Eric Finch works at his home forge in his mother’s garage outside Harmony. Finch won the “Forged in Fire” competition aired on the History Channel Wednesday night. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Eric Finch, 20, a senior safety major at Slippery Rock University, won the “Forged in Fire” competition aired Wednesday night on the History Channel.

Finch, the son of Jeff and Rebecca Finch, won $10,000 and the title of "Forged in Fire Champion" after defeating fellow blademaster Greg McClure of Utah in creating a machete, in keeping with the episode’s Western theme.

Finch said competition in the Stamford, Conn., studios began with four contestants asked to make a Bowie knife.

After forging and finishing the Damascus steel, Finch said, “I put on a grip and an S-guard. Then we tested the blade’s sharpness with the leather bag chop and the whiskey barrel chop.”

After two contestants were eliminated, Finch and McClure were given the assignment to craft a 24- to 26-inch blade with a certain curvature to the blade with a stacked leather grip and eagle claw or horse head pommel. They then went back to their home forges and had four days to craft their weapons before traveling back to Connecticut for the final competition.

“It’s four days to do it, with maybe 35 working hours,” said Finch. “I worked five hours the first day and then three 10-hour days. I think I must have been pressing in the first day or two. I only needed 20 or so hours to finish the machete.”

Because his father and brother are falconers, who use hawks to hunt, Finch said his father brought a hawk to Finch’s forge.

“The hawk sat on a work bench as I studied it to do the pommel,” he said.

A camera crew followed up for four days as he crafted the machete. Then it was back to the “Forged in Fire” studio for another day of filming the final competition.

“For testing, we had to chop into a hanging pig carcass, chop into a wooden post and a bull skull,” Finch said. “For sharpness, we had to chop into a mannequin wearing leather clothes.”

The three judges had a hard decision, said Finch. “Both weapons performed perfectly. After chopping, the blades stayed tight.”

What it boiled down to, Finch said, was a minor detail. McClure’s handle was slightly longer than the requested length.

Finch said 50 to 60 family and friends gathered at his father and stepmother’s house in Cranberry Township Wednesday night to watch him compete in “Forged in Fire.”

As for the $10,000, Finch said, “With $10,000 I could buy as many tools as I want, but some of it will go toward school.”

Rebecca Finch said Eric has transformed the garage of her home in Harmony into his forge.

“This is what mothers do for their children,” she said.

She said she was thrilled to see him win Wednesday night and the money will help him grow his business.

The latest “Forged in Fire” champion starts classes at Slippery Rock University on Tuesday. And he was getting ready for his usual Thursday night stint selling his blades at Zelienople’s open air market.

Finch said he would be open to appearing on a champions-only competition of the show, if he was asked.