Greg, Paul, congratulations.
You've managed to make it into the third round
of this competition, and you are one step closer
to the title of "Forged in Fire" champion
and a check for $10,000.
Now we're sending you back to your home forges,
where you will recreate an iconic weapon from history.
That weapon is-- the makraka.
The makraka is a sickle-shaped weapon
with its cutting edge on the inside curve of the blade.
It was notably used by the Azande tribe,
a dangerous clan that invaded and conquered central Africa
in the early 1800s.
With the help of the makraka, they
took no prisoners while defending
their land and resources.
The sword was often used in executions
to remove limbs, and decapitate intruders or enemies.
The Azandes' fatal and terrorizing use of the makraka
is highlighted in the game "The Deadliest Warrior."
You will have five days at your home
forge to accomplish this task.
After those five days, you will return and present your weapons
to our panel of expert judges.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
Good luck to you, man.
We got this.
Day one here at my home forge, and I'm ready to get started.
We're going to be building the--
makraka?
Am I saying it right?
One of the things I'm most concerned about
is being able to present to the judges
something that's worthy of using it and testing it,
but I don't know.
It's a strange-looking weapon.
First, I'm going to go for a Damascus blade.
It's got about 15 layers, I think.
So I'm going to throw that in the forge
and bring it up to the welding temperature.
What I'm hoping to see when I press this billet
is that it takes the weld immediately.
I mean, I don't want to see any cold spots.
I can still see my joints.
I don't like that.
Before I go too far, I'll grind it down
and see what it looks like.
If this doesn't go the way I planned it, it is garbage.
I'll have to throw it away and start over.
PAUL: Day two.
The biggest challenges for today is
coming up with a quench tank.
This one's not going to work.
This one would be fine for a big, long sword.
It's a big round sword.
So I've had to build a new quench tank.
Perfect.
Oh yeah.
Now I'm in good shape.
So I'm going into the heat treat.
It's so long.
With my forge, you can't heat the whole blade at one time.
You have to kind of drift it in and drift it out,
and it's kind of a chore, but it's all I have.
Here we go.
It's not hard.
Son of a bitch.
If you don't have a hard blade, all you've got
is a real pretty piece of steel that looks like a knife.
Heat treating makraka, take two.
That drags pretty hard.
It's not hard again.
Take three.
God.
I failed not once, not twice, three times.
Perhaps it's not the steel.
Perhaps it's my oil.
So a quick phone call tells me there's
quenching oil in Springfield.
Road trip.
It's an incredible waste of time, but I've got no choice.
Seems like I got my welds real good on my billet,
so I'm going to try forging this blade.
My plan for today is to finish my forging.
I really want to make sure I don't
draw this blade out too long.
Otherwise my arc will be too high.
I don't want it to be too much of a curve.
It's probably as straight as I'm going to get it.
It's pretty vital to me to get this heat treat going
and see just how this blade's going to react.
All right, here we go.
I'm looking at my heat-treating oven.
I know the blade isn't going to fit in there.
It's wide enough, but it's not long enough.
I'm going to try the torch.
Oh, I don't think I'm going to be successful.
I've got to try something.
This might be all right.
I don't know.
It looks good.
I'm going to test it.
[BLEEP]
That blade broke.
Literally, there's no time to think about the solution.
I'm just going to grab that piece of leaf spring--
All right.
--start forging a blade.
Doesn't that get you?
Some guy in a poor, third world country
can make stuff like this that will withstand battle.
And I've got $70,000 worth of equipment, and I can't do it.
PAUL: Day four.
I had to drive all day to go get some more oil.
I got to get this heat treat right.
Moment of truth here.
I sure hope it's hard.
That's the sound I've been looking for.
My first oil was contaminated.
The new oil, it worked just like it was supposed to.
Thank you.
I've lost way too much time because of heat treating.
Fit and finish is my forte.
I don't have the chance to do that now.
I am a little bit of panic mode because my time
has dwindled away.
I'm going to have to beat this thing up.
It has to be an effective weapon.
