[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: On his Blue
Ridge Mountain homestead--
 I'm glad we can turn our
scrap into something good here.
NARRATOR: --Eustace
Conway is fighting
to protect his wilderness
sanctuary from an encroachment
of real estate developers.
 I don't want development here.
It's just going to ruin my
water supply, ruin my life,
ruin my world.
NARRATOR: He spent all
winter working to pay off
a loan on a key plot
of land that buffers
him from the outside world.
But now with the final payment
deadline fast approaching,
he's falling short.
 Well, we just need to
keep working piece by piece,
minute by minute, making money.
That's all we can do.
NARRATOR: So far, he's
liquidated much of his estate.
And he's now relying on
his blacksmithing skills
to churn out hand-forged
items for sale.
 We've been building
all kinds of little hooks
and wall hangers,
mementos, curiosities.
NARRATOR: But with the
small ticket items failing
to bring in the cash they need,
budding bladesmith Raleigh's
proposed an idea to
boost their bottom line.
 Raleigh's dabbling
in this knife making.
It's a more challenging product.
But if we can make enough of
them, and get in production,
we can actually make
this land payment.
Oh yeah.
 This is going to
be the quintessential
production-style knife.
You've already got
a handle there.
 Oh yeah.
 You've got a handle.
All you have to do is
forge out the blade.
NARRATOR: To make
the work pay off,
the knives have to
be cheap to produce.
And a collection of
old railroad spikes
are a free resource if
this steel is top quality.
 I wonder how good the
carbon content is on these.
 We need to test these out.
We need to see how
well these will work.
 The best metal for knives
is something that's just
a high carbon steel that's
gonna be tough and hard
and hold an edge
for a long time.
Let's try this one, Raleigh.
NARRATOR: Just like
striking flint and steel
to start a fire, a grinder
shaves off small bits
of the metal, exposing
its iron atoms to oxygen
and resulting in a spark.
 It's not looking too good.
 If we grind it and it's just
a few soft sparks that just kind
of piddly fall off there,
then you're probably
looking at a soft metal.
Do we have a file?
 Yeah.
 We know this is good metal.
Oh yeah.
 See all those fingers?
 Yeah.
RALEIGH: Looks like
Fourth of July fireworks.
 That's what we need.
RALEIGH: That's good stuff.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: The length,
size, color, and quality
of the sparks reveal
what types of metal
are mixed in with the
alloy and how much.
 If we grind it
and you see just
sort of a big ol' sparkly array,
that's a high carbon steel.
Let's test this one, Raleigh.
NARRATOR: Blades require the
steel to be hammered thin.
Without enough
carbon in the metal,
they won't be strong enough
to hold up to heavy duty tasks
like chopping and cutting.
 Man, Raleigh, looks like
this whole pile of spikes
is just that low carbon content.
 Yeah.
Well, one idea I'm
having, I'm thinking
of old time tools like axes.
You can weld in a
high carbon piece,
so you've got high
carbon steel inserted
into a low carbon body.
NARRATOR: The low carbon
railroad spikes can be upgraded
by splitting and fusing
into their core pieces
of higher quality metal.
The process is time consuming
but cost effective if it works.
 Yeah.
I've got enough files that we
could cut some pieces of files
and put them in there.
My payment deadline's
coming up real soon.
I'm hoping in the next few days,
we can make 15 of these knives.
NARRATOR: The plan is to turn
recycled old railroad spikes
into big ticket knives for sale
and to use the money to help
pay off Eustace's land loan.
But before they can
forge the blades,
they need to upgrade
the scrap metal
by grafting it together
with steel that's
strong enough to hold an edge.
 If we can get a good piece
of high carbon steel inserted
in between the pieces
we're splitting,
we're going to have
a quality knife.
NARRATOR: The railroad
spike will form the handle
and body of the knife.
A high quality bit
will form the blade.
But first, the steel must be
split so it can nest inside.
[METAL CLANGS]
 We want to split this
thing right down the middle
so we can have an equal amount
of steel encapsulating it.
Hold up.
EUSTACE: Probably a good
time to stop it right there.
RALEIGH: I think so.
NARRATOR: For their
high carbon steel,
they're harvesting some old
files from Eustace's tool shed.
