SoCal Dave Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 January 13, 2015, Discovery channel will air a series called "Big Giant Swords" I'm not sure how good it will be, but it should be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 It'll be worth taking a gander for sure. With the way Discovery has been going in the last few years it might not be worth watching a second episode. Thanks for the heads up I have my fingers crossed it'll actually be somewhat educational. Deleted a paragraph long RANT about what Discovery makes Alaska look like on it's "reality" based shows. Pure BS and silly stupid BS at that. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Dave Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 You mean it isn't all true about Alaska? I thought everyone was drunk up there and the bears and humans love each other to death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 but it was cool getting proof of the mermaids, so many were doubting Rt's sanity about them before that show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Now you're getting it Dave, it's all BS, the sasquach mermaids ate all the bears a long time ago so the only chance someone from the outside has to see one is to drink enough to hallucinate. Not that that isn't a good old Alaskan tradition for a lot of folk here. There are a couple points in fact where drinking more might have been a good idea. The Alaska zoo in Anchorage takes in orphan critters until an outside zoo can take them. There are however a few cases where they're too much problem to adopt out or the AK zoo just wants to keep them. Binky was one such case, he's a polar bear, orphaned as a cub and raised in the zoo. If you've never been close to more than a thousand lbs. of predator you're really missing out on a life experience. Well, some years ago a gal decided she wanted a close up, herself with Binky so she climbed the fence so she could stand right next to the inner bar grate fence. Binky just reached through the bars, grabbed her leg and put it in his mouth. A BUNCH of people tried getting him to let go by yelling, screaming and smacking him with leafy branches. The whole thing was caught on video. I think Binky was just messing with people, he just shook her a little before letting her go. If he'd meant harm he could've easily dragged her through the 8" gap in the bars, whole or in pieces, just bitten her leg off or started eating her alive. Nope, he just held her leg in his mouth and shook her a little. She'd invaded HIS space and he didn't know her, she didn't feed or tend him she as just an invader. Bears have a pretty simple approach to things that are a threat on any level. Then came the real Darwin award example, a drunk high school kid decided to go for a swim in Binky's pool, climbed the fences and went for a dip. Binky chlorinated that end of the gene pool by castrating the kid but otherwise didn't do him much damage. A LOT of folk in the state mourned Binky's passing in 1995, he was kind of a local hero. Good polar bear, rest in peace Binky. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/12/16/exclusive-video-game-sword-replica-blacksmith-gets-tv-show.aspx Big Giant Sculpture is a better title. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 any one have a bottle of Pepto Bismal? I feel sick.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Not one bit of forging in that entire video. Cut, grind, weld, braze, drill, polish. Good fabrication, but no IFI. Probably used mild steel too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Ok, Watched first episode of BGS last night. 27 minutes of my life I will never get back :mellow: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayakersteve Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I stopped after he got order for round thing...No forging going on in this series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottMitUns Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I watched a few minutes of the video, the guy hit one of my biggest pet peeves when he used a claw hammer to center punch steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jukejoint Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Big Giant Swords = Big waste of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I watched the whole thing, does that make me too weird for IFI? There was forging, there's a gal on the island who is a blacksmith and she did a little texturing for the lightning bolt sword's handle. I don't know what he's using but it isn't mild or stainless, the sparks from the grinders and how the plasma cutter looks says UN mild steel to me. Heat treat . . . wazzat? Seriously, I think his patrons have a good idea of where these things stand on the functional blade scale. The lightning bolt Zeus sword thing W/sparker was commissioned by a school teacher who wanted to add something cool to lectures and hold the kid's interest. Big, shiny, dramatic, even without the sparks is just what the patron wanted so that's okay. Even though the lightning bolt thingy was perfectly capable of cutting plastic bottles, melons and battering a pallet to pieces if hit enough times, that's not what it's for. The Chakram on the other hand was intended for the fun of throwing it at brush on the guy's property and it too chopped melons, plastic bottles, THIN slices of log, a manikin's head and probably more, I was reading and watching. Another happy customer. While we'd all prefer to see folk buying real forged stuff, the simple truth is people will buy what they want and can afford. If they want to go to a big box store and buy something fabbed in India that's their choice. All we can accomplish by railing is driving our blood pressure up. The guy has a product and clientele, how many of us wished we did? Reality show producers have scouts everywhere looking for something dramatic. Other producers are inventing dramatic things and interviewing folk for their "entertaining" foolishness. There's a relatively new show, "Slednecks" supposedly about crazy kids in Alaska. The production co. was holding interviews in a rented space next to our PO box with the aim of getting young folk willing to behave dramatically and do crazy things for the camera. One of the guys in our club living in Talkeetna was interviewed about a part in "Alaska Bush People." They lost interest when he told them he wasn't going to cuss at people, swear constantly and have hissy fits over how anything going "wrong" was a life and death thing. The people in AK Bush people are neither