[narrator]
with ABS Master Smith J. Neilson.
[Neilson]
to some of the world's top bladesmiths,
and the forge I chose is where thousands
have gotten their start.
We're heading to the world-renowned
Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing,
located in Texarkana, Texas.
Home of the oldest
bladesmithing school in the world,
Bill Moran is a legend.
He not only founded the school
and the American Bladesmith Society,
but he also revived the lost art of Damascus.
Now, their top smiths
will compete to represent this shop and me
for their chance at becoming a
Guys, congratulations on making it through the first round.
That means the two of you are still in this tournament,
and in the running for $20,000 going to yourselves
and an extra $10,000 that could be coming back here
to the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
Now, as you probably noticed, this competition has been
all about the ABS theme.
And we figured we'd keep that going into this next round,
where we're sending you back to your home forges
to build this.
ABS Master Smith's quillon dagger.
But, guys, you're so talented,
we figured why not supersize this a little bit
and have you build a short sword version of the dagger?
So good luck, gentlemen.
We'll see you at our forge in four days.
Good luck, man.
[Jake]
We're in Plano, Texas.
I gotta bring a win home for the Lone Star State.
Let's get rocking and rolling.
Everything looks to be going pretty solid.
Time to get my blade looking like a knife.
Hell yeah.
That's looking good.
So I couldn't be more pleased with how today went.
Got a sword, man.
Yesterday on day three, got my blade heat-treated.
I just got to get everything fit up
and start shaping my handle material.
It's not gonna be the best flute.
I myself am a perfectionist,
especially with my craft and what I do with my work.
I'm real OCD, and I like to nitpick my stuff
and just make it as good as I can make it
when fitting up a handle.
The whole build was super challenging,
but I'm grateful to be a part of this competition,
and I'm super proud to represent
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
Holy [bleep], guys.
Ha! I got that done!
I got that done!
That looks so freaking cool.
Badass.
[Chris]
I'm ready to get started on this quillon short sword.
We got a good squish on it.
It's looking pretty good to me so far.
So I have enough material to work the tang
and work my tip, and it came out phenomenal.
So far, so good.
I hope that this quench works out.
If this thing ends up cracking, I'm out of the competition.
Okay.
This blade's quenched. I'm happy about that.
And oh, my goodness, it's hard.
I'm like, "Yes!"
[laughs]
Both my guard and my pommel,
they are made out of mild steel.
And that will... There you go.
The weapon is put together, peened on, looks good.
So I get to play with it a little bit.
[laughs]
I think it'll definitely cut.
All right, gentlemen, the time has come.
We've gotta find out which one of you
is moving forward in the tournament,
staying in contention for that $20,000 check for yourselves,
and an additional $10,000 that could go back
to Don and the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
And to do that, we've got to put your blades
through a series of tests.
For those tests, I'm gonna hand you over to J.
[dramatic music playing]
Well, bladesmiths, your big-boy versions
of the Master Smith quillon dagger look really nice.
But looking good is one thing. Functionality is more important.
So I'm gonna take both of your short swords
and do a series of thrusts and chops
on this ballistics dummy rig.
Chris, you're up first. You ready to go?
As ready as I'll ever be.
[grunts]
[laughs]
[laughing] Just kicked [bleep] shield in half.
Who needs a sword?
[grunts]
All right, Chris, nice job.
Very well balanced.
With the fluting you have on this handle,
it was a good grip.
The shield wanted to put up a fight,
but we made it through.
Uh, the only thing I have to say negative
is the alignment.
Because I'm holding the handle vertically.
And you can see how that blade curves off to one side.
But all in all, everything's sharp.
Everything's tight.
-Nice job. -Thank you.
-All right, Jake, ready to go? -I'm ready.
[grunts]
All right, Jake, nice job.
Everything's still on alignment.
Nothing wrong with the edge. Nothing chipped out or anything.
Everything's tight.
I like the counterbalance
you put in here with the wrought iron.
The fluting on here gave me a good grip.
-So overall, very nice job. -[Jake] Thank you, sir.
[dramatic music playing]
All right, bladesmiths,
now we know your blades are functional.
Next, we're gonna see how strong they are
and how well they hold up in our strength test.
Chris, you're up first again. You ready?
-Yes, sir. -All right, let's do it.
[dramatic music playing]
[grunts]
All right, Chris. Real nice.
Good grip, able to hold on no problem.
You do have some glinting.
-[clicking] -See? You can hear that?
That's the worst one there. So you do have some edge damage.
But obviously it was still sharp enough
to cut through those bags.
Um, again, that blade being kicked off
throws off the thrusting.
Overall, though,
nice job.
Thank you.
-Jake, ready again? -Let's do it.
[dramatic music playing]
[grunts]
All right, Jake. Nice job.
Cut deeply into the steel.
There's some glinting.
Got a little bit of a roll.
Aside from that, everything's still straight.
-Good job. -Thank you.
Well, gentlemen, this is it. We started this competition
back in Texarkana with you guys putting together
Damascus blades, and you went above and beyond.
But only one of you can come out on top
of the Texarkana leg of this tournament
and move forward into the final leg,
fighting against three other smiths
who we pick up across America.
And the winner of this leg who will be representing
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing
and J. Neilson is...
Jake. Congratulations.
Now, Chris, unfortunately, your blade did not make the cut.
I'm gonna have to ask you to step off the forge floor.
Thanks, man.
All in all, I was happy
with how my blade performed.
I completely agree with his decision
to put me off.
[host] Now, Jake, congratulations.
That makes you the winner
of the Texarkana leg of this tournament.
You're moving forward to the final leg,
still fighting for that $20,000 to go in your pocket
and $10,000 in gears and supplies
to go back to Don
and the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing.
I don't even know how to feel. This is so cool.
It was anyone's game.
It was such a close fight,
from the beginning at Texarkana to here.
Chris has been an awesome competitor,
but I took home the victory today
and I don't even know what to do.
[laughs] It's pretty awesome.
-Congratulations. -[Jake] Yes, sir.
-Very, very well done. -It was a pleasure.
[Jake]
the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing
in the next leg of this challenge,
and I'm super excited, so let's get after it.
[rock music playing]