So You’re Going to Compete on Forged in Fire?
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019[Note: This list was originally compiled by me then posted on /r/forgedinfireshow, where I made significant changes based on comments from other members of the subreddit.]
Regular Forged in Fire viewers are all too familiar with statements like these:
<when working with canisters> “I’ve never used a welder before.”
“This is the longest blade I’ve ever forged. I’m going to have to make a bigger quench tank.”
“I’ve never used a coal forge in my life.”
The Forged in Fire producers enjoy throwing unusual situations and obscure techniques at their smiths. And learning new techniques during the competition is a sure path to failure. The following list is based on actual mistakes made by contestants:
Practice the following techniques beforehand:
- Canister Damascus welding
- Using a coal forge with a manual air pump
- Forge welding, especially with (1) different metals and (2) a thick piece of cable
Mistakes that have actually happened:
- Give the Liquid Paper time to dry before adding anything else to the canister
- You need -both- the red and the blue epoxy containers
- They supply 5-minute epoxy and 24-hour epoxy—choose wisely
- Some extremely well-made blades have been eliminated because they didn’t meet parameters
- If the judges tell you something should be fixed, don’t convince yourself there’s not enough time to fix it
General weaponsmithing:
- Never quench in water unless you have a very specific reason for doing so
- For larger blades, the judges take balance and weight very seriously
- When forge welding, first clean the surfaces that will be welded together
- Be extremely careful bending hardened/quenched steel, and never hammer it
- Pro tip: it’s much easier to drill/drift holes before you quench
- Pro tip: quench a test piece of steel and then break it to see what the metal looks like after quenching.
Handles:
- A great blade with a bad handle will almost always lose
- Functionality and quality of construction are far, far more important for a handle than how good it looks
- The judges put significant emphasis on how comfortable a handle is and how well it fits their hands
- Do not get fancy with your handle in an effort to impress the judges—this almost always does more harm than good
- Knife handle shapes that don’t prevent the user’s hand from sliding onto the blade -must- include a guard—failing to do so is an automatic disqualification
- Nothing in the handle should have -any- possibility of digging into or cutting the judge’s hand—a bleeding judge significantly increases your chances of being eliminated
- Round or heavily rounded knife/sword handles look nice but fail to perform
- The burn-through method of creating knife handle holes is risky and should be avoided unless you’re hard-pressed for time and have no other option
- The tests apply significant stress to the handle—epoxy alone will not hold a handle together.
- Pro tip: note the judges’ hand size when you shake hands with them at the beginning of the competition, and craft your handle accordingly
Know the following skills:
- How to use a magnet to check for proper heat treat temperature (also, bring a magnet with you)
- How to use a MIG welder
- How to use a spark test to identify an unknown metal
- How to use a belt grinder like the ones on the show, and especially how to change the belt
- How to use a gas forge like the ones on the show, and especially how to adjust the temperature
- How to correct a post-quench warp without breaking the blade (hint: hammering or bending in a vise rarely works)
- How to construct a friction folder knife
Regarding your home forge:
- Before you leave, triple-check your equipment to ensure it’s in perfect working order
- Equipment failures happen—be prepared
- Some of the weapons you have to make are unusually long or wide—you may need a bigger forge and/or quenching tank, so obtain the materials for that beforehand
General philosophy:
- Stick to the basics; don’t try to be fancy and impress the judges
- Stick to what you know; this is not the time to be experimenting
- Stay calm—getting rushed affects your decision-making and is the best way to be eliminated
- Many, many contestants have been eliminated because of poor time management
- When things are going badly, it’s often better to just abandon what you’ve done and start over
- No matter how bad you’re doing, there’s always the chance that someone else is doing worse
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