Thoughts on Forged in fire

elementfe said:
Wondering after seeing the most recent one (that's available on Amazon) whether the difference between the two swords' performance was as much because of the fuller as heat treatment. Obviously the HT wasn't as good, but doesn't a fuller provide some structural stability?
What a beautiful five day sword that was, too....drool....
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Fuller adds no structural stability. But what it does do is reduce weight without decreasing structural stability.
 
Don Hanson III said:
I was pulling for Peter Martin. I thought I saw a caption saying his name as "Peter Camp" a couple times???
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I think they were describing the style of knife he was making.

I guess I'm a little confused because just before the start of the second segment they show the upcoming tests they are going to put the knives through. One of the tests shows a knife being buried into the car door, and the other shot shows the rack of ribs being cleanly cut in half? Where did those performance tests come from because the show didn't show any of the knives performing that well.
 
I was not sure how this was going to go .. But It is definitely getting better. I to think that it is a shame someone can get tossed out on a technical issue. I know that I would most likely bomb hard on this show. Good to watch and I think this will help aspiring bladesmiths like myself to push a little harder to get out of my comfort zone I have been plagued with this past year. I was reading a thread that people were concerned that this was going to bring in a bunch of people into knife making and water down the pool of smiths and possibly hurt the craft... I say BS . Most people are smart and creative and will have a lot of fun doing this stuff and will only educate themselves . I only worry that it will reduce my chances of finding a power hammer in the back of some old building someday.

What do you guys think . Do you think the show will harm or hurt Bladesmithing ? Or knifemaking in general . I know it seems some people .. or a lot of people have a problem with them calling them weapons .. I don't . I love fighting knives . They are so pleasing to the eye. I don't look at a fighting knife and wonder how its going to cut the ham I have for Sunday dinner. I look at it and wonder Hmm... Wonder if I could.

Anyway good show. Wonder what you guys think about what this show will do to the industry. It could help suppliers with more orders and more innovation with grinders and other tools. Win.. Win I think.
 
So far it has raised the awareness of custom knifemaking. I have had people who casually knew that I made knives contact me about a knife or repair, and others have stopped me in public to ask if I make knives, and want to discuss the show, when they see me wearing my Ashokan tee-shirts or personal knife logo shirt. I had a man that has known me and that I make and sell knives for years call me and ask if I could bring over some of my kitchen and chef knives for him to buy a few.

Personally, I think YouTube does far more to make people think it is easy to make a knife than this show does. The opposite seems true for forged in Fire, ...it shows how hard it is to make a good knife. Afyter the last couple shows, the public now knows what goes into making damascus.

I get asked regularly if there will be a tournament of champions with the winners dueling it out ( so to speak), and reply that it is a goo possibility if the show's ratings are running high at the end of the season.
 
Marko3 said:
I was reading a thread that people were concerned that this was going to bring in a bunch of people into knife making and water down the pool of smiths and possibly hurt the craft... I say BS .
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I call BS too. Sure we get tired of answering questions about leaf springs and quenching in old dirty motor oil, but even in the last couple years that sort of silliness has died way, way down. (it used to be almost a daily battle around here.)

I'm sure when magazines and books about actual knifemaking first started getting published in the 70's, there was some push-back too. And certainly when all of a sudden everybody with a library card could get on the internet there was plenty wringing-of-hands about "diluting the talent pool" and "devaluing the work". As Stacy mentioned, YouTube was the next logical (?) step to where any goof with a cell phone could post a video "tutorial" with no peer review at all.

But the fact is, despite all the questionable baloney sausage and just-plain wrong info out there, there's a heck of a lot of really good info available like never before. Because of that, the handmade knife biz is bigger and better now than it's ever been in all of human history.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Personally, I think YouTube does far more to make people think it is easy to make a knife than this show does. The opposite seems true for forged in Fire, ...it shows how hard it is to make a good knife. Afyter the last couple shows, the public now knows what goes into making damascus.
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Actually making a good usable knife is really not that hard and youtube is valuable in showing many talented makers share their methods and techniques without all of the drama of a forum.

