[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- Hi, I'm Joseph "JoJo" Salyers.
I am 19 years old from Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
I am a full-time bladesmith with my dad, Billy Salyers,
who just so happens to be a "Forged in Fire" champion.
- Billy, you are the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Good job, brother.
- And so here I am
hoping I can show the old man up.
- I'm Sherwin Farhang. I'm 31 years old.
I do cybersecurity, and I'm a part-time bladesmith.
I got into knife making mostly as a whim.
I decided to make a knife for my friend's wedding
and then make some knives for myself.
- I'm Todd Dedoka, 35, and I'm from Belvue, Kansas.
I'm a mechanic and a welder.
Both my kids smith with me, so I'm excited my whole family
can see me on "Forged in Fire."
- My name is Chris Smith.
I am 41 years old from Burgin, Kentucky.
I am a refractory brick mason and a part-time bladesmith.
I thoroughly enjoy making knives.
It's a lot like a rabbit hol.
There's new materials coming out all the time,
new tools, and I just enjoy the challenge.
- Well, bladesmiths, welcome to The Forge.
Now, today the four of you are here to compete in the most
intense bladesmithing competition going.
We've got three rounds set up for you,
and at the end of each one I'm going to ask you
to present your work to our esteemed judges.
These guys here are the ones who will decide
which one of you is leaving here
with the title of "Forged in Fire" champion
and a check for 10 grand. Now, guys, in this forge
the competition is all about overcoming challenges
and taking calculated risks.
But today it's all about going big or going home.
What you're building is completely up to you,
because we want you to build your signature blade
in your signature style.
But today's competition you're going to need what is
under that cloth on your anvils in order to build your blades,
so go ahead and remove that cloth for us.
♪ ♪
You guys have one 2-foot bar of mild steel,
a 2-foot bar of 80CrV2, and 2 feet of 15N20.
Now, gentlemen, your task today
is to use that steel in front of you
in a competition we're calling Gomai or Go Home.
We want you to construct a Gomai billet
that is five layers of steel.
You can choose how you want to configure them,
just make sure you have five layers.
- With Gomai you have to get it right
right off the bat or you will be doomed
and liable to have to start over again.
- And, guys, your signature blades,
we just ask that they meet these parameters.
Your blade length measured from tip
to where the cutting edge ends, it needs to be between
12 and 14 inches. It needs to be set up
for a through-tang handle construction.
Now, in the second round of this competition,
guys, you'll be adding handles to your blades
turning them into fully functioning weapons
at which point the judges will check for strength
and durability in an oil drum stab and chop.
Then they're going to check your edge retention
in a candlestick slice.
Guys, you only have 3 hours
in the first round of this competition,
so work hard, stay sharp, because your time starts now.
♪ ♪
So with Gomai, guys, do they need to use
all three of these bars, or could they technically
do three layers of one, two layers of another?
- The spirit of a Gomai blade is, it's similar
to the spirit of a San Mai blade.
You have something in the middle...
- Of core. - And then symmetrical thins
on the outside. - Okay.
- So what I would do is two layers of 80CrV2,
one of 15N20, and one of mild steel on either side.
- I made Gomai three different times that I can recall.
The tricky thing is, you have to basically forge each side
the same the whole time, because if I wind up
with a piece of mild steel in the center of this,
the blade's not going to perform,
because it won't harden.
So my game plan is,
I'm going to put the 80CrV2 in the middle,
15N20 on either side of it,
and the mild on the outside of that so the mild
is not going to be anywhere near the edge.
So, like, weld the corners up and can go to the forge.
- I figured coming into this competition
I'd keep it simple.
I'd try not to use anything
that I haven't really used before.
So three pieces of mild, three pieces of hard.
So I'm just not going to use the 80CrV2.
- So, guys, JoJo is the welder putting his stack together.
But if you look at his anvil, 80CrV2 is still there.
- That's the best steel that's out there.
- Yeah, you can still make a Gomai technically
having 15N20,
two layers of mild and 15N20 on the outside.
