Bladesmiths, congratulations.
You've made it to the final level of this competition,
which means you get to face off against one
of our expert judges for the opportunity to win $10,000.
I'm thinking it's going to be Ben.
Last time I was here, Ben won and I lost.
But this time I'm going to crush.
You'll be competing against J. Neilson.
BURT FOSTER: Oh, crap.
J.'s got a lot of knife-making experience,
but I've known him for 15 years.
When he tested for his master smith rating,
I was one of his judges.
How you doing, my friend?
Good.
J. NEILSON: When I see Burt, I'm tickled.
Burt made one of the most beautiful finale weapons I've
ever seen on "Forged in Fire."
I've got my work cut out for me now.
Gentlemen, in the final level of this competition,
you'll be using these, 5160 coil springs.
You must use a san mai technique utilizing
your 5160 coil springs to make a matched set of fighting knives.
J. NEILSON: 5160 in the coil form can be difficult. But then
when I have to make two blades and I have
to make them duplicate and then I
have to do this against Burt Foster,
then it becomes a challenge.
BURT FOSTER: I know J., his blades
are going to perform great, and I think mine
are going to perform great.
I think it's going to come down to small differences.
I'm representing all of the guys who
have sat under his critical eye and have thought
to themself, yeah, put yourself in my shoes
and try it from down here.
Me being on the floor, I can understand the compromises
you've got to make.
You know, you've got to make some sacrifices
and shortcuts to get through.
I just don't want anything to break because I will
never hear the end of that.
Oh no.
We always have an issue.
Master smiths, welcome to the kill test.
To find out what kind of lethal damage
your dual fighting knives will do,
I will take them and do some lethal blows
on this ballistics dummy.
Burt, you're up first.
You ready?
I'm nervous, but that guy looks terrified.
Let's do this.
I think my blades are going to have
the long, pointy, quick geometry that's
going to make them really effective against these
ballistic dummies.
I don't expect all the king's horses and all the king's men
to be able to put this dummy back together
when Doug's done with it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Jeez.
DOUG: All right, Burt, first up.
The feel of the blade really feels like a combat blade.
It wants to thrust.
It wants to slash.
It just feels like one unit working
in conjunction with the other.
Overall, sir, it will kill.
Thank you.
DOUG: All right, J., it's your turn.
You ready for this?
Do what you do, Doug.
Going into testing, the only thing that really concerns me
is those finger wells that I brought in too deep.
Burt's blades are straight on, lighter.
Mine got a little bit more of a curve and a little bit heavier.
I think my blades are going to tear this dummy apart.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Awesome.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LAUGHS]
All right, Jay, these are choppers, slashers.
As fighting knives, these are quite effective.
On the fourth hit, no head.
Your handle construction is interesting.
That's a deep finger well that you have in there.
But actually, because you have the flare there,
I'm able to control it.
But more importantly, sir, your weapons will kill.
Thank you, sir.
Bladesmiths, to test the strength and overall durability
of your edge and tips as well as the overall construction
of your blades, I'll be stabbing and chopping into these logs.
Burt, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Let's do it.
My one concern might be that the knife
didn't sit in temper nearly as long as I would like it to.
So the knife could be a little bit more brittle than I wish.
My heart's racing.
The whole blade could crack.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Good job, bud.
Could have been worse.
Well, Burt, your edges look wonderful.
During that extreme tip flex, your blades held up.
Obviously they're all still in one piece,
and the handles are very comfortable.
Great stabbers, great choppers.
Well done.
Thank you.
All right, J., you're up.
How are you feeling?
Ready to go.
Last chance for anything to break.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, J., your blades held up perfectly,
but there's one thing about both these blades
that I just really don't like, and it's that finger well.
It put my finger so far out of the game
that I was swinging with these three fingers,
and this finger was rattling around in there
and actually getting battered.
But there's no denying your edge and tips
held up really well on this test, so congratulations.
Thanks.
JUDGE: All right, gentlemen, it's time
for the sharpness test.
I'll be taking your weapons and slicing into these bags.
This test is all about what your weapons do to that target.
Burt, you're up first. You're ready?
Yep.
Let's do it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, right off, Burt, I just
love the look of these things.
The aggressive point, the grind, the shape of the grind.
As far as being sharp goes, they just passed through the bags.
There wasn't any resistance to them at all,
and I think you did a great job.
Thank you.
Hey, J. Now I get to play with your stuff.
Go for it.
[LAUGHTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, J., a lot of weight in these blades, but I
like the shape of that chopping.
I'm really familiar with this handle shape from you,
but this is a lot deeper than you usually put it.
My finger falls into that hole, and everything else
kind of wants to follow it.
The first two bags, the cuts weren't good,
and that was really my hand position
more than anything else.
Everything just kind of bunches up.
Definitely sharp blades.
Held up beautifully.
Good job, man.
Thanks.
All right, judges, J. Neilson faced off against Burt Foster.
Now I need you guys to tell me who's taking home
the 10 grand and the win.
What do you think?
In the strength test, when I was using J.'s, this finger
ended up banging against the guard because of that really
deep finger well.
It just didn't have any grip to it.
Burt's knives, the handle for me
feels very, very comfortable.
It's a light, fast blade, and it cut beautifully.
Burt's blades here are lighter.
It's faster in the cut, so we can move around with it.
J.'s is a demolisher.
This cuts so much deeper.
OK.
Have you guys made your final decision?
Yes.
HOST: All right.
Gentlemen, the judges have deliberated.
They've made their final decision.
This has been an incredible competition between you two.
It's been a long road for you, Burt.
You've done a lot of work to get yourself back into a position
to earn some money.
J., you stepped into this forge, and you
really put on a good show for us,
but there can only be one winner.
And that winner is Burt Foster.
Congratulations.
You've won, and that comes with a check for $10,000.
Good job, brother.
Thank you.
[CLAPPING]
J. NEILSON: It was a good challenge, good competition.
Burt made beautiful blades.
And if I'm going to lose to anybody,
I'm more than happy to lose to Burt Foster.
- Good job, man. - Thank you.
Appreciate it.
I'm a master bladesmith.
I'm a "Forged in Fire" champion, and I just beat a judge.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
I commend J. This was just millimeters apart.
Man, we were neck and neck.
Doesn't get any better than that.
Group hug? - Group hug.
[LAUGHTER]