Yes, there are people making some shoddy work but there are many many fine knifemakers and masters at knifemaking sharing their craft freely on Youtube and personally it is a lot faster and easier finding methods and techniques there then just about anywhere.

If a person learns a bad technique on YOUTUBE it is simply due to the fact they did not continue to research and learn from the multiple videos showing the more accepted correct methods.

It simply is a observable fact that Youtube is one of the best resources for gaining correct information from some top notch knifemakers around the world. There has never been another resource that rivals it.

I look forward to more FIF videos and am sure it will lead to even more good Youtube demonstrations being in demand.
 
That's great that your forges are selling extra good.. I am still using one I got from you a long time ago . We modified it and put a T-Rex burner in it and it really kicks ass for my needs at the moment. Although I am going horizontal soon. In time all the wonderful material providers will see a jump in handle materials and steel and belts ETC.

There is a lot of gratification making things with your hands . Who knows it may save some young kid from running amuck and turning to a life of crime and drug abuse .
 
Been buying and watching every episode on Amazon. Looking forward to it every week.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I have heard that Murray Carter will be on soon, and have some of the same concerns that I had about J.D.Smith. While he makes great kitchen knives with his Japanese shop, will he make a great 13" chopping knife with a harrow disc in three hours?... or a great cinquedea in five days?

The lesser known and experienced guy who makes a more assorted range of knives with a simpler setup may be more versatile under fire.
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SPOILER ALERT!!! ..... "kinda" .....











Even though it's available to the public on Murray's FB page, I know some people might not want to know..

But anyway, on Murray's FB page he's shared a few times that he's goin to be on Forged In Fire, and along with that has posted a picture of himself "on the show", just like the picture of JD Smith looking into the forge that he shared his FB page... (---I think the show sends each participant an individual picture of them from the show so that they can share it wih friends, because I've seen a few of them sharing a photo of themselves in the show's studio, or the forge area, before their episode has aired---) ...Anyway, Murray's picture shows him holding a fairly intricate "Kris" knife, which makes it obvious that he makes it to the last ("5 days at your home shop") challenge. So apparently he does do pretty well! :D . Although he mainly makes kitchen and neck knives, from what I've seen Murray can be pretty versatile in what he can forge when it comes to blade styles, but he does have his own style of finishing which is a bit more simplistic and rustic, for the "bulk" of his work at least. Anyway, just thought I'd share :) .. well, couldn't help it after seeing your post, Stacy.. :foot: ;) lol

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
One personal problem I have with the show is that I am a teacher at heart. Things should educate in some way,...even entertainment. About the biggest education the viewer gets from the presentation is that what bladesmiths (and farriers) do is make is "bad a$$ weapons". I know, I know..... it is a weapons based show.

I set out to watch this week's show with an open mind. I put a note pad on my lap and wrote down the names of the smiths, and notes on a few things about them. I made a few more notes as they started working. About ten minutes into the show, I put an X by Ryu's name. Merely by the editing, " wasting time" comments made, and the way they showed him as the "poor underdog" against the makers who used modern equipment, I could see that he was the winner. The runner up was also pretty easy to spot. They accented how well he was doing and how well he used his time, etc. By 20 minutes into the show, I set the pad and pen on the side table.

There were the normal flagrant editing issues that these type shows do to make things look dramatic (especially time wise) that I know were not in real time. We have already discussed that the blades are tempered overnight, but in the show they quench them, walk up to the judges, and then they are tested immediately. Of course, not one of those blades would have survived as-quenched. The public does not know that, so the producers choose to leave any mention of those type details out ( because it would prove that what you see is not actually what happens).

I especially saw the "human interest" angle in the difference between the home forges by noting how Ryu's place had not even been tidied up ( it actually looked like they had deliberately make it look junky and unused). I really find it a stretch that he had not done some practice and clean up in preparation for the show.

