instructor, owner, and lead blacksmith here,
Jon Reeves.
And judging this competition is the person
you will be representing in the finals, Doug Marcaida.
Now, the three of you are about to take part
in a two-leg tournament, the first of which
consists of two rounds.
At the end of each one of those rounds,
there will be an elimination.
But for whichever one of you three
who comes out on top of this first leg,
you’ll join us back at our forge
for the final leg of the tournament.
Now at that point, you’re gonna go up against
three other smiths fighting for a check
totaling $20,000 for yourself,
and if one of you three wins, an additional $10,000
worth of forging equipment for Combat Ready Art.
- Awesome.
I think it would be amazing to be able to kick back
$10,000 to Combat Ready Art. They deserve it.
They work really hard, and I’d love to see
some more tools in there.
- Now, bladesmiths, I know you’re all
very familiar with this facility here,
the artistry that’s gone into it.
And since this forge is known for making
both beautiful and functional blades for theater
and stage combat, we decided that we’d embrace that theme
by having you build this...
♪
William Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth’s dagger.
Now, we’ve got two daggers here.
Before you get ahead of yourselves,
we’re not going to ask you to make two daggers
in five hours.
We only want you to make one of these.
Just make sure your blades fall within these parameters.
Along with having a double-edged blade,
it needs to be between 9 and 11 inches
from tip to guard.
And much like in the name of this forge,
it needs to be combat ready and featuring a handle
and be quenched, hardened, and ready for testing
by the end of the five hours.
- I’m a little frightened because
I’ve made a dagger once, but it was half the size.
And it was definitely not in five hours.
This is not nearly enough time.
- Now, when the five hours is up,
I’m gonna ask you to pass your blades over to Doug,
and he’s going to put them through a series of tests.
First off, to check tip retention,
he’s gonna stab it into a wooden 4-by-4.
Now, to finish things off,
he’s gonna check your edge retention
and sharpness in a water bottle slice.
So good luck.
You’ve got five hours, and that time starts now.
♪
This place is outrageous.
How long have you been running Combat Ready Art?
- We have been in this space now for 13 years.
I got into the world of weapons and theater.
My early days in working in theater
and picking up a prop sword, thinking, what a piece of junk
this is, and that drove my first designs of weapons,
for weapons that could take the abuse
that an untrained performer will unleash.
♪
- Smiths have the option of choosing
any of the steel on the table. - Yes.
We have a good selection of steels, both 5160 spring.
We have leaf spring.
We have 1095 knife steel
and a beautiful selection of L6.
- So Breanna grabbed a bar of 5160,
welded up a work stick onto it.
She’s the first into the fire.
- I choose the 5160 because that is something
I’ve actually used before, and I think
it will be enough material without being
too much material to get the length I need.
- What kind of temperatures does this coal forge reach?
- We figure it reaches upwards of about 2,800.
- Holy smokes.
OK, so burning is an absolute possibility.
- And 2,500 is failure. - Yeah, OK.
- Stick my steel in until it gets
to a bright yellowy color, but not a white color.
- With the heat that Breanna’s got this fire going,
are you concerned about the steel burning at all?
- Yeah, at those temperatures,
it’s one of those you just can’t
leave it alone for a second.
We’ve seen so many smiths burn their steel that way.
- Oh, you’re [bleep] kidding me.
I got a little more heat than I wanted there,
just melted a spot.
♪
- So, John, tell me a little bit
about your coal forge here.
- We have what is a traditional coal forge,
and that allows us to have six to eight people around it
without a problem.
- You know what’s interesting about this forge,
is that it seems that all the contestants
have to work together in order to keep the fire going.
- Yep, it is part of the experience.
- Sorry, I feel like I’m gonna be in your way all day.
- It’s all good.
- I’d call this, like, a community forge.
- Yeah, it is.
- We all come together in the same spot.
- It’s warm.
- I was like, "I’m feeling it already."
- I’ve worked a lot with 5160,
so I’m just gonna choose to go with that.
