Forged in Fire - Season 10 Premieres on Wed Oct 4th

Bill Siegle said:
While the negative impact does exist, there’s also a very positive side too. An increasing interest in the knife hobby👍 A LOT of folks I’ve met want to talk about knives in a positive way. Also I’ve seen a lot of folks who had no idea about the knife world and are very interested in making and collecting. Most of the negative impact can easily be cured through discussion with folks who really didn’t know better.
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Depends on perspective I guess. Most of the "new interest" is people that want to make knives. Not buy/collect knives.

Might be good if you're a buyer and want to get in on the ground floor of the next great maker.

If you're a maker already, it just means even higher prices for even fewer tools and more "competition".

Even worse, is most of these guys jump in and buy a press or power hammer and start messing with pattern welded steel. But they can't make a decent knife to save their lives. But they sure think they can because they managed to stick some layered steel together. A few actually make REALLY nice Damascus......and still don't know the first thing about making a decent knife.

I personally fail to see any of that being good for the industry.
 
I understand that time pressure and competition make for "good TV". But I feel that even good knife makers on the3 show do not get the opportunity to do their best work.

Another thing that bothers me some is that the assigned project always seems to be a "knife" nearly the size of a large Bowe or a Roman Gladius. A knife with a 7" blade is a small project fir the show.
 
When I first got into knives, there was so little information out there. No internet, few books, and few makers. When books were found, terms like temper and quench were routinely used improperly. Temperature was described by color rarely actual temps. “Quench at cherry red.”was commonly taught. Now we have more shows, more makers, more suppliers, and even TV shows about knives. Personally I’m enjoying this new world. As for the aspect of competition with these new makers, I don’t compete with my fellow makers at any level. I compete with my own craft.
 
Can't see much change in Forged --same tired old "reality" format, very little useful information (why don't they ever temper?), silly tests. Boring.
 
I watched an interview with Mr Willis. The description of the internal politics of the show was flattering for the show.

I'm a Roku user and I have to hunt down cable TV shows. So I haven't watched Forged in Fire for quite some time.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Can't see much change in Forged --same tired old "reality" format, very little useful information (why don't they ever temper?), silly tests. Boring.
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Well it's not like it is really a "real time" show...they edit it to make it entertaining. I've regularly seen them temper their blades in the final home forge part, at least.

I would not at all be surprised if they did not also temper after the first, blade making stage - but that that is edited out (lengthy, boring). Otherwise, wouldn't all the blades be glass brittle "as quenched"? Yet most survive at least some of the torture tests.
 
I bought a forge tongs and a couple of anvils before the show began. It was good timing because I paid very little. They are just part of my workshop.

While I make or modify things I need, I never had the desire to make a knife. You can buy a good knife for very little money. It takes a long time to make a good knife even if you are talented.

The show is ok, but the only part I actually enjoy is seeing the home shops. They are all very different.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Can't see much change in Forged --same tired old "reality" format, very little useful information (why don't they ever temper?), silly tests. Boring.
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They do temper between the forging and the handle making rounds. They don't show it due to being boring as hell and taking up time. They often do mention "Now that your blades have been tempered, it is time for you to fashion handles to make them into fully functioning knives."

When they did some episodes where it was all in one marathon stretch with no break in between, they did show them putting the knives into the tempering ovens. Didn't focus on it for long because wow, they put it in an oven! Yay!!! Not exactly riveting television. ;)

On some of those marathon no-break episodes, they showed when smiths opted to temper with a torch due to not having enough time for a tempering cycle to occur and still get a handle made.
 
It's a fun show meant to be entertaining and for me at least it is successful in doing that. Am I going to actually learn how to make a knife by watching it? No. Is it obviously manipulated to increase the drama? Yes. Does the best smith always win? Obviously not. Does it beat the crap out of all the other drivel on t.v. Oh heck yes!
 
I've watched the 1st 2 episodes and I found the 2nd episode at the New Agrarian School in Montana more interesting than the first at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing after I took the time to check out the websites of the two schools which you can find here:

The New Agrarian School

Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing

I really like the area where The New Agrarian School is located in Montana (near Glacier National Park) and would be very interested in spending a few weeks up there to attend one fo their courses, which I'll explore doing next year.

On the other hand, while I wouldn't mind taking the "Introduction to Bladesmithing" course in Texarkana, that's not my favorite part of the country and I would be less willing to travel there. Just my personal choice.

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Episode 3 will be shown this week & will be heading to ". . . the world-renowned Clay Spencer Blacksmith shop [in North Carolina]

Episode 4 will be shown next week & will be heading to "Kalamazoo, Michigan to Combat Ready Art . . . "

And 2 weeks from now, in Episode 5, the winners of the 4 episodes: will will go head-to-head in one final battle . . . to become the On the Road champion, winning $20,000 for themselves and $10,000 in forging equipment for their shop."

So, unless the producers have something else up their sleeves, it sounds like this season of Forged in Fire will only last 5 weeks. We'll see . . . 🤷‍♂️

Here's a link to the show schedule as it currently stands: Forged in Fire, Season 10
 
specgrade said:
After watching "The Truth About Forged In Fire" with Wil Willis on YouTube, I find it hard to watch the series anymore.
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Wow. I had no idea. I really liked Wil, as he and his positive attitude were a big part of what made the show uniquely enjoyable to watch. His replacement, on the other hand, has pretty much the opposite affect.

PS: I hate f’n ads in YouTube videos. Well, I pretty much hate ads in general, but there’s not much quite as annoying as them popping up in the middle of a FIVE MINUTE video. They can’t go FIVE MINUTES without going out of their way to annoy the shit out of me.

Sorry, I got a bit off track there.
 
TC said:
Well it's not like it is really a "real time" show...they edit it to make it entertaining. I've regularly seen them temper their blades in the final home forge part, at least.

I would not at all be surprised if they did not also temper after the first, blade making stage - but that that is edited out (lengthy, boring). Otherwise, wouldn't all the blades be glass brittle "as quenched"? Yet most survive at least some of the torture tests.
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They used to start the second round with "Now that your blades have been tempered...", I don't know if they will continue that. What we get to see is barely a highlights reel, three hours pared down to 20 minutes. Watching the blades being tempered would be about as interesting as watching paint dry.
 
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