Forged In Fire - General Discussion

[Quilt Fairy]

Did anyone notice Kelly getting seriously injured sometime during the second challenge? Because at testing, she had a substantial bandage on her left hand that wasn't there before.

[Ciarrai]

16 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did anyone notice Kelly getting seriously injured sometime during the second challenge? Because at testing, she had a substantial bandage on her left hand that wasn't there before.

At one point they showed her hands and she had large scrapes on them. I assume it was for that.

Rio is one weird, weird dude.

[WildPlum]

Watched the first couple shows, which have been pretty good. Although the most recent one was the first time I have actually heard the show's "safety officer" tell a contestant to stop what he was doing - which was pretty stupid.

Also, wishing a speedy recovery to J Nielsen, who apparently had hand surgery.

And you know those promos that keep running for the blacksmithing show set in Milwaukee? Watched an episode of that, and it is everything that is wrong with reality TV.  A show about a blacksmithing shop and their projects? Sure, I'll watch that to see how things are made. A show mostly about the artificial family drama and whining around trying to run a shop with your kids? Pass.

[WildPlum]

Yeah, a haircut should be in his future. The man bun was not an improvement, either. Although I think that IS his hair, I don't think (at least I hope) he didn't do anything to get that look, just let his hair grow out.

[Quilt Fairy]

You know what I wonder about the judges? What exactly do they DO, outside of the show. The one guy on the left who is a master bladesmith, OK he probably has a forge like the contestants and makes stuff. But the middle guy, who is a "historical weapons expert" or Doug, the guy on the right who is an "edged weapons expert"? What is that and can you make a living at it? Other than maybe showing up on Pawn Stars when they need an "expert" fast?

[WildPlum]

J. Nielsen is a knife-maker with his own forge, called Nielsen's Mountain Hollow. David Baker, the middle guy with the George Custer facial hair, makes actual swords and does historical re-creation work of swords and other weapons. Doug Marcaida has a martial arts training company - his form of martial arts involves various sharp things (knives, etc). Will Willis, the host, was an Army Ranger and has been in several shows on the various cable networks,  all loosely based on weapons and fighting techniques.

I had to look them up to see who they actually were, too, when I first started watching. Nielsen and Baker have extensive forge experience and actually have the background to talk technique - which is better than a lot of reality-style shows.

[Quilt Fairy]

I don't question their expertise, which is obvious, but it does seem to be a niche market.  It is nice that none of them seem to be assholes, which is a big plus for me.  The judges on Tattoo Master should take note.

[Monty]

What is up with not having a kill test? How am I supposed to know what sword is better if I don't know whether...it will KILL?

[scootypuffjr]

Well, we finally have a female champion, and I'm glad it was Kelly. She was very competent and seemed thoroughly likeable also. Her blades looked good and performed well and she earned her win. Congratulations to Kelly! Well done.

My son for some reason did not like Will, the 19 year old. He didn't bother me a bit, but perhaps my son is just jealous. He has always been enamored of knives and swords and maybe a tad envious that someone a couple of years younger than he has skills he would like to have himself. He did like the Dr. Seuss character looking guy, but he was the first one out. Finishing early never seems to be a good strategy on this show.

I miss the "keel" tests too - it seems this season there are fewer tests than there used to be.

[Quilt Fairy]

I didn't like Will the minute he said he had an AR-15.  Then when he said he was practicing with it in his backyard and shot his own knee, I thought, "Yes, an AR-15 is in really good hands with him."

Really happy about Kelly. I applauded out loud when she won. I was pleased when Wil asked the 3 judges "Is there one blade that without question is going forward?" and they all said simultaneously "Kelly's".  She seems like she'd be a fun person to hang out with. And that horse's head handle was too cool.

[Maelstrom]

Yay Kelly! Between her obvious skills and general competency, her cool head, and her fun attitude, she was a joy to watch and I'm so glad she won. Finally, a female champion! And I didn't realize she was also the first farrier to win. So double good on her!

I like J Neilson just fine, but the new judge is pretty cool too. Too bad we can't keep him.

[hkit]

On September 15, 2016 at 0:07 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

I didn't like Will the minute he said he had an AR-15.  Then when he said he was practicing with it in his backyard and shot his own knee, I thought, "Yes, an AR-15 is in really good hands with him."

I am in the process of commissioning a custom chef's knife and have spent the past 6 weeks researching bladesmiths. Trust me, the Venn diagram of assault rifle owners and bladesmiths has a lot of overlap. 

[Whodunnit]

The Kora is a cool weapon...

I rather like the dramatic weapons tests they do on this show; whether it's to gut a jello torso, slice a fish in half (do you think that they had fish for lunch afterwards? ), tear through terra cotta, or cleave a cow skull.

[Quilt Fairy]

I don't understand why last week the weapon had to slice through 3 fish and this week it was only one.

