Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has information for me on where I can buy some materials for sword and scabbard making? I live in Arizona. Home depot is just not doing it for me... I am looking for things like:

1060 high carbon steel
5160 spring steel
Leather for covering scabbards
bigger pieces of rawhide for shield making
mild steel in sizes close to what I'll need to shape a pommel or hilt
and a place that will properly heat treat my any of my amateur ventures if they are even a little worth of it.

I hope I didn't leave anything out, but feel free to add any suggestions if you think of something that has slipped my mind.
If there is anything I missed please let me know!

If you're looking for metals to order I generally use www.onlinemetals.com and mscdirect.com - I have had good experiences with both companies and their shipping seems pretty reasonable and quick.

Thank you for the info. I have a friend that just asked about yew wood too. Or any info you guys can provide on bow making.

Addison,

I've taken a look on those sites that you gave me. I'm afraid that I'm too much of a novice to make heads from tails. I saw neither 1060 nor 5160 grade steel on the sites.

Can you give me some guidance on what I might want to look for?

Graingers, at graingers.com sells sheets of spring stock in various gauges. Be warned it is neither cheap nor easy to work, if you haven't worked with spring before. Bow materials may be found at raptorstore.com, 3riversarchery.com, and naturalarcher.com. That should get you started!

Thank you Jeff!

Hey, as a fellow Arizonian (is that the correct word? :wtf: ) I have been following this thread hoping someone would know of a local place to get steel. But that seems not to be :( But if your willing to shop on line. A couple of places I have heard about:
The New Jersey Steel Baron http://njsteelbaron.com/index.php?option=com_...;Itemid=54 I personally haven't bought anything from him but he does have a good reputation over on some of the knife making forums.
Kelly Cupples sells steel through Ellis Custom Knife works http://elliscustomknifeworks.hightemptools.com/steel.html I bought my forge from Ellis and it was great. Love that little forge.

As for leather and Raw hide. Tandy leather is the only place that I know of. I want to say the first or last Weekend of the month is wholesale price day. The few times I have stopped in there has been when they are having that sale and its nice.

As for Yew wood. Don't know of any local suppliers but have found a couple of places that sell Hickory, Ash and Ipe but your friend may already know of those. (Well I know places in Tucson, if your elsewhere in the state then I'm not as sure)

And if you find a place to heat treat, let me know. My latest attemps at heating have been sub par.