I haven’t made a dagger quite this thin,
but I’m ready to give it a go.
I got to get it in the fire.
- John, tell me a little bit about this shop.
I mean, everywhere you look, there is just amazing art.
- It developed out of working with a local tattoo artist.
We came up with this Edgar Allen Poe theme.
And the skulls, we actually made all of those skulls.
- I feel like this is like a dark version
of "Where’s Waldo."
There could be so much hidden inside the artistry here.
- Yeah, I’d go with that.
- And all this time, I thought that all the skulls
were just a homage to George
from our ballistics study group.
- Oh, there’s probably one up there that is.
- When he is in his jelly form, I call him Jelly George.
When the gel falls off and it’s all skull and bones,
I call him George Bones.
♪
- So Jackson picked up the 1084,
and it looks to be about 2 inches wide,
definitely enough to make his dagger.
- Yes.
- This is my first time trying to make
anything under a time limit.
I am much more comfortable just taking my time,
trying to get everything perfect.
Did I seriously just lose the piece in there?
Like, are you kidding me? Where the heck did it go?
- It looks like Jackson can’t find his piece of steel
under all that coal. That’s not good.
If it’s in too long, it could burn.
- Oh, I think I see it. There it is.
Found it. - Whew, crisis averted.
- The pressure of being in the competition
just keeps me going.
I’m just trying to get things done.
♪
- So tell me more about this facility.
- We did not want to have that kind of white, dirty wall shop,
right, that we have behind us or anything.
[laughter]
And so we came up with a haven
for artists of all kinds.
- I couldn’t help but notice
when we walked through this building,
you are far from alone here.
There’s other artisans all over this place.
- The Park Trades Building is an old factory.
It used to be the Sand Wax Paper Company.
That in the ’70s became a haven for artists,
and we currently have over 90 studios in the building.
And it’s everything from papermaking
to pottery to glass blowing. - Everything.
All right, bladesmiths,
you’ve got four hours remaining.
Looks like Blake’s working in what will be his tip already
in the beginning, setting himself up to go
do some drawing on the hammer.
- We’re up here all the time, and it’s the home forge,
so I just feel like it’s any other day right now.
- He’s got a nice triangle shape built at this point.
He could go on the press here, get it out to length,
and then hit the grinder. He’s getting pretty close.
- He is quite good at getting that point.
- I’ve not done many of this style.
Just staying in the parameters for sure,
instead of freestyling.
I’m really happy with the way my blade’s shaped.
My next step is I’m gonna head over to the grinder
and then start to work my center line.
But before I grind, I am going to let it cool down
because I could get a crack.
♪
- The window cooling method is very common in here.
- It’s thinking outside the box,
literally. - Yeah.
- I mean, they’re all very versed in the tools.
- We have a window, and it’s colder outside.
- I just worry about the people walking by.
- You know, I’m looking at some of the equipment
you have in your forge, and a lot of them
have their own names. - Yeah.
- Tell us a little bit more. - Yeah.
What are the different names?
The only one I’m seeing right now
is the Tell-Tale Heart.
- The Tell-Tale Heart,
which is our inline treadle hammer.
And then we have-- all of the anvils
are named after various women in the Poe history.
- But wait, there’s Nevermore. - There is.
Nevermore is over there.
♪
- Some things are going really well,
and I’m just trying to focus on the length I need.
So the dagger has to be between 9 and 11 inches.
- And Mr. Squishy gets a workout.
- Yeah.
- I’m going to make, like, a more thin dagger
just ’cause it’s what I think Lady Macbeth
would be carrying.
Most women back then carried daggers on their thighs.
So it’s a little thin,
or than like a big fighting dagger.
- The one thing I’m noticing, as they’re drawing out,
the steel’s getting fairly thin fairly quickly.
We asked for 9 to 11 inches, so management of that steel
to make sure they can meet the parameters
is gonna be something they have to think about.
- I got the length, but I think mine’s gonna end up
being real, real thin by accident.
I got a little overzealous.
I am nervous, but we’ll see what happens.