Quote

do you think that they had fish for lunch afterwards?

They did make a huge deal out of the fish heads falling on the floor.

Edited September 23, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[Whodunnit]

To be honest I'd forgotten about it being 3 fish before, hmm...

About this week: It's very cool when one of the judges wants to keep your blade for his private collection!

[Maelstrom]

Is it just me, or is the name Hunga Munga disproportionately fun to say?

So glad Jared won! His weapon was beautiful, and the amount of work he put into it was highly impressive. Though Eric seemed like a perfectly nice guy by all intents and purposes, it seemed to me like he skated through the challenges a bit. YMMV, but the fact that he cut the shape out of one big sheet and (to my untrained eye) seemed to do minimal forging and hammer work just struck me as a bit lazy. Clearly if he makes movie props then function would rate after form, but for this show... Not so good.

Agree that it's pretty damn cool when one of the judges wants to own your weapon!

[Monty]

I think one of the things that makes me like this show is how much the judges enjoy it. They were so excited to see a water quench! And not in a critical way, either; they just seemed to genuinely be thrilled to see it tried. And when they do things like hack up blocks of ice, there's a gleefulness that I don't see in shows like Top Chef.

[CerealKiller]

I absolutely love this show, but two things I don't get about it:

1) If the judges always say not to water quench, why do they have the barrel of water?

2) Why is there glue with a drying time of 24 hours when the smiths only have 3 hours to do their work?

[ZoloftBlob]

I think both of those things - the water quench and the lengthy glue, are there to allow the smiths the opportunity to make mistakes.

[Ketzel]

I just noticed that History Channel is showing two back-to-back new episodes of F-I-F on Tuesday 10/11, and that TV Guide shows no more listings for the show (other than the overnight repeats of the two on Tuesday).  Season 2 had nine episodes total, and these two new ones would make season 3 a nine-show season as well, so I guess that's all for now.  I really hope the fact that they are burning off the last two episodes on the same night doesn't mean they are done with the show for good.

[Maelstrom]

So my DVR recorded one new episode tonight, the Xiphos sword. Did anyone else get two new eps? I'd be so bummed if my DVR messed up and I missed one, especially if it is the season finale tonight.

[Quilt Fairy]

Don't worry. They haven't been running 2 new (i.e., previously unaired) episodes the same night. The last month or so they've been running an episode from earlier in the season with a slightly different name (Forged in Fire - Cutting Deeper? something like that) after the new episode. . The slight change in name means it comes up as a "new" episode in the TV listings, but also means your DVR won't automatically record it as part of the series.

Tonight was the season finale. Kilts abounded.

[hkit]

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. It has really made me interested in the art of bladesmithing. I haven't been able to find a forge around me so I can learn, but I have started finding old knives at garage sales, sanding down the blade, putting a new edge on, and replacing the handle for fun. All thanks to this show.

I'm concerned about its longevity, however. How many unique swords can they create for the final challenge while maintaining the historical aspect? They did a shield in season 2 and a spear this season. Neither one of those challenges were all that interesting to me. I wonder if they will find a way to break out of the everyone build a bowie knife, then make a sword mold? A kitchen cutlery oriented challenge could be awesome. 

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, hkit said:

I'm concerned about its longevity, however. How many unique swords can they create for the final challenge while maintaining the historical aspect? They did a shield in season 2 and a spear this season. Neither one of those challenges were all that interesting to me

They certainly don't show any signs of running out of stuff. I think perhaps the shield and the spear were just a way to break things up and make it a little more varied. I know that every week has been a revelation to me that there are so many unique types of edged weapons, to use the show's terminology.

One change I would have made in the spear challenge regarded the staff. I would have preferred it if the show provided the shafts and the competitors only had to make the spearhead.  They dinged the eventual winner because he didn't have a straight shaft, and I thought he would lose because his shaft wouldn't fit in the tube they had for the throwing challenge and wouldn't be able to complete that challenge.  Luckily, it still fit, albeit with some difficulty.  I think that having to find a 4-5 foot piece of absolutely straight wood in addition to creating the spearhead goes beyond the parameters of the competition. It's not the same thing as finding a good piece of wood to make a sword or knife handle.  

[WildPlum]

Or at least have told them "one of the tests will involve firing your pig-sticker from a cannon, which will require a shaft diameter of less than blah blah blah" so they knew it would have to fit.

I do think the hosts make the show, and I liked that the new blademaster (whose name I should remember and don't) actually complemented the smith on using a burn-through technique for his handle - something along the lines of "I have never seen this work before, but you did it."

[Quilt Fairy]

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 9:03 PM, WildPlum said:

I liked that the new blademaster

Yeah, he's been just as good if not better than the original guy (who I guess is only off temporarily due to surgery). And I like his utilikilt.

