Dan, Randy, when you came here,
we asked you to make fantasy blades.
Now we're sending you back to your home forges
to make this fantastic weapon.
Attila the Hun's Sword of Mars.
[chukles]
Good luck, bladesmiths.
[metal music]
RANDY: I'm back at my home forge,
and I'm gonna be making sword out of Damascus.
I'm making it Damascus to catch the judge's eyes.
Damscus, you can have all kinds of problems.
It could fail on me, but I'm gonna take a chance
and see where this one comes out.
I'm stretching my bit out, and I cut it in six equal pieces.
Now I'm welding it back together to go back in the forge
and forge weld it and stretch it out.
I'll have 78 layers when I get through, and hopefully,
a pretty pattern.
If it sets weld, I'm home free, but I hope it holds.
It's scrap.
The weld didn't hold.
It's got a point.
I'm afraid if I keep fooling with it,
I'm gonna run out of metal, so I'm
gonna scrap it, start all over.
I got 3 and 1/2 hours of dead nut--
Mars going really be what makes or breaks the deal.
I'm gonna have to push it.
Just the start of day two.
I want to get the heat treat and temper out of the way
and done so I can start working on the finer
details of this blade.
This one's for the money.
There's a lot of concerns when you make a blade this long,
because if you don't have it even in flat,
that gives it more of a chance to warp in the clinch.
I pull it out of the oil, the blade's got a slight warp
in it, but it's hard.
I still have enough time to bend it, just a very small window.
And then I'm there holding two blades.
Dammit, this sucks.
There goes almost a full day of work.
Time is of the essence.
I've going to get started on another blade, now.
This is really going to suck.
On day two, I got my new blade stretched out.
I wound up with 13 layers instead of 78.
Today, I'm starting off fitting these ball
spindles to my guard.
I got my ball spindle made, just don't look good.
I struggled to get it this far, but I believe
I'm going to start it all over, because it
just got too much space in it.
This guard is kind of getting to me.
It's really beginning to get on my nerves.
It's time to trash this.
I need this to work, because if it
don't, I don't know that I'll have
enough time to start all over.
It's the start of day four.
I lost time with my first blade.
Time's winding down now.
I want to make sure that this is spot-on for the judges.
Tang's a little thin, but should be working.
Now I'm going to start work on my handle, which is going
to be made of this little dolphin
that I got from a thrift store.
I like to find a use for everything.
I want to get the tang burned in all the way.
You see how it's not smoking?
That means the wood's not touching any part that's hot.
I couldn't get the Tang hot enough to burn in,
so the only thing keeping me from going all the way up
is the width here.
So I got to stick it in a drill press
and then drill out a little bit.
I fit the handle, and epoxy it in.
Once it's on there, it's permanent.
I can't go back.
This is insanely nerve-racking.
If my fit-up is loose whatsoever, I could go home.
I wish I had more time to make it a little bit better.
Oop, there goes your cushion.
It's the last day.
I've had a few setbacks, but I'm almost done.
I'm going to put some jewels in the handle.
Attila, he was a great leader, and I
think the jewels will be something that he
would have in his sword.
I've got my jewels in it.
There's one thing left to do, etch it and see
what kind of pattern I've got.
Oy, yeah.
The pattern turned out well.
I don't believe I could have done any better
if I had more layers.
I think I've built a sword that Attila
the Hun would be proud of.
All right, bladesmiths.
To find out what kind of lethal damage your weapon will do,
I will deliver killing blows on this ballistics dummy.
Randy, you're up first.
You ready?
I am.
Let's do this.
I don't know what to expect, and I know
they're going to hit it hard.
I'm a little bit gibbery.
My legs won't give out from under me a little bit,
but I think I'll be OK.
[dramatic music]
[metal music]
All right.
All right, let's talk about your Sword of Mars here.
First up, the Damascus pattern you have here is gorgeous.
Thank you.
The weapon design's very aggressive for thrusting
and slashing.
Now your handle construction.
If you reverse this, it'll be easier to have
something to lock on to.
The fact that the flare was right here, forcing my hand
to open up if I want to marry into the hilt.
This is a very sharp weapon.
The tip pierces all the way through, cuts on the way out.
It's pointy and scary, and it will kill.
Thank you.
Good job.
All right, Dan, it is your turn. You ready?
Hell, yeah.
Let's do this.
I was hoping the kill test would be a dummy.
I know heads will roll.
I'm feeling really confident.
I want to see what this thing does.
[metal music]
All right, Dan, let's talk about your weapon here.
I love the balance of your blade.
When I go forward, it's not hard to pull back to go
in again for another kill.
Now your handle construction.
It's curved enough to where it doesn't
want to fly out of my hand.
It's got a good grip and control for this.
Your edge allows for very deep cuts into the abdomen
right there.
The only issue we have is that your tip picked up a bend when
it's chopped into the spine.
But, your weapon, sir, will kill.
Thank you.
All right, gentlemen, it's time for the strength test.
Now, Attila's armies were basically one large cavalry.
And through his military campaigns,
he revolutionized the use of horse in military conflicts.
So to test the strength and durability of your blades,
I'll be chopping into these horse skulls.
Randy, you're up first.
You ready?
I guess so.
OK.
I designed my blade with a sharp, sharp edge,
and I'm a little worried.
My stomach's up in my throat a little bit.
[dramatic music]
[metal music]
Oh.
OK, so right off the bat, the biggest thing
is that this section from right about here to here
has lost its edge.
There's a couple of small rolls.
Blade's still straight, it's all in one piece,
still solid, nicely done.
It's a very strong blade.
Thank you.
All right, Dan, are you ready?
No, but let's do it.
Everybody says that.
The first test bent my blade, so I'm
feeling a little bit of fear going into the strength test.
This will kill blades.
It's a scary, brutal thing.
[dramatic music]
[metal music]
At the guard.
OK, so before we get to the obvious,
I really like the design of your blade.
It's got a great weight to it, had
a really good feel in my hand, the balance was really nice.
See all that space around your tang?
With that room for that blade to move inside the guard,
it could just create so much stress that it cut loose
right there at the corner.
If it were all tight, there wouldn't be any stress.
There's no discoloration here, so it's not that there
was a crack here before.
The grain structure looks fine.
It was a well-designed piece, but obvious flaw.
Dan, unfortunately, your blade suffered a catastrophic failure
in the middle of our strength test,
which means that we can no longer test it.
I'd like to invite you to shake our hands,
shake your competitor's hand, and then
please leave the forge.
It hurts, but my sword breaking
is going to be a reminder that I have
to push harder and be better.
Dan, keep up the work.
That's a good sword.
I came here to prove that I can compete with the big dogs,
and that I do know what I'm doing.
And I think I might have accomplished that.
Randy, the strength and efficiency of your weapon
in the kill test have earned you the title
of Forged in Fire Champion, and a check for how much?
$10,000.
That's right, $10,000.
Good job, brother.
I won Forged in Fire.
It's reality.
How do you feel?
Good.
To be a champion and be recognized as a good bladesmith
is real good.
This is my happy and excited face--
Real good sword.
--if you didn't recognize it.
[metal music]