Andrew, Tim, congratulations, you've
made it into the final round of this competition.
So now we're sending you back to your home forges
to recreate an iconic weapon from history, the shamshir.
Descending from the saber family of swords,
the shamshir, which means curved like the tiger's tail,
first gained popularity in Persia
and quickly spread throughout the former Ottoman Empire.
Light in weight and easy to wield,
this deeply curved sword featured a thin blade
and a tapered tip that was most effective when delivering
sweeping or hooking strokes.
It was sharp enough to slice adversaries in two.
Although use of the sword declined in the 20th century,
it was rebirthed as one of the main weapons
of the protagonist in the film, "Prince of Persia--
The Sands of Time."
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Good luck, Tim.
[music playing]
ANDREW: I'm very excited to be back to my home forge.
I'm going to do a low layer, random-pattered Damascus blade.
I feel that the judges will appreciate the extra effort.
Ideally, I would like to have my billet welded
up as quickly as possible.
But the Damascus is taking a little bit
longer than I expected.
So I might be a little bit behind.
But I think it'll set my blade apart from Tim's.
TIM: We're here in my home shop in Angier, North Carolina.
The first blade of this length that I've ever done
with such a major curve in it.
And it's a hot day.
[laughs] I've forged probably 98% of what I do on the power
hammer.
But I keep hearing this hiss.
[hisses]
And I said, hmm, something is not right.
Anytime you see smoke on a compressor, that's not good.
We're in trouble.
Without the air compressor, I can't use my power hammer.
It's all going to be by hand.
So this is going to be fun.
ANDREW: Yesterday, I spent most of my time shaping the blade.
Today, I need to pick up the pace.
It's ready for heat treatment.
That's what you're looking for.
In order for me to be happy at the end of the day,
I'm going to have to have my guard forged, shaped, polished,
and fit to my [inaudible].
[bleep]
Definitely have a lot of struggles with this guard.
I was looking really good, but I got off center with my cut.
And I broke the langet off.
I just wanted to throw [bleep].
I spent most of the day working on this guard,
so it's disheartening.
I need to just step back and rethink my plan.
TIM: Three days in, little sore.
It's been over the anvil for five hours straight.
I'm old.
[laughs] Never done anything this long.
So this is maiden voyage for my quench tank.
We're leaking.
And all my oil was just--
like a little geyser coming out of there.
Lucky for me, I do have a horizontal quench tank.
I see a bow here and a bow there.
One going this way, and one going back the other way.
I gotta move quick.
So I slap it in my straightening jig.
Bottom line, this is a mess.
Can't go back now.
I don't know what I'm going to do.
I'm almost afraid to look.
We are straight.
I took a file.
[laughs] Oh, I'm just tickled to death.
I still got a lot of work ahead of me.
I'm not 100% happy with what I've got with my guard.
But if I do a nice job on the blade and the handle,
I think it'll bring it all together.
But I got a slight warp in the blade.
If we put this on here, you can see
where the warp is, fuses follow the straight edge,
you have that gap right there.
I got to get this warp out, so what
I'm doing is using a couple clamps and a little jig
I have made in the temper to try to take it out.
This is normally how I get the warp out of my blades,
but I'm having more trouble this time.
So I'm just going to put a little bit
more tension on the blade, and maybe that'll work.
I go back to the heat treat oven,
and I didn't get the warp out entirely,
and I'm starting to freak out a little bit.
I don't know how I'm going to fix it.
Final day, I am exhausted.
Right now, I'm going to do some chopping.
It's fantastic.
I know I've got a sword that will perform.
Now it's just getting the look down.
This is all about how it feels in the hand.
One thing I always do when I make a handle, I grind a bit,
I put it in my hand, I close my eyes, I don't even look at it.
Light grip, squeeze it hard.
Overall, I feel fantastic.
I'm very confident that it's a $10,000 blade.
To test the sharpness of your weapon,
I'll be cutting through these three fish.
Andrew, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Here goes nothing.
Yes.
Nice.
All right.
So first thing, it's not a light sword.
But the weight's where I want it to be.
Beautiful-looking handle.
Having said that, up here at the front, it's a little blocky.
But it's definitely sharp.
Well done.
Thank you.
All right, Tim.
You ready for this?
I'm ready.
This blade is wonderfully fast and light.
Your handle, I like the construction of it.
What I have a problem with is this transition.
The two materials, it creates a bit of a lip.
If that wrap went all the way down,
I think it would feel pretty good.
Having said that, this is a beautiful piece,
and it is definitely a cutter.
Thank you.
DOUG MARCAIDA: To see what kind of lethal damage
your weapon will do, I will take your shamshir
and deliver slashes in a thrust of these pig carcasses.
Andrew, you're up first.
You ready?
Let's do it.
Andrew, your shamshir just became a sham-wow.
Your blade on the initial thrust penetrated easily,
and it lacerated cleanly into the carcass.
Your weapon, sir, will KEAL.
Good job.
Thank you.
Tim, it's your turn.
Shall we have fun?
Let's do it.
DOUG MARCAIDA: Let's do this.
All right, Tim.
This is what a shamshir, I believe, should feel like.
It definitely can thrust into the carcass.
It hit bone.
I felt it, I could feel it crunch.
The edge here is sharp enough to lacerate through the carcass,
cutting all the way through.
Overall, your weapon will kill.
Thank you.
Now, the shamshir was a weapon that was used
both on foot and on horseback.
So to test the strength and durability of your blades,
I'm going to chop into these horse skulls three times.
Andrew, are you ready for this?
I guess.
So right off, I can feel a slight rolled
section where the edge is just deformed a bit.
But other than that, held up beautifully.
Well done.
Thank you.
DAVID BAKER: [laughs] Good smile, Tim.
It's your turn.
Let's go.
OK, I can see where your edge is
taking some deformation here.
It's light and it's fast.
But it looks to me as though your blades
picked up a slight roll that way that I did not see before.
Your blade goes off at a bit of an angle.
Bladesmiths, a final decision has been made.
Only one of you can be the "Forged in Fire" champion.
And that champion is Andrew.
Congratulations, you are the "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving a check for $10,000.
Yes.
WIL WILLIS: Tim, please surrender your weapon.
Obviously, I'm a little disappointed.
I wanted to win, but I'm very proud of the shamshir
that I made.
I enjoyed the competition immensely.
It's been one of the highlights of my life.
WIL WILLIS: Andrew, congratulations.
You are the "Forged in Fire" champion,
and that's a title that comes with a check for $10,000.
Yes.
I definitely feel relieved.
It feels great.
I mean, I came here to win and prove to myself that I was
able to do it, and I can hang with these other guys with
their credentials and whatnot.
I don't have any of that, I'm just a guy from the woods,
you know?