Phil, John, congratulations.
You guys have landed in the final round
of this competition.
Now we're sending you back to your home forges
to recreate this iconic weapon from history.
The partisan.
[gasps]
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in four days.
Today's day 1.
And the main thing I want to get accomplished today
is forging out that socket.
If I don't get that done, that's going to put me behind where
I need to be for tomorrow.
What do you think of that?
Why does it have a hole?
Because the spear is going to go inside.
For the blade, I'm starting out with a good chunk of sheet
steel, 1095 high carbon.
There we go.
I am overcome with joy with the amount of progress
that I've made today.
First thing we got to do is get the profile established,
get our medial ridge ground in, take a lot of the weight
out, and get it ready for heat treat.
A weapon like this is meant to be swung,
so it needs to be well balanced.
It can't be too top heavy.
But I need to balance that with strength as well.
So the plan for heat treating the blade
is to clay up each blade individually and differentially
harden the edges so that it stays
nice and soft and springy, and only
our cutting edge gets hard.
If the whole blade was as hard as the edge,
it would be really likely to break.
All righty.
Well, it's straight.
Now we're going to clay and heat treat
the flanges one at a time.
Last quench right here.
Hell yeah.
Thing's hard as woodpecker lips.
Today is day 2.
And the plan for today is just to get that medial ridge
situated just right.
And what I've got to figure out is how exactly to do this.
Smiths have been making medial ridges for hundreds
if not thousands of years.
But in all of my research that I found,
I could not find how they traditionally
put medial ridges on blades that were so pronounced.
So I'm really having to go just a little different route
than I think what is traditionally done.
I'm going to take bar stock, tack weld it,
throw it in the forge, forge weld it, throw a bead of weld,
and then I'm going to go in and clean up those welds so I get
those really drastic curves.
The weight of the piece is going to be heavier,
but I'm going to have structural integrity.
That is sufficiently ground.
I think we are ready to heat treat.
[music playing]
I think we are good.
It's day 4.
The sun's finally out.
Today's mostly refining work, fit and finish,
getting everything cleaned up, sharpened,
and getting the sphere mounted.
So now I'm forging a nail to affix the sphere to the shaft.
So I've just got a piece of square stock, taper it down.
We're going to cut it off on the parent bar
and chuck it up with a nail header.
There's our nail.
I could do better.
See how the head's off center?
I don't know this one.
It's going to be inside-- you're not going to know.
It's fine.
Oh, god, I'll know, though.
I'm going to make another one.
[rock music]
That one's better.
What my spear brings to the table
is the good blend of form and function.
And with the way I made it, it should
be pretty much indestructible.
Feels good.
The plan for today is to clean up the surface grind,
get everything nice and shiny, then
continue on with the bevels, and then start assembling.
I'm just going to kind of do a dry fit
and see where I'm at with the pole here.
Not going to peen it.
I still need to take it all apart for some more work,
but just getting that step in the process done and ready
to move forward with it.
Whoops.
I'm thinking, yeah, it'll come right off.
No problem.
I was wrong.
It's like, why am I taking this out if it fits so well?
But to keep working on it, I need it out.
Wow.
I'm an idiot.
[grunts]
That's not budging.
As I'm prying on this vise, trying to get the bar out,
it dawns on me, heat up the metal.
Burn the wood.
It'll come right out.
Voila.
Disaster averted.
Of all the things to go wrong, right?
A major build, $10,000 on the line.
He prematurely gets his wooden staff stuck in it.
So I'm not planning on testing right now.
If it's going to malfunction, if it's
going to break at this point, I want the judges
to have the honor of destroying something that I've built,
not me.
I think that feels good.
All right, bladesmiths.
This is the kill test.
To test the lethality of your weapon,
I will deliver killing blows on this ballistics dummy.
Phil, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Yes, sir, man.
Let's do it.
Going into this test, my heart's starting
to pump a little faster.
Doug's hopefully just going to destroy this ballistics dummy,
and we're going to have pieces flying all over the place
and blood on the walls.
[rock music]
All right, Phil.
The design you have here is scary.
That's a very thick spine you have, and the edges are sharp.
As you can see, very deadly.
The one thing about this is that it's heavy.
That is something to take into account when you're carrying
something like this into battle and you've
got to move multiple times.
But more importantly, your weapon will kill.
Thank you, sir
All right, John. Your turn.
You ready?
Let's do it.
I'm feeling good about the kill test.
I know my blade is sharp, and I think it'll cut really well.
[rock music]
[laughs]
Pushed out a rib.
All right, John.
I love the feel of the blade.
You can really fight with it because it's lighter.
Your blade also is very slim that it penetrates
in there when there's no resistance,
even enough to push out a rib.
More important, I love the balance, I love the feel,
and it will kill.
Thank you, sir.
All right, gentlemen, it's time for the strength test--
the pike, push, and armor stab.
Now, the partisan was often used in castle or in city defense,
so to test the overall strength and construction
of your blades, I'll be pushing against these pikes
with the blade and then stabbing into the armor.
Now, this test is not about what your weapons do to the targets.
It's about what those targets are going to do your weapons.
Phillip, you're up first. You ready?
Yes, sir.
[rock music]
All right, Phillip.
This thing is a beast.
The weight, the shape of your tip
really makes it a good penetrating weapon.
The issue I have is the partisan was a standoff weapon.
You got to be able to control it.
And at full extension, that weight is hard to control.
I like the fact that you have this high medial ridge.
I like your design.
My only issue is the weight.
Good job.
Thank you, sir.
John, you ready?
Let's do it.
I am a little bit worried about the blade
going into the strength test.
Stabbing at armor with the blade being as thin as it is,
I was really concerned about keeping the weight down.
Hopefully it holds up.
[rock music]
[bleep]
OK, John, the weapon is light.
It's well balanced.
I really like that.
The issue I have is down here.
It looks as if this is the thinnest spot.
Now, you've got a differential heat treat.
You can actually see those lines.
And that soft core may be what's affecting this blade.
So as soon as I stabbed in and it locked up, that blade went.
With this bend, it's not safe to test this blade anymore.
It's going to keep on bending, and it's going to get
harder and harder to control.
John, your blade has suffered a significant deformation
in the course of our strength test.
It's received a vote of no confidence from the judges.
I have to ask you to please leave the forge.
I completely agree with the judge's decision.
With the way that blade bent, I wouldn't be
comfortable testing it either.
Good job.
Awesome job.
Seriously.
Even though I'm not a "Forged in Fire" champion,
I am proud of the work I turned in.
Phil, congratulations, brother.
You did a great job, and I'm happy for you.
Phillip, you are the new "Forged in Fire" champion.
That's a title that comes with a check for $10,000.
Good job.
[applause]
I just won "Forged in Fire."
John, you're an awesome dude, an amazing competitor.
The sense of joy and accomplishment,
knowing my daughter is going to see,
there's so many emotions right now.
There's-- I'm overwhelmed.
I'm trying to hold back tears, man.
I'm taking it home to Texas.
[music playing]