Marcaida's younger brother RJ and Kali students filled in for weapons testing while he recovered from the injury. Also during season four, Marcaida injured his right rotator cuff while testing a weapon.

Since then, Neilson and Abbott have shared judging duties into season eight.

Neilson briefly returned for the first episode of season four (a special with Knight, Baker, and Marcaida) before returning for good in episode eight until Abbott took over for the final three episodes. ABS Master Bladesmith Jason Knight filled in for him from episode three of that season through episode seven of season four. Neilson missed most of season three due to hand surgery. The main judges include Historic Weapons Re-creation Specialist David Baker, Edged Weapon Specialist Doug Marcaida, American Bladesmith Society (ABS) Master Bladesmith James Neilson, and two-time Forged in Fire champion Ben Abbott. Grady Powell replaced Willis for season eight onward. As the host for seasons one through seven, Wil Willis introduced the parameters for each episode. Each weapon is tested and evaluated by a panel of three (sometimes four) judges. The program places four competitors in three elimination rounds to forge bladed weapons. Forged in Fire is an American reality television competition series that has aired on the History channel since its season one premiere episode on Jand is produced by Outpost Entertainment.

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