[music playing]
Cameron, Mike, congratulations.
It is now down to the two of you to decide who's
going to go home with the title of "Forged in Fire"
champion and a check for $10,000.
Now, this final round of competition,
we're going to be sending you guys back to your home forges
to build not one but two iconic multi tools and weapons
from Russia.
And that weapon is the Spetsnaz shovel.
Originating in the 19th century, these all-purpose shovels
were adapted for use by the Russian special forces,
the Spetsnaz.
These versatile shovels were used
as entrenching tools, oars for rafting, and even as cookware.
The Soviet military units eventually
trained to use the Spetsnaz shovel as a weapon.
The short handle is made for quick moves
in close quarter combats.
These shovels featured deadly sharp edges
that can be used for anything from chopping wood,
to slashing flesh, or even thrown at a target.
This utilitarian tool can be seen
wielded in season 3 of History Channel's
hit survival series "Alone."
You guys will have four days to work on your Spetsnaz shovels.
So good luck.
We'll see you in four days.
Good luck.
My name is Cameron Lafrance.
I am 20 years old from Warner Robins, Georgia.
I got into metal works thanks to my father.
It's really what sparked, no pun intended, my drive for working
with metal and fire.
I have a lot of steel to move and a very thin blade
to forge out, so hopefully all goes well.
I start off with these two pieces of leaf spring, just
to see if I can get it forged down to parameters.
And then I noticed a piece of W1 that I had laying around.
It's 2 inch round stock, so I know for a fact
that it's enough material for the job I'm needing it to do.
I'm going to keep stretching it out
and then working on the width.
I got to still flatten out one of my billets.
Woo, that's hot.
I'm getting the handle and blade junction
merged up and then quenched.
I have to make sure that they're both exactly the same
but still very confident that I can do it.
That looks pretty badass, if I don't say so myself.
I feel like I've gotten to a place now
to wear my blades are ready for the heat treat.
Here we go.
The sound I want to hear.
End of day three.
I am very happy to finally have all these shovel
heads forged out, hardened.
Can't wait for a fourth day to get these fit
and finished up and out of here.
I've had a lot of good luck in my past with one special girl,
so I go ahead and put my girlfriend's
name in Russian on the handle, just
as a hopeful good luck charm.
And if it doesn't work, then I know who to blame.
My name is Mike Powell.
I'm from Hastings, Florida.
I make blades as often as I can, usually a couple of hours
in the morning before work and then as much time
as my wife will let me on the weekend.
She sacrifices a lot of our one-on-one time for me
to be in my shop making blades.
If I win the 10,000, I'm going to get my wife something nice
that we can enjoy together.
I'm going to forge out these shovels
and see if I can win this.
I got it about drawn out to length.
I haven't quite got it as wide as I want.
I'm not sure I have enough material.
I'll go cut me another piece of steel for the second one,
drop it in the forge.
That ought to do it.
About three blows in--
Whoa!
--the whole end of the billet just explodes.
Wow.
What the heck?
Never seen a piece of steel do that.
Now I've got one piece left.
This sucks.
No way.
This is my third attempt.
Do over.
I take my time.
I keep my steel to the right temperature.
It didn't explode on me this time, so it worked out.
I never built anything like this before.
I never even thought about building anything like this
before.
But honestly, I loved it.
It was a challenge.
It was a learning experience.
It made me a better smith.
So I learned.
I gained a lot of experience.
And overall, it was very exciting,
and I'm happy with it.
I'd say that's a matching set.
Bladesmiths, welcome to the kill test.
Can you dig it?
Well, I certainly can.
Your Spetsnaz shovels look ready to go.
But what kind of lethal damage can they do?
To find that out, I'm going to take
your shovels to deliver some lethal blows
of this ballistics dummy.
Cameron, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Oh, yeah.
All right.
Let's do this.
[music playing]
All right, Cameron, let's talk about your Spetsnaz shovels
here.
The weight is right, but there is a little bit
of issue with your handles.
They're too smooth.
A couple of times, it really felt
like it wanted to slip out.
They delivered nice cuts.
Thrusts are very effective.
And overall sir, it will kill.
Yes.
All right, Mike, your turn, sir.
You ready?
I'm ready.
[music playing]
All right, Mike.
Let's talk about your Spetsnaz shovels here.
These are razor sharp.
Your handle construction-- the one thing I didn't care for
was it's round.
When it's round, it can go in different ways,
and I have to constantly make adjustments.
But because of the ribbing that you have there,
I was able to hold on to it quite well.
Overall sir, your shovels will kill.
Awesome.
All right, gentlemen, you know what time it is.
It's time for the strength test--
what we're calling our throwing chop.
What I'm going to be doing is throwing
your shovels into our targets and then chopping on our fence
here.
What this is about is not what your shovels do
to these targets, but what these targets can do to your shovels.
Cameron, you're up first.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Let's do this.
[music playing]
All right, Cameron.
For throwing, the smooth handle is great.
That's not a plus for chopping though.
When I'm chopping, I'm constantly
kind of pulling it back into my hand
because it wants to slide forward.
This right here, this thin spot where you've got that hammer,
it took a roll right there.
They threw well.
Good job.
Thank you very much.
All right, Mike. You're up.
You ready? - Yeah, I'm ready.
OK.
[music playing]
OK.
So right off the bat, the finish work is really nice.
Your sockets are really beautiful.
They threw great.
They certainly chopped fine.
I don't see any issues with the edge of your blade at all.
These are definitely well-made tools.
Good job.
Thank you.
All right, bladesmiths.
This is a sharpness test, the sandman slice.
Now unlike the strength test, this is all about what
your weapons do to the sandman.
Cameron, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Let's do this.
[music playing]
All right, Cameron.
No issues with slashing and chopping on the sandman.
Sir, your weapons will cut.
All right, Mike. Your turn, sir.
You ready?
I'm ready.
[music playing]
All right, Mike.
Your edges are sharp.
Every cut was deep and sliced nicely.
Overall sir, it will cut.
Thank you.
Well, gentlemen, you guys should both be
very proud of yourselves.
We put your Spetsnaz shovels through very hard tests.
As you know, there can only be one
champion of "Forged in Fire."
Today's champion is Mike.
Congratulations.
You are the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Cameron, unfortunately, that means you didn't win today,
and Dave is going to tell you why.
Cameron, what this came down to is really two things--
your handle being as slippery as it was and the damage
you took in the strength test.
For those reasons, we're letting you go.
All right.
Cameron, you definitely have what
it takes to fight in the forge.
You made it from four down to two.
It was a close call.
But your time in the forge has ended.
I'm going to have to ask you to please
step off the forge floor.
Thank you.
Take care, Cam.
I wanted to win it really badly to prove to myself that I
can really go up to the standards
as what other ABS master smiths are able to do.
This experience, it's really amazing,
and I couldn't have asked for more.
Mike, congratulations.
That means you are today's "Forged in Fire" champion.
You'll be getting a check for $10,000.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
I'm feeling amazing, like, on top of the world amazing.
Mike, I was really impressed on the finish you got on those.
It's really nice, clean from top to bottom.
Well done.
Thank you.
I build knives for a hobby.
From this point on though, I really
want to concentrate on doing real high end work
and just improve my skills.
[music playing]