Gentlemen, in the final level of this competition,
we're asking you to make a short sword,
and we're asking you to make it out of this--
pieces of large, high-carbon steel
and small, high-carbon steel.
[BLEEP]
WIL: You must choose at least one
of the large pieces of steel.
Additionally, you must choose at least one
of these jars of steel.
Upon completion of this challenge,
your weapons will be tested in a pig-carcass kill
test, copper-pipe chop, and rubber-tube slice.
Gentlemen, you have only eight hours
to complete all of this work.
Make us something that's functional,
that feels good, but is also beautiful.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your eight hours starts now.
JOHN: What I'm choosing for my big steel is a leaf spring.
It's relatively in the shape that I want.
It's a great steel for knives or swords.
And then I'm going to go straight to the 1095
powder and ball bearings and make a canister,
and I'm using white out so that there
is a solid coating between the canister
and the hardenable material inside of it.
BEN: So I want to put my canister, which I'm starting
to draw out, on top and on bottom and in the center have
a nice, pristine piece of the high-carbon leaf
spring that's going to stick out the edges and be my edge.
JOHN: This is a home-forge build done in one day.
It's a mountain to climb.
WIL: Almost three hours into this competition,
and these guys are still cutting,
and stacking, and welding, trying to create those
25 layers.
BEN: I've got the blade to shape.
I use the oxyacetylene torch to make sure the tip
and tang are all the same heat.
Ben has quenched.
John has quenched.
JOHN: I've pulled my blade out of the temper.
I think I'm good.
I've got a nice, golden color.
It's hot.
JOHN: The blade looks really, really straight.
Good.
Very smart work.
Good to go.
BEN: Now that my blade is tempered,
it's time to start hogging off some steel.
[CLANKING] - Whoa!
Whoa!
Get that flattened, buddy.
WIL: 30 minutes, bladesmiths--
30 minutes remaining.
Slow process.
Hopefully it'll all come together,
and we'll get this baby glued up.
DAVID: I know he doesn't have an edge on that blade yet, but--
J. NEILSEN: It's still scaring me.
Oh, that's-- it's scaring the hell out of me.
[CLANK] - Oh!
WIL: Oh!
At least he's got on his safety glasses.
And they'll keep that arterial spray out of his eye.
WIL: Exactly!
DAVID: [LAUGHING]
WIL: John needs to turn an eye towards beauty
as well as strength, as well as sharpness.
That guard is so tiny.
It looks like he welded extensions on a wing nut.
DAVID: Yeah.
WIL: 10 minutes!
So Ben has just pulled his played out of the etch.
It looks like he's hitting it with a little steel
wool over here.
Sweet.
WIL: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bladesmiths, shut down your machines.
Stop what you're doing.
This competition is over.
Bladesmiths, welcome to the kill test.
Well, it's time to find out what kind of lethal damage
your short swords will do.
To find that out, I will take your weapons
and deliver some lethal slashes and thrusts
on this big carcass.
John, you're up first.
You ready?
Let's do it.
Let's do this.
JOHN: And I think I've got a fairly sharp blade,
but swinging a blade through ribs, spine,
it can do a lot of damage to a blade.
I'm a nervous wreck at this point.
[EXHALES]
[THUDDING]
Oh, nice, man.
All right!
Yes!
[LAUGH] I'll take it.
DAVID: All right, John, let's talk
about your short sword here.
The edge is sharp.
Those are very deep cuts.
Your guard, it's slightly offset,
and there are a few gaps that you can
see right there in the guard.
But overall, your sword will kill.
Thank you.
Ben, are you ready for this?
Yes, sir, I am.
Let's do this.
BEN: My blade is sharp.
The handle is solid.
I spent a lot of time on the heat treat,
so I'm confident of its strength--
mostly.
But Doug could hit a bone in the pig,
and it could chip a piece out of my blade.
So I'm really nervous.
[THUDDING]
Oh, dang.
All right, Ben, let's talk about your short sword here.
Your edges are very sharp.
So close to dropping the pig all the way, but nonetheless,
you can see the other cuts are very deep.
Feels good-- it's quick, it's fast, and it's balanced.
Now, your handle construction, I like the leather
that you put around this.
It really is a good fit.
Overall, sir, your weapon will kill.
Bladesmiths, welcome to our strength test--
the copper-pipe chop.
Copper can tear up edges real easy,
so it's gonna test your heat treat
as well as the overall construction of your swords.
Now as normal, what your blades do the pipes,
I don't care about that, really.
I want to see what the pipes are going to do to your blades.
John, you're up first.
How you feeling?
Anxious, ready to go, though.
J. NEILSEN: I'm ready, too.
Let's do it.
JOHN: My sword is now in the hands of J. Neilsen,
and he is chomping at the bit to destroy some swords today.
[GRUNTING]
Nice.
[EXHALES] Look at that.
That was a bolt.
[LAUGH]
J. NEILSEN: All right, John, your edge survived, no problem.
[EXHALES]
J. NEILSEN: The handle's a bit of an issue for me.
You can see your guard is kind of over here.
Your pommel is kind of going this way a little bit.
It's definitely on the rough side, but it's strong.
Good job.
Thank you.
All right, Ben, you ready?
Uh, mm.
Come on, you've done this before.
BEN: Yeah.
Yeah, I'm ready
All right, good luck.
Thanks, man.
[GRUNTING]
All right, Ben, you survived.
Good job.
No damage on the edge at all.
Your steel looks great.
Your handle's very comfortable.
And, uh, it's a tough sword.
Good job.
Thank you.
All right, gentlemen, it's time for the sharpness test--
the rubber-tube slice.
Now, this test is all about what your weapons do to that target.
I want to see good, clean slices through there.
John, you're up first.
You ready?
I'm ready.
DAVID: OK.
JOHN: Here we go.
Nice.
Yes!
All right.
BEN: Nice.
Nice job.
DAVID: All right, John, right off,
sword's got a great edge on it, cuts beautifully.
The transition from the handle to the guard is a little rough,
and there's what looks to be, I think,
glue that actually is like kind of a sharp, rough edge.
But, uh, as far as function goes, well done.
Thank you.
All right, Ben, it's your turn.
You ready for this?
Let's do it.
DAVID: OK.
Whoa.
Damn.
No way, man.
BEN: Wow.
DAVID: All right, so, Ben, right off, it's definitely
got a sharp edge.
It cut through that first pipe fine.
It was a clean cut all the way through,
but those tubes absorb a lot of energy,
and it bounced back on me.
Your handle has a great look to it.
It also feels really good.
It's definitely sharp.
Good job.
Thank you.
JOHN: I think my blade performed as
well as Ben's, but there's more to this competition than that.
Ben has got me on the fit and finish,
but I really want to win this.
All right, gentlemen, the judges' deliberation
is complete.
They've made their final decision.
The winner of this competition is--
two-time "Forged in Fire" champion, Ben Abbott.
Well, John, you won't be leaving with 10 grand this time.
J. Neilsen's gonna tell you why.
John, both those blades performed.
Both the edges held up.
But Ben's is more finished, more refined than yours.
That's why we're letting you go.
I agree.
All right, gentlemen, good job.
You did a lot of hard work in here.
Ben, what's your charity?
Black Horse Forge.
It's a charity that does free blacksmithing classes for
veterans and first responders.
Congratulations.
That will be money well spent.
Come on over.
JOHN: I feel really, really good about the way
that my blade performed.
That's all that I wanted was to come
here and have a strong showing.
Ben is a giant as a competitor.
And I'd love to beat somebody of that caliber,
so it was a pleasure trying to do it,
even though I didn't win.