- JoJo's is essentially the only one
with really any risk of that mild crossing the end.
- I'm doing this challenge on the same anvil as my dad,
so we'll see which Salyers is better.
♪ ♪
- I organized my billet mild steel, 15N20,
80CrV, 15N20, mild steel so that no matter
what I have hardenable steel on the edge.
Now that my steel's in the fire,
I know I have plenty of time to draw out my design.
I'm designing a clip point
so I can work through the barrel stab
and a rounded tip to help with the slice.
- Guys, Todd's at the welder. He's got five layers.
The core is 80CrV2, so he's setting up pretty well,
but he's slapping the MIG weld on there.
He's basically turned it into a canister.
- Yeah. We call it anatmospheric,
meaning there's no oxygen in there.
It's essentially a canister weld.
- So he won't need to use flux. - Yeah,
as long as he doesn't blow any of those welds loose
he's fine through the entire thing.
- My billet's in the forge heating up,
so I go over and design my knife.
I'm making a Bowie knife, because I'm comfortable
making them, so I'm pretty confident in i.
♪ ♪
- My billet's up to temperature.
I'm going to run over to the press to set the welds.
- All right. JoJo's going fairly aggressive on it.
- If those welds aren't right, the knife's going
to have delams, so I want to get this
right before I move on to anything else.
- That's a nice forge weld.
- Back at home, Dad and I,
we usually play music, sing, dance, and goof off,
and I'm going to be no different here.
- Squishy time.
Now the steel's up to temperature,
I know it's time to set the welds,
just four or five taps on either side.
- I'm watching Chris setting his first weld
with a hand hammer. - Yeah.
- There's a little bit more propensity
of weld flaws if you do that, but it does work.
- I've got my weld set. I go and start drawing it out.
Solid to me.
- It was up to heat, and I have to set my welds.
And I go over to the anvil and just go to work.
♪ ♪
- Ah, it's looking good.
- It sounds pretty solid.
- I take my steel out of the forge
and I handset my welds,
because I know that if I go straight to the power tools
I'll split my weld right open.
♪ ♪
- I mean, that thing looks dead solid.
- Once I'm sure my welds are set by hand,
I feel pretty happy,
and I go over to the press to really compress them down.
♪ ♪
- Bladesmiths, you have 90 minutes remaining.
- I'm pretty good on the forging right now.
I've got a rough profile,
so I really need to get over to the grinder
and start really getting this thing looking like a knif.
My design is kind of a Bowie-esque design.
It also kind of has some kukri elements.
It's something that I think looks cool
and also functions well,
so this is what I'm going to shoot for.
And this thing probably weighs more
than most swords right now,
so if I can't get a little bit of material off of this thing,
I could get sent home.
So I'm going to put fullers on both sides.
- A Gomai with a fuller actually
winds up looking pretty neat. - Oh, yeah, yeah.
- Especially you get all the way down to the core steel
on your fuller.
- That's better.
So fullers are done,
and I'm really happy with what I've got.
- Knowing what the test is,
I am going to make a harpoon-clipped Bowie knife.
I feel like it won't have any problem with the stab test.
It should penetrate it with no problem.
♪ ♪
[bleep].
I see this delamination at the very end of my bar,
and my heart drops.
I need to cut it off, so I just go ahead
and cut it at a 45-degree angle to get my tip started,
and thank goodness it's soli.
- I'm forging my billet out, and I have way too much steel.
♪ ♪
So I go to the chop saw and cut it in half.
♪ ♪
- That is not enough steel. - That's not good.
- Ooh, I'm short. I'm short.
Oh, [bleep].
I think I cut too much off, and now I'm under parameters,
so I have to try drawing it out
to get to the 12-inch parameter.
Ooh, still a little short.
- Todd's blade looks too thin in profile to me.
- Go little more.
If I can't forge my billet to size, then I'm going home.
My billet was getting pretty thin, but--
There we go. There we go.
I got to my parameters, and I was pleased with it.
- Now that I have my knife shape,
I know that my blade's too heavy,
and I know a quick way to remove some steel
is to add fullers, but I know I need to be careful
so I don't cut right through the blade.
