Often the recurring strength tests administered by J. Nielson has made a name for himself rage-beating weapons into hard objects you would never rationally hit a knife against. Nielson’s Weak Bone Chop When Using His Own Knife

Because of the chipping Josh loses to Mareko.Ĭontroversy: Josh Smith remains the best smith on Forged in Fire who didn’t win 2. Mareko picks up a bend in his Ida in the strength test but the edges of his weapon were intact. Perhaps the aggressive twist put too much strain on the steel or maybe the heat treat wasn’t quite right. Tragically, Josh knew this was a risk because a test blade he made with the same steel chipped when he struck it against an antler back at his home forge. But Josh loses some pieces of his blade in the strength test. Mareko’s sword did not do as well in the sharpness test. It performs in the kill test and sharpness tests.

Josh produces a beautiful Ida sword with a wonderful Damascus pattern and fuller. Josh again makes it to the final round and faces off against Doug’s pick Mareko Maumasi. When Jason said why he picked Josh he said, “You made the best blade that didn’t win.” Jason Knight was one of the judge’s for the Kora Sword episode in which Liam Hoffman won over Josh. In this episodes Judge’s got to pick a smith to represent them as their “champion”. Josh Smith came back in Season 4 Episode 1: Judge’s Pick. But the controversy is that if Josh had been in any number of different episodes and produced a finale weapon of a similar caliber he would have easily won. I like the look and I believe the more subtle forward curve would more effective at chopping than Josh’s design. I do like Liam’s Kora better than Josh’s. They are the judges and it is their call. But the judges ostensibly decided to discount the heaviness of Liam’s Kora while choosing to emphasize the rounded handle on Josh’s Kora that caused the weapon to roll in the hand. Per Doug, Josh’s Kora had better balance and in my opinion had beautiful fluting. Judge Doug Marcaida called it “One of the most visually stunning blades we’ve ever seen in this forge.”

It is among the best finale weapons in the show. Josh crafted an incredible and high performing Kora Sword. He then went on to the finale against then 19 year old wunderkind Liam Hoffman. He made a clinic out of the first 2 rounds. He came into Season 3 Episode 5: The Kora Sword, with 25 years of experience. He was the youngest ABS Master Smith at age 19. Josh Smith: The best Smith on Forged in Fire who didn’t Win Spoiler Alert: The following discusses winners and losers in various episodes and contains spoilers. Here are four controversies that have resulted from 8 Seasons of Forged in Fire. These and other factors have led to a few controversies over the years. They could be asked to make an obscure pattern of Damascus they’ve never done before and lose because of that. There could also be a fantastic smith, but if they aren’t experienced in using a coal forge and end up on one of the episodes where those are used, they might do very poorly as compared to another smith who would do better in that environment. There are episodes in which the runner up produced a finale weapon far superior as compared to a winner in another episode. Some episodes clearly have a stronger group of smiths than others. There is an element of luck and chance beyond what you’d see in a standardized competition. Forged in Fire is not a standardized competition. The show is educational and it is in a competition format but it is primarily entertainment. As of this writing I’ve seen every episode up to and including Season 8 Episode 15. I’m a fan of the History Channel show Forged in Fire.

Forged in fire season 6 episode 40