Write & Commission
Tell me what you are after : a precise reference, a period, or simply an idea. Anything will do to start. We will refine it together.
What I make
I take on several kinds of work.
- Historical reproductions of objects from archaeological excavations or museum collections.
- Original pieces, whether or not based on historical models.
- Rare or obsolete tools, and historical personal ornaments. Do use the “Other enquiry” option in the contact form.
Materials and techniques currently available:
- Homogeneous carbon steel blades.
- Historical blast-furnace steels for grip and scabbard fittings.
- Damascening (brass, copper, silver).
- Mokume gane and related techniques.
- Leather and wood scabbards.
This page is updated as I take on new models and materials. I hope, for instance, to start working with bloomery steel before long.
What you can ask me for
- The reconstruction of a documented blade – ideally with a reference (museum, publication, inventory number), or by letting me propose a piece for a given period and type.
- A question about my approach, a collaboration, or information about an existing piece.
- An original piece (blade, historical tool, archaeologist's trowel…).
- One of the pieces currently for sale.
Commissioning a blade
The more precise your message, the better I can answer. Ideally, tell me: the period and culture you're interested in, a reference to an existing object if you have one, the intended use (collection, martial practice, other), and your approximate budget. I'll get back to you within two weeks, and I'll gladly help you refine the request.
A sense of the prices
Prices vary with the materials used, the size of the object and its intrinsic complexity – sometimes even with the difficulty of obtaining the necessary documentation. So I quote case by case.
At first contact we define and describe your request together, as precisely as possible, and agree a date by which I'll come back with a quote. I then propose one design and its documentation for a historical reproduction, or three designs for an original creation, at a fixed price set in the quote.
As a rough guide: around €400 for a simple carbon steel dagger, €500 with its scabbard. For a short messer-type sword with scabbard, roughly double. That excludes the design and initial documentation set out in the quote – allow €100 for complex pieces. I don't yet make longer blades.
Work begins once the quote is signed and a 30 % deposit received. The balance is due on delivery.
Note that depending on the complexity of the piece or the difficulty of sourcing materials, some time may still pass before work truly begins. Such is craft! I'll keep you informed of any delay, with my best estimate of the delivery date.
What I don't do
- Reproductions of objects designed by other makers – whether from photographs, a finished object, or concepts produced for a client, even where the client paid for those concepts. In rare cases a maker may explicitly agree to someone else producing a piece of theirs, for lack of time for instance. I then require proof of that explicit agreement, and reserve the right to verify it myself.
- Purely decorative blades. I want my pieces to be functional.
- Implausible blades – a 2 m, 12 kg sword, say.
- Jewellery. I can include precious metals in some pieces, but any body ornament I make is in a “blacksmith” register: simple forms, forge materials (plain and pattern-welded steels, mokume gane, Cu-Mai, and so on), no stone setting.
- Quantity. Every piece is unique and variable. I don't make nails, arrowheads or other small items, except during forging demonstrations.
That is the detail. Thank you for taking the time to read it all.
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