Roadtrip635
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Does anybody else here watch Forged In Fire? I've been hooked on this show since the first season. It's a blacksmithing reality competition, doesn't sound exciting, but it's really quite fascinating, entertaining and addictive to watch. It's unique in today's TV in that there is no scripted drama, the contestants are usually willing to help one another and the judges are respectful and encouraging, they don't talk trash or condescend the blacksmiths. It's a pretty awesome show.
It starts with 4 blacksmiths and they are required to forge a knife within certain parameters, materials or procedures in 3 hours. The 4 blades are judged and the best 3 move to the next round where handles are placed and finish work is done, again within 3 hours. Those 3 are then subjected to a couple tests, sometimes pretty brutal, things you normally wouldn't subject a blade too. The top 2 blades are selected and the 2 blacksmiths get to go to their home forge and have 5 days to complete a chosen weapon from history.
The final two weapons are then subjected to some grueling tests to test their quality and effectiveness and the winner takes home $10k. It's cool, it's all based on the quality of that particular weapon, not on personality, looks, experience, or prior smithing notoriety. I root for certain people, but can't think of a time I ever disagreed with their choice of the winner.
The testing phases are the best part, they are chopping, slicing, puncturing all types of stuff. They're chopping blocks of ice, wild boar carcass, gel torsos, firing .45 caliber bullets at blade edges, highway barricades, all kinds of stuff. It really is kinda amazing how much abuse these blades can go through and still hold up.
I didn't know much about forging before, but now I find myself saying stuff like there's no way that steel is hot enough, he's just hammering away and gonna cause stress fractures, or c'mon you gotta clean that steel better before you forge weld that or you're gonna have all kinds of delam problems.
Of course, everyone waits for Doug's test to say "It Will Keel"
It starts with 4 blacksmiths and they are required to forge a knife within certain parameters, materials or procedures in 3 hours. The 4 blades are judged and the best 3 move to the next round where handles are placed and finish work is done, again within 3 hours. Those 3 are then subjected to a couple tests, sometimes pretty brutal, things you normally wouldn't subject a blade too. The top 2 blades are selected and the 2 blacksmiths get to go to their home forge and have 5 days to complete a chosen weapon from history.
The final two weapons are then subjected to some grueling tests to test their quality and effectiveness and the winner takes home $10k. It's cool, it's all based on the quality of that particular weapon, not on personality, looks, experience, or prior smithing notoriety. I root for certain people, but can't think of a time I ever disagreed with their choice of the winner.
The testing phases are the best part, they are chopping, slicing, puncturing all types of stuff. They're chopping blocks of ice, wild boar carcass, gel torsos, firing .45 caliber bullets at blade edges, highway barricades, all kinds of stuff. It really is kinda amazing how much abuse these blades can go through and still hold up.
I didn't know much about forging before, but now I find myself saying stuff like there's no way that steel is hot enough, he's just hammering away and gonna cause stress fractures, or c'mon you gotta clean that steel better before you forge weld that or you're gonna have all kinds of delam problems.
Of course, everyone waits for Doug's test to say "It Will Keel"