- Sherwin's putting fullers in. - Nice.
That's a good thing to do.
- I added some fullers to my blade.
I know they're not lining up, but it doesn't really matte,
because it's a timed competition,
and I'm just trying to remove weight.
- I've got my profile really close to where I want it,
so now I can go back to the forge and heat it up,
try to get it as evenly as possible.
If I quench too hot, then it could actually cause cracks
and cause it to be brittle.
- Chris is in the oil.
- And I am pleased.
My blade is straight.
I've got a lot of finish grinding to do, but I thik
with the time allotted I shouldn't have any problem.
- All right, guys, you only have 30 minutes left.
- Time is not on my side right now.
I need to go ahead and get this sucker to the quench.
♪ ♪
Hot metal.
- Holy smokes. JoJo quenched.
- Yeah, that's hot.
- I pull it out straight as an arrow.
Looks pretty good.
- And I'm feeling good about my blade, so I go ahead
and start to heat my blade up for the quench.
I'm hoping it doesn't crack,
so I try not to heat it too hot.
- Todd just quenched on the lower end
of what I would consider right.
- I'm happy with the blade, so I go to the grinder
and try to get it ground as much as I can.
♪ ♪
[bleep].
And I notice a crack on the spine of my blade.
I don't have much time, so I think I can grind it out
if I make it to the second round.
♪ ♪
- All right. That was a quench. - Sherwin's quenched, guys.
♪ ♪
- [bleep]. It's not hardened.
- Okay, Sherwin wasn't happy with his quench.
He's back in the forge now.
- So my plan now is to requench
at a higher temperature
so that I'm sure the blade will be hard.
- It's cooking. It's getting too hot.
♪ ♪
- All right. Sherwin's in for his second quench.
- I go to file check, and it's hard, but...
[bleep].
I see a crack opened up on the spine.
I could chase that crack and weld it up,
but I don't have as much as time as I need.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
Bladesmiths, turn off your machines, put down your blades.
This round is over.
- I'm staring down at my blade,
and I'm hoping the crack doesn't send me home.
It's making me nervous.
- Well, bladesmiths, congratulations.
You made it through the first 3 hours of this competition
where you took three pieces of metal
and turned them into Gomai signature blades.
But, gentlemen, the time has come for your first critique,
and unfortunately, at the end of that, an elimination.
JoJo, you are up first. You ready?
- I was born ready. - All right.
Please present your work.
♪ ♪
- All right, JoJo, that's a monstrous blade.
It's pretty thick. It's still quite, quite heavy.
If you move forward from here, that's something to pay
attention to, but in general,
I think you came up with a great shape. Nice jo.
- All right. Sherwin, it's your turn.
Please present your work.
♪ ♪
- All right, Sherwin, the side of your blade
is nice and clean. I don't see any delaminations.
Your tang is kind of kicked up,
so you have a warp on your blade here,
but the big concern here is, you have a crack.
Pretty much goes all the way down the spine.
Quenching might have caused the blade's, you know,
the different temperatures to split open.
So that definitely has to be addressed
if you move on to the second round.
- Todd, you ready? - Yeah.
- All right. Let's do it. Please present your work.
♪ ♪
- All right, Todd.
So right off kind of a classic mountain man Bowie.
It's great. It's a super all-around shape,
but you've got a spine crack as well.
Leaving this open, you're leaving all that stress
in that blade, and it could crack furthe.
So if you move forward,
taking care of this crack is going to be important.
- Chris, please present your work.
♪ ♪
- Well, Chris, nice job.
All right? This is a beautiful-looking blade.
I don't see any sort of delaminations
or any issues with the weld.
The only issue I have is that the edge meanders a bit.
It kind of goes in and out this way just a touch,
but if you move forward from here,
you still have some sharpening to do,
so you can refine that a little bit.
So I think you did a great job.
- Thank you, sir.
♪ ♪
- All right, bladesmiths,
as you guys know, only three of you can join us
in the second round of this competition.
