The Blacksmith

I am a professional blacksmith and metal worker of nearly fifty years, specialising in arms and armour. I have been collecting edged weapons since I was six, and have built several collections over the years. During the late 70's and 80's I got into my true love, the arms and armour of Japan, and built up a reasonable library and collection of swords and some armour. This I unfortunately sold and moved on.

At present my main collecting area is socket bayonets, of which I have a fairly large collection, but swords are again beckoning me, and my love of all things Japanese has been rekindled. I do not know that I will collect them again on the scale that I once did, but certainly I hope to acquire at least a couple of nice, representative examples again.

Though I had several Buke Zukuri weapons, my main interest and focus are Shin-Gunto katana, especially those with ancestral blades and Gendaito.