Forged In Fire

Scurvy092 said:
I really wish they would have tested it and then dinged him for the lack of recurve. Seemed unnecessarily harsh and it seems more and more like the final tests are either abbreviated or cut short.
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I also wish they could proceed forward with some of the makers who miss a small detail but that is unfair to those who followed the instructions. The details/rules need to be adhered to to keep the competition fair for everyone. When competing for $10000 or for a customer's hard earned cash, the details are very important:)
 
Mark Knapp said:
I can't speak about other flare-ups but I can tell you that this particular flare up was not intentional. Because of circumstances beyond Joe's control he was not able to do his build in his home forge on base. The producers asked if they could film at my place with Joe's tools. I remembered what had happened to Haley and Adam DesRosiers when they were forging large pieces like the noginata blade (their' shop burned down) So before they started the quench I casually checked to see if the fire extinguisher was where it was supposed to be and that the arrow on it was in the green. I thought I was ready when the fire went up but I had forgotten to take the hose out of the clip before I tripped the trigger on the extinguisher. My first shot went straight to my crotch. After I knew that area was safe I concentrated more on the fire. The second quench was outside.
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Mark,
LOL! Froze your boys on the first blast! :eek:
I'm a Stock removal maker and have still managed to have some intense moments running with the fire extinguisher for the Vac Canister after seeing smoke pouring of it! I had shaped several handles of Iron wood and then put on a fresh Ceramic belt and started grinding some Carbon steel Damascus!

It was a Combo smoke & stink bomb in the shop after I got the fire out! Reeked like Cat piss from the Ironwood in my shop for at least a week! LOL,

Any new makers here? Always have Two Filled Fire extinguishers in your shop and Always empty your collector system when you change from steel to wood!

I also set a Jacket I was wearing on fire once while grinding,:D But we are getting off the topic of the show!
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
Mark,
LOL! Froze your boys on the first blast! :eek:
I'm a Stock removal maker and have still managed to have some intense moments running with the fire extinguisher for the Vac Canister after seeing smoke pouring of it! I had shaped several handles of Iron wood and then put on a fresh Ceramic belt and started grinding some Carbon steel Damascus!

It was a Combo smoke & stink bomb in the shop after I got the fire out! Reeked like Cat piss from the Ironwood in my shop for at least a week! LOL,

Any new makers here? Always have Two Filled Fire extinguishers in your shop and Always empty your collector system when you change from steel to wood!

I also set a Jacket I was wearing on fire once while grinding,:D But we are getting off the topic of the show!
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Thanks Laurence, It is highly recommended not to use a dust collector when grinding steel unless you have a system that you can switch to a water bath when you are grinding steel. No mater how clean you get the vacuum bag, there will always be dust in the hoses that will ignite easily with the air flow through there. It's just too dangerous.

All the best, Mark
 
Bill Siegle said:
I also wish they could proceed forward with some of the makers who miss a small detail but that is unfair to those who followed the instructions. The details/rules need to be adhered to to keep the competition fair for everyone. When competing for $10000 or for a customer's hard earned cash, the details are very important:)
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I think you misunderstand.

I don't think they should be eligible to win. I'm just saying, run the tests so we can see them and then during the decision they can point it out.

I believe they have done this in the past. I'm just saying, don't short change the audience from seeing all the fun tests.
 
We watched tonight (DVR recording). I didn't look at this thread for spoilers.

I own (2) Ray L. Smith, MS knives. BOTH of them have little forged curly q's at the end. When I saw he was in the game, I said to Susan: He's going to nail it. He knows his way around the blacksmith shop.

I was more concerned looking at the steel edged guards on that dual blade by the young smith. It appeared it would not be nearly as protective in a thrust. Well, that never got tested, but it might have played a factor. (Wonderfully finished though!)

I came away happily encouraged about 'slow and steady'. :cool:

Watching Ray work: "It's like watching coffee perk. It's really boring and long yet then you have a delicious and satisfying brew...."

;) :p :thumbup:
 
Scurvy092 said:
I really wish they would have tested it and then dinged him for the lack of recurve. Seemed unnecessarily harsh and it seems more and more like the final tests are either abbreviated or cut short.
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I would have liked to see them test the blade, but I noticed the lack of recurve right from the start of the build. That's not a small detail. Grinding and sharpening a recurve takes more skill and patience.
 
The knives were beautiful but the style/design looks like you would be as likely to cut yourself as an enemy.

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As the numbers of available 'traditional' weapons and cutting tools have now been used, they are reverting to more and more obscure historical pieces.

These pieces may have been obsolete even in their day because of impracticality.