[Quilt Fairy]

I don't know where the heck I got the idea that last week was the season finale, but it wasn't. There is a new episode airing tonight.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[Ciarrai]

On 10/18/2016 at 3:44 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I don't know where the heck I got the idea that last week was the season finale, but it wasn't. There is a new episode airing tonight.

Really? Nothing recorded on my PVR, and Wikipedia doesn't list anything past the Xiphos Sword.

[Monty]

My Tivo recorded it. It was set in a junkyard and they made a Pandat, which is a weirdly bent sword I personally do not care for.

[Quilt Fairy]

I must have thought it was the season finale last week because - I don't know - History said it was the season finale? This week (the Pandat, like Monty said) and next week are now being advertised as "bonus episodes".

[hkit]

I noticed on this week's episode, it wasn't labeled by my DVR with a season/episode number. Just by the sword name. That's fine, "seasons" on these shows are meaningless. I'll take any new episode we can get! I think there's another one next week too.

i mentioned up thread that I wonder how long they can keep unique historical swords. I love that you get a 15 second blurb talking about how a sword was used in Borneo, but I didn't like the challenge. We're really going into some esoteric designs now, which aren't as aesthetically appealing. I like seeing bladesmiths rise to a challenge, but I wonder if we'd see much better artistry from them on a style that's a little more well known and that they've made before. 

[Quilt Fairy]

I did love that weird spiderweb of ropes they used for the final sharpness test.  It looked like something you might find in a torture chamber.

I agree that seasons are meaningless on this show except to mean "here's a series of new episodes". But I really don't understand why they're suddenly calling these last 2 bonus episodes. They don't seem to differ in any way from a normal episode. The "championship" and "second chance" episodes that ran at the beginning of the season, those I could see being advertised as bonus, but not these.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[Maelstrom]

So if tonight was just a "bonus" ep (wtf ever that means) then I guess that's why my satellite guide doesn't show an ep airing next week.

I don't think I've ever seen a human being show as much sheer delight in their work as Doug Marcaida. If only we could all enjoy what we do as much as he seems to enjoy dismantling ballistic dummies and then sticking his fingers in their guts. Lol

Interesting challenge with the bayonets - I know next to nothing about them, so it was something to see how much work goes into the blade aspect of it. Though I wonder what the one guy was thinking by doing a kris blade? Also sorry that Clarence didn't make the cut, as he seems to know what he was doing more than the other two younger guys. But Matt turned in a pretty cool spear!

[Monty]

The winner had the most impressive home forge we've seen. Not so much for the forge itself, but for the warehouse-sized "man cave" it was part of. There was a full 18-wheeler in there, and it did not take up much of the space!

[Ketzel]

12 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Though I wonder what the one guy was thinking by doing a kris blade?

He said he was doing it for aesthetic reasons, to make his blade stand out among the other more traditional bayonet shapes. I wondered if he was also thinking that a kris blade would make a more effective bayonet, as in "capable of wider damage to the human body."

So glad the show isn't over yet!

[Monty]

If he was doing it for aesthetic reasons, he should have made it look good. That thing was a mess.

And we learned in the first season that the judges like functionality a ton more than aesthetics. Remember that guy that welded random bits to his Chakram? Doug Marcaida didn't care for that one bit. If you're told to make a bayonet blade, make something that looks like a bayonet blade.

[Monty]

If he was doing it for aesthetic reasons, he should have made it look good. That thing was a mess.

And we learned in the first season that the judges like functionality a ton more than aesthetics. Remember that guy that welded random bits to his Chakram? Doug Marcaida didn't care for that one bit. If you're told to make a bayonet blade, make something that looks like a bayonet blade.

[Maelstrom]

Aaaand we're back! I love this crazy show. I've never heard of the Pata, but damn those were some impressive weapons! Both did an incredible job crafting such complex weapons. And casting their own guards? Man, they don't make it easy on them. It's very cool that the competitors on here all seem like such levelheaded, good-natured people. And I got a kick out of Pete thanking Wil for barking out the time, and Wil's laughter as he told him he was welcome.

[Quilt Fairy]

This is the first time I've noticed that there is apparently a time limit even in the 5 days they're working at home.  When Travis was trying to get the sheepskin lining on his guard and he was saying "The last 15 minutes were...." and then he looked at the cameraman and said "I'm out of time, right?"

The way those swords sliced through whole pig carcasses was frightening.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Quilt Fairy

[qtpye]

Awesome episode.  All the guys were class acts.  I particularly liked Travis and Shane.

Shane seems like such a gentleman and Travis is kinda hot.

My husband loved his blacksmith training.  The things he made were beautiful in a rustic type of way, but nowhere near the skill level of the guys on the show.

