"Forged In Fire" on TV: Any thoughts?

TheEdge01 said:
You could tell that Walter was pretty aggravated when Jason Knight started critiquing his blade.
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There did seem to be some bad blood going on. But I don't know if there was. It seems like I'm the only person that saw how the knife was really broken. o_O And I find that very hard to believe.
 
sgt1372 said:
I doubt they did it on purpose but, even if they did, shouldn't a "properly" forged/hardened/tempered blade be able to withstand such an impact?

Just asking from a non-knifemaker/consumer POV.
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I'm not a knifemaker either but I've never seen a knife that was made to slap logs with the side of the blade before. If I wanted to hit a log like that I would just use an axe handle or something. Maybe he didn't break it on purpose, but it sure seemed like it. A normal guy like me using a Charter cable box could see the break, but they couldn't see it with their thousands of dollars of equipment? Give me a break. No pun intended...
 
It's a TV show. It's not made to elicit any thought in you, the viewer, they want reactions. If you start thinking about it, it could get a bit weird. I will keep my reactions to me and sit back in my rocking chair.
 
Wish there was a "Second Channel" sort of video available as is sometimes done with YouTube channels. Somewhere with less production polish and more knife making meat. I really do want to hear how the judges come to their winner decision.

Might be interesting to see how the show producers recruit the contestants too. Four smiths a show is a lot of people over a TV season . . .and its been on for a few years now.

One non-knife thing I appreciate is the seeming total lack of conflict or drama between the smiths, win or lose.
 
I have watched them test the knives and have the blade roll due to the shape of the handle. At other times the judges have a weird grip or swing on the finale weapon that is pretty noticeable. Does not look to be deliberate on their part.

I wonder if the people who do coal forging have an advantage overall? They are already familiar with the coal process and heat management when having to switch to propane, where the smiths who use the propane forges have a rough time using coal.
 
As I mentioned in earlier posts I think the show has it's good points. But the biggest thing that keeps me from being an actual fan of the show are some of the ridiculous tests. And after making my previous posts I saw, what is in my opinion, one of the worst examples.

I think some of the tests are questionable, but last week I saw an older episode with the most absurd test I've ever seen- they tested the knives by repeatedly chopping into steel military ammo cans.

That just left me shaking my head in bewilderment, because I cannot conceive of any situation where a person would ever need to do that with a knife, or anything even close to it.

As far as I'm concerned that's no different than chopping a section of cast iron sewer pipe, or locking a knife in a vise and bashing it with a sledgehammer. I don't believe such tests have any bearing on the quality of a KNIFE, because I don't believe anyone would ever do such a thing with a knife during actual use. If someone on Youtube performed such "tests", and then declared one knife as "the winner", I'm pretty sure they would be roundly mocked for it on this forum.

I'd be more inclined to be a fan if the tests came closer to replicating real-world knife use, even extreme knife use. Heck, I could even conceive of a situation where a person might need to chisel their way through a cinderblock wall (trapped in a collapsed building after an earthquake), but that's about as extreme as I'm willing to go.

But like I said, I think the show has it's good points. And I think the county is better off with it than without it.
 
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killgar said:
As I mentioned in earlier posts I think the show has it's good points. But the biggest thing that keeps me from being an actual fan of the show are some of the ridiculous tests. And after making my previous posts I saw, what is in my opinion, one of the worst examples.

I think some of the tests are questionable, but last week I saw an older episode with the most absurd test I've ever seen- they tested the knives by repeatedly chopping into steel military ammo cans.

That just left me shaking my head in bewilderment, because I cannot conceive of any situation where a person would ever need to do that with a knife, or anything even close to it.

As far as I'm concerned that's no different than chopping a section of cast iron sewer pipe, or locking a knife in a vise and bashing it with a sledgehammer. I don't believe such tests have any bearing on the quality of a KNIFE, because I don't believe anyone would ever do such a thing with a knife during actual use. If someone on Youtube performed such "tests", and then declared one knife as "the winner", I'm pretty sure they would be roundly mocked for it on this forum.

I'd be more inclined to be a fan if the tests came closer to replicating real-world knife use, even extreme knife use. Heck, I could even conceive of a situation where a person might need to chisel their way through a cinderblock wall (trapped in a collapsed building after an earthquake), but that's about as extreme as I'm willing to go.

But like I said, I think the show has it's good points. And I think the county is better off with it than without it.
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Those extreme tests are meant to cause failure of some type. That way they can eliminate someone more easily. When everyone's blade is equal the judges have to find something to nit pick to eliminate a contestant, like the blade is too heavy or the handle was too round. When a piece of the blade goes flying off, or they can zoom in on major chips in the edge, it adds to the "excitement". If they just cut sheets of paper and baton wood people would change the channel. They are not meant to be real word tests. How many ice blocks have you chopped with your blade? It is entertainment for a game show and that adds to the fun.

If you pay close attention, they add sound effects to the tests. The "wheel of pain" has a screeching metal sound when they bend the blade, or there are thumps and booms when they chop in the ice blocks. They lucked out with Jay's grunting when doing the strength tests.

One of my beefs with the format is that when two or more smiths don't meet parameters. Instead of eliminating them all, some get to continue in the game. That must be a real ego bruise when you lose the finale to a person who missed parameters in preceding stages. They should introduce a penalty for that. Like losing 1 day for the finale weapon build or having their range of materials limited.
 
I occasionally watch it & I like it. Just set a reminder for what's playing next, tonight for me/tomorrow for you in the US, episode titled "Game of forge". The history channel does repeat a lot but I don't think it's the same content you get in the US. Kinda like the Netflix system, different content for different regions.
 
