James Paul congratulations you guys have
made it to the third and final round of
this competition now when you came here
we threw a little twisted Damascus
challenge at you now we're sending you
back to your home for just to recreate
this iconic weapon from history ready to
see it yeah sure
all right that weapon is the DARP Street
gun shy I've never seen anything like
this I can't even pronounce the name of
this thing doob sri guru avi What did he
say good luck gentlemen we'll see you in
four days
good luck good luck day one I'm ready to
get hammered
I'm gonna be using ATC RV - it's a very
good steel for impact and edge retention
and I believe the test that they're
gonna be putting this blade through it's
gonna need a little bit of both it's a
big chunk of steel so it's gonna take a
minute to get the tip forced down to
where I want it before I can start
drawing it out to the Lynx the thing I'm
struggling with the most is the weight
of this entire plate I'm having trouble
keeping this thing straight when I take
it out of the forge
it's in a day one pretty happy with the
progress got it drawn out I'm ready for
a bath just started on this thing first
thing in the morning
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it's day one here at my shop in
Fairfield Connecticut and I'm gonna be
making a Darby shriek gun shy for this
challenge I'm gonna be making ladder
pattern Damascus cuz it's really gonna
set me apart from the competition this
is 15 and 20 that's the 1084 I got to
make sure there's no grease or oil on
them because that could affect the forge
well I forget the steel cleaned up I
stack all the pieces up together and do
my initial weld I'm feeling really good
that the wealth of stock that's one of
the most difficult parts of the entire
process the next step is to grind in
notches all along the entire thing on
both sides and what that's gonna do is
expose the layers of the Damascus if the
end of day 1 and I'm in pretty good
shape for the rest of the challenge
pretty nervous today we're gonna do this
heat treat this morning I'm only halfway
through with the time so hopefully if
something does happen I've got time to
make another one look at that
poorly plover right at my feet
the hope is a good time
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but affiliate finger pops I'm happy it's
the last day and it's about time to
start etching the blade this is the most
magical moment of making Damascus
because you get to finally see what the
patterns gonna look like
still getting streaks though I don't get
it it's just not at all what I wanted to
see there's a bunch of D carb all over
the entire blade which means I didn't
grind deep enough and the etch is not
gonna come out right so I could either
leave the D carb and the damask just
won't be as good-looking or I could
grind into the blade a little bit and
risk making the blade too thin I knew in
order to save the pattern I really had
to just go back to the grinder I think
it's pretty good this is the Damascus I
wanted to see I'm still kind of
concerned that the blade is a little on
the thinner side but there's nothing I
can do now here comes the life at the
end of the tunnel so far I've got the
blade done so I'm gonna start working on
the handle I don't have long enough
drill bits to drill all the way into
that handle so I'm gonna have to carve
out a channel for that Tang to sit in
and make sure the wood marries back
together nicely yeah
made it a little of my own bad fur from
the land around my house
I think that's gonna add a little
special touch it is a little on the
heavy side because balance perfectly
it's very willful I'd say yeah all I can
tell you is grabbed by the rabbit
all right these bits welcome the kill
test your dark Street gun choice looked
intimidating but are they deadly to find
that out I will take your weapon there
were some clean blows on this ballistics
stomach James your first you ready for
this there's nothing I could do to stop
it all right let's do it say I'm nervous
right now is an understatement at this
point it's out of my hands I just hope
it can hold up
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all right James first up that's a beast
it's very forward heavy so it definitely
feels like a chopper all the way through
now your handle here by adding this fur
around it I can't get a good grip on it
because it's so soft now your edge is
sharp well we're all sir it will kill
thank you all right Paul your turns for
you ready I'm ready let's do this I've
built my blade to be very light it
definitely makes me nervous seeing the
ballistics dummy because I know there's
a lot of hard phones in there and I'm
definitely a little bit worried that
could Bend even break in half you never
know what's gonna happen
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all right Paul first up I really
appreciate the Damascus pattern that you
brought out here now the fact that I can
hold the weapon out extended like this
shows just how light this weapon is for
its size and because of that I can cut
deeply into this without using the
weight just velocity alone but after
that striking the skull just picked up a
little bit of a bend overall sir it will
keel thank you
all right gentlemen to test the strength
and overall construction of your blades
I'll be chopping into these pots now
remember this is not about what your
blades do to the targets but what the
targets can do to your blades James you
ever first you ready let it happen okay
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this is a shoulder ripping monster once
you start this thing moving stopping it
is really rough on the shoulders the fur
around the middle here
it's a neat look but it's very slick
actually and then your edge is still
sharp you know good job thank you
all right Paul you're up you ready yep
okay I see the pots and I'm very worried
I feel like he can bend my blade even
more than it already is if something
goes wrong then I'm finished
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right Paul right off this weapon has a
feel that is excellent
I can literally use it for one hand the
edge still sharp nicely done thank you
all right bladesmiths to see how sharp
your weapons are I will try to cut
through these pineapples James you're
first you ready for this let's go to
this
all right James just a little off the
top your edges sharp cuts cleaning all
the way through these pineapples it will
come thank you
alright Paul your turn ready yep
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there you go man gosh
all right Paul get his research sharp
just the thinness of your metal here
cuts through no resistance if you get
the pineapple heads they're all still
standing right there it's very sharp and
more importantly it'll cut thank you
James Paul you've both done an
incredible amount of work however there
can only be one forged in fire champion
in this competition and that champion is
Paul congratulations you're the new
force of fire champion James please
surrender your gun shy well I'm pretty
happy to have made it this far I don't
think I could be too disappointed in
what I've done considering how the
weapon performed my plate was just a
little too heavy it's been a really
great experience I did the best I could
no matter what you do in life there's
gonna be challenges and you're not gonna
always succeed
just get back up get back on the horse
Paul congratulations you're the forged
in fire champion and that is a title
that comes with a check for $10,000 good
job brother
I just couldn't be happier this is like
got to be the craziest thing that's ever
happened to me so far I mean I know I'm
only 19 but I still can't believe it I'm
the forged in fire champion and it feels
incredible
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you