Alaskans or bush people. Folk in Talkeetna and Copper Center got really tired of the production company trying to make a well established long time community look like the "bush." I think the guy in Big Giant Swords is just another guy with an idea and no real plan for success. Lots of people are like that and live prosperous lives dreaming what might've been dreams. Then a scout hits the coffee shop in the island's small town and hears about the guy who believes everybody wants a big giant sword and wants to go into business making the things. Woo Hoo! That's "reality show" gold and he's on it. Encouragement, the offer of money and equipment and the fellow is all in. While the show is rather silly, I'm happy for the guy and hope his wife and real friends can keep him from selling everything to make the business a reality. How likely is a business that takes a week and 4+ employees to produce $2,500 of product to go anywhere? My real hope is the guy's wife takes the production company to the cleaners in big way. If nothing else the guy gets a shop full of tools and equipment out of it. He'll have something to do on his days off. Heck, he'll probably get commissions out of the publicity. It might work out for him I hope so. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I'll see your sword and raise you a 106 pound battle axe! and yes it does split wood---not as good as a standard axe does though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakesshop Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I starting watching this for the entertainment value. It came up lacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Big Giant Sculpture is a better title. Ric We have to remember that IFI also has Blacksmithing and Metalworking in the title of the webpage. We who forge think of a sword as a traditional forged product. This gentlemen made what he considered a 'sword', posted his video on the internet, and had offers to buy it. It also got noticed by a producer looking for interesting material. So cuddos to him for finding that nitch in the world of entertainment. He is making big sculptures, and can call them whatever he wants. He is doing Metalworking and we have to accept that. I am not defending his techniques or product. But as we all know, there are enough people who are fascinated by this stuff and will accept whatever is presented to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I remember seeing a clip of him on some other show. I thought it was hysterical and give the guy big kudos for even coming up with the idea. His work is definitely very good - even if he's not making real fighting equipment. I'd definitely love to have some hollywood types cast me in a show so I could do three episodes before it was canceled and make a small fortune! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I'll see your sword and raise you a 106 pound battle axe! and yes it does split wood---not as good as a standard axe does though. Gotta love a battle ax that takes a block and tackle to raise. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 So useful in battle....Steel gets heavy real fast and weapon axes are often lighter than hewing axes for a reason: heavy is slow and slow is dead on a battlefield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 So this is not the biggest sword we've ever made (yeah, we've made longer more wieldable blades in the past) at six and a half feet made out of five eighths inch steel and a sledgehammerhead for the cross guard, this bad boy is modeled after a sword in a video game and weighs in at just over 52 pounds. The customer who ordered this was about 13 years old at the time requested we make it according to the specs he found, despite our protests he insisted, so we did! Now before you think that we have a habit of making swords for 13 year olds, his parents are really good friends of ours. It was the funniest thing to see this scrawny little kid dragging his sword behind him with a huge grin of glee on his face. lol Anyway to make a long story short, it made the journey back to us this summer because that young man is all grown up and headed off for yet another deployment, a long one this time, and he didn't quite know how to pack this to display in his barracks overseas so he asked if we'd like to sell it for him.. so far, no takers, but everyone picks it up and tries their hardest to stay steady long enough for a picture. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 He has a TV show for that? ok I need to get busy.... I see he got $500 for that ring ? gzz I need to double all my prices then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Frosty you have way more patience than I do, I watched about 1o minutes of it last night and switched over to an old Terminator movie. Now that is fabrication!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Dave Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I saw the episode with the Chakram and was really disappointed. It's fabrication not swordsmanship. I understand that the customer wanted the lightning bolt for show and tell at his school, but any hobbyist welder could have done the same. I think this is where the lines get blurred between fabrication and blacksmithing for the general public. To me he is not a craftsman. I'm sure others would disagree. With modern equipment, and minimal skills he is able to fool many people. I would like to hear from Mr Basher from the UK on his take of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 no comments about the very fake Irish acent ? hmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 This show is a total fraud. Several months ago, on another message board someone posted that they were making a show to be aired on Discovery where they were making swords. He was looking for "customers" to do a video chat and order a sword. It would be just for show, the "customer" was just for show there was no monetary transations. I watched, for 35min which I will never get back. I knew something was wrong during the intro when he was holding one of his "swords" that had a re-bar handle. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and stuck around to see what he was using to make his "blades". I turned it off at AR plate. :huh: **facepalm** :blink: With all the good smith's out there, many on this very site, to put that hack on is a travesty. If I tune in to a show on making swords, I want to see it done right. <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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