It’s been a few years since I’ve watched the show. At first it was kinda interesting and entertaining but after awhile I got weary of the drama. Like any reality tv show they have to keep it interesting and ratings to stay up, the producers have to make money and that’s through number of viewers. Mostly it’s just entertainment.

For the general viewership most of them probably don’t know enough about shop work or forgeing a tool to spot a mistake or a pile of crap so the producers can get away with it.

I also thought some of their tests were more for dramatics than real world scenarios. But it looks really cool.
 
I enjoy it thoroughly! Does it accurately reflect who is the best smith in the forge? Of course not! It doesn't even remotely suggest who can make the best knife. Are the tests absurd? Yes! Are the materials crazy? Yes! Its a game show. Its fun and its much more entertaining than the price is right with substantially more realism than season 6044 of the bachelor.

The one thing I wish they would do is match contestants with roughly equal home forges. Some of the finalists are badly overmatched.
 
Triton said:
I enjoy it thoroughly! Does it accurately reflect who is the best smith in the forge? Of course not! It doesn't even remotely suggest who can make the best knife. Are the tests absurd? Yes! Are the materials crazy? Yes! Its a game show. Its fun and its much more entertaining than the price is right with substantially more realism than season 6044 of the bachelor.

The one thing I wish they would do is match contestants with roughly equal home forges. Some of the finalists are badly overmatched.
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Re: the bolded portion -- I find myself thinking that with some of the episodes... When one guy is operating out of a warehouse-sized facility, running his own version of Big Blue, and seems to otherwise have enough machine tools to start a factory... And the other guy is gutting through under a canopy tent with his hand-blower coal forge and a hand hammer... It seems like there ought to be some sort of handicap. 🤔

...But I guess when "David" wins, the victory might be that much sweeter... :)
 
So when does it come back on? They had some other crappy show on this Wednesday.
 
Bunker Hill Blades said:
I remember Walter Sorrells saying something like “if they wanted to be more accurate with naming the show they would have could it “ground in a giant cloud of dust“ SO true though right!?

Also every time I tell someone I’m a knife maker they immediately ask ”have you seen that show forged in fire?”
So from now on this is how I will tell someone I’m a knife maker “I’m a knife maker, yes I’ve seen forged in fire“
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We should have t shirts made
 
JFrameV2 said:
Re: the bolded portion -- I find myself thinking that with some of the episodes... When one guy is operating out of a warehouse-sized facility, running his own version of Big Blue, and seems to otherwise have enough machine tools to start a factory... And the other guy is gutting through under a canopy tent with his hand-blower coal forge and a hand hammer... It seems like there ought to be some sort of handicap. 🤔

...But I guess when "David" wins, the victory might be that much sweeter... :)
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There was a repeat on a few weeks ago where one smith has to heat treat a sword blade, but does not have the setup to do that. He digs a trench in the ground, fills it with coal, and uses a leaf blower to fan it. His blade ended up passing all the tests with ease. That was pretty impressive. It was the episode where they had to put an animal head on the pommel. The show did not tell you that the other smith's wooden animal head broke, but I saw a piece of it was missing. Wil said the winner's animal head was an underdog. :D
 
The show is just not a watch for me. Don't like the tests they perform nor how the smiths are put under the clock to perform. Most of the knives that are made in that frame of time suck imho also. So bottom line is that I just don't watch as a rule. But I have watched segments of a few minutes every now and then and that just re-affirms what I think of the show. just sayin
 
I will say, that watching judges hit with the flat of the blade does rile me up. One judge in particular, I refer to as "The Slapper In Chief"

One of the issues can be that a handle needs to be shaped so that you can "feel" where the edge lines up. Linking cuts together can be hard (even with a knife or sword that has good ergos...with bad ergos it can be impossible).

So there are more reasons than "that guy can't cut"

I've seen many videos of good swords, with good handle ergo's, with blown cuts and damage (when the sword was not slapped together in an insanely short time).

I don't treat the show as a "how to" on much, because I understand how the usual process goes out the window with such a time crunch.

They often also put people on the show who are absolutely not quality makers, even with unlimited time.

I've met some of the makers in real life, and handled their knives and swords that they produce to sell....and been impressed by some, and not so much by others.

Some have skills that boggle the mind!!

I still enjoy the show. And will continue to watch, and enjoy.
 
FiF is an "one the one hand/on the other hand", for me.

On the one hand, it shows that there are bladesmiths/blacksmiths still around in the 21st century, and they are doing very highly skilled work.

On the other hand, it doesn't show how much work really goes into forging any implement, and a lot of the good it may have done for the maker community seems like it would get undone when people experienced the skill gap between themselves and a J. Neilson.

On balance, it was probably a good thing for the community, but I feel like it's reached all the people it's gonna reach.

If you enjoy it, I'm not gonna judge you: I like watching long-form machining videos on Youtube. I do feel like the idea has a lifespan, I'm just not sure how much longer of one.
 
Bob Denman said:
Is anybody else watching the new shows?
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Are you talking about the new FIF episodes?

I'm still watching it but admittedly only after they've been recorded on my DVR, so that I can skip/fast forward just to the elimination/testing rounds if I don't find the construction efforts interesting.
 
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I like to see what the smiths can do in the limited time and under pressure. I think it's generally ridiculous to put that much pressure on someone to create something decent but it's intriguing to see how it plays out sometimes. I don't believe that it's an honest comparison between abilities, some people do better with limited time than others and it has no bearing on the quality of work.

Another redonculous aspect is the testing, who does that in real life? Destructive testing has it's place but no one uses or abuses a knife like that except perhaps in extreme conditions where the outcome of the tools function is less important than the desired results. The glee that one particular judge displays in hoping to inflict maximum damage is over the top, unappealing and is really starting to annoy me.
 
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