An Arkansas bladesmith recently won $10,000 on an episode of History Channel’s Forged in Fire against three competitors.
Shawn Ellis of Mountain Home was tasked with showing his knife-making skills on the show. The contestants each designed their knives on paper before scorching metal pieces at a high temperature as they forged their weapons.
Then, in the second round, the competitors worked to grind down their knifes and reveal a finished project, complete with constructed handles on each.
By the end of the episode, which aired Tuesday, Ellis had successfully completed a series of tests, including one in which his knife repeatedly struck a wooded crate.
Additional testing was done with a second knife he was tasked with forging from home: a Kachin Dao sword.