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  • Peter, Everett, congratulations,

  • you fellas have made it into the third round

  • of this competition.

  • Now, when you came here, we had you make signature

  • blades in your signature style.

  • That's not going to happen at your home forges.

  • Instead, you'll be making one of these--

  • Genghis Khan's sword.

  • Sweet.

  • Good luck.

  • We'll see you in four days.

  • Bring your A game.

  • I'll bring my A-plus game.

  • [laughs]

  • [rock music]

  • I'm back in Austin, Texas.

  • And I have to make Genghis Khan's sword.

  • Let's get to work.

  • I was considering a Damascus build,

  • but I think that's a risk.

  • You're asking for potential delams and weak points.

  • So I'm thinking of a strong mono steel here.

  • I'm going to go function, function, function.

  • I think that it's going to be a challenge, no matter

  • what, just sheer length.

  • You know, the longer it is, it's harder

  • to keep these things straight.

  • You're asking for warps and other weirdness to go on.

  • I'm hoping to get the whole fuller in today

  • and the tang shaped out.

  • I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far.

  • So basically, my sword is ready to quench now.

  • I pull it out.

  • Wow, it's pretty straight.

  • And it's hard.

  • This is a huge relief.

  • [rock music]

  • So this is day 2.

  • It seems like day 10 or something.

  • It's brutal.

  • I'm forging along.

  • It's starting to stretch out nicely.

  • I want to leave it a little bit thick to avoid a big--

  • [whoosh]

  • I should be able to get into some heat treat.

  • I really want to get this done right the first time.

  • I don't want something to go wrong.

  • I pull it out--

  • not bad.

  • Not like a pool stick.

  • But it's got a little whoop-de-doo in.

  • But I've got a lot of meat on the blade

  • to straighten that out.

  • [rock music]

  • A little tired, but nothing some good coffee won't cure.

  • I got a octagonal guard knocked out.

  • And I'm going to make some epoxy and set some pins,

  • and then we'll start thinking about our butt cap.

  • My plan is to put this butt guard on and use the press,

  • just real gently, to conform the metal over the groove,

  • and have it lock into place so it's

  • got this physical connection.

  • I go to the press.

  • It feels like it should just press into place.

  • And then it immediately goes south.

  • Ah!

  • Crap.

  • I break my freaking handle.

  • It looks like I popped it open there.

  • I notice the handle's screwed up,

  • so I gotta pry it off, and clean everything up, and re-epoxy,

  • re-pin everything.

  • Round two.

  • I also have to fix the butt cap that I messed up trying

  • to press it into the tang.

  • I have to change my game plan and attach

  • the butt plate by epoxy.

  • I do feel like I'll be able to get a handle on the situation.

  • [laughs]

  • [rock music]

  • I'm trying to figure out this handle design.

  • The finishing of a weapon, I feel,

  • is the most time consuming.

  • This is tedious.

  • So I got this curved tang to deal with.

  • So I decide to cut the pieces up.

  • My idea is to have this tang sticking out,

  • because I have to put this little hole in there

  • for a little--

  • [whistles] little tassels.

  • Put the handle together, doing the dry fit.

  • Uh-oh.

  • See, my angle's way off.

  • Hmm.

  • I'm going to go bend this tang just a hair.

  • It's gonna be real close.

  • I really thought I'd be further along, like,

  • pretty much done right now.

  • But I think I'm set up good for tomorrow to finish.

  • [rock music]

  • It's the last day.

  • I have a sword.

  • So now, it's sharpen, sharpen, sharpen.

  • I'm going for a very sharp edge.

  • And that's a bit of a calculated risk.

  • So it will certainly help in the cut and potentially kill test.

  • But if the strength test is bashing

  • against bones or something, then this

  • could be a detractor for me.

  • I believe my sword is a lot like Genghis Khan, actually-- sharp

  • and really frickin' brutal.

  • I think there's only one thing left to do.

  • We've got to give this some sort of test.

  • Woo!

  • OK.

  • That was kind of cool.

  • All right, bladesmiths, welcome to the kill test.

  • To find out what kind of lethal damage your weapon will do,

  • I will take your sword and deliver some killing

  • blows to this ballistics dummy.

  • Peter, you're up first. You ready?

  • Yes, sir.

  • Let's do this.

  • [rock music]

  • [blade impacts]

  • [grunts]

  • [chuckles]

  • All right, Peter, first up, your edge is sharp.

  • The balance feels good.

  • But it did take quite a pronounced bend.

  • But the more important thing is, it will kill.

  • I timed that perfectly.

  • [laughs]

  • All right, Doc Everett, are you ready, sir?

  • Let's do some surgery.

  • [rock music]

  • Yikes.

  • All right, Everett, your edge is very sharp.

  • It slashes nicely.

  • Your tip punctures easily.

  • Cuts on the way out.

  • With all these cuts, it'll kill.

  • [laughs]

  • All right, gentlemen, it's time for the strength test.

  • Now, to test the strength and overall construction

  • of your blades, I'll be attacking

  • our armored targets over here.

  • Peter, you're up first.

  • You ready?

  • Let her rip, tater chip.

  • [rock music]

  • [blade impacts]

  • All right, Peter.

  • I'm gonna start with your handle.

  • I find it really comfortable the way it flares towards the tip.

  • It works pretty good for my hand.

  • And I love what you did with this kind

  • of low-layer count Damascus.

  • It's very dramatic.

  • But we've got some very deep rolls on this edge.

  • There they go.

  • You hear it?

  • Those chips, that's an issue.

  • But all in all, you did a good job.

  • All right, Everett, you ready?

  • I am.

  • OK.

  • [rock music]

  • Ah, piece of armor.

  • [rock music]

  • Nice.

  • All right, Everett, your blade, still spot on.

  • What I really like is the fact that that blade

  • is, at its widest point, maybe 3/16 of an inch.

  • You don't need weight and mass for strength

  • in a properly tempered blade.

  • That's really good.

  • You've got a section of blade here that's not quite