♪
- Jackson’s doing a great job of it working the steel now.
He’s definitely got the shape he’s going for.
- Once I get my tip established,
I need to start drawing this blade out.
I need to meet that parameter.
So I use the mix of the treadle hammer
and the press to get it drawn out.
- There we go.
I’m excited to see the treadle hammer work.
Holy smokes.
[laughter]
How is that possible?
- What do you mean, how is it possible?
- He’s barely putting any force into it,
and it’s just smoking the steel.
- 90 pounds, the hammer. - It’s a 90-pound head.
- Yeah. - It is a beast.
I’ll take Big Blu on any day
because that’s better exercise. - Yeah.
- And dancing. - You get one leg--
- You can switch.
♪
- Looking at Breanna’s design, if you’re watching
the way she’s grinding on it,
the coal fire she has isn’t symmetrical.
And with daggers, you really need to have that.
Whether it tapers to a point,
or it’s parallel lines that go to a point,
it still needs to be very symmetrical.
- Ah, I just ground my knife too short.
- Not catastrophic, but definitely
not what you wanted to happen right now.
- No.
- And this could be really bad ’cause I don’t meet parameters.
Right now, my knife is short.
- And this is why you aim for the longest parameter.
- Right. - And you can always pull back.
You cannot add steel after the fact.
- I’ve never done anything like this in my life.
I made it too thin to fix any of the flaws
that I’m currently looking at,
and I don’t have enough material,
and I panicked.
[grunts] [bleep].
I need to go out. - You all right?
- Yeah, I just need to go out for a second.
- Breanna, she stepped out. - [sighs]
- Oh, no.
- We’re here in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
making Lady Macbeth’s dagger.
But Breanna is running into a lot of trouble
and is now under parameters.
- My knife is short.
I’ve never done anything like this in my life.
I just need to go out for a second.
And I panic.
- Breanna, she stepped out. - [sighs]
- Oh, no.
- I’m OK. I’m just panicking.
[chuckles]
- No, I’m just gonna panic a little bit,
and I’ll be fine.
I’m just gonna make it work.
I don’t want to give up,
so I just get to work. - Reset. Take a breath.
I think that’s probably the best use of the--
- Smart move. - Yeah, very much so.
- Take a knee.
- So what are her options to get that 9 inches?
- I think the first option is what I think I see happening,
which is stretching that handle first to get some length,
and then hopefully working that ricasso area
at the shoulder and getting the length she needs.
[energetic rock music]
- All right, so using the treadle hammer,
trying to get some length.
Looks like she’s getting a little bit, but is it enough?
- If we’re talking a half an inch or so, very doable.
- It takes a while, but it actually does work.
I’m happy that I got the length I need.
- All right, bladesmiths.
You’ve got 2 hours and 30 minutes remaining.
- For me, right now, the dagger--
I’m just really trying to keeping it symmetrical.
I’m not really planning on doing the bevel on the anvil.
I’m gonna go to the grinder with that.
I want to keep the blade straight.
♪
- We gave them a difficult blade to build.
They’ve got two edges, so that’s four bevels.
They’ve got a tip.
And symmetry is important. - Very important.
- It is one of the hardest profiles to grind.
- Absolutely.
- The center line is a little different.
I’ve only done this a couple of times, back and forth,
trying to keep flip and make sure
you keep count on which side you just did
so that the line stays centered
and, you know, you’re not chasing
that line back and forth.
♪
- The dagger has to have four different bevels,
and it has to all be symmetrical.
And that’s a delicate balance.
♪
I’m happy with how it looks.
- I would suspect Jackson is getting ready to quench.
- Awesome.
- To get a good quench, I have to get it
to the right temperature.
If I quench a blade that’s too hot,
I could very easily warp it, crack it.
If I quench a blade too cold, it won’t harden.
Only problem is, the heat’s pretty focused
so I kind of have to move it around a lot.
If I poke the tip out the other end,
then it’s not getting heat, and it’ll cool off.
So I have to move it back in for a second.
