As the title says This is a thread where collectors and users can tell makers what they would like to see (better yet tell us what you would buy ;) )

More specifically what pieces would you buy and at what price.

Also, what matters most to you in an inexpensive blade.

Thanks for the help.

-Ben

I would like to see a type XVIIId like this made (see attached concept drawing by Peter Johnsson).

I'd pay $1000 to $1200 for a sword like this, possibly more.

---

 Attachment: 15.74 KB

At the moment my range is $200 to $300 but I don't buy Windlasses and this kind of stuff anymore so my next buy will be bare Del Tin blades and local smith will make a hilt for me quite cheap. I would like Del Tin to make an XVIIIa or XVa blade in the two handed length so that I could hilt it in a second half of 14th or early 15th century style, probably something like Albion Brescian Spadona or A&A Black Prince.
Seeing a nice baskethilt or schiavona by Windlass that would have the good reputation as their type XIV or German Bastard Sword would tempt me to buy from Windlass again. Their current baskethilt is overweight.

I voted for the $500 to $1000 dollar range assuming we are talking about an Albion or A & A quality blade but cheaper prices are appealing for smaller pieces or purely utilitarian one's

Hard to expect less than $200 for any quality piece with a decent finish.

A crude but good quality blade rough from the forge with a minimum of hand work or cleaning up maybe limited to the edge bevel I can see below $100 with simple slab handles or even just a cord or leather wrap. ( if this cheap it has to be quickly made and the priorities are the heat treat and edge holding, aesthetics don't have to be ugly but only there because of a nice functional blade shape/design ).

I just want to point out to everybody that this post is in the "Makers" forum and made by Ben Potter, a maker.

While he's not specifically pointing it out, I think it would be polite and appropriate to limit your responses to items that are not specifically mentioning other makers.

Because this is in the "Makers" forum, it's safe to assume this is market research and gives each of you an opportunity to help a talented maker, Ben Potter, with his efforts. To boot, you might see him make something that is extremely compatible with your needs.

Nathan, only mentioned Albion and A & A to give a relationship between quality level/price to give context to how much I'm generally willing to pay for medium/high semi-custom quality. ( Not being defensive, only thinking out loud ).

And I can see where my mentioning makers by name, and others mentioning specific swords made by various makers, can be counter productive to being helpful to this maker who is trying to find out what people want and how much they expect to be capable of affording.

Oh, there is the danger of people having a wish list of having a high quality custom made sword at cheap wallhanger prices and this is not realistic ! So, even though one might not be presently capable of paying for an expensive sword people should think or suggest what they feel is a fair price of each level of work quality versus realistic prices.

So what are on your ( everybody out there ) wish list(s), quality/price expectation. :?:

After looking at your website, I don't believe you are thinking of switching to making lonsgwords. :)

What matters most to me in an inexpensive blade? - that it doesn't chip or break.

One type of weapon that might interest you - D-Guard bowie. There are a lot of them around, mostly inferior. Confederate d-guards often have a "home-made" look, but you could make one with your own particular spin on it. Or you could make the blade a little longer and go into short hanger territory - 17th - 19th century

Edited to add: I voted the $500 - $1000 range, as I don't think it would be worth your while to make a good one-off piece for less than $500

---

 Attachment: 12.22 KB

Confederate D-Guard bowie

 Attachment: 40.69 KB

Early 19thC hanger

I think that it would be nice to see some pieces that bridge the gap between combat and utilitarian purposes. So the key there is elegant simplicity and durability. It would be great to have a low cost grosse messer or kriegmesser that you wouldn't feel bad about using for hunting or camp chores. Another example would be a complete hunting trouse set that is made of good quality materials and won't break the bank.

Another idea would be some pieces geared towards the do-it-yourself-ers of the arms and armor community. Like many others, I really enjoy buying low cost swords and customizing them. It would be great to be able to have a wider selection of bare blades and hilt components available from reputable and talented smiths. This would be a lot of fun for the project junkies, as well as giving them access to high quality replicas at a low cost. In addition, the hands on crafting and sharing of finished pieces in online communities like this would inspire active learning and further stimulate peoples' interests on the subject.

I opted for the $250-$500 range. What I'd really like to see is a above average seax with no bells and whistles. Something that falls between a short sword and large fighting knife. Might not be very historical but it'd be fun around the camp and a water bottle scourge.

another carved staff or a cudgel.

I'm going to agree with Josh and vote for a messer, grossemesser, (or maybe falchion). It seems like these designs are somewhat unrepresented at the production level and I think that a minimalist or utilitarian design might be both historically probable and help keep a design in that 250-500 range.

As far as in stock items go, we've seen a lot of nice knives and daggers lately. Those are always good for impulse buyers like me! I'd love to see someone with your ability make a viking/ anglo-saxon style hand axe with a reasonable price on it. Far too few of those floating around. I'm a sucker for seaxes too, which you seem to have covered nicely ;) Again, an impulse buyer like me would love to see some seaxes that I could buy on a whim. The carved sticks are really cool too.

I would like to see some bare blades for sale. There is a lot of talented people out there who lack the facilities/skill to forge blades but are more than capable of creating a knife hilt.

more late period Roman, Migration and early viking period stuff

1000+ Range

I must say with my weapons what I believe is important, in descending order
Most important
-Period Style*
-Durability
-Functionality**
-Affordability
-Aesthetics***
Least Important

*By Period Style, I do not mean a copy but rather something that follows the generic features of a blade of that style
**I'm not talking about the durability but rather about how it feels in the hand, So things like fitting in the hand, balance, no uncomfortable protrusions and so forth.
***For me as my weapons are all used in Metal Combat (all blades blunted) in terms of aesthetics I don't want the fancy finishes, engraving and so on (that would just get damaged), I would prefer one with simple good clean lines and finishes.

In terms of blades I am looking into obtaining, probably an early period falchion is the one I'm most looking into. Though a sword of the Oakeshott type XIa is coming a close second. With a late 12th, early 13th shorter sword coming in third.

I voted for the 0-100$ range, but, being a student, my finacial resources are limited. When I will have a job (a real job) I will consider to buy more expensive items.

What I will eventualy buy (after completing a project for an axe) is a sturdy sword for reenactement and sparring with a real type X-Xa blade, round pommell and a simple crossguard (fit for my persona, a simple city's guard of the first half of the 13th century). At all the last markets I visited there were only type XIIIb or XVI blades for all the hilts (even vikings) at this range. The only type X was a beautiful damask blade for the paltry sum of 1000€...

I vote $1,000.00+ simply because swords like below, well done, are going to be more like $1750-$2200+

1) XVIIIc

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/download.php?id=19845


2) The long, wide XXII

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/download.php?id=19844


These two swords are AMAZING! I'd love to commision swords of these magnitude!