Forged in fire documentary
 

Hi all
New series on making weapons in a forge is starting on uk/ ireland history channel at 10 pm
Never seen an episode but trailer looks ok
Regards
Ken

This series is a few episodes into its second season in the US market. I tend to feel sorry for the contestants each week as they are almost always required to make a blade from 'mystery' steel in a fairly short amount of time. If one does not know the steel going in, an optimal heat treatment is unlikely and the show proves that. This week they assigned a different steel to each contestant randomly. Four contestants start, one is eliminated after the forging phase and another after the hilting and finish phase. Two finalists return home to create their interpretation of a historic weapon. Another penchant the show has is that the products of smiths are then subjected to various and often absurd and abusive tests. They always say 'function over form, fit & finish' at the end and really give only a glimpse at how close the finalists got to the assignment in terms of design. Often the contestants whose work I would most like to see at the end are among those eliminated earlier. As often as not I must dissent from the judges' decisions.

Admittedly a guilty pleasure. I also like the cooking shows that the formula was taken from. ;)

I admit to watching the show. I like the idea of a show about swords and knives instead of another episode of pseudo scientific discussion about aliens in ancient times. Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement, but the show at least presents edged weapons as works of art for the most part, and gives bladesmiths a chance to showcase their skills and gain some recognition.