Quenching.
♪
- Jackson was struggling so hard in the beginning.
And by not giving up, he’s now the first smith
to quench his blade.
- From what I can tell, it looks good.
I think I did all right.
- Talk to me about the anvils.
They look a little bit different than the ones
we have in our forge.
- These are called cavalry anvils.
And the two coming out of the side
are bending forks for bending even knife handles.
- Oh, OK.
- So you can work those small details.
- Interesting.
- So they tend to be a slightly more versatile anvil
because of that.
- Bladesmiths, you’ve got 90 minutes left.
- I have a lot of things left to do,
and I really need to get this blade quenched
within the next 20 minutes.
♪
The colors are looking great.
It’s a good range of where I want to be,
and I think I’m gonna quench.
- All right, Blake’s quenching out too.
- I didn’t hear anything crack, so I feel good about that,
but there’s a slight kick towards the handle
where the guard’s gonna be,
but I think I’m gonna do that on the grinder later.
I need to switch gears and start focusing on my handle.
- We got zero handles attached. Getting kind of close here.
♪
- I have a ton of work left to do.
I have to do the finish grinding
to create a sharp blade.
I still have to create a guard,
weld the pommel in, and then grind the handle
so it’s usable.
- All right, so Breanna is back in the coal forge.
It looks like she’s heating up, preparing for a quench.
- The blade is really thin,
so there are certain parts that are heating up
faster than others.
- Oh, no.
She just quenched that blade,
and it was really hot at the tip.
- I quenched it, and the tip
of my knife falls off. - Oh, that’s bad.
- [bleep], there it is.
♪
[dramatic music]
- So, we got just over an hour remaining
here in Combat Ready Art forge in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
but Breanna is running into a lot of trouble
and is now, unfortunately, under parameters.
- Oh, that’s bad.
- We’ve seen time and again,
when you have a thin blade like Breanna’s,
the tip could just break off.
And she already stretched it out
just to make parameters.
She’s gonna have to thin it out even more now,
and she’s not in a good spot.
- I don’t care. I’m just gonna finish it.
I’ll finish the blade.
I’ll grind it to a tip instead of having a forged tip,
and see how it goes.
♪
- This is stressful because my handle’s not attached yet,
and I’ve wasted a ton of time on the whole thing.
But my hands are also very sticky,
so it makes it very difficult, but I’m just gonna
do my best to get it done.
It’s being a little difficult.
I’m trying to get it together,
and I’m just getting glue all over my hands.
If I can’t get a handle on, that could end up being
what decides who goes on. Oh, my God.
I’m pretty much winging it on the handle at this point.
- How do you guys feel about the competition thus far?
- It’s coming along,
but a lot of times, they don’t give enough time
to work on the handle, and that’s what we’re holding.
That’s what I got to grab on to.
- Especially when it’s a more complicated handle,
as these are. - Yep.
- I’m trying to get pins in this
and just get it together.
There’s a lot of work left to do.
- So Blake’s got his guard slot,
and he’s welding it to his tang,
but that’s got to be a risky move.
There’s a lot of heat at that critical junction
between the tang and the blade.
- It’s a lot of heat, a lot of cooling off.
We’ve seen it in the past.
If he took the hardness out of it,
too much heat, or the heat with the quenching
just made it brittle.
So hopefully, that’s not the case.
- We could see a complete failure.
- We could.
♪
- Ooh.
- I am choosing to use
some wooden scales for the handle.
So I need to make sure my handle
is definitely comfortable.
and I know Doug’s not gonna go easy on it.
Just running out of time.
I’ve only got 34 minutes left.
Just a little stressed. I gotta get this glued on.
And I need to still finish my cutting edge,
but need to make sure I have a handle first.
- Getting close.
We’re getting the handles glued up,
final shaping the handles,
making sure we’ve got viable blades
that meet the parameters.
- So the glue’s still wet on this.
I’m not comfortable with it,
but I’m choosing to clamp it
and take it straight to the grinder.
I don’t have the time to wait.
