my name is justin workman i'm 39 and i've been bladesmithing for roughly four years
the last three months i've been going through chemo with the hopes that would stave off the
need for an amputation on my right arm i hope it sets an example that anybody
that's struggling no matter how bad it is you can still power through
my name is doug siegel i'm from mount laurel new jersey i'm 33 years old my uncle was a blacksmith
so i got to move some metal with him when i was younger and i really enjoyed it you took
something rock hard like steel you heat it up and it's like play-doh i mean what's cooler than that
justin doug congratulations you guys made it past round one and two and now it's just between
the two of you with the title of fortune fire champion and a check for ten thousand dollars
in round three the competition we're gonna send you home to make another culinary tool
but this one's quite a bit bigger than anything you've seen and that tool is
also known as the tuna sword the maguro bocho is a specialized cutting tool designed to fillet
massive bluefin tuna this impressive blade is not your average kitchen cutlery with a total length
up to three feet long these culinary swords are often hand forged by the same sword smiths that
make the iconic japanese katana they feature a thick spine and razor sharp edge that cuts
effortlessly through any large fish the maguro bocho is still used today by some japanese chefs
and can be seen on full display at some of tokyo's iconic fish markets now when you guys build your
blades i want you to follow these parameters your blade length needs to be between 29 and 31 inches
you need to have a single edge chisel grind and i also want you to incorporate ocasso between
the handle and the blade i'm feeling pretty nervous i'm gonna have to forge the longest
blade i've ever made gentlemen we'll see you guys in four days good luck all right good luck man
we're here at my home forge in chambersburg pennsylvania my game plan is i'm going to
sand my give her a little flux the heat treat is the biggest thing i'm
concerned with my goal is to get a hardened blade
oh i got a nice little warp in that bad boy
oh i'm so mad this whole competition did not go exactly as i planned about four hours left
of this competition and i still have a fair amount of work to do i know for a fact that
i'm at parameters it's the one thing that i've been checking over and over and over again
i'm back in mount laurel new jersey at my home forge and i am ready to get started on my
maguro boko build so this tuna sword is probably about twice as long as anything i've ever made
i got to get the forge hot and i'm ready to put my adcr v2 in there and uh
get hammering it's pretty malleable steel so so far things are going pretty quickly
but i want to keep making progress as fast as possible once the quench comes that's kind of
the make or break situation for me today so i'm just trying to get the heat right
yeah we're in good shape it's time to get everything fit and assembled and finish this blade
all right got a nice clean fit that is the first look at what will soon be a finished blade
now that i have the final assembly finished i didn't come up with an elaborate test
but i used to work at a sushi restaurant and this is a tuna sword the cut pretty clean
i think it does the job all right bladesmiths to find out what kind of lethal damage
your maguro bochos will do i'll take your weapon and make some lethal cuts on these
six different fishes just you know first you ready for this let's make some sushi
way to go man thanks all right justin let's talk about your weapon here
first up your edge one and done for all the cuts here it's a very sharp edge
i like the handle construction here it's all void so my hand matches nicely and wraps around it
overall sir it will kill thank you all right doug you're up next you ready have at it let's do it
all right all right doug first up the handle construction
i really like the way you shaped your handle here is typical japanese style now it's a lighter blade
but your edge is so sharp it cut cleanly through the fishes easily overall sir it will kill thanks
all right gentlemen i think you know what time it is it's time for the strength test now we're
calling this our bose staff attack now justin your weapon is already locked in our device here and i
will be attacking it with our waxwood bow staffs this test is not about what your blades do to
that staff what that staff's going to do to your blade all right you all ready let's do it okay
all right justin um you know this is a brutal test for what is technically a large kitchen knife
but uh you did very very well right where my finger is there's the smallest of chips and it's
when i say smallest of chips i mean it's really small everything else looks right and tight all
in all you did a great job you survived thank you you bet all right doug you're up you ready
as ready as i can be okay because this is fun for me these blades are narrow really thin blades
it is not designed to take any abuse i'm already thinking that justin's got this test one
so dug right off this is a remarkably light there is the slightest rough spot but besides that
i don't see any deformation in your blade blades as straight as it was when we started out it's
a good solid piece hold on thank you so all right gentlemen two tests down one test to go
all right bladesmiths we're cutting it close we know that both your weapons can kill and we
know they're strong now it's time to find out how sharp they are this is the sharpness test
to find out how sharp your weapons are i will cut through these rolled up tatami mats
now unlike the strength test this is all about what the edge of your weapon will do to these mats
dusting up first you ready for this rock and roll all right let's do that
right justin let's talk about the cuts here clearly on
the other cuts they cut all the way through on the last cut
almost but just a little skin of that mat is hanging on but it is a sharp edge overall sir
you'll cut thank you all right doug your turn so you ready see what this thing can do let's do it
all right doug first cut just went so easy without a drag that it went into the next target it is a
very sharp weapon it's very easy to wield and it's light overall sir it will cut thank you
first of all both of you thank you very much for your hard work but as we know only one of you is
going to be leaving here the fortune fire champion for the check for ten thousand dollars and today's
fortune fire champion is doug congratulations you won justin unfortunately you're not going to
be leaving with the win today and doug's going to tell you why justin on any other given competition
i can see your blade being a champion spade it is a beautiful blade but today your opponent's was
just a little sharper a little lighter and faster to wield just again thank you very much for your
hard work but unfortunately i'm gonna have to ask you to please leave the forge good job thank you
i'm glad that this time frame worked out as a dead chemo takes a toll on your body but going
through that and then do this whole competition just goes to show myself how much i can actually
push through i've always kind of been stubborn but i didn't realize how stubborn i am actually
well doug you are the fortune fire champion congratulations man thanks a lot yeah what
are you gonna get with that ten thousand dollars oh i fell in love with the forge press
i i definitely want one of those of my own i am ecstatic you know i put a lot of heart
and soul into making that blade and seeing it perform the way that it did was uh just
a really great confirmation about my abilities and it's just making me want to make more knives
you