The Complete Bladesmith: Forging Your Way to Perfection

I purchased this book several years back with the idea of producing Damascus steel swords. I built all the equipment using this book, and after a decade I am making swords of Damascus steel with solid silver fittings, (with gold), it takes me seven months per order mainly due to indicate fittings, but I now have a two year waiting list, and my work goes to Arab royal buyers. My wealth and ability are due to this book. The best u can buy, and I have over 100, books and articles.

A Very Interesting and Informative book . Great for anyone with a decent forge that wants to have a go making their own blades.

Read this cover to cover. I make knives. This is a good book and if you make knives or swords you will get a lot from it. However, the author assumes you have knowledge and sometime the drawing were hard to understands. I found the formulas and quenching oil mixes and detail like that most useful. It is worth buying but you will have to fill in some gaps yourself.

WHat a brillant book, this book cover all aspect of knife making. It is clearly written and very useful. Beginners to experts will all find this book useful

I can definately recommend this book to anyone with any interest in the making of high quality knives or swords. It is a good read, and I am constantly rereading sections of mine as I progress with new projects. I have set up a home forge and have just finished my first damascus blade(not quite as good as Jim's!), and it is all due to the inspiration of this book and "The master bladesmith" which is a fine companion volume. If you buy the book go on and try the forging it's damn hard work, but it's well woth it.

Jim Hrisoulas has (at moment of writing) over 30 years of experience in forging swords and knives and this is clearly visible when he guides you, step-by-step, through a craft that is centuries old. Every step of the process of creating swords and knives are made crystal clear through well written text and informative illustrations. I am very pleased with this book, it's a must-buy for those interested in swords!

All good, quite a complete reference and good for a novice. It is written from the American point of view and all units are US which if you can forgive it that no worries.

The clue is in the title. It covers just about everything you need to know. A good buy and worth the money.

I purchased this book for my husband, he is in training to become a blade maker and he loves this book it’s very knowledgeable and easy to understand so he recommends this book.

Exelente libro muy detallado, he interesante de principio a fin

An excellent book on the art of creating blades. It's not the best thing for a true beginner (although most would say that a true beginner shouldn't even try their hand at blades until after building up their skills on every other kind of craft), but it includes plenty of information that you'd need to scour the ends of the internet to find otherwise, including things that require a materials science degree to fully comprehend. It's probably about as good as a book can be for what it is; it doesn't have all the information you could ever need, and it won't turn you into a master bladesmith (only practice can do that), but it's a great source for anyone who's starting out on the craft of bladesmithing and doesn't have a master to apprentice under, and is probably a good thing to have for anyone who does.

Podia ser um pouco mais moderno e ter fotos coloridas....mas mesmonassim muito bom. Sempre uso como referencia quando faço meus projetos

Great book but not adequately packed, as two corners are all dinged up upon arrival. Overall pleased with my purchase. It is fun to read and try our different techniques. It takes you by the hand in becoming a bladesmith.