The judges talked it over, and they made a final decision,
and the bladesmith that's not going to be joining us
in the second round is...
♪ ♪
Sherwin.
Unfortunately, your blade didn't make the cut,
and Dave Baker is going to tell you why.
- Sherwin, with that large crack on your blade, that warp,
there's a lot of work that's going to have to go
into fixing that blade in the second round,
more than any of the other competitors,
and that's why we're letting you go.
- Well, Sherwin, you fought hard the entire 3 hours,
so we want to say thank you for that,
but unfortunately, your time in this competition has ended.
I'm going to have to ask you to please surrender your work
and step off The Forge floor.
- I agree with the judges' critique,
but I came here on the competition to have fun,
and I think I accomplished that.
♪ ♪
- Well, bladesmiths, congratulations.
You guys are joining us in the second round
of the Gomai or Go Home challenge.
Now, the first round was all about the five layers.
And sticking with that theme,
we want you to add five-layer handles.
♪ ♪
But those layers must include a guard, a spacer,
a handle, another spacer, and a pommel or a butt cap.
- A five-layer handle in 2 hours
is a pretty big order.
Getting everything to fit up right, making it comfortable,
it's going to be a time crunch,
which I'm hoping that I can pull off.
- When this 2-hour round is over,
you're going to hand your blades over to our judges,
who are going to put them to work
testing for strength and durability
in an oil drum stab and chop
and then check your edge retention
in a candlestick slice.
All right, guys, you got 2 hours to fix your blades
and add those handles, and that time starts now.
♪ ♪
- So how would you guys make these?
- I'd want things that are easy to work with,
because you only have 2 hours
to put all these five pieces or five layers together.
- I don't want yellow.
Going into round two, the challenging part of this
obviously is the time.
Five pieces in total that you have to incorporate
in the handle; that makes it even tougher.
I'm going with the brass for my guard and pommel,
because it drills a lot easier than steel does.
- Oh, it looks like Chris is working on his guard here.
He's got a pretty thin, maybe an inch-wide piece of brass.
Do you think that's going to be enough?
- If it's an inch, yeah. If it's getting more like
3/4, that's really marginal.
- There's a couple little gaps, but it's not terrible.
♪ ♪
- Todd's got a crack down the spine.
How do you guys foresee him fixing this?
- I'd grind the saw at a half-inch
off the top of that blade.
You get down to where that crack was really tight together
and just put a bead of weld down the center of it.
- The crack is the main concern of the judges,
and I want to get it fixed.
I want a good weld on my spine, so I clean it up
with the grinder and go weld it.
I'm worried about hurting the temper of the blade,
but I don't have a choice.
♪ ♪
Got the welds to where I want them.
I'm feeling good that my spine is fixed.
I have no time to waste.
- Ben's main problem with my blade
was that it's a bit of a beast,
so I need to get this thing taken care of.
- He needs to take those bevels that were like this
and bring them way up this way
so you can tell the different parts in the steel.
- I'm going to keep my grinds clean on my edge,
so that way I don't wiggle to one side or the other
and allow mild steel onto my edge,
but all I need to do is keep track of that edge,
keep it even, and it should be fine.
It's not pretty, but it'll do.
I have to get this five-piece handle assembled,
which really worries mem
because I'm running out of time.
- Bladesmiths, you guys have an hour and 30 minutes left.
- I love the cutting torch. I use it almost every day.
So I cut out my guard.
♪ ♪
After I cut him out with the cutting torch,
I clean up my guard and pommel at the grinder,
and they're looking good.
- Look at the size of that guard.
- I'm happy with them, and I'm moving on.
♪ ♪
- Moving onto my handle, I want to make the guard
and the spacer out of G10,
because they're softer materials,
and they're easier to work with,
which means they should take me less time to get fit up.
I'm going to drill four holes through each of the spacers
and five holes through the guard,
and then I'm going to file out the slots,
so that way I can get a nice fit on my knife.
I don't want to spend too much time,
because I got a lot of other stuff to do.