- All right, bladesmiths,
you’re down to the final 15 minutes.
- I know I’m already behind,
so I’m just trying to not look at the clock
and focus on my work.
I still have to make a handle
and then grind the handle so it’s usable.
- I’m getting really nervous about Breanna.
She’s only got about 15 minutes left.
- I don’t know.
At this point, this is where everything is ramped up.
I mean, they’re gonna be rushing.
I’d say all three of them are in survival mode right now.
- I’m gonna hammer for a second.
♪
[grunts]
Unfortunately, I broke it. I was being too rough.
[bleep]. Not this.
I don’t have time for this. - There’s gonna be setbacks.
But those setbacks,
compiled into a time competition,
make it a whole lot more difficult.
And especially when we get down within the final minutes
of competition, then it really starts messing with your head.
- A lot of it boils down to time management.
♪
- I decided I’ll weld the pommel on
and then kind of sand some wooden scales
to kind of sandwich my handle together instead.
I want to see how far I can get.
Five minutes is not nearly enough time,
but I’m not gonna quit.
[groans]
- We see the handles come secondary
almost every single time.
- It’s so important to look at the blade as a whole.
- Without the handle, you haven’t made anything.
♪
- Oh, no.
Breanna’s scroll saw blade just broke.
- What else could go wrong?
I don’t want to give up, so I just get to work.
♪
- Five, four,
three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, turn off your machines.
Put down your tools.
This round is over.
- The clock strikes zero.
I’ve got a blade that’s shaped within parameters.
I’m stoked that I got my handle to where it is.
I feel pretty confident.
- Bladesmiths, to test or not to test?
That is the question.
The answer, of course,
is that we are testing your daggers
for overall performance and its construction.
First, I’m gonna take your dagger.
I’m gonna hammer it into this piece of wood
and try to pry it out.
Then I’m gonna test its edges by chopping into the wood
and check for sharpness by slicing
through these water bottles.
Jackson, you’re up first. Are you ready for this?
- I think so. - All right.
Let’s do this.
- It is a awesome experience to see Doug Marcaida
handling my dagger.
It’s really nerve-racking though.
If it breaks, I’m going home.
♪
[metal thudding]
♪
[metal thudding]
♪
[bottle pops]
♪
[bottle pops]
♪
[water sloshing]
♪
- Jackson, let’s talk about your
Lady Macbeth dagger, your blade.
It does have a symmetrical line,
but toward the end over here, it curves a little bit
on one side compared to the other.
For daggers, you want that symmetry.
But on the tip retention test, it survived nicely.
No issues whatsoever.
It dug in deep, no chips.
Your edges held up also on the chop test.
Now, your handle construction,
a little bit on the spindly side.
but in the tests, it performed very well.
And overall, you have a sharp, strong blade.
Good job.
Blake, are you ready for this? - As ready as I will be.
- All right. Let’s do this.
- I am definitely nervous to see
what’s gonna happen to my blade after this.
I’m just really nervous that I could get a crack.
I’m really not looking forward to this.
♪
- I’m just really nervous that I could get a crack.
I’m really not looking forward to this.
[dramatic music]
[metal thudding]
♪
[metal thuds and rings]
- Oh! - Aw.
♪
- All right, Blake.
We have a little bit of a problem here.
On the chop, your handle broke.
Now, a lot of that could be because
you actually used a lot of heat in welding your handle on.
So that juncture right there could have
made it very brittle, and that’s what caused it
to break on impact.
♪
- Blake, a broken blade is absolutely never
how we want to see testing end,
but unfortunately, that’s exactly
what happened to your dagger.
And unfortunately, that is considered
a catastrophic failure, and we cannot continue
testing your weapon.
However, Breanna, although you worked
your ass off through the entire five-hour round,
unfortunately, you were unable to affix
a handle to your blade, therefore missing parameters.
So because of that, Blake, you will be moving forward
to the next round.
And Breanna, unfortunately, your time
in this competition has ended.
I’m gonna have to ask you to please step off
the forge floor.