I'm unconvinced this is where they need to go.

How about simply assigning them a task or allowing them to know the methods for the final testing needs, and then letting them design something that THEY feel would have an advantage on these tests.

Might have quite a bit more diversity of design.
 
I like seeing rare knives, but that particular design looks more ceremonial to me. One of the photos they showed had a variant with a stubby blade and regular blade, I was hoping they would be allowed to build that one.

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SharpByCoop said:
As the numbers of available 'traditional' weapons and cutting tools have now been used, they are reverting to more and more obscure historical pieces.

These pieces may have been obsolete even in their day because of impracticality.

I'm unconvinced this is where they need to go.

How about simply assigning them a task or allowing them to know the methods for the final testing needs, and then letting them design something that THEY feel would have an advantage on these tests.

Might have quite a bit more diversity of design.
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^^
from above
"allowing them to know the methods for the final testing needs, and then letting them design something that THEY feel would have an advantage on these tests."

This is how I felt after the first few episodes. Effectively what I would like to see 👍👍

I do like seeing the historic, but would be really interesting to see a bit more creativity, as it relates to a design follows function methodology approach.

Regards,
 
They could always start repeating historical weapons and be more specific in the expectations, ie. must have a hamon, or must be ladder pattern Damascus.

I also like loosening the specifications, such as, it must be a 28" sword of your choosing for the following tests.
 
Coop

You are spot on! :thumbup:

Basic specs and parameters, describe tests that will be done, allow for a little creativity....

That will foster some outside the box thinking and make for some interesting dilemmas - i.e. do you go for bling (Damascus, fancy handle) in an effort to impress but risk failing a test? Tests could also be made a bit more challenging if contestants know them in advance

Bill
 
billf said:
Coop

You are spot on! :thumbup:

Basic specs and parameters, describe tests that will be done, allow for a little creativity....

That will foster some outside the box thinking and make for some interesting dilemmas - i.e. do you go for bling (Damascus, fancy handle) in an effort to impress but risk failing a test? Tests could also be made a bit more challenging if contestants know them in advance

Bill
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That's cool. Then first round they can ask them to make a specific design and then they can go through some more standard fixed blade designs (bowie, seax, dirk, bird and trout etc etc etc) that they can't really do as a final challenge.
 
I wanted to post that I came across this show only last month, season 3 I think. So far, I love it. I now need to catch up on the previous two seasons. I was brought to the bladeforums.com via ar15.com. I have been a firearm enthusiast for several years now yet have never delved into knives, swords, etc. Apart from a couple CRKT and Spyderco knives, I really don't have much.

But what this show has done for me as introduced me to an amazing new world that I was never interested in before. It is not hard to appreciate the work that goes into a fine collectible firearm and I see that the same can be said of a blade or sword or axe etc. I realize that the show is only forty minutes and to go into the detail and breadth of skill and knowledge of each competitor would be impossible. But I was bummed to hear that bladesmiths would be quick to turn down the show for this or that reason. I would think you would want the challenge and appreciate the exposure the show brings. For firearms, I know shows like Top Shot brought untold numbers of people into local ranges who were fascinated by firearms and the skill needed to shoot.

I do not own any knife that is over $150 only because I've never thought of the need. I want to take some bushcraft classes so I suppose at that time I will look in that direction. But the guys over at ar15.com say that the ESEE 6P is all I need. I need to educate myself and determine for myself what I need. I hope these forums will do that to some degree.

As far as any collecting I may do, I am really interested in historical weapons since I enjoy shows like Vikings and Rome. I recently purchased a viking bearded axe from an Austin based maker off etsy. I hope it's nice. He has good reviews. I hope next to get a Roman gladius and really just move on from there. The show has introduced me to not just knives (really want a seax as well) but to historical weapons. So I will keep watching for those reasons.

Could the show do a better job of highlighting the bladesmiths, I dunno. I wish the shows webpage listed contact info or webpages for the knife makers. Right now, I have to just google. Beyond that, I look at ebay and etsy because I really don't know where to go for quality stuff.

Anyways, ranting on a bit but I hope the show continues on for several seasons. I enjoy it, I enjoy seeing the work the bladesmiths do, and like that I am getting exposure to something that I knew nothing about two months ago. I even looked into classes here in San Diego but sadly there was nothing. I hope more of you take part because I respect what you do and want to learn more.
 
I even looked into classes here in San Diego but sadly there was nothing. I hope more of you take part because I respect what you do and want to learn more.
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Messed up the quote, but you should look into the California blacksmith association. I'm sure there is a local group near you that you could join and meet some people with the same interests

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