Thoughts on Forged in fire

I understand some of the concerns some of you have but I have to say I like the show and can't wait to see the rest of them.
I also it gets renewed.
 
Atlas Knife Company said:
Do you guys get to keep your knives, swords, katanas, chakram, etc.?
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That's a great question. I know they say that you have to give up your weapon, but what would they do with them?

Anything else you get to take besides the experience? I know on some shows (survivor comes to mind) the contestants get some money the further along they get.

I think it would be fun to trade your weapon with one of the other guys.

I'm really interested in what happens behind the scenes. Do they fly you guys in? Do they upgrade you to first or business class? Let's hear about the overall experience. :)
 
I too would be interested in the arrangements.
Travel costs, Lodging, food, any payment? What becomes of the things you worked on like broken blades and finished ones.
 
What chad said :) there is a lot more to it but all I can say is that it was all worth it and if all I got was a few good friends out of the deal it was well worth it :)
 
The fact that they all had experience and could not produce knives up to thier own standards was a problem for me also, what good came from throwing them into an unreasonable time limit. I just wish they could have made pieces rthat were up to thier abilities
 
Ninja Blacksmith said:
I managed to watch up to the first round of judging on the knife blanks, then my lunch ended and I had to get back to work. Like a lot of other makers on here, I found myself feeling disappointed about the skewed perception that was conveyed about knifemaking. Most frustrating of all, these were makers who had nearly a decade of experience in the craft or more - I felt the show did not personally do them justice. By rushing the process, we don't get to see their best work. They should be making and showing blades that make me green with envy, not knife shaped objects that I would be embarrassed to have on my workbench.

Yes, I kinda figured that the show was not intended exclusively for custom makers and metallurgists, but at least for the duration that I watched, absolutely not metallurgy was discussed - not even mentioning WHAT carbon steel they were using, which if even the judging panel is made up of makers also, came as a bit of a shocker. If this show does draw a crowd of people with with knifemaking knowledge that varies between "none" and "that one scene from Conan", there will probably be a lot of very deluded newbies out there. All of them getting frustrated when it's been 3 to 4 hours and their elvish broadsword still looks like square bar with hammer nicks, or why they can't keep an edge on the carbon steel they bought at Home Depot. So, if this show does really take off, the Count is going to have it rough for the next several months.

4/10: Would watch if there was nothing else good on.
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I agree with the rushing the process also
 
The show isn't about that. The show is about which contestant produces the best blade in the allotted time frame and under the same conditions. It's sure not about their "best work".
 
I was able to visit with 2 of the contestants(both ABS members) and also a gentleman that helped out quite a bit behind the scenes early on(ABS Mastersmith) this weekend. They all said it was a competition, nothing more, nothing less. If they didn't have the extreme time limits, nearly every maker on the show is good enough that given time would all make blades that would pass the tests. They wouldn't have anything to judge who won. They all 3 echoed that the production team did anything and everything they could to be respectful of the trade and contestants. Everyone did however agree it would be nice if the show would have given even 20 or 30 second clips on each maker showing more of what they normally do. I learned that this show went from a pitch to having shows airing in about 6 months. They had a lot to learn and little time to do it.
I also asked how many other competitors on the show were ABS guys. They didn't know or give any numbers but did say that there were even ABS Mastersmiths going to be in the competition. It dawned on me then that maybe why they likely don't give credentials(ABS or otherwise) is how would the show look if the competitors had better "expert" credentials than the judges. J Neilson is the only judge with ABS background.
They all said it was a really neat experience to participate in and would recommend anyone who had the chance to do so as well.
Chris
 
Its a really fun show to watch, and I give props to the contestants. Most people have never been in a TV studio before and have had 5 or 6 cameras including overheads pointed at them with blinding stage lights on.

It's a pretty intimidating situation to sit there and psychologically be scrutinized over the course of a production run. The show is pretty fun if you can accept the Constraints that the bladesmiths were put under.

I've been to the studio at both Nasdaq and nyse (they do t really have one like nasdaqs) and if seen well travelled CEOs of large companies balk in front of the cameras and action.
 
I know for sure I wouldn't be able to deal with the heat and camera's and people breathing down my neck.. Great little show. Lots to do in a short amount of time. I definitely could tell who the winner was going to be last week. But it was still a fun watch . Had a few friends call me to make sure I knew about the show. I give props to the guys so far . And I am sorry to hear that you guys got blasted on FB . Best thing would be is for the blabber mouths and the stuck up "Popular Makers" to step up to the stage and put there money where there mouths are. We should be helping each other not ragging and trying to humiliate each other.
 
I was able to watch the first 3 episodes yesterday. I thought It was pretty entertaining. Much respect to all the contestants, that looks tough. It also looks like a ton of fun! My wife enjoyed it even encouraged me to spend a little more time in the shop, win win for me.

I definitely can appreciate the time constraints. We all know time is money and you can really see the makers being challenged to plan out every step and work under pressure. I like to see these crude knives put to work, its just a shame many of the contestants lost to cracked blades, also what is the deal with the heat treat? Dont you have to anneal a blade to keep it from being too brittle?
 
Back early in thread (or on anther thread?) one person says the tempering takes place at night and is not factored into the 3 hr time. They have tempering ovens where the blades are held for the required 2 hrs at correct temp. No other details were given, and this contestant was a tad concerned that the tempering was not done correctly since it was NOT under the contestant's control - OR that's how I remember it.
 
Ok, thanks Ken, i missed that. Yeah it would be a shame to lose out to something like that, I wish they at least mentioned tempering "overnight" in the show.
 
Most of the cracking can likely be explained by the 4 to 6 hours wait for any tempering at all. That is why the 1st gentleman out broke his blade. He knew better than to tap the anvil with a fully hardened and untempered blade, but other than this competition would anyone ever grind and work on finishing out the blade without tempering first? Doubtful. The serrations in a fully hardened blade that wouldn't be tempered for hours had to result in some serious stresses as well.

Chris
 
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