Your interest in Salamander Armoury is greatly appreciated and we thank you for visiting. First a little background information on us, who we are, and what we do.

Salamander Armoury is owned and operated by Jim Hrisoulas, a full time bladesmith with over 45 years experience in hand forging finely crafted blades. All of the work pictured here on this site (and custom work as well) is 100% hand-crafted by Jim. From steel and material selection, to forging, heat treating, finishing and leather work, it is all done by hand with no mechanical set-ups or jigs. We feel this hand forging coupled with proper thermal treatment makes for a superior blade, one that will out perform any blade that is just ground out of a bar of steel.

Our Pattern-Welded and laminated steel blades (often mistakenly referred to as "Damascus") are all welded and built here, one at a time, forged from only the finest materials. Unlike a lot of other makers we do not use recycled leaf springs or any other material that we are not 100% certain as to what it is. No "Mystery Metal" is ever used. All welding is done by hand using a hand hammer. Pattern-Welding is the welding of dissimilar metals into a single blade. By stacking, bending, and folding this "Laminate" an unlimited number of patterns can be created. This process creates a blade, if done properly, which is much stronger and flexible than other blades. The techniques and methods used at Salamander Armoury have been used in dozens of cultures around the world for well over 15 centuries to create the finest One-Of-A-Kind blades fit for Royalty and Nobility.

Our Owner, Dr. Jim Hrisoulas has been referred to as one of the "Last of the Old School Bladesmiths" on numerous occasions in various publications world wide. It is a "title" that Jim takes seriously as he feels that although there is "always something new on the horizon" it is equally important to understand and preserve the "old ways" of doing things and we here are dedicated to both the old as well as the new. In doing so we are helping preserve this ancient craft

It is Jim's dedication to the art of hand forging blades that lead to the writing of his books. These works are now considered the "Standard Reference Material" for hand forging blades, something that not many other makers can say. He is currently working on book IV which hopefully will be done later this year.


We are now offering, in response to the multitudes of requests, a limited number of "Japanese Inspired" blades, so please look for these on our in stock pages. We have gathered some of the best materials and fittings from around the world for these blades from specialized sources. Real Samegawa and silk Ito for the tsuka, bronze or iron tsuba in various themes and motifs. Blades are welded and finished by hand. We are sure you will be pleased.

Thank you for visiting.


JP Hrisoulas

Hello:

It has been a while since my last update and things here have been hectic. As the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire is coming up to its closing weekend I still have a few pieces down there. So please stop by Rocky's, Bill's Mike's and I booth and take a look.

Note: I have finally restored the photo albums and I am now starting to populate the pages with photos of my past work, so keep an eye on them if you would like to see some of the pieces we have done in the past.

A word on the Japanese series. It is pretty much over and done with. I still have 8 or so blades that need finished..I will eventually do so..but I may just hybrid-ize them as I did with these two tanto blades:

These are available currently at RPFS in Irwindale, CA.

So take a look at the In Stock pages in about 2 weeks to see new items that I have  as RPFS will be over then.

NOTE:

It seems that the Little Chinese Man's "Blessing that I have an interesting life" has hit once again and my truck needs transmission work. I lowered  the price on the remaining Japanese series sword that I currently have in stock. Please check it out. This is an excellent chance at getting a very NICE sword at a steal of a price.

Anyway, that's all that's new around here.

Thank you all for your time

~~~JPH~~~

Hello:

I know that these were supposed to be posted  yesterday but due to computer problems I was unable to do so until this morning. There are three Jim has lost its sale items that are up currently, and these are items number 77, The Generation I Kogarasu Maru Katana, item number 103, The Generation II O-Katana, and  item number 111, the San Mai Tanto. These items will remain on sale until 1200Hrs Pacific Standard Time on Monday, March 4, 2013, at which time they will be removed and some other times will be placed on sale.

Also I'll be putting up the railroad spike knives as well as the throwing axes and a couple of new, interesting pieces in the next two days one of which is a knife made from a timing chain off of my 1977 Ford F350 1 ton pickup which I've made as an experiment.

So take a look at what's on sale in drop by from time to time to see what's new. Thank you for your time and interest in our work.

~~~JPH~~~

Hello:

Just an update...Things here are finally returning to normal and well, I am just sick and tired of the Japanese stuff laying around here so I am going to list a couple of pieces at a time for 3 days in a modified Jim Has Lost It sale with deep discounts on pieces...

This will start on Feb 27 at 12 noon PST.... So take a look at the in stock pages...

Also the return of the throwing axes and RR spike knives will be posted in the next couple of days as well. A lot of you have been writing in about them and now that I have updated my site security I am more comfortable in posting items.

Pieces will be posted as they are finished.

Take care and thank you!!

JPH