If I'm not able to get a handle on this knife,
I know my dad's never going to let me live it down,
so I need to get something done.
Sweet.
♪ ♪
Next piece. - All right, guys.
You're halfway through the handle round.
You have 1 hour left.
♪ ♪
- All right, I like what Chris is doing.
You have a nice, like,
1/4 band at either end of the blade
and then have a nice piece of metal material in the middle.
Makes for a good-looking handle.
- Now that the guard and the handle material
are fit to the tang, it's time to get to the pomme.
I go to dry-fit everything,
and the pommel will not screw down enough to tighten up.
Damn it.
Basically, I don't have enough threads on it.
So I get the tap and die set back out.
- That tang, it doesn't have
a piece of mild steel welded on there,
so if that hardenable steel has retained any hardness anywhere,
you can start a thread
and then have it bind up, have it snap off.
- And without warning...
What the [bleep] is that?
- Oh, man.
- The threads break off.
[bleep].
I have to get this pommel attached to the tang.
That's all that's holding this knife together.
It has to stay together through this testing for me
to go on any further.
This could very possibly send me home.
The only plan I have to fix this
is to grind off the threads
that I've already got on there and weld on some new ones.
♪ ♪
Fingers crossed it's a good, strong weld
because when they do the chop test on this
there's going to be enough shock
that it may cause that weld to break.
- All right, guys. You only have 30 minutes left.
♪ ♪
- I'm running out of time.
I get my handle to where I'm okay
with the rough shape of it,
so I decide to move on and get my blade sharpened.
I just throw a flat edge on it.
I wish I had more time to put a better edge,
but I don't have any time.
♪ ♪
- Now I've got the handle where it'll function,
so now I have to concentrate on getting my blade sharp.
So I am going to put a convex edge on this blade
to have it as strong as I can possibly make i.
I feel like it's going to be a good competitor
in this competition.
♪ ♪
I am pleasantly pleased with how the edge looks.
The Gomai construction is perfect.
It looks great.
- Don't stop, guys. You have 10 minutes left,
- Oh, good grief; I'm cutting it close.
I have to get some semblance of a comfortable handle
on this knife.
I've got to sharpen this,
and it's a mad dash to the end, fellas.
- Five, four, three, two, and one.
Bladesmiths, turn off your machines,
pull the blades on the [indistinct].
This round is over.
- I'm happy that I've got
something to give to the judges.
It's just not what I wanted to put out, but after 5 hours,
I can say that I have made a sharp,
gigantic Gomai knife.
♪ ♪
- Bladesmiths, welcome to the strength test,
the oil drum stab and chop.
To test the strength and durability of your ede
and tip as well as the overall construction of your knives,
I will be stabbing and chopping into these oil drums.
♪ ♪
Chris, you're up first. You ready for this?
- I guess so. - Cool.
♪ ♪
- So going into testing my biggest concern is where
I had to weld that piece of all thread on the tang,
and I just hope everything stays together.
♪ ♪
- Chris, you got a great-looking knife here, man.
I love the shape of it.
The handle is perfectly proportionate
and really comfortable. Your tip held up great.
I mean, it's still razor-sharp.
Your edge in the strength test took a chip,
but in general, your knife's all in one piece.
It's really, really well done. Nice job.
- Thank you.
- All right. Todd, you're up. You ready for this?
- Yeah. Tear it up. - All right, man.
♪ ♪
- Putting the weld on the spine of my knife,
I'm a little nervous about my blade holding up.
When it's metal on metal anything can happen.
♪ ♪
- Well, Todd, first off,
nice job on fixing this crack in the spine.
Obviously, the crack didn't open up.
I don't see it anywhere else,
but you lost the very, very end of your tip right here.
Your handle is comfortable, but when I hold this handle,
I'm expecting the point to be way over here.
That blade is, like, at 10 degrees off,
but it was like that before I started. Nice jo.
- Thank you. - All right, JoJo.
Your turn. You ready?
- Knock yourself out. - All right.
♪ ♪
- My handle's pretty blocky,
and if my knife hurts the judge's hand
I'm for sure going home.
