Most subscribers to myArmoury.com are familiar with Boris through his Yushman posts: stunning work on the arms and armor of a 15th century Turkish infantryman. But he also does custom work as well.
I contacted Boris summer 2015 and asked if he would be interested in doing a custom seax for me. I wanted a companion piece for a langsax I purchased from him some years before. I did not want the new piece to mirror the langsax, (neither did Boris!) but have a similar aesthetic. My parameters were a 6-7 inch blade able to do heavy chores as necessary. Everything else I left up to the maker. He put me in his work queue with an expectation of March 2016 delivery. The knife arrived late February.
The knife was sent in a custom fitted wood box; the knife and sheath padded and secured separately. It took some minutes to unscrew the lid and restraining bars. Then another few minutes of unwrapping the knife and sheath.
What I received was stunning. The blade measured 6-1/2 inches long, 1-1/4 inch wide and 3/16 inch thick. The blade was forged using 65G, a spring steel. The handle was made with layers of steel, bone, brass and hardwood. The fore guard and two piece pommel are also steel. Boris had even done a knot pattern carving on the wooden handle! The sheath was just as beautiful: the leather was a deep reddish brown, the brass work well fitted and covered in simple designs of triangles and circles. I should say deceptively simple, since the patterning is precise. There were no sharp edges to the brass nor exposed leather above the brass. The knife fit snugly in the sheath. No worries of the seax accidently slipping out.
The seax is a hefty piece, exactly what I wanted. The blade is peened through the two piece pommel. The peened tang was sculpted to match the pommel. The fittings are precise with no gaps at all. Even at the blade join to the guard there is no gap. The blade was shaving sharp “out of the box” with a nice mirror polish. There are “imperfections” left from the forging which some customers might not appreciate. Boris intentionally leaves a small imperfection or two as a sign of a hand made item. It is part of his artisan's philosophy. They in no way compromise the structure of the piece. I understand and appreciate his philosophy: it's part of what makes a Boris Bedrosov custom piece.
I've had the knife for several months now, but have not had occasion to put it through its paces. It has gone to several re-enactment events and an educational talk, but the only thing it has really needed to cut was hard cheese and dry sausage. I am hoping this fall to put the knife to its intended purpose: all around camp and hunting knife.
I don't like to talk about cost, but I will say I got more than my money's worth. If you are looking for a skilled blade smith, easy to work with and meticulous in his craft I highly recommend Boris. You will be thrilled with his work.
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