Swords by Baz

30 May 2026

That’s right, I’m making swords.

A little while back I made the decision to abandon my goal of qualifying as a journeyman smith and subsequently, master smith with the American bladesmith Society. As a full-time bladesmith and instructor of some years, I make more knives in a year, (hundreds) than any seasoned knifemaker would make in ten years. I am happy with where I’m at and I realised that the only reason I was pursuing the ranking was because I felt like I was expected to. I was not coerced in any way, don’t get me wrong- but it just felt like I should. With much meditation, I knew that my heart just wasn’t in it. I want to do other things.

The answer – Swordsmithing.

So far I have made a few and let me tell you – even as an experienced bladesmith, it’s not as easy as one might think. It’s asking a lot of a piece of steel. Even so, once the blade is forged, ground, heat treated and polished, then the hard stuff starts. Fabricating and fitting cross-guards and handles is a whole other level. Then pommels, scabbards and a host of bits and pieces that adorn a sword.

The plan.

I aim to try a number of techniques and styles, each sword building on the lessons learned from the ones before. after a couple of rough ones and a failure or two, I have numbered them B-001 to B-100 for now, so far at B-005.

As they are complete, the will be available on my webstore at shop.buildsbybaz.com