I'm really nervous right now.
♪ ♪
- All right, JoJo. Your tip is unscathed,
but moving back to your handle,
the shape is just kind of rudimentary.
It's very rectangular,
so it wasn't the most comfortable grip.
But what you turned in survived the strength test
and was a lot of fun to swing, so nice job.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
- All right, bladesmiths, this is the sharpness test,
the candlestick slice.
Now, if you designed your blades properly,
they should cut cleanly rather than crushing
or moving these candlesticks apart.
Chris, you're up first. You ready for this?
- Yes, sir. - All right. Let's do this.
♪ ♪
All right, Chris. if you look at the cuts here,
it starts off with a nice cut,
and then the rest just pretty much,
it was just the weight of the weapon that crushed it throug.
But overall, sir, it will cut.
- Thank you.
- All right, Todd, your turn, sir. You ready?
- Yes. - Let's do this.
♪ ♪
All right, Todd, in this area here
where we cut, it cut deeper into candle,
even allowing me to cut the candle
and then go on to the next one.
Overall, sir, your weapon, it will cut.
- Thank you. - All right, JoJo.
Your turn. You ready?
- Absolutely. - Let's do this.
♪ ♪
All right, JoJo. Right here where you see the bevel,
that's exactly where the cut starts and then ends.
The rest of that is pretty much
just the energy pushing it forward.
But overall, sir, your weapon, it will cut.
- Thank you. - All right, guys,
well, the good news is, is that all three of your blades
made it through the testing, but only two of you can join us
in the third round of this competition.
And the bladesmith leaving The Forge is...
♪ ♪
Todd. Unfortunately, your blade didn't make the cut,
and Ben Abbott is going to tell you why.
- Well, Todd, first off, I have to commend you
for fixing that huge crack you had going on
coming into round two, but at the end of the day
two blades took damage in the strike test,
and of those two yours is the less-refined,
and that's why we're sending you home.
- Well, Todd, we want to say thank you for coming out.
You're a talented smith, but unfortunately your time
in this competition has ended. I'm going to have to ask you
to please step off The Forge floor.
- Thank you. That was awesome. - Thanks, Todd.
- It was a tough competition.
It was definitely harder than anything I've done.
I'm going to continue to bladesmith,
and I'm going to go home
and say hi to the family and ride my motorcycle.
♪ ♪
- Well, guys, congratulations.
The two of you are joining us in the third and final round
of this competition. In this final round,
we're sending you back to your home forges for four days
to build an iconic weapon from history.
You're going to be building this.
♪ ♪
Bladesmiths, this is the Naga sword.
♪ ♪
- [laughs]
- The Naga sword traces its origins
back to 16th-century India.
Featuring a broad, square, chiseled tip,
this weapon was great at inflicting powerful,
deadly chops in combat.
This rare version of the Dao sword was reserved
for the highest level tribal authorities
due to the scarcity of iron in the area.
While few Naga swords still exist,
they can be seen on display in the halls
of the British Museum in London.
- Your blade needs to extend out 20 to 22 inches,
have a downward-curving edge that ends in a sharpened,
spatulated tip with a pick.
Now, guys, this entire blade is made of metal.
That includes your handle and a 6- to 7-inch guard.
- I have never made anything like this before,
and it's all metal.
The complexity of this sword with all of its parts,
the weird shapes is really my biggest concern.
- Good luck. We'll see you in four days.
- Let's get it.
♪ ♪
- I'm excited to get started on this today.
I'm excited to be at home,
and hopefully I can get a Damascus billet forged out.
Forging the tip on this blade,
it's not something I've really tried before,
and I'm kind of afraid it's going to be a challenge.
Looking good.
That's going to be some pretty tedious forging there
to get it drawn out that much at the end.
Feeling pretty good. Got all the parameters met.
It's time to heat-treat this thing.
Let's hope this goes well.
There was no crazy fireballs
or broken blades or anything like that.
The quench went great.
Yeah, it's hard. And I'm pretty happy with it.