- Despite not being able to finish,
I am proud that I didn’t give up.
I’m happy that I got this opportunity
to see where my skills are at compared to other blacksmiths.
Definitely something new, definitely just
a different experience I never could have
predicted in a thousand years I’d be a part of.
I think Blake and Jackson will represent
Combat Ready Art really well,
and I think they’ll do great in the next competition.
♪
- Gentlemen, congratulations.
The two of you are now moving forward
in the second round of this tournament.
And gentlemen, we want you to build another iconic weapon
from Shakespearean history.
We want you to build this.
♪
This here is Macbeth’s sword. - Nice.
♪
- During the 11th century, the real Macbeth
reigned as the King of the Scots
for only 17 years, but his legacy famously lives on.
Though based on fiction, William Shakespeare’s play
features one of the greatest duels of all time,
where Macduff notoriously decapitates Macbeth
in the final battle.
This interpretation of Macbeth’s sword
is a faithful rendition of Scottish swords
from the 11th century.
Featuring a wide, double-edged blade,
this sword is deadly enough for cutting and cleaving
anyone and anything in its path,
making it an ideal weapon for a king.
♪
Well, gentlemen, the ones you bring back to us
in four days need to fall within
these following parameters.
The blade length needs to be between 28 and 30 inches.
Now, you also need to have 3 to 4 inches
of unsharpened ricasso and a base width of the blade
no less than an inch and 7/8.
You need to have a functional cross guard,
a hand and a half handle, and a functional pommel.
- I’ve never made anything
this large in the forge before.
The one thing I’m most worried about
is being able to draw steel out to 28 to 30 inches.
- There’s a lot on the line here.
$20,000 could be yours, and an additional $10,000
worth of forging equipment could come back here
into John’s forge.
So bladesmiths, we’ve got a unique situation here.
Because you guys both work out of this forge,
you’ll both be making your swords here
at the same time. So good luck.
We’ll see you both back at our home forge in four days.
♪
- Going into the next round, I’m excited and nervous
for the opportunity to win $20,000
and be able to kick back to the forge.
I have a bit of a game plan
that I’m gonna try to stick to.
My goal today is to try to get my shape pulled,
and I’m ready to get going.
I can’t get this thing warm. It won’t stay lit.
- Put more fresh coal on it as well.
- It is a bit weird to have my competitor in the same room
as me, especially with the money
that’s on the line here, you know?
We’re still having to fight over
some of the same equipment.
So it does make it a little tough
that we’re both in there working at the same time.
♪
- I made a dagger in the first round.
It wasn’t my best work, but, hey, it stuck together.
Now I need to make a sword for the second round.
My plan for today is just gonna try and forge out
as much as I can, just stretching it out.
So I’m making the largest blade I’ve ever made in my life.
With this material, I could probably make ten
of what I’m used to.
Once I get my tip established, I’m moving down blade.
There’s too much material there to move my hammer.
I’m gonna give my arms a break and go over
to the treadle hammer.
Treadle hammer is gonna to help me move
more steel quicker than my arms can
and also thin out my blade.
- Really getting pretty nervous.
With a link like this, you know,
it leaves a lot of room for warping.
♪
I am not as far as I had intended to be today,
but I’m not also as worn out as I thought I would be,
so I’m feeling pretty good.
- How’s it going over there, Jackson?
- It’s going. It’s a bit heavy.
- It is a bit awkward.
♪
- I get my blade pretty much drawn out.
I start measuring a lot.
I didn’t want to finish and realize,
oh, I didn’t make one of the parameters.
So I’m just gonna measure it as much as I really need to.
I’m liking the progress I’m making.
I like the shape so far.
It looks like a sword.
I just have some straightening to do tomorrow,
and I should be good for doing grinding.
Not too bad.
♪
- It’s beginning of day two.
I have my blade shaped like I want.
My main goal for today is to quench.
♪
- If I’m not quenched by the end of the day,
then I am seriously behind.
I’m pretty nervous about this quench.
