You guys have made it into the next phase

of this selection process.

What you're fighting for is the Navy Anvil

at the Battle of the Branches final competition

and a chance to win $50,000.

And now we're sending you back to your home forges

to recreate this military weapon from history--

the US Naval officer sword.

Awesome.

You'll have four days at your home forages

in which to complete all these parameters.

At the end of those four days, you'll

return and present your blades to our panel of expert judges.

After they've expertly tested them, they'll push one of you

forward into the Battle of the Branches competition.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

We'll see you in four days.

[sighs]

[music playing]

Today is day one.

And today, I'm working on forging

out the basic shape of the sword,

and maybe get to heat treat it.

The Navy way as slow is smooth.

Start slow, and it will turn into speed and perfection

later on.

I got my sword shaped out.

And I'm ready for a heat treat.

End of day one, no cracks.

I'm feeling pretty good.

I'm sitting well right now.

Yup.

That is sexy.

All right.

First thing I'm going to do today

is use my rotary tool and hand grind in my puller.

[grinding]

For a hand puller, you can't ask for much better.

Blade's ready to be quenched.

The one thing you always think about is, don't snap.

This is the moment.

Don't have a warp.

Snaps are fatal.

Warps are critical, but can be fixed.

[music playing]

Pull it out.

Uh oh.

It's hard.

But it's got a bow.

To the jig.

I have to get it in my straightening jig to see

if we get that pulled out.

Let's hope it straightened it.

If not, we go through that whole thing again.

Pick it up.

Look down it.

Bam.

We've got a straight blade.

10 minutes, Pigs Smiths.

You have 10 tiny minutes.

[laughs]

So, as of right now, my plan is to get some sheet steel,

use that for the majority of the leaf guard,

and then getting some steel for the knuckle guard

and braiding it.

Kind of give it a nautical Naval theme to it.

Try and make it look like some rope or line.

This wire's bulking up way more than I thought it would be.

I'm trying to braid this thing.

It's not moving the way I want it to.

I didn't want nearly as many gaps as this.

So I'm starting to get a little frustrated.

I still have a whole lot to do.

But, at the end of the day, I'm treating this

as if this is a $50,000 sword.

So I'm going to put every ounce energy I have into it.

I decided I'm just going to stick

this in the vise and start twisting

and until it looks like rope.

All right.

First things first.

Put the coffee down.

Pick the sword up.

Tempered last night, and the warp that I thought I had fixed

came back in the temper overnight.

Right down the edge.

Right down that spine.

I have to get this fixed before I move on with the sword.

[sighs]

To get this warp out, I'm going to have to pin it, heat up

the spine, then let it relax.

And, hopefully, the warp will come out.

A little tap.

But I can live with that.

It don't rock.

Finally get this warp out.

Still hard.

It's time to move on to the handle material.

I set up the Micarta handles by cutting them in rough shape

to fit the handle, drill the holes.

(SINGING) Like that.

Next, I needed to get the pommel so when

I do make the guard and knuckle bow, I know where to end it.

So I need the pommel next.

It's pretty blade heavy.

And it's going to need a big chunk of brass

to be able to balance that out.

Done.

[laughs]

All right, sailors.

Your weapons looks beautiful.

But it's time to find out if they're wall hangers

or they're actually something you could use to kill.

Jerad, you're up first.

You ready for this?

I'm ready.

Let's do this.

[music playing]

[laughs]

All right, Jerad.

The balance you have here feels good in the hand.

Now, your edge is very sharp.

As you can see, with every cut, it cuts deep.

For every thrust, all the way through and true.

Overall, sir, your weapon will kill.

Thank you.

Good job.

All right, Lee.

It's your turn.

You ready?

Yes, sir.

Let's do this.

That's a lot of hog to go through with a skinny blade.

I'm pretty nervous.

[music playing]

(WHISPERS) Good job.

(WHISPERS) Thanks.

All right, Lee.

The handle construction is comfortable.

Your edge, not one single glint or rolling.

Your tip punctures and cuts on the way out.

And overall, sir, it will kill.

Yes.

All right, gentlemen.

It's time for the strength test.

The dreaded flex test.

To test the strength of your blade,

I'll be bending it in both directions

up to that red point.

Jerad, you ready for this?

I guess.

OK.

[exhales heavily]

[music playing]

Ooh.

[laughs]

[exhales heavily]

I'm impressed.

Your blade is just as straight as when we started the test.

That's a really nice heat treat.

Thank you.

Holding your sword, you can shorten that handle

just a little bit scale-wise.

But, at the same time, it winds up being fairly comfortable.

Nicely done.

Thanks.

All right, Lee.

You're up.

You ready for this?

Yes, sir.

OK.

[music playing]

The longest five seconds of my life.

[music playing]

[exhales heavily]

Nice job, Lee.

The blade is still the same shape it started in.

That's impressive.

Thank you, sir.

Really good.

All right, gentlemen.