♪ ♪
- I'm back in Rutherfordton, North Carolina,
and I'm ready to get started on this Naga sword.
The first thing we're going to do is, we're going to
take all 31 of these pieces of Damascus,
and we're going to clean them off.
♪ ♪
We'll pull that out and get it going.
Making my sword out of Damascus isn't required,
but it adds an extra level to the blade
that I think will help me out in the competition.
It's coming along pretty well.
♪ ♪
We've got a solid billet of Damascus.
I'm happy with how everything looks,
so we're going to get to making this thing
into a sword.
♪ ♪
- Day two.
The plan for the day is to get this thing ground,
take a little weight off of it,
keep it light so it's actually a usable weapon.
I am stoked. This thing is going to look awesome.
I got it ground, ready for etching.
It's going to look good.
The blade etched amazing.
It's time to start thinking about the handle
and how I'm going to make it.
I feel like I have plenty of time.
- Morning of day two.
Kind of tired, but we're in a good spot.
Parameters have been met.
Time to get my blade in the oil.
With Damascus, you have a bunch of little welds.
Any of those welds could possibly pop open,
and I might end up having to start over.
I'm hoping everything comes out all good.
Hot metal.
♪ ♪
My sword's quenched. It's pretty straight.
It's okay.
It's the end of day two.
All in all a very productive day,
a very good day, and a very hot day.
- It's day four. Yesterday went good.
I got the handle piece made. It looks great.
Fits up pretty nice.
So doing some research online about this Naga sword,
the majority that I saw had red goat hair
off the pommel of it just as a decoration.
So I ordered goat hair off the internet.
I think it's perfect.
♪ ♪
- Morning of day four.
All in all, my blade's mostly done.
Most of the work I have to do is aesthetics and sharpening.
That is what you like to see.
My dad was kind enough to give me something
to test my blade on.
- I present you a challenge worthy of your skills.
[laughs]
- Finally a worthy opponent.
♪ ♪
Yeah.
Shall go on the wall. We shall stuff it.
My sword's comfy, sharp. It's done.
Now it's time to go see what the judges can do with it.
♪ ♪
- Well, JoJo, Chris, gentlemen, welcome back to The Forge.
So you just had four days at your home forges to work
on your very best Naga swords.
And, guys, I got to say, they look great.
But before we get into testing, I want to hear about them.
So, JoJo, how'd it go for you?
- It was a fun build.
♪ ♪
The blade itself is 31 pieces of Damascus.
The handle, the guard, all of that's mild steel,
and it's all gun blued to look as pretty as possibl.
- Now, Chris, yours to me looks like it needs a haircut.
But tell me about the build.
♪ ♪
- Well, it's 23 layers of 80CrV2 and 15N20.
The guard, handle, all that's made out of wrought iron
from an old wagon tire.
The handle itself is made out of black iron pipe.
Got a pommel on the end
so I could put my beautiful hairdo on it.
[laughter]
- Well, guys, both your blades look deadly.
They both look sharp, and they look strong,
but the best way we know how to find out
which one of you is going to be leaving here with the title
of "Forged in Fire" champion and a check for $10,000
by putting them through a few tests.
And up first, the KEAL. Doug?
♪ ♪
- Bladesmiths, welcome to the KEAL test.
♪ ♪
To find out what kind of lethal damage your weapons will do,
I'm going to take your weapons and put some lethal blows
or chops on this pig carcass.
JoJo, are you ready for this?
- Let's make some pork chops. - You got it.
- This is going to be awesome. I'm excited. Kind of nervous,
but I want to see what Doug can do to this thing.
♪ ♪
- All right, JoJo.
Pork chops you wanted; pork chops you got.
Most of the weight is right here in the handle,
so that really lends itself to a nice balanced weapon.
Your sword's edge over here chops deeply,
especially that one swing on the leg,
and overall it will KEAL.
- Awesome.
- All right, Chris, your turn, so you ready?
- Yes, sir. - All right. Let's do this.
- I'm a little nervous. There's a lot of really hard,
dense bones inside of a pig, and I'm just a little nervous
to see what it's going to do to my edge.