This is the biggest thing
I’ve ever tried quenching before.
♪
- So the quench is definitely the most nerve-racking thing
about this process for me.
I’ve never heat treated a blade to this length.
I could end up with cracks. I could end up with warps.
Here goes nothing.
♪
Well, I’m glad to get that over with.
[laughs]
It’s looking fairly straight.
It was definitely the most stressful part
of this process, in my opinion.
All I have left to do is shape the handle
and do some sharpening.
Sounds pretty good to me.
- Oh, my God. Blake already quenched.
I have to catch up.
♪
Oh, that’s warped.
I need to fix this warp somehow,
or I will be in trouble.
[bleep].
[dramatic music]
- Well, it’s warped.
I need to fix this warp somehow,
or I will be in trouble.
I don’t have time to pick them up,
so I just stand on it.
I end up melting my shoe on it a little bit.
Oh, well. They’re old, so...
It’s not straight.
It’s straighter than it was, though.
I’ll deal with it later.
♪
- How’s it going, Jackson? - Going.
- Nice, that’s looking pretty good.
- I put a big warp in it. - Oh, yeah?
- Yeah, look at that. - Aw, man.
Well, good luck.
So it’s the start of day four.
I’m pleased where my blade’s at
at the moment.
Now I’m gonna start working on my guard.
I’m not planning on welding the guard on.
In the last round, one of the reasons my dagger
may have broken is because I heated it up
too much when welding the guard.
So I’m gonna use a steel epoxy.
♪
- The warp on my "Macbeth" sword is,
like, super noticeable.
I don’t really have time to fix it today.
I need a mechanical connection for my handle.
A downside to using the plasma cutter
to put a hole through my handle,
I am not very accurate with it,
and they’re not gonna have the greatest fit
with the pins, but I think it’ll work.
♪
- I am very proud of what I made.
At the end of the day,
regardless of how it holds up in the test,
I’m super stoked on my final product.
I would love to be the representative
of Combat Ready Art at the final.
And that being said, I just-- I would love
to see one of us from Combat Ready bring it home.
Not too shabby.
- I’m pretty content with how my guard looks, how it feels.
I need to fit the handle, pommel,
and clean up my blade to finish it.
I think this sword will give me a chance at $20,000.
♪
- Blake, John, Jackson, gentlemen,
welcome to our forge.
Now guys, we started this competition
back in beautiful Kalamazoo, Michigan,
at John’s Combat Ready Art, where you guys
made Lady Macbeth’s daggers.
Now, we gave you four days to build Macbeth’s sword.
I think both of you guys did a great job.
Now we’ve got to find out which one of you
is going to stay in this competition,
in the fight for $20,000 for yourself
and $10,000 in gear and supplies
to go back to Combat Ready Art.
Before we test those blades, I want to hear about them.
So, Blake, tell us about yours.
- I’m pretty proud with what I turned out.
♪
My blade is 5160 with a brass guard,
and the pommel is a piece of stainless steel
from a sailboat rudder, and went with Osage orange
for the handle. - Fantastic.
Jackson, tell us about yours.
- My blade is 5160.
I made my guard out of a piece of a sawblade,
spalted maple handle, and then hexagonal stock
for the pommel. - Fantastic.
Well, gentlemen, we’ve got to find out
which one of these swords is gonna launch
its smith into the final leg of this tournament
against three other smiths that we picked up
across America, and for that testing,
I’m gonna hand you over to Doug.
♪
- Bladesmiths, welcome to the KEAL test.
Well, your Macbeth swords look dramatic.
♪
But are they lethal?
Well, to find that out, I’m gonna take your weapon,
deliver some thrusts and slashes
on this ballistics dummy.
Blake, you are first. Are you ready for this?
- I’m ready. - All right.
Let’s do this.
- My heart’s pounding.
I really didn’t have a whole lot of time
to work on my cutting edge at the end,
so I am extremely excited and extremely nervous
to see how everything goes with the test round.
♪
- All right, Blake.
Let’s talk about your sword here.
