Bladesmiths, this is the sharpness test.
To see how sharp the edge of your friction folders are,
I will take your fiction folder and deliver some ham slices.
Greg, you're up first.
Let's do this.
[music playing]
That's deep.
Well, Greg, your blade is very sharp.
Your friction folder will cut the job.
Jacob, you're next. You ready?
Yep.
[music playing]
Well, Jacob, your blade cuts well,
but it's kind of blocky to hold on to.
Overall, though, your edge will cut.
Good job.
Thank you.
Flood, you ready?
I'm absolutely ready.
[music playing]
Ham slices, anyone?
The minute I grabbed onto the handle, it did all the work.
Your blade, sir, will cut.
Thank you.
Bladesmiths, welcome to our strength test,
the green bamboo chop.
I'm going to take each your friction folders,
and I'm going to very violently strike
into this very tough bamboo 10 times.
I don't really care what your knives do to the bamboo.
I want to see what the bamboo is going to do to your knives.
Greg, you're up first.
You want to have some fun?
Yup.
Let's do it.
[music playing]
Well, Greg, we've got some edge damage here.
You've got a very, very fine edge, which
we saw on the sharpness test.
But this whole section right here now
is rolled over back and forth.
It was comfortable in the hand.
And having that long tail in your tang there
allowed me to reach down further and actually
generate more velocity.
You got edge damage, but other than that, good job.
Thank you.
Jacob, you ready?
[music playing]
OK, Jacob.
Your edge held up fine.
You got that nice, steep grind on there.
That worked very well.
It's proportionately awkward.
Holding onto it, it's covering my entire palm here.
So it's a little tough to hold on to.
But the blade held up beautifully.
Nice job.
Thank you.
Flood.
I'm curious to see what happens.
So am I. Let's find out.
[music playing]
Flood, this is a beautiful piece.
Thank you.
I see what Doug meant.
As soon as you pick it up, you can
index it perfectly right where the sweet spot is to hold it.
Your edge, after that, is still razor sharp.
Bladesmiths, the judge's deliberation is complete.
They've made their final decision.
The Bladesmith leaving the forge is--
Greg, your blade did not make the cut.
Greg, you've got a great design there
and a comfortable handle.
But what it came down to is the significant edge
damage your blade took during the strength test.
And that's why we're letting you go.
Greg, please surrender your weapon.
I wish I would have put a little bit
better geometry on my blade to make it better for chopping.
But I feel like I represented myself very well
as a craftsman, and I kept a good head on my shoulders
throughout the whole competition.
My plan for the future is to make some high-quality blades
and potentially apply from my journeyman test.
But the first thing I'm going to do when I get home
is drink a beer and take a nap.