WSL book

[hunschuld]

There are literally thousands. One of the absolute best anywhere is not too far from you. His name is Jay Fisher and you can see his stuff HERE. Another is Jim Hrisoulas. He's a bit further from you, not that it matters today. You can see his work HERE. Jim's personality can seem a bit...abrasive (see what I did there?) at times. But both are brilliant smiths.
Both of these men are full time bladesmiths with decades of experience. But you might want to prepare yourself for sticker shock. Twelve hand made swords made by world class smiths are not going to be cheap.

Thanks, while I will keep one pair for myself the others will be gifts. I expect a high price for high quality.Since I can't take it with me I might as well enjoy it and hopefully others can enjoy it too!

 

[Dirty Dog]

Thanks, while I will keep one pair for myself the others will be gifts. I expect a high price for high quality.Since I can't take it with me I might as well enjoy it and hopefully others can enjoy it too!

I'd love to see the finished product.

 

[Flying Crane]

I think that is a common concern. I see the same thing with some car folk. How many people buy a Corvette or a Porsche or whatever and leave it parked in a garage all the time, and never touch it except to wipe it down with a cloth diaper.

Me? I'm building the 3rd engine for my Corvette. Bent a valve in the original LS1 racing. Had about 100K on it. Swapped in a heads/cam/blower LS3. Put another 65K on that engine, including at least 400 passes at the drag strip, a couple hundred laps around the local road course, and a couple 4000 mile road trips.

I think the point of having something functional is to use it. Others disagree. Maybe I'd feel differently if it was a $2,000,000 Koenigseggggggggggggg. But I doubt it. If I could afford it to own it, I'd use it.

I've never spent that much on a knife, in large part because I think at some point, the added cost isn't providing any added functionality. My EDC is usually a Benchmade Auto stryker (~$300), a Benchmade Infidel (~$450) or a Microtech Ultratech (~$400). There's also a pattern welded Ultratech that I have been tempted by, but do not own. It's ~$1000. I'm not convinced the pattern welded blade adds $550 worth of functionality.

I don't have the capability of manufacturing the mechanism for an automatic knife. I've made a couple spring-assisted opening knives, but they do not function anywhere nearly as smoothly as the Benchmade spring assisted knives I own. Even something like the locking mechanism for a liner lock is difficult.

So that seems to be my price limit for knives.

Which is one reason I make my own. I make kitchen knives, folders, skinners, that sort of thing, and give them to my family and friends. They're not up to the standard of the best makers, by any means. But they're better than the inexpensive sets most people buy.

Yeah, at the end of the day do they get the job done? I think some makers go down the rabbit hole of looking for the absolutely perfect exotic steel and minutiae in the design, and they create beautiful works of art that demand a high price, but like you said, does it actually function any better to justify that price? The exercise becomes somewhat academic and I do appreciate the refinement of the technique and materials. But at some point it just doesn’t make sense anymore, in my opinion.

 

[Flying Crane]

I'd love to see the finished product.

@hunschuld Me too!