First up, your edge is sharp and took no damage.
It’s a good start to the masterpiece.
Your handle construction is smooth,
but one thing about your handle here
is that it’s actually much more comfortable
to hold it this way as it is this way.
But I like how it feels and how it moves
with the movement.
Overall, sir, your weapon will KEAL.
- Hell yeah.
- All right, Jackson. Are you ready?
- Yep, I’m ready. - Let’s do this.
- Doug is about to test my sword,
and the thing I worry about with this
is the comfort of the handle for Doug.
I’m hoping it holds up.
♪
- Who would have thought the old man
would have so much blood on him?
Jackson, let’s talk about your Macbeth sword here.
First off, before we started,
your blade already had two bends.
You have one at this juncture and another one up here.
It’s almost like an S-bend on that.
But it didn’t get any worse.
Your edge-- your edge is sharp.
It was easy to wield and cut deeply
into the ballistics dummy.
Overall, your weapon, it will KEAL.
- Thank you.
♪
- All right, bladesmiths.
This is a dynamic strength test,
the paint can bash and the sandbag slice.
Blake, you’re up first. You ready for this?
- Yes, Sir. - All right.
Let’s do this.
♪
- I’m definitely nervous going into the strength test.
This is what got me in the last round.
It snapped off right at the guard.
[metal thuds and rings] - Oh.
- Aw.
It’s definitely haunting me.
I’m extremely nervous to see how things go.
♪
[dramatic music]
- In the last strength test, my dagger snapped off
right at the guard.
It’s definitely haunting me.
I’m extremely nervous to see how things go.
♪
- All right, Blake.
Let’s talk about your sword here.
I love the balance you have on your sword.
Your edge suffered no damage cutting into these paint cans,
and they slice nicely on the sandbags.
Overall, your weapon-- it is strong, and it will cut.
- Thank you. - All right, Jackson.
Your turn. You ready?
- I’m ready. - Let’s do this.
♪
- All right, Jackson.
Let’s talk about your sword.
Your edge suffered no damage cutting into these paint cans,
and they sliced nicely on the sandbags.
Color me impressed. - [chuckles]
- But your blade earlier had a little bit of a bend,
and it did get worse.
There’s some movement that happened during the test.
Your edge did not have any damage, though.
And overall, you have a strong and sharp sword.
Good job. - Thank you.
♪
- I’m feeling a little nervous, but I mean,
we’ll just see what happens.
- Well, gentleman, Doug chose your forge,
Combat Ready Art, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
to represent him in the finals
of our "On the Road" tournament.
You both turned in impressive swords,
but unfortunately, only one of you can move forward.
And the blacksmith moving forward
in this competition is...
Blake.
Congratulations.
Now, you fought very hard, Jackson,
but unfortunately, your blade did not make the cut.
And Doug is gonna tell you why. - All right, Jackson.
You should be proud of your work.
You presented us with a sharp, strong sword,
but it did show up with some bends,
and one of those bends actually moved
during the strength test.
That brings to question, the heat treat.
- Well, Jackson, from the very beginning,
it was clear that you put everything
you had in this competition, and we want to say,
thank you for coming out, but unfortunately,
your time in this tournament has ended.
I’m gonna have to ask you to please step off
the forge floor. - Good job.
- I agree with Doug’s assessment of my sword.
It was very difficult, but I did make it this far,
and I’m proud of that.
My sword came in with some warps,
and during the testing, it moved, which is not good.
I’m going home, but I’m gonna keep making blades
and doing blacksmithing.
♪
- Well, Blake, congratulations.
That means you are moving forward
in the final leg of this tournament,
still in the fight for $20,000 for yourself
and an extra $10,000
that could potentially go to John.
Come on up here and shake our hands, man.
- I appreciate it.
I’m super stoked.
I’m very pleased with what I created,
but I’m also really curious what these next rounds
are gonna have for us.
It’s pretty surreal.
I’m proud to be the representative
of Combat Ready Art at the final.
So let’s see what we do.
♪