My biggest observation of something not looking right was the quench flare-up. It looked like the blade was quenched in gasoline! Was the tank of commercial quenchant topped off with propane or alcohol? The quenchant looked dark and thick in the other barrel, so I can't see it having a gaseous ignition like it did??? Contestants have said there is no faked shots or set=ups, so I would assume the blade was very hot and partially quenched. Even with that, there appears to have been a lot of editing to get that flare up shot as we saw it.)

Without a doubt, it is not aimed at knifemakers as the target audience.






To make us all appreciate the talent of the contestants and the difficulty of the time constraints, we should put up a thread called, "Forged in Fire Weekly Challenge". Each Monday night the weeks challenge would be put up as the home forge project. By Saturday night those wishing to participate should have finished the challenge item in five days. For this week it would be a Viking Broad Axe. No winners or losers, just photos and info on the projects made. Photos and descriptions of problems/failures encountered would make it honest and real.
Anyone up for that?
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Hello miss Stacey, I apologise for the late comment. I am aware this is an old post but I just saw it now.

Yes, I agree with the messy-junky workspace I had and I apologise for my mess. I didnt get the chance to tidy up, because the film crew came over right the very next day after leaving the studio and we started filming straightaway. and yes, you are right again, I did not do any practice and the way I prepared my self for the show is something opposite of what athletes do before a contest. I did not touch any of my tools and equipments at all for 1 month before the show in order to get me really thirsty to forge a blade. To be honest, the only real preparation I did for the show was that I washed my dirty jeans before I went on TV...
 
I'm enjoying the Forged in Fire series quite a bit. Does anyone know if ALL the episodes for this season have been recorded at this point? "IF" so I expect they are doing some editing each week for I see the recent episodes are better than the first couple.

Any idea how many episodes there are planned for this season?

Thanks for any info,

Ken H>
 
Kumusta, Ryu.

Just for the record, I am Mr. Stacy, but a lot of people think I am a girl/woman. We have had a lot of fun over the years with that mix-up. Once, at a church ministers' retreat, I was assigned to the women's dorm with a female roommate. At dinner, they asked if anyone had any special needs, and I stood up and said they had provided me with far more than I expected. My room was changed soon after that.

I had suspected that you either had been working and living at a different place, or the show producers had asked you to leave the forge untidy for the "rustic look". I was impressed with your frame of mind and skills. You also showed that there are very different ways to approach forging and knifemaking attitude. You deserved to win.

Salamat - Stacy
 
I've been catching episodes on lunch breaks at work, and I will admit that it looks like it's getting better - at least in the eyes of the knifemaking community, even if the show still isn't for "us". I was really happy that they started to add the educational spin on it, showing more terms with their definitions on screen so that the general audience could get a marginally better grasp of what was going on. It does also seem to be drawing newcomers into the wide-yet-well-hidden world of custom blades; at work if somebody brings up Forged in Fire during conversation, they will usually also ask me about commissions. Haha, of course this is right after I close my project log for a while. :)
 
I agree with Paul.I could see were the producers would view Murray as being the total package,and even nudge things in his favor.I hope he does well.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
We'll have to watch and see.
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:thumbup:

I swear I'm not trying to put M. Carter on a pedestsal or anything, but I just used to be very very much into his knives, almost exclusively, so I spent A LOT of time researching his work, watching his vids, reading his books etc., so I've seen a bit more variety than what is mainly seen made by him. I still do enjoy his work very much, but my interests have broadened quite a bit over about the last 3 years. We mustn't forget that not only is he a traditional "japanese" bladesmith, but also a Mastersmith in the ABS. ;)

Anyway, the shows really have been much more enjoyable to watch over the last few weeks, and I've been cringing much less over the editing of the way certain techniques are shown, or how certain things have been described to the "layman."

However, the main thing that still really irks me (and everybody else it seems), is that fact that it's not purely a bladesmithing skills contest, but also a "listening skills and memory" contest regarding the challenge parameters... As mentioned, put up a dang whiteboard so they can take a glance at them whenever they need!! If a blade fails to meet the parameters due to say a blade cracking/breaking (due to bad heat treat) during the first round, then imho that would justify an elimination for lack of blade length or w/e.


Other than that, I'm really looking forward to see the rest of them! :)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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