[qtpye]

On 8/23/2016 at 10:20 PM, Ketzel said:

What a way to start the third season! Okay, call me shallow, but when Wil Willis appeared on-screen with his hair looking like a box perm out of the 1980s, I lost it. I was laughing so hard, I missed the introduction of the returning champions.

 

On 9/10/2016 at 1:00 PM, WildPlum said:

Yeah, a haircut should be in his future. The man bun was not an improvement, either. Although I think that IS his hair, I don't think (at least I hope) he didn't do anything to get that look, just let his hair grow out.

I swear the perm he had last season made him look like Tarzan.  Also, he is a good looking man, why the heck would he tie his hair back so tight to emphasize those giant ears?

I am impressed with the historical expert's collection of colorful man vests.

I could watch Doug handle blades all day.

[Monty]

Travis strikes me as an enormous goofball. But with unexpectedly huge arms.

[qtpye]

44 minutes ago, Monty said:

But with unexpectedly huge arms.

I bet you this was pretty normal for blacksmiths back in the day.  My husband tells me that pounding that hammer in the heat is an incredible workout.

I guess that a lot of the process is now done with machines, so it probably is not that common, anymore.

[Maelstrom]

^^ I suspect Wil Willis has naturally curly hair that curls up super-tight. And speaking from my own experience, the only thing you can do with super-curly hair is let it go (hence last season's fluffy look) or pull it back. And to get it to lay flat while it's pulled back, you usually have to either smother it in product or pull it extremely tightly. Curly hair is not all it's cracked up to be, believe me.

Back on topic, I'm glad to see Jason back again this season. I liked J Neill just fine, but somehow I like Jason's laid-back attitude and multi-colored facial hair even better. The judges all have a good sense of humor and certainly the knowledge to back it all up.

I too could watch Doug handle blades all day.

[Maelstrom]

Damn, Jay's zweihander was impressive! That thing really did some damage. Doug looked like he was having the time of his life slaughtering that ballistics dummy.

I was sorry to see Santa go home before the final round, but hopefully they can bring him back next season for their returning contestants bit. I'd like to see him get another chance to show what he can do.

As always, the running commentary by the judges was highly entertaining.

[johntfs]

I have to admit I was expecting Jay, being 21, to go down in the first or second round.  I noted how Baker and I think Marcaida talked about how heavy and kind of hard-to-swing Jay's blade was.  My thought was, "Isn't that kind of the point?"  During "history lesson" about the blade they made a point of say that armies that used these things put them in the hands of the biggest, strongest guys they had.  While I'm sure Baker and especially Marcaida are very skilled users of various weapons, neither of them strike me as being especially large or strong.

[johntfs]

I was kind of rooting for Todd in this one, but when they mentioned the looseness in the hilt, I knew he was screwed.

[Quilt Fairy]

This episode (Cavalry Sword) was the first one in a while where all of the 1st round blades looked a little sketchy.  As to the final blades, neither of them looked that great in testing, either.  I thought David could have gone in either the 1st or 2nd round, and was really surprised when he ended up winning.

It drives me crazy when Wil says stuff like a "boot chop" and a "fire hose slice" like either of those is a thing.

[Cowgirl]

On 9/12/2016 at 11:56 AM, WildPlum said:

 

J. Nielsen is a knife-maker with his own forge, called Nielsen's Mountain Hollow. David Baker, the middle guy with the George Custer facial hair, makes actual swords and does historical re-creation work of swords and other weapons. Doug Marcaida has a martial arts training company - his form of martial arts involves various sharp things (knives, etc). Will Willis, the host, was an Army Ranger and has been in several shows on the various cable networks,  all loosely based on weapons and fighting techniques.

I had to look them up to see who they actually were, too, when I first started watching. Nielsen and Baker have extensive forge experience and actually have the background to talk technique - which is better than a lot of reality-style shows.

 

Thanks for this! I was wondering myself what each of  the judges did as a main career.

[Cowgirl]

On 1/11/2017 at 10:12 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

This is the first time I've noticed that there is apparently a time limit even in the 5 days they're working at home.  When Travis was trying to get the sheepskin lining on his guard and he was saying "The last 15 minutes were...." and then he looked at the cameraman and said "I'm out of time, right?"

This answered the question for me too.  I've always wondered about that.  I bet it's a real pain when a contestant has to reforge a broken or flawed blade, as both had to this episode.   

On 1/18/2017 at 8:41 PM, Maelstrom said:

I was sorry to see Santa go home before the final round, but hopefully they can bring him back next season for their returning contestants bit. I'd like to see him get another chance to show what he can do.

Me too! I hope he comes back. 

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

It drives me crazy when Wil says stuff like a "boot chop" and a "fire hose slice" like either of those is a thing.

You know, as you do...   :)  I want to know who comes up with these crazy tests?! I love them, but they make me laugh.