Thoughts on Forged in fire

Its a shame that Ray's blade did not have a good weld. Blew me away he could forge an integral bolster knife that fast and make it that perfect in the amount of time he did. If it did not have the bad weld I believe he would have won. Just my 2 cents.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
And some good hot gloves as well. I don't like seeing hands wrapped in surgical gauze on some one that earns their living with those hands.
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I agree. That "expert" should have stopped him before he did it. Sure it's a competition, but that doesn't mean you let someone get hurt, especially if you can stop it. It looked to me like he spotted the issue in time to at least yell at him.
 
I would watch a whole season worth of FIF if they are like last night's show! Actually I'll watch no matter what cause yeah, I love knives! The elimination first round I think was a tough call. It looked to me like they had no real clear cut loser, so they made the call to eliminate the smith that dedicated some time to a back up blade. Personally I saw no difference in his time use over Ray and Murray stopping work before the timer was done but hey it isn't my call. Also I would have had a lot of trouble calling the end results. Both were fine weapons and showed true artistry from each maker. Just not sure how I would have called it myself, with Mace's blade coming in with a slight warp or Murray's San Mai taking a slight bend during the chopping. I guess the warp didnt move so that means better stability.To be sure, both weapons survived and were still usable and to my eyes Murray's cut better on the bamboo. Kind of one of those "which kid is your favorite?" quandaries :)
 
I though it interesting that he was holding the tongs in one hand when the oil flared up....but both hands were bandaged in the elimination scene. I will have to watch the show again to see how the other hand got injured?
 
It was a great show! Also there is a FIF page on facebook. They are posting questions about what you want to see and other info, so check it out
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I don't think the lawn mower blade was any problem with Jason's blade. It was the barely completed blade and his poor use of time.
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I thought so too. It's too bad, cause it was a cool design, but someone has to be eliminated, so.... *shrug*

I wonder if the episodes were filmed in the order they were presented? Because it really does seem like they got better as the "season" went along; both the knives and the editing/voice-over explanations. That's could be part good luck, part figuring out the format as they went along, or smart scheduling after the fact. Anyway, I'm more interested in a second season now, than I was after seeing the first one.

Fred.Rowe said:
If the show promotes knife forging in a positive manner, its a good thing. We should all get behind Forged in Fire for no other reason than this.
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Agreed. All in all, I enjoyed it, and I think it's good for the craft in general. Congrats to all the participants!
 
Ive read a few clues here and there as to how the shoe may have been scheduled. I think they filmed everything, then decided on the order to present them. It sure seems that they did final editing as the season went along, I could have sworn the editors started to make decisions based on weekly feedback. It seemed that the "it will keeel" was being made fun of all over the place, I even started to see memes, and sure enough the very next episode that aired the "it will keel" was completely toned down and more or less stayed that way.
 
Sort of looks that way to me, too, Tim. Which is smart on the producers' part. Nothing wrong with adapting to make it more enjoyable, and possibly more informative :)

I will also say that even if I'm not making knives as nice at that Ray fellow is, I hope I look as young as he does when I'm his age. I would not have guessed he's 70! More importantly I enjoyed both his work and his whole attitude. :thumbup:
 
Im starting to get a little longer in the tooth myself. Ive noticed more and more that if you just stop caring about the crap that bothers you, don't cuss, piss and moan about everything so much that life is a lot better..
 
This last show was by far the one I enjoyed the most! Id really like to see a second season with some more consistant and controlled testing.

Jay
 
I agree and they probably were reading feedback. Atleast the would be the smart thing to do. They definately want to give the viewers what they want and hold back on the thing that are being talked about negatively.

Jay
 
I think rays knife failed the coconut chop for two reasons, varnished handle, and coconut juice, The knife twisted due to a slippery grip on 2 and 3, frame by frame it looks like this on both, Its a little tougher to see on 2 as he was using the tip to cut

A bigger non finished handle might have made all the difference, two wicked side flex's might be what made it delaminate

*EDIT* But it did keeeel one coconut ;0)


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I was a few episodes behind so I've been avoiding this thread. Finally caught up and glad to see most are enjoying the show as much as I am. How can you not enjoy a show that uses terms like "canister damascus" and "American Bladesmithing Society".

I have to agree the last episode was the best in my eyes. I thought Murray's knife was one of the best and he still had some time left in the first round. The other contestants did a great job also and Ray was just an inspiration. I can only hope to be able to make knives and go one a show with as much pressure at his age. Definitely deserves kudos for that.

If the show is getting 1.4 million viewers like that link said then I'd bet a second season has been greenlit already. That isn't bad for cable. If the producers are reading this then I have a couple general suggestions:

-Give the bladesmiths just a little time at the beginning to talk about themselves while a few of their knives are being shown. I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue for them to bring a few of their better pieces along to be professionally filmed.

-If we are going to see more seasons I'd really like to see a champions tournament and equally exciting would be bringing back a few that did well for a second chance competition a la Chopped.

-My better half enjoys the performance tests and I like that the show is enough action and fast paced to keep her interested despite all my knife rambling. But I would like to see them a little more reflective of the blades ability. The car doors and barrels really didn't test much though I see what the point was. And safety here, I'd hate to see the show cancelled because J broke a knife and embedded the tip in someones forehead!

-Please, do not go over the top and turn this into a circus for the sake of doing something different every week. I'd would much rather see canister damascus again than "make a handle from the ikea furniture in front of you" or "forge a blade from this pinto bumper".

Overall, I'm looking forward to another season. Actually I'm bummed I don't have this to look forward to on Mondays now!

-Clint
 
Kentucky said:
Im starting to get a little longer in the tooth myself. Ive noticed more and more that if you just stop caring about the crap that bothers you, don't cuss, piss and moan about everything so much that life is a lot better..
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You know it. Just keep hammering, I still swear a bit but not at my aching knees.
 
I've seen a few people in the thread hate on the host. I agree, Will is a little goofy and the scripts they throw at him don't do much for him, but the guy is a badass. I mean, he's the kind of guy you send to jump from a helicopter onto an enemy ship and take it over, Jack Bauer shit.
I don't know what he knows about making knives, but I do know he has earned the right to host some reality show at least, if that's what he wants to do now.

Aside from all the flaws in the show that everybody else has pointed out, I hate to admit I enjoy it (because I have hated on almost every reality show I've ever seen).
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I though it interesting that he was holding the tongs in one hand when the oil flared up....but both hands were bandaged in the elimination scene. I will have to watch the show again to see how the other hand got injured?
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I'm glad I'm not the only person that saw that!

The "hollywood" aspect of the show is the only thing that really bothers me. Judging how the blades cut by trying to slash through a wall of brambles? Seriously? :confused: No uniformity so you could compare the two blades on an equal medium, tons of personal input/bias from the judges, silly tests that automatically disqualify one blade design in favor of another.....

I'll say this, though, I'm really surprised at how many smiths go for extremely decorative blades and handles, trying to showcase their abilities, and don't focus 100% on function and winning the prize. If you've got five days to make something that has to pass a battery of tests, but could land you ten grand, knock it off with the fancy carvings and ten-piece handles!

All the time dressing the girl up for the dance... and it's like they never even bothered to ask if the girl could dance.
 
I learn stuff every episode. like, it is important to be highly vocal (Like HIII YAAA) when plunging an orange hot blade into the quench so as to impart your sprit to the blade. I now do this every time!;)
 
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