Thoughts on Forged in fire

I enjoyed this last episode immensely as well. Definitely a line up of grade A makers... (not that previous shows weren't).

I've been following Murray Carter's work for years, so I was excited to see what he turned out on the show. Am I the only one who thought that the "it can keeeeeel"
judge seemed a little harder on Murray's blade?

Not that Mace didn't deserve to win, but it just seemed like the judge was looking for gripes. Maybe he was expecting more out of a traditional Japanese bladesmith?

Or maybe I'm just reading into things....

Either way, great episode.
 
If you guys haven't noticed, Murray posted a video on youtube about his thoughts/experiences on Forged in Fire.

My WIFE and I both enjoyed this show. I would have preferred all tests to be out of the hands of large amounts of human error/bias, even if it's silly things like shooting your sword with a gun and having a pneumatic machine try to ram your knife through a car door... I definitely think that repeating your tests (not new ones each episode) for a season could be really cool, because then we could debate who actually made the best stuff even if they didn't directly compete. I also wish they explained more about the judges backgrounds to establish a bit more credibility with them.

Overall :tup:
 
knife to a gunfight said:
I enjoyed this last episode immensely as well. Definitely a line up of grade A makers... (not that previous shows weren't).

I've been following Murray Carter's work for years, so I was excited to see what he turned out on the show. Am I the only one who thought that the "it can keeeeeel"
judge seemed a little harder on Murray's blade?

Not that Mace didn't deserve to win, but it just seemed like the judge was looking for gripes. Maybe he was expecting more out of a traditional Japanese bladesmith?

Or maybe I'm just reading into things....

Either way, great episode.
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Finally got to watch all of the episodes. I completely agree with you Drew. I think Marcaida didn't like Murray. He was overly critical on Murray's blades, and I got the feeling that he just didn't like Murray.

I'm liking the show overall. I do agree that contestants should be given more info as to how their blades will be tested.
 
Bobbitay said:
If you guys haven't noticed, Murray posted a video on youtube about his thoughts/experiences on Forged in Fire.
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I saw that, though I really don't think it was necessary. There's no question that Carter is a talented bladesmith in the top of his class. Obviously given different circumstances, any of the bladesmiths on that show would have / could have won. There's no shame in coming in 2nd, and nobody is looking for reasons or excuses.
 
He rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Others worship every word he utters. *shrug*
 
Hes a like or not like kind of guy I guess. Im surely not a Murray "homer"(or a fanboy of any mortal man for that matter) but I really do respect what he's accomplished and his skill as a bladesmith A lot of guys do Japanese style blades but Ill give him this, he has walked the walk when it comes Japanese bladesmithing..He has to be one of the most successful business models in bladesmithing out there.
 
Murray you can tell has some personality traits that could bother some people and you can see that in his videos and on the show.

Murray though is a smart guy and has a bladesmithing business that most knifemakers only dream of. He does not just talk about it he actually has done it.

He is the real deal and I respect him for his skill and what he has accomplished.

You know some makers say they have made "thousands" of blades but I have never heard of them or found their work for sale online or at shows on the secondary markets in the decades I have been in the knife hobby. When Murray talks about making thousands of blades it is easy to believe him due to the evidence of his craft.

If his San Mai blade had not taken a slight bend he probably would have won, but it is kinda funny that the contestants on that last show were actually more of the "experts" then the experts judging them.
 
I'm the kind of person that is taken aback by another person who repeatedly spends that much time talking about how awesome he is and what he's done. Much less cutting down every other long-standing, long-proven tradition.

Lots of excuses and "I" in those kind of monologues, not much "we"; frankly it comes off as childish and shallow. "Impossible to break" and other ridiculous claims... "this will bend but that will break, or not, or um..., mine warped and stayed warped but let's not address that"... we all know that's bullshit backpedaling. Just... bleh. :rolleyes: Dude's blade lost fair and square, under the same paramaters/testing, and with a heckuva lot better tools/shop at his disposal. That could happen to anyone under pressure.

EDIT: Make a video crying about it? That's some weak sauce. :thumbdn:

I find that kinda showbiz/ego stuff a major turn-off, and my gut instinct is to shy away from the sort of character who is all about focusing attention on himself and not on the knives or the craft as a whole. Confidence tempered with humility is a powerful thing... and most of the bladesmiths who've appeared on the show have shown that.

That's not a judgement, it's just a personality thing. One of the best parts of watching FiF has been finding out that many of the makers and judges learned from each other and some became friends.

I have nothing against anyone's work or success. I applaud anyone who's built that many high-quality knives. :thumbup:
 
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james terrio said:
I'm the kind of person that is taken aback by another person who repeatedly spends that much time talking about how awesome he is and what he's done. Much less cutting down every other long-standing, long-proven tradition.

Lots of excuses and "I" in those kind of monologues, not much "we"; frankly it comes off as childish and shallow. "Impossible to break" and other ridiculous claims... "this will bend but that will break, or not, or um..., mine warped and stayed warped but let's not address that"... we all know that's bullshit backpedaling. Just... bleh. :rolleyes: Dude's blade lost fair and square, under the same paramaters/testing, and with a heckuva lot better tools/shop at his disposal. That could happen to anyone under pressure.

EDIT: Make a video crying about it? That's some weak sauce. :thumbdn:

I find that kinda showbiz/ego stuff a major turn-off, and my gut instinct is to shy away from the sort of character who is all about focusing attention on himself and not on the knives or the craft as a whole. Confidence tempered with humility is a powerful thing... and most of the bladesmiths who've appeared on the show have shown that.

That's not a judgement, it's just a personality thing. One of the best parts of watching FiF has been finding out that many of the makers and judges learned from each other and some became friends.

I have nothing against anyone's work or success. I applaud anyone who's built that many high-quality knives. :thumbup:
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Good post. I must admit that I had to chuckle when I heard something like "Because I've made a bajillion blades, I could easily tell that this was a blade meant for stabbing, so that's why I did yadda yadda"
Judge: "Actually, the originally intent was for chopping/slicing".
:eek:

haha

Let you're work speak for itself. Not your claims of how many you've made, or who's "executive chefs" like them more than a factory made blade.
 
Most of the smiths I know from the show (and it turns out that I know a LOT of them!) said that they learned a lot, had a good time, and made new friends, independent of how they 'did' on the show. That to me says a lot about the knife making community as a whole, for the most part we're all friendly and easy to get along, and willing to help each other out.

here's some FIF competitors together this summer =)

DSCN6108.JPG
 
knife to a gunfight said:
Good post. I must admit that I had to chuckle when I heard something like "Because I've made a bajillion blades..
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That probably caused a lot of eye rolls

And a lot of hits to his website and orders placed LOL
 
So. . .In his video is Murray implying that only a laminated blade can pass a JS bend test? Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me.

Chad, you and everyone else who did their best and didn't try to rationalize have my utmost respect!
 
I got into knife making a few years ago. Although I've only made about a dozen blades in that time. Just to many hobbys and not enough time. I like the show. I just wish the contestants knew what there knife would be used for in the beginning. I saw one episode they the guys knife didn't chop the log as good as the other two so he lost. I'm sure if he knew he had to chop a log he would have made a different design. On a different note I've done alout of research on the Internet about knife making. I always end up on this forum. Such a wealth of information.
 
I just saw a link for Season 2 casting calls posted by a Season 1 participant. Seems it is going to happen!

Chris
 
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