Welcome to our strength test, bladesmiths.
I'm gonna to take your blades and beat them repeatedly
into these railroad spikes.
I want to see what the spikes are going to do to your blades.
John, you're up first.
You ready?
I'm nervous as hell.
My knives are thinner than the others.
So I don't know if I can hang.
[beating, grunting]
(WHISPERING) Holy crap.
No kidding.
Well, John, not bad.
You got a little edge damage, a little deformation,
a little too soft on this one.
This edge, not bad, a little brittle.
This one held up the best.
Overall, you survived the strength test.
Nicely done.
Thank you.
Duane, how you feeling?
Let's do it.
[beating]
[exhales out]
All right, guys.
All right, Duane.
We got a bit of a problem here.
The edges on your blades aren't as hard as we hoped.
We don't have chipping.
The steel is actually compacted in on itself.
Drew.
You're up.
How do you feel?
- Nervous. - Nervous?
That's all right.
I'll be over in a minute.
I'm completely distraught inside.
I'm trying to calm myself down, doing some deep breathing,
and I'm just stressed out like crazy.
[beating, grunting]
All right, Drew, your blades are actually
very comfortable, except for one point, these hooks back here.
There's sharp corners on there, and that actually
built bit Dave's hand here.
Right here.
The edges took some damage.
For the most part, your blades held up well.
So good job.
Thank you.
All right, bladesmiths, it's time to see what kind of edge
your blade still have.
A sharp edge should cut easily.
A rolled edge, it might snag, or worse do nothing at all.
John, you're up first.
You ready for this?
I'm ready as I can be.
[slashing noises]
All right, John, all your blades
have areas that are sharp and some areas
that aren't as sharp.
On the inside of the canvas, your blades cut.
But on the thick edges, they had a hard time cutting through.
But all your blades will cut.
Thank you, sir.
All right, Duane, your turn.
You ready?
Let's do it.
[slashing noises]
All right, Duane, overall, there's a lot of damage
in all the edges, and it shows.
Your blades pretty much hang up and rip into the canvas.
They didn't cut.
Overall, your blades will rip.
All right, Drew, your turn.
You ready?
Yes, sir.
[slashing noises]
All right, Drew, there are some areas here
that are damaged, and it's exactly those areas
that hung up on the canvas.
But overall, your blades here will cut.
Thank you.
Bladesmiths, for one of you, your journey stops
dead in the tracks right here.
The bladesmith leaving the forge is Duane.
Your blade did not make the cut.
Yeah, Duane, though I like the diversity of blades
you made for us, your knives suffered the most
damage in the strength test.
And that was really made apparent in the sharpness test.
So that's why we're letting you go.
Duane, please surrender your blades.
I'm pretty disappointed, but I'm going to go
home with my head held high.
I'm very happy with what I've accomplished here.
I'm looking forward to getting back out in the shop with Dad
and working on some knives.