♪ ♪
- That's what I'm talking about.
- All right, Chris. The first thing I notice
about this is just how sharp your edge is ground,
and that lends itself for very deep cuts.
And I like the throwback to the '90s
Troll hair right there.
But overall, sir, your Naga sword will KEAL.
- Thank you, sir.
♪ ♪
- All right, gentlemen, welcome to the strength tes,
the howdah chop.
Now, those howdahs would be riding on top of an elephan.
This test is not about what your Naga swords do
to the howdah but what that howdah does to your blades.
And, JoJo, you are up first. You ready?
- I suppose so. - Okay.
- Dave's going to be striking my sword against this wood,
and there's a lot of things
that could go horribly wrong in this test.
My sword could chip. My sword could break,
and if it does that's it for me.
♪ ♪
- All right. So, JoJo, there's no damage.
It's kind of an axe grind but on a chopper
it works fine.
It held up beautifully in the strength test. Well done.
- Thank you.
- Chris, you ready to play with the howdah?
- Yes sir. - All right.
♪ ♪
- Chris, I'm going to start back here on your handle.
I like this. It's got a fairly traditional look to it.
As far as your blade goes,
we have a little bit of an issue.
Your edge has deflected
over to one side, but it's still sharp.
Other than that, I think you did a good job.
Well done.
♪ ♪
- All right, bladesmiths, welcome to the sharpness test
of jackfruit and rope slice.
♪ ♪
JoJo, you're up first. You ready for this?
- Absolutely. - All right. Let's do thi.
♪ ♪
- All right, JoJo, your edge cut nicely
on these jackfruits and the rope.
Overall, it will cut.
- Thank you. - All right, Chris.
Your turn, sir. You ready?
- Yes, sir. - All right, let's do this.
♪ ♪
- [chuckles]
- All right, Chris. So in cutting the jackfruit,
this section right here met the jackfruits,
so that includes this area that took some damage.
You can feel a little bit of a drag, but it did not affect.
It was able to cut through the jackfruit and the rope.
Overall, sir, your weapon, it will cut.
- Thank you.
- Well, bladesmiths, both your blades tested wel,
but only one of you can go home with the "Forged in Fire"
champion title and a check for $10,000.
Our judges have discussed your blades,
and they made a final decision.
Today's "Forged in Fire" champion is...
♪ ♪
JoJo. Congratulations.
Chris, you fought hard.
You brought us an absolutely stunning blade,
but unfortunately, you didn't come out on top today.
And Dave Baker is going to tell you why.
- Chris, I got to tell you that I am so impressed
with the craftsmanship you put into that blade,
but there's something going on in the heat treat on that edge
that let it move more than an 1/8 of an inch offlin,
and that's a problem that's going to continue to get worse.
That's why we're letting you go.
- All right. Thank y'all for having me. Appreciate it.
- Well, Chris, there's no doubting you
are an extremely talented smith,
but unfortunately, your time in this competition has ended.
I'm going to have to ask you
to please step off The Forge floor.
- All right. Thank y'all for having me.
- Thanks, Chris. - Thank you, Chris.
It's a beautiful piece. - Awesome, brother.
Thanks, mate. - Take care, guys.
Think it all came down to the heat treatment on my blade.
I'm not sure what went wrong, but something obviously did.
The experience was great. I actually kind of proved
to myself that I could make something like this.
I'd never even thought about making a sword like this,
so I feel like it's broadened my horizons a little bit.
- JoJo, congratulations.
That means you are the newest "Forged in Fire" champion.
Not only that, you are the very first father-and-son champion
that's ever come through "Forged in Fire," man.
Congratulations.
- I cannot wait to get home and tell Dad.
This is going to be super cool,
and he's going to be just as excited as I am.
- Is this a blade you'll build again?
- I think I'll make an extra one.
I need something to show off at the house.
This is so awesome.
I never thought I'd be here, and, man, it's just a blessing.
JoJo's the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Let's go. Up top. Yeah.
♪ ♪