Forged in Fire.

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M-Cameron

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so ive been watching, and i love the show.....

however, does anyone else notice their weapons "expert" Doug Marcaida doesnt know how to cut?......like, at all......

i know his background is in Kali......and elements of kali translate well to small blade use.....however, he really doesnt know how to use a sword.

EVERY TIME he goes to do a horizontal cut, he almost always ends up destroying the blades......it looks as though hes just swinging the blades like a baseball bat, and without fail, he ends up bending or breaking the blade.

i dunno, it seems as though if they are going to be judging swords, they should at least have someone who knows how to use them.

am i alone in this?
 
There's a lot at play in using a large blade, but one of the most important aspects is the fit of the grip and balance making the use of it more challenging. Taking only a week to make a large piece that should take weeks if the bladesmith were making it to their normal level of care and not to the hand of the person who will be using it isn't a great formula for success. Just the least little bit of misalignment will cause problems in use.

OR he could be less competent with a sword. Hard to tell.
 
I'm in the "not interested" section... What I would really like to see is a careful recording of the build steps of a recognized master bladesmith (or even a talented amateur...) from start to completion with a single blade for a real customer/user. None of the "drama" or competition (or however they sell one of these concepts to whoever decides whether a TV show is worth airing...). Guess I'll just keep on dreaming...
 
I don't "watch" the show but it's better background noise than a lot of the other crap. And yes, I question all of the experts. Doug seems mildly competent, the "antique weapons creator" guy is really just a Hollywood prop guy, and the other guy seems ok but has too small of a role since the first two are not up to the task they are chosen for. And yes, they push the contestants too hard. 1 day to make a "signature blade" and a week to make "a masterpiece" all for the kingly sum of 10 grand? Come on guys.
 
I know it is a hokey reality show, but still interesting to this layman.

The thing that amazes me is how many of the contestants self identify as "full time bladesmith." Are there really that many people making a living making cutlery?
 
lemaymiami said:
I'm in the "not interested" section... What I would really like to see is a careful recording of the build steps of a recognized master bladesmith (or even a talented amateur...) from start to completion with a single blade for a real customer/user. None of the "drama" or competition (or however they sell one of these concepts to whoever decides whether a TV show is worth airing...). Guess I'll just keep on dreaming...
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if thats what youre looking for, check out Walter Sorells on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/user/slappybuckshot

he has a TON of great videos and knows his way around steel.
 
I don't have the foggiest clue if any of their judges are actually experts in anything. That said, I rather enjoy the show. I've always found blacksmithing interesting, and I've found the show's contestants to be pretty good sports so far. (I detest shows that offer nothing but bad behavior on the parts of contestants.)
 
It is much better than last season. They have toned down the hokey stuff and upped the technical and craftsmanship aspect.
They recently showed how San Mei is made, and showed differential heat treat.
I agree that the time limits impede quality work.
 
J. is an ABS Master Smith and as such qualifies as something of an expert.

Here's his website with his workhttp://www.mountainhollow.net/
Bearing-Gidgee%20Bowie.jpg

***

Are there really that many people making a living making cutlery?
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Jim,

Come to Blade Show! "making a living" means a lot of different things. You'll find a lot of retired guys that make a living making custom knives, but only a few makers in the prime employment age really making a living this way. You have to be remarkably popular and talented both to do this without some other means of support.
 
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My biggest pet peeve of the show is sending these guys home to do challenges that the judges have to know they're not equipped for.

A guy with a small forge set up to make knives is going to have a very difficult time making a decent sword no matter how good he is.
 
Not the same show but I earlier today I caught a show called iron and fire that was pretty entertaining, dude was only about 26 and was making firearms and knives, saw the one where he replicated the "number 1 bowie" from an Arkansas museum.
 
Forged in Fire is not too bad. IT is for entertainment and those who know can tell where the bad parts are.

Iron and Fire however. Oh my. We have tried for decades to remove some of the mystique and such from the knifemaking/blacksmithing world. Iron and Fire is just re-introducing it. If you are watching for entertainment great. Please do not take what he says as fact. He does a decent job but much of the info that was put out in the 2 shows I have seen is based in myth and legend rather than scientific fact. Metallurgy is based on science and blacksmithing is metallurgy based.
 
Making a "Living" making Cutlery. Like HSO said means a lot of different things. Have you noticed how many of those makers on the show say they are Full Time Makers? Very Few. And of those they more than likely have a wife that has a great job with benefits and is supporting the family. I only know about 10 makers who rely solely on knife making.

I am retired from the US Navy. That retirement does not pay enough to support me and my family. Luckily my wife and I saw this as part of our planning and we put her through Nursing school before I retired. She makes a great wage. I still have medical benefits through my retirement and Va so that is covered. Even with that the wife and I do not see eye to eye as far as my "Hobby".

I spend 40+ hours a week making knives. I have been making knives for over 30 years and forging for 24. The last few weeks I was putting 70 hours a week in the shop getting ready for a show. I made enough to pay for the materials I purchased at the show and have some left over for bills. Even the best makers I know either have a wife that supports the family or another job to pay the bills and provide benefits. Can I make a living on knives?? No not really. If I find the niche that some seem to fall into I might make enough to keep the wife happy. But I have a 2k a month advantage.

There is a joke that has been going around the knife community for a long as I have been part of it.

How do you become a Millionaire as a Knife Maker??
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Start with $2Million and make knives until the first million runs out!
 
That's pretty familiar - we say something similar in the fishing tackle business. "I know how to make a small fortune in the tackle business... first we'll start with a large fortune"
 
Last night was the season finale. Was interesting in that one of the contestants got removed for doing stock reduction rather than forging. J. Is the technical expert being an ABS bladesmith. He teaches a lot with his critiques. The other two not so much. Nameste Doug is annoying with the it will cut or kill schtick.
 
Was interesting in that one of the contestants got removed for doing stock reduction rather than forging.
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I thought that to be disingenuous, considering that he started by heating his lawnmower blade red hot and hammering it flat. Then started grinding. So he just had a different proportion of forging to grinding than most. His big mistake was SAYING that he was going to stock removal.
 
Jim, i disagree. He simply flattened the stock and ground the blade out from the flat stock as opposed to forging the blade. You could get away with cutting the tip with a grinder to jump start the forging, but that's it.
 
Well, that WAS the position of the judges.

Let the guy with the big cracks in his officially beat on iron progress and amaze me by it not falling apart.
 
Bob wouldn't have made it to the next round with those cracks if Ed had forged his shape and bevels instead just grinding.
 
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