Mad Dwarf Workshop - Hand Forged Swords

Links

Here are some links to our favorite sites, some sites of great friends and fellow bladesmiths, and some of our favorite music to forge by in alphabetical order:

Bladesmiths:

Ben Potter -Traditional Bladesmith
Ben Potter is an amazing craftsman working in everything from bladesmithing, blacksmithing, traditional woodworking and leatherworking. He pours passion and meaning into every piece he crafts and is not afraid to show his strong foundation of faith that inspires and drives the meaning behind his work. Not to mention he is one of the kindest guys you will ever talk to! please check out his site and view his fine work.

Dave Stephens - High quality original blades
Dave is a tallented smith who we are good friends with via Don Foggs great bladesmithing forum. He is a great guy to witness seeing him post more and more new work that continuously and rapidly increase in his craftsmanship and quality. He does bladesmithing a a personal hobby but one look at his blades and you can imagine just how valuable his work would be if sold!
Check out his awesome work on his blog.

Don Fogg, High quality custom blades at their best
Don has become almost a father figure in the bladesmithing community. He has shared his wealth of knowledge with countless aspiring bladesmith's and continues to push the boundaries of beauty, creativity, and quality in his work. His site is also one of the best places on the web to learn about the craft of bladesmithing. please visit his site and check it out!

Jake Powning - Celtic, Norse, & Mythopoetic Master swordsmith
A couple years after we set out to learn bladesmithing we stumbled across Jake's incredible work, and to say that Jake has been an encouragement to us in learning and improving would be an understatement. Jake has quite literally set the bar in modern swordsmithing and in recent years has revolutionized the concept of the sword as a symbol and story telling form of art. Credit and thanks has to be given to Jake along with many others in this craft for helping revive a sense of ancient wonder and beauty in the mythos of the sword and the swordsmith. And on top of it all he’s a really great guy and inspirational individual. Check out his beautiful work!

Jared Stier - Hand crafted knives swords and other ancient art
Jared is a craftsman who's skills grow like wild fire with every new piece he makes. Attention to detail and genuine craftsmanship is never overlooked in his work. But most importantly the postive motives behind his work is what makes it praiseworthy and unique. Like us at MDW, he believes that a blade forged in this modern age should be more than a simple tool of war. It should instead stand for the exact opposite and promote the possitive traits of human kind. Inspiring honor & bravery, defnense of the week, and taking a stand dor the truth. So check out Jared's work and support him in his awesome craftsmenthsip endevours.

J. Arthur Loose - Handmade Damascus Blades, Rings, and Jewlery
J. Arthur Loose is one of the most insanely tallented and diversely skilled smiths I've ever met in my life. His work is not only beautiful and immaculate in every detail, but each piece he makes tells a story and is full of life and meaning. He's also an incredible guy with a lot of wisdom, insight, and a lot of fun! Check out his beutiful work.

Matt Zeeb - Japanese influenced custom knives
Matt is a tallented bladesmith we met through our friend and shared bladesmithing teacher Rick Barrett. Matt's work is organic and flowing, reflective of ancient Japanese blades, while still weaving in his own unique original style in a modern context. The end result is some extremely elegant & deadly looking work!

Nicholas Santella Metalwork and Crafts
Nicholas is an amazingly varied and skilled craftsman working in a huge variety of art mediums. His work ranges from beautiful high quality functional swords to intricate astoundingly detailed steel helmets. His work is absolutely awesome and deserves a good browse on his site so be sure to check it out!

Petr Florianek - Gullinbursti - Celto/Norse Saxes and Swords
Petr is an incredibly talented bladesmith and artist from the Czech Republic. He crafts gorgeous work inspired by the earthy, rustic, and beautifully wild myths from many European cultures. Mixing in his own distinct and original flare to historically based designs, Petr's work is a wealth of inspiration for anyone wanting to dive into the ocean of rich cultural art. I believe Petr's work is beautifully tapping into the absolute universal metanarrative that many artists and smiths are striving towards through Creation, and testifies to human experiences that can only be told through raw materials like steel, iron, antler, & wood. Please check out Petr's beautiful work!

Rick Barrett - Japanese and contemporary swordsmith
When we first startet bladesmithing Ric Barret and his incrediblly beautiful work was a huge inspiration and motivation to us. Little did we know that Rick lived relatively close to us, and would be one of the most humble, funniest, and intelegent guys that we would eventually ever meet and learn from! Him and his tallented apprentice Josiah Boomershine produce some of the most exquisite Japanese blades being prosuced today, and their contemporary/fantasy swords are amongst some of the most epic and fearsom looking weapons you have ever seen! Please check out one of our biggest inspirations and visit Ricks website.

Ric Furrer - professional Bladesmith and traditional Blacksmith
Not only is Ric one of the most kind hearted and generous men you will ever meet, but he is one of the most skilled Bladesmith's/Blacksmiths living in the U.S. He makes his own woots steel, crafts custom made iron work, and is not afraid to share his wealth of knowledge. Please support him by giving his site a visit!

Vince Evans, Swordsmithing at its finest level
In the work of Vince Evans... You will find details, inside of details, inside of other details! His work is simply mind blowing. please give his site a visit.

Bladesmithing learning and tool resource websites:

Bladesmith's Forum
More than any other place, Don Fogg's Bladesmith's forum has been a site to learn, share ideas, and become inspired about anything bladesmithing related. Everyone joined at the forum is more than happy to help, even if you are new to bladesmithing and would like to learn the craft. There is always something new to learn and something to inspire your own work! If you would like to get into the art of Bladesmithing, this is the site for you!

Chile Forges - Propane forges ideal for bladesmiths and swordsmiths
We've used the same Chile forge in our workshop for the past 5 years it’s still holding up strong and durable to this day. Chile forges are crafted to professional quality standards for the most challenging and abusive of forging projects. Capable of reaching forge welding heat quickly, easily controllable Propane PSI features, and a tough compact versatile build that is perfect for the type of swordsmithing work we do.

