The Complete Bladesmith: Forging Your Way to Perfection

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.

I bought this for my son, it's hs go to book for bladesmithing.

Excellent delivery speed and quality.

Adequate for burgeoning blacksmiths. Imparts a good sense of shop efficiency and setup. If you're just starting out and can't find enough sources online, this book will help you make a foundation of skills to build on. Lacking in advanced instruction, but that's why there's another volume.

I liked that it goes over different steels and some common items made from them.( leaf springs are usually 5160, good files are usually w1 or w2) As well as stuff like building your own forge, and shop layout. All in all, well worth the money.

For someone with basic blacksmithing skills, this is a good starting point for bladesmithing.

I've read many instructional books over the years, and a lot of them are hard to get through even if I'm really interested in the subject. Jim Hrisoulas not only covers everything you need to know to start bladesmithing, but the way he writes just flows really well! I haven't touched anything that has to do with smithing yet, so this was a really good introduction for me.My only issue was with the images/diagrams. More often than not I had a really hard time figuring out what I was looking at. This book was written in 1988 (I think) so it makes sense that the drawings are pretty elementary, but I would love to see a reprint with those being a lot more clear.Overall great!

If you are reading this, then you already know that this is THE text on the subject. For a beginner, like myself, it's almost intimidating to know what is ahead. However, without this info I would have been lost and watching youtube vid after youtube vid about the craft. Which isn't a bad thing, but, you will be much better off with this info than attempting to track it down on your own. There are a LOT of wonderful craftsmen out there who are glad to share this info. But, this will put it in to practical context in a way that will have you way ahead of the game from your first hammer blow.If you are in the least bit interested in this craft, you really owe it to yourself to purchase this. I love it and I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor. Don't think about this one, just do it.

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

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.

très intéressant mais avec un niveau d'anglais très moyen c'est très dur de bien tout saisirdommage mais pas déçu quand même