It is an interesting show to watch. As a blacksmith myself, I often look out for any footage of blacksmithing, new techniques to learn or, in the case something goes wrong in the video, to help out. I was very pleased with seeing the renewed love for such a craft as blacksmithing, but I believe that this show still doesn't answer some of the crucial problems with modern blacksmithing. First off, a proper piece is a work of art and can take much longer than 6 hours to complete. I understand that it would be difficult to make a show about it were it to be longer than 6 hours, but that is the reality of the trade. It makes viewers think that there is no more than 6 hours in a knife, that's it's easy to make, and that they should expect a pattern-welded hand forged chef knife to cost under 200$-300$. Nonsense.
The second problem I have with the show is that a lot of the crucial steps are skipped over to make place to drama. Tempering your knife after quenching is a must in any knife that you may sell. A lot of techniques are skipped over and it results in either poorly made knives if they skipped tempering, or (if they simply removed the footage) poor informational material.
Third- The tests are HIGHLY inaccurate. They don't really measure anything. They are simply to -Wow- the audience. HRC scale tests could easily distinguish a good knife from a poor one without all this fluff. I understand that would be quite boring, but it actually diverts to the skill of the craftsmen who do create HRC64+ blades, from a blade that simply cuts coconuts.
Lastly, The show mainly presents smiths with a simple test: make a chopping knife, which is nowhere representative of most of the smith's abilities. If a smith specializes in kitchen cutlery, such a knife would never pass half of the tests out there, but could still be considered one of the most marvelous pieces of craftsmanship. I've seen historically accurate-ish of high skill (such as the rapier used as a slashing weapon, or the gladius' round handle) lose to more ergonomic designs. This isn't a representation of the best smithing skills, but of the production of a weapon in order to complete a test most efficiently.
The judges seem not to even know their crap. They should of hired a few true martial arms historians (as most of them specialize in a single field obviously) to distinguish western and eastern weapons. Promoting the Malaysian Kris as a slashing weapon is complete nonsense, as it's blade geometry would actually make it less efficient at slashing, but more efficient at thrusting (something that has been proved many times, however late productions of this weapon have indeed been wider and less curvy to allow for slashing use as well as thrusting). Another very obvious flaw is how The only blacksmith out of the 3 judges suggested etching over a hammon to make it more apparent, where traditionally it would never be done that way ( a etched hammon is simply not a hammon at all)
All-in all, a good show to watch for entertainment, but beware as this isn't reliable information to base off from for your blacksmithing techniques.
The second problem I have with the show is that a lot of the crucial steps are skipped over to make place to drama. Tempering your knife after quenching is a must in any knife that you may sell. A lot of techniques are skipped over and it results in either poorly made knives if they skipped tempering, or (if they simply removed the footage) poor informational material.
Third- The tests are HIGHLY inaccurate. They don't really measure anything. They are simply to -Wow- the audience. HRC scale tests could easily distinguish a good knife from a poor one without all this fluff. I understand that would be quite boring, but it actually diverts to the skill of the craftsmen who do create HRC64+ blades, from a blade that simply cuts coconuts.
Lastly, The show mainly presents smiths with a simple test: make a chopping knife, which is nowhere representative of most of the smith's abilities. If a smith specializes in kitchen cutlery, such a knife would never pass half of the tests out there, but could still be considered one of the most marvelous pieces of craftsmanship. I've seen historically accurate-ish of high skill (such as the rapier used as a slashing weapon, or the gladius' round handle) lose to more ergonomic designs. This isn't a representation of the best smithing skills, but of the production of a weapon in order to complete a test most efficiently.
The judges seem not to even know their crap. They should of hired a few true martial arms historians (as most of them specialize in a single field obviously) to distinguish western and eastern weapons. Promoting the Malaysian Kris as a slashing weapon is complete nonsense, as it's blade geometry would actually make it less efficient at slashing, but more efficient at thrusting (something that has been proved many times, however late productions of this weapon have indeed been wider and less curvy to allow for slashing use as well as thrusting). Another very obvious flaw is how The only blacksmith out of the 3 judges suggested etching over a hammon to make it more apparent, where traditionally it would never be done that way ( a etched hammon is simply not a hammon at all)
All-in all, a good show to watch for entertainment, but beware as this isn't reliable information to base off from for your blacksmithing techniques.