Complete Bladesmith : Forging Your Way To Perfection

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: While you can't learn any craft this complicated solely from a book, this one comes pretty close. It's an impressive primer on the field covering everything from laying out your shop to tools/equipment, steels/alloys, grip materials, leatherwork, construction, heat-treating, grinding, sharpening, and tempering. It even covers Japanese heat-treating and polishing techniques and how to forge several patterns of Damascus steel. There are great charts/illustrations too. The author not only knows his craft but he is able to communicate this knowledge clearly and effectively to his readers. His writing is pleasant and easy to follow.

For perspective, I should point out that I know just enough about this field to be dangerous. I apprenticed to master bladesmith Bob Powell for about a year quite some time ago, not to take up sword making as a profession but rather to have access to the tools and education to forge my own blade. Jim Hrisoulas, on the other hand, is a true expert! With more than 17 years working at the forge, he specializes in medieval style blades and Damascus pattern welding techniques. His knowledge and experience really shine through in this great book.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Martial Arts Instruction: Applying Educational Theory and Communication Techniques in the Dojo

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite So Simple
Review: You too can be a neurosurgeon! All you need are a table, and some tools...as a complete novice blacksmith, I found that you need some basic skills, and probably lots of them, before you are able to make a decent sword. This book is not going to make the sword for you, of course, but it also lacks such basic information as supply sources and costs. When the author tells you that a new anvil can be expensive, does he mean $100, or $1200? (hint: it's the latter!) Various steps in the process are left out, and though they are no doubt clear to the author, you will probably want to see if a swordmaker will let you watch before you get into an extremely difficult and time-consuming project. All that said, this is probably an important reference book that you should own---perhaps after you buy "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" by Weygers or "The New Anvil's Edge" by Andrews, both of which are quite a bit less expensive and much more user friendly, from my extreme beginner point of view. I'm having a good time learning what to hit and when, and you'll probably get a lot out of blacksmithing should you choose to try it, too.