Logan, Keaton, congratulations.
You guys have made it to the final round
of this competition.
Now it's time to send you back to your home forges
to recreate an iconic weapon from history, the Japanese ono.
Oh, yes.
Good luck.
We'll see you in four days.
Good luck, man.
[music playing]
KEATON: So it's the final round.
I'm back here on Nantucket.
I'm going to make a Japanese ono.
So I start by trying to widen the steel with the drawing
hammer, and I realize it's going to make my ax way too thin.
So I take the broad steel, and I'm
just hitting it into the anvil.
So if I upset it, it'll get fatter,
and then I can draw it wider from that thickness.
Not only is it getting thicker, but I'm
also starting to get that crescent shape
that I'm looking for.
So it's the end of day one.
I got both these ax heads pretty much completely forged out.
I didn't have any oh [bleep] moments today,
but you never know.
There could be one coming up.
LOGAN: I feel like today's going to be a good day.
I'm gonna go ahead and clean up the piece.
I'm gonna set all my weld lines with the welder
and create a scarf weld so I can bring
out more of the head of the ax.
So I'm gonna draw it out a little bit both ways
and see how well they stuck.
[hammer pounding]
[machinery ticking]
I start noticing cracks.
My welds aren't welded up.
And I see I've only got six [inaudible] of steel left.
[bleep]
My blade broke.
It shattered.
The forge welds never stuck.
The original piece was all that held on.
I've got to start over.
I've got to find something to turn in.
I've got plenty of time to at least turn in something ugly.
So I've got some spring steel, and we're gonna go from there.
[hammer pounding]
[machinery whirring]
It's going good.
Tomorrow I have to finish the small head.
I've got to shape the big head.
And then the rest the day, I can start working on the handle.
KEATON: Just started day three.
I was not able to quench last night.
I need to quench this thing as soon as possible
because I'm running out of time.
I did it!
Nice and straight.
Oh, this is great.
Dude, I'm so happy.
It's time to do some casting.
I'm casting the heart ornaments that are gonna
go around the holes in the ax.
Artistry and craftsmanship are very important to me,
so I want to incorporate that.
I put some bronze in the crucible.
Get the bronze melting.
I pull them out, cool them off in some water.
This is looking really good.
Perfect.
LOGAN: It's the morning of day three.
It's going OK, considering the fact
I had to restart yesterday.
Hopefully just finish drawing out the little head,
and then start drawing out the big head.
[hammer tapping]
I've got a small ax head.
I'm happy with that.
I gotta finish shaping it, and then move on to the big one.
I'm actually kind of happy it fell apart at this point.
It's coming out a lot better.
It's working a lot better.
I think it was meant to be.
I've almost got the shape of my head,
so I'm gonna stick it in the forge real quick
and heat it up.
And then we're gonna go for a quench.
Big side first.
Now we're about to quench the smaller part.
Too hot, too hot, too hot, too hot, too
hot, too hot, too hot, too hot!
Like music to my ears.
End of day three.
Honestly, I'm just happy that I'm
gonna be turning something in.
All right, bladesmiths.
Welcome to the kill test.
It's time to find out what kind of lethal damage
your onos will do.
To find that out, I will take your weapon
and deliver some lethal blows on this ballistics dummy.
Let's see if your onos can be an oh, yes.
[chuckles] Logan, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Yes, sir.
[music playing]
[laughs]
Ono!
[laughs] Logan, this is a lot of fun.
The damage that you did with your design over here--
for every chop using this digs in.
On the way out, it guts you.
Pretty much opened everything and crushed everything
in its path.
More importantly, your ono is an oh, yes.
It will kill.
Thank you.
Keaton, your turn.
So you ready?
Oh, yeah.
[music playing]
All right, Keaton, let's talk about your ono here.
At first when I picked it up, I was like, oh,
wow, that's light.
But then when I wielded it, I was like, oh, yes.
This thing stayed on.
It's solid.
Your edges, they're sharp, and that's why it dug in very deep.
Overall, sir, your ono was an oh, yes, and it will kill.
Thank you.
Bladesmiths, welcome to our strength test,
the bamboo wall chop.
Now, to push your onos to the limit,
I'm gonna beat them repeatedly against this
strong, thick, springy bamboo.
Now, again, it's not what your onos do to the wall,
it's what the wall does to your onos.
Logan, how you feeling?
Good.
[music playing]
[grunting]
All right, Logan, good job.
Your edge is still good.
Everything's still tight.
It's heavy.
The wrap makes it a little difficult
to slide down during the chop, but everything's
still tight, sharp.
Did a lot to that.
Good job.
Thank you, sir.
Keaton, how you feeling?
Good.
Let's do it.
[music playing]
[grunting]
It's like [inaudible].
All right, Keaton, good job.
It's nice and light, fast, easy to swing.
My favorite aspect is how you had the wood going all the way
through and split up top here.
Your edges are still good.
Everything's tight.
Good job.
Thank you.
All right, bladesmiths.
Now it's time to find out how sharp they are.
This is the sharpness test--
the water tube slice.
Now, unlike the strength test, this
is all about what your edge does to those water tubes.
Logan, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Yes, sir.
[music playing]
[fire sizzling]
All right, Logan.
That's an impressive cut.
Very clean, no jagged edges on the tubes.
Your weapon, sir, it will cut.
Thank you, sir.
Good job.
All right, Keaton, your turn. So you ready?
Yep.
[music playing]
[fire sizzling]
All right, Keaton, let's talk about your weapon here.
Once again, I have to mention just
how thin the profile of your blade is,
making it razor sharp.
And the cuts are very clean.
Overall, sir, it will cut.
Thank you.
All right, bladesmiths, the judges
have evaluated your craftsmanship.
You've both done incredible work here today, but only one of you
can be the Forged in Fire champion.
And that champion is--
Keaton, congratulations.
You're the Forged in Fire champion.
Logan, that is a highly devastating weapon,
but at this time I have to ask you to please shake our hands,
shake your competitor's hand, and then please exit the forge.
Come on forward, my friend.
I'm happy for Keaton, but I'm disappointed.
I broke my first blade the first two days in, so, I mean,
being able to crank something out in 23 hours,
I'm happy with it.
Moving forward, I'm going to continue headstrong.
I may not be a Forged in Fire champion,
but I'm happy that I made great friends.
Keaton, that beautifully crafted and deadly ono
has earned you the title of Forged in Fire champion,
and that's a title that comes with a check for $10,000.
Good job, brother.
[applause]
Is that your smiling face?
[laughs]
'Cause you look like you're in pain right now.
No, I'm excited.
All right.
Come on forward and shake our hands, my friend.
I'm a Forged in Fire champion.
I did it.
This experience has been great.
It was definitely a challenge.
The biggest thing I took away from this
was just work hard, keep going, no matter what happens.
[music playing]