[Nadeem Ahmad]

Hi all

Has anyone had any experience with http://www.ancientarms.biz/? Their products look really nice and so do their prices, but I'm not sure what the quality or service would be like.

Thanks!

[Ed S.]

I see what you mean. Some of the prices on their "Damascus" blades seem too good to be true. There is not a lot of information on any product really, and that always scares me a bit (i.e., no blade stats, just a three or four word description), but I have never dealt with them personally. Perhaps someone on these boards has some real experience with them.

[Bruno Giordan]

Just look at this "Holbein". It isn't an Holbein dagger at all, plus the hilt is detached from the blade, you see the tang. The damascus swirling are too precise in every blade.

They are likely etched in some chinese copy factory. Chinese artisans working on copies of european paintings, as for an example, work in series and are very good to create impressions of decent european paintings to be sold for a pittance.

This blades look very good and can be considered excellent copies of damascus blades.

[Christopher Gregg]

From what I have head, their blades are indeed quality Indian-produced Damascus (pattern-welded). While some of the designs leave a bit to be desired as far as historical accuracy (espcially the European inspired ones), the quality is well worth the price, which is pretty affordable. Many items are in stock and ready to ship. I plan on ordering a small blade just to verify this very soon, and I'll post my impressions.

[Nadeem Ahmad]

Ah great, thanks for the advice. Look forward to hearing how it goes with them Christopher.

[Nicholas A. Gaese]

Good evening everyone!

while I can't really contribute in anyway about product quality on the blade blanks, after looking through the site more extensively It becomes very apparent that they specialize in there own ethnic weapons. while the cheaper stuff looks a little flawed (they're "twisted" or arrow pattern welded blades have noticeable notches where they weld the carbon steel rectangular pieces together just off of the central ridge), the finished and mounted pieces on the other hand look great, comparable to many originals I have seen. Thanks for posting the site, it may prove invaluable for those who like Indo-Persian weapons and armor, assuming the pieces turn out ok. I have been looking for a site that sells decent to good quality pieces and other than this there's Windlass\Cold Steel or Vince Evans.

Please do post the results should you choose to order something, my curiosity has been poked with a very big stick

[Bruno Giordan]

I gave a look at the website and I was disappointed, in that prices are terribly low for the apparent quality of the offer (designs of their traditional weapons are too well executed to be copies). They would just be incredible for similarly refinished Western products. Their artisans seem to be literally working for peanuts.