Bladesmith required

[Dano]

are there any skilled Bladesmithes out there who could fabricate a blade to my specs for me and also supply a sheath blank, i do not have the tools or time to grind, file or mill a single bevel or polish to a fine finish, i really want a great finish poss even some etching done, i would also require the nessesary heat treatment. i have some 01 tool steel in 4mm flat ground stock, i also have some material for the handle, i have the design marked out and ready to go, i just need a Pro to do the cutting, please PM me with an indication of cost if you are able to help

thanks

 

[spamel]

Take a look over on British Blades aswell, there are people here who can do it, but there are also a lot over there. It's a fantastic site and very friendly.

 

[British Red]

are there any skilled Bladesmithes out there who could fabricate a blade to my specs for me and also supply a sheath blank, i do not have the tools or time to grind, file or mill a single bevel or polish to a fine finish, i really want a great finish poss even some etching done, i would also require the nessesary heat treatment. i have some 01 tool steel in 4mm flat ground stock, i also have some material for the handle, i have the design marked out and ready to go, i just need a Pro to do the cutting, please PM me with an indication of cost if you are able to help

thanks

Dano,

My recommendations are Stuart Mitchell in the UK, Bogdan in Serbia, or Goran Enocksson in Sweden. Having seen Stuarts blades (never owned one...yet), chatted to Bogdan about my own wants and being the lucky possessor of a Magnus Axelsson handled Enocksson blade, I would support any of them. Now Goran speaks no English so that may be tricky. Bogdan favours straight and convex grinds, so if, as I suspect, you want a Scandy grind. I'd say try Stuart. I'm sure there are many other great bladesmiths out there. These are just the ones whose work I would personally endorse

Red

 

[Dano]

by Scandy grind do you mean flat ground?

 

[British Red]

Dano,

Scandy ground refers to a single,flat ground bevel on each side of the blade. (Full) flat ground rises to the spine of the blade.

Red

 

[Dano]

sorry do you mean scandy is a bevel on one side of the blade only?

 

[British Red]

Dano,

No mate a bevel on one side is chisel ground. What I wrote wasn't clear though was it? Lets try a picture

Does that explain it better? I have exaggerated the amount of convexing and so on to make it obvious what it means but I hope you get the idea

Red

 

[Dano]

Thanks for that, all clear now,

It the Scandy cut I'm after, as I only have a bench grinder I would not be able to achieve this, the grinder does have a sanding belt but I would have to build a pretty complex guide to get the finish I am after, I don’t fancy filing either!

I have checked out the Bladesmiths suggested above, there are some very skilled people about! But I think for the price to get it done it would be more cost effective to invest in the tools myself (and more enjoyment / pride in the finished blade) therefore Ive been looking at Milling machines, Axminster Tools do a mini one for about £250 I could cut all the blades I want to a very high standard, I would just need to get or make a kiln for the hardening process

 

[British Red]

Dano,

The problem is of course that you are wanting something made to your own design. Think again of a car or house - a "one off" dsign is always going to command a premium price. Theres lots of really, really nice standard blades out there in the £20 - £50 price range that could be made into a knife that would cost 4 - 5 times as much as the finished article. You might want to consider making one up as a practice piece if nothing else (sell it on, cover your material costs and then move into custom blade making). Either way, good luck and show us what you end up with!

All the best - Red

 

[Buckshot]

There are people both here and on BB who HT blades reguarly.
As long as you don't want a sword done or anything 'out of the ordinary' in terms of size they'd probably be able to help to do a single blade - or even a couple...

Mark

 

[Dano]

Thanks for the advice Red and Buckshot, I have not got a specific quote yet but I appreciate time is money, I know how much my time costs and I do not begrudge anyone pricing bespoke items like this as high as they do

I asked about getting the work done as I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I know that with my available tools I could not get the desired results but I have been reading the various threads here about knife making and thought in hindsight that I should probably attempt it myself from beginning to end

I still have to source a supply of leather for the sheath, I have been looking at some of the member’s designs and I am most impressed

 

[Dave Barker]

I have had several blades made for me to my design by stuart.

highly reccommend him. he is not the dearest by a long shot but is fast and a perfctionist you draw it he maks it to the mm