[percussion playing]
Rich, Dave, congratulations.
You've made it to the final.
Good job.
It's a second shot at the title of "Forged in Fire"
champion and that check for $10,000.
Now we're sending you back to your home forges
to create an iconic blade from history.
Rich, you got any ideas?
I don't have a clue.
What do you want it to be?
Lightsaber.
[laughter]
Let's see it.
The hook sword.
Nice.
NARRATOR: Long before the hook sword was featured in films
like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,"
it was wielded by the Shaolin monks in ancient China.
Established around 495 AD, the Shaolin monastery
was a hub of martial arts, where Buddhist monks were trained
in self-defense using everything from common tools
to versatile weapons like the hook sword.
The sword's curved blade allowed the user
to trip or disarm opponents.
Its crescent guard could be used to slash or block flows.
And if used in a pair, the swords
could be linked at their hooks to increase
the weapon's deadly reach.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
Good luck.
[rock music playing]
All right, let's get to work.
Today's day one.
I'm excited to be at my own shop and have a little more comfort.
In my home shop, I don't have Will screaming
at me every 45 minutes.
That could be an advantage, could be a disadvantage.
Ooh, that's hot.
Making this sword is kind of tough because it's
the Swiss army knife of swords.
It's got a lot of edges.
It's got a lot of blocking points.
Today, what I'm going to do is I'm
going to make the crescent part of the blade,
just to work myself into it.
It's probably one of the easier parts of the sword.
I'll save the complicated parts for last.
I like it.
The day two plan of attack's going to be simple.
Get the main portion of the sword cleaned up
to bare steel and heat treat.
Looks like it's coming together.
I don't have a quench tank large enough to do the whole thing.
I'll do two heat treats.
I'll do the main post of the sword first.
It's straight.
And then I'll do the hook secondly.
If I do it this way, the heat will just hit this part.
The big concern that I've got is overheating
the transition part from the hook
down into the main shaft of the sword.
If it's too soft, then on impact, it can inevitably bend.
And I don't want that.
We shall see.
Right now, I'm happy about the sword.
And I'd like to get everything heat treated by tonight.
In order to get the heat treat right,
I'm going to have to make a bigger forge.
So I'm going to use these drums that I got from "Breaking Bad"
and turn it into a heat treat forge.
Tah-dah.
This is it.
Here goes nothing.
I heard weird sounds.
Freaking beautiful.
Not a single twist or bend.
I think those noises may have been coming
from the forge barrel settling, because the heat
treat turned out beautiful.
Today ought to be a pretty fun day.
Everything's heat treated, everything's tempered.
Just gotta get a handle put on it and sharpen it.
It should cut, it should hack, it should stab.
It should do whatever they're going to throw at it.
I don't want to see any failure in this.
It cuts.
I'd say that'll work.
But I'm really not looking forward
to what the judges are going to put this thing up against.
Slapping it up against this or cutting that,
I really don't know.
But you know, we're going to find out soon enough.
I don't like watermelon.
Today, I'm just debating what type
a handle to put on this thing.
[bleep]
I ended up going with a wrap.
I never did macrame.
I got the handle wrappped.
I got a little blood on my sword.
As far as the sword design goes, it's kind of silly.
It's got a lot of sharp edges on it.
It seems a little dangerous to me.
It's sharp everywhere.
Well, it will cut.
We'll see if it will kill.
Blaesmiths, to test the edge and sharpness of your blade,
I will slash one time on each of these tatami mats
filled with rice.
If they're sharp, it should cut cleanly through.
Rich, you're up first.
Are you ready?
Heck yeah.
I think I'm going to do well.
The sword's sharp.
There are no flaws.
There's no inherent problems with it.
[fast percussion playing]
Nice.
Pretty cool.
Well, Rich-- it is a light and sharp sword.
You can definitely maneuver with it for close quarter,
but as you can see, you can slash
cleanly through these mats.
It definitely will cut.
It will.
Good job.
Dave, you're up next.
Are you ready?
Yes, sir.
Let's do this.
[fast percussion playing]
Dave, your blade's a little bit heavier.
It's sharp enough to cut, but not sharp enough
to cut all the way through.
Because of the weight of the weapon, when you're extending
and you have a point pointing back at you,
there's a little bit of concern of how you're
gonna be controlling the blade.
But overall, sir, good job.
Thank you.
Rich has a point.
I don't have a point yet, so it's 1 to 0.
So I have to fare well in the second test.
Dave?
So gentlemen, to test the strength of your weapon,
I'm to take two blows against our terracotta warriors here.
If your blade is strong enough, it should survive
the impact with minimal damage.
Rich, are you ready?
I am.
OK.
[hard rock music playing]
Well, Rich, wonderfully light weapon.
Very, very fast.
You've got a little deformation on the edge,
but it didn't chip.
Picked up a bit of a bend, but not too far out of true.
Yeah?
Well done.
All right, Dave, your turn.
I ain't going to watch this.
It's not going to happen.
So I'm just using my ears.
[hard rock music playing]
I'm good with that.
When I see Dave's sword shatter the terracotta dummies,
I'm feeling nervous.
Well, Dave, a much heavier weapon.
You can see it just powered right through the terracotta
with no problem whatsoever.
It's still right and tight, and true, and everything.
Little deformation, but again, we're hitting terracotta.
Well done.
Awesome.
Rich, David, the judges have scrutinized every aspect
of your work and your weapons' performances,
and they've made their final decision.
David, congratulations.
You are the Forged in Fire champion.
Good job.
You're kidding, right?
No, I'm not.
Rich, unfortunately, your weapon did not make the cut.
Rich, I love what you brought us.
And during the testing, you and David
ended up pretty much even.
Both of your blades flexed during the terracotta strength
test.
But yours kept the bend in it, didn't come back to true.
So that's why we're sending you home today.
OK.
Rich, it's time for you to surrender your weapon
and leave the forge.
Thanks, guys.
I'm completely happy with the sword that I made,
but right now I feel a little defeated.
I feel a little beat up.
The first thing I'm doing when I get home is I'm going to sleep.
I could really use a nap.
Dave, you came in just shy the first time you were here.
Now you're a "Forged in Fire" champion who's also
receiving a check for $10,000.
How do you feel right now?
I honestly don't know right now.
I'm still kind of elated at the moment.
[laughter]
I like the way the edge held up on that.
Didn't take any chips or chunks out of it.
Thank you.
Well, congratulations.
Now I've actually proven to myself that, yes, I can do it.
And getting to go home as a champion, that's--
that's pretty cool.
[hard rock music playing]