 You want to hot cut it?
 Yeah.
 The one thing I've learned
about that high carbon steel
like that, if you get it
too hot, it'll just crumble.
 Yeah.
 Woo!
NARRATOR: With both
pieces prepped,
the bit is carefully hammered
into place inside the spike.
Next, they will
be fused together
using a technique
called forge welding,
where high heat
combined with pressure
creates a permanent bond.
 You get it sort of hot so
it'll melt that Borax on there.
NARRATOR: Borax is a mineral
that acts like a flux, an agent
that runs off
impurities like rust
by making them quicker to melt.
 Well you have to coat
everything with the flux.
Flux helps keep it clean.
It sort of like it
keeps trash out of it.
NARRATOR: Forge
welding is tricky
when working with two
qualities of steel,
each with a different
melting point.
 Be cautious with it.
I just realized it's
so easy to burn it.
We've got to be right on
the edge of burning it up.
NARRATOR: They have to hold
the heat steady between 1,500
and 2,000 degrees.
 All right.
Ready?
 Yeah.
[METAL CLANGS]
You're better at
shaping the knife.
You take it.
[METAL CLANGS]
Oh, man.
 It's just--
I mean, it's ruined on the tip.
NARRATOR: At Eustace Conway's
Blue Ridge Mountain forge--
 Oh, man.
We got that too hot.
Dadgum.
NARRATOR: His plans to make
some quick cash are crumbling.
They've overheated
the high carbon
steel bit that is supposed
to form the knife blade.
And unless they can master
the correct formula,
their plan for mass production
will have to be scrapped.
 If this doesn't
work out, then we just
have to start all over again.
 Where all that's crumbling
and cracking away--
 Yeah.
 --draw what we do have out.
We can still salvage
a blade out of it.
NARRATOR: They can cut
off the damaged tip
and try re-forging it.
But the more they work the
metal, the thinner it gets.
 Well, let's see what
we can do with it.
In a situation like
this, all you can do
is draw it out and hope
that you still got enough
left to finish what you need.
 Here you go.
 OK.
 You're drawing it out good.
Oh, yeah.
That's shaping up
nicely, isn't it?
 Yeah.
I'm really liking it.
Everything's sticking
together and it looks good.
I feel great about it.
 You did a great job.
 It's at a place now where
we can finish a blade.
We're going to continue
drawing it out and refining
the shape of this knife.
Just the same old, same old.
Heat, beat, repeat.
One thing I like to do
when I make a spike knife
is twist the handle.
It gives it a little
flair, and it also makes it
more comfortable in the hand.
That looks awesome.
We've still got one
big test, though.
We need to quench this thing
and make sure it holds an edge.
 Let's quench it.
 The final test of all
is to quench this blade.
We've got to make
sure that it'll
harden and will hold an edge,
or else it's a useless knife.
OK. here we go.
- Yeah.
There we go.
 It worked.
It didn't warp.
It didn't break.
The metal didn't separate.
We did it.
Nothing left to do but
polishing this thing
up, seeing how it looks.
I'm pumped about this knife.
 Well, it's showing some
sparks now, isn't it?
 Yeah it is.
 Is that your
acid that's there?
 Yeah.
I'm just using some vinegar.
I want to make sure
that people can
see that we've got different
layers of metal in here.
NARRATOR: The acid
in the vinegar
bites into the grooves
and textures of the metal,
highlighting the contrast
between the high and low carbon
steel in the blade.
 Oh, yeah.
I can see the difference.
 Wow, check that out.
EUSTACE: Yeah.
 I can easily see us getting a
couple hundred dollars or more
out of each one of these.
 With that much
workmanship in it, yeah.
 And think about how
many spikes we have.
If we keep popping these things
out like we did this one,
we're not going to
be too far from you
having that land paid off.
 That's what I'm talking about.
Now that we have
the first one made,
we need to make a whole
pile of these knives.
This developer, I'm
sure he's hoping I
won't make this final payment.
And he knows probably it's
going to be a tough one.
But I've got to
prove them wrong.
I've got to get this land.
Man, we need to get a few
irons in the fire here.
 We can be making a
couple a piece at a time.
 Yeah.
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