CRAIG: I had to completely forge another blade.
Now it's day five, and I've got 20 hours left.
That will work.
I'm ready to heat treat.
The reason this blade failed is because of what
I have to heat treat with.
I know the blade isn't going to fit in there.
The plan is to leave a small slit at the bottom
that the blade will slide in and out of.
Let's give this a shot.
It looks nice.
If I don't get this blade heat treated correctly, I'm done.
It definitely hardened.
Oh, what a relief.
I've got a blade I believe I can take to the final round.
So now I've got to do a little fitting on my handle material,
but I don't know if I have enough time to finish.
Bladesmiths, to see what kind of lethal damage
your weapon can do, I will take your makraka
and I'll deliver lethal blows on this ballistics dummy.
Craig, you're up first. You ready?
CRAIG: Yes, sir.
Let's do this.
All right.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CRAIG: That's nasty.
You can mess somebody up with that thing.
This is one of the lightest swords I've ever picked up.
But the most important thing, it will kill.
Thank you.
Paul, it's your turn.
I'm ready.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, Paul, where one was speed,
this is power because it's a lot heavier.
It dug in deep into the chest cavity.
Overall, your makraka will kill.
Thank you.
Up next, the strength test.
Dave?
Gentlemen, an advantage of that sword
was to actually reach around the shield
hitting the man behind it.
So to test the strength and durability of your blades,
I'm going to strike these shields four times
with each of your weapons.
This kind of wood can withstand extremely brutal force.
So remember, this is not about what
your sword does to the shield, but what
the shield does to your swords.
Now, Craig, you're up first. Are you ready?
Yes, sir. DAVE: OK.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, I don't see any nicks or damage.
The blade's still sharp.
Very nice.
Well done.
CRAIG: Thank you, sir.
Good job.
DAVE: All right.
Paul, you're up.
Let's do this.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
DAVE: All right, Paul, I don't see any blade damage.
The edge is in good shape.
I like the leather wrap on the handle.
It's nice.
So all in all, nicely done.
PAUL: Thank you.
DAVE: Next up is the sharpness test.
For that, I'll give you back to Doug.
The makraka sword was used by Azande warriors
for beheading their prisoners.
To see how sharp your weapons are,
I'm going to do a mock beheading over here.
Craig, you're up first. Are you ready?
Yes, sir.
DOUG: Let's do this.
All right.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, Craig, on a vertical chop, it was easy to control.
My worry is about on a horizontal chop or slice
that the weight would put pressure on my wrist.
No issues whatsoever.
Overall, your blade will cut.
Thank you.
Paul you're up.
You're ready?
PAUL: Yes, sir.
Let's do this.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
OK, Paul, the feel of your blade
is a little bit on the heavy side when you're
doing a horizontal slice.
It got hung up on the watermelon,
almost cutting all the way through them.
But on the vertical slice, it just pulls you in and easily
cuts all the way through.
Your makraka will cut.
Thank you.
Bladesmiths, in just five days you've
done some exceptional work, and your blades perform very well.
But in this arena of competition,
there can only be one "Forged in Fire" champion,
and that champion is--
Craig.
Congratulations.
You are the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Thank you, all.
Paul, your blade did not make the cut.
Paul, you gave us a powerful blade,
but you fell short on sharpness.
The bottom line, it under-performed
the watermelons, and for that reason, we have to let you go.
I accomplished what I wanted to do.
There are guys on here that have made thousands of blades
and didn't make it as far as I did.
- Thanks, Paul. - OK.
Take care, man.
PAUL: The first thing I do when I get home
is I'm going to take a nap.
It was a hell of a week.
I lost 5 pounds.
Craig, you are the "Forged in Fire" champion,
and that's a title that comes with a check for $10,000.
Congratulations.
I'm quite surprised.
I never thought I'd get this far.
Why don't you present your blade to the judges?
CRAIG: I certainly didn't walk away with this.
Paul put up a fight, but I could come there
with the best-looking thing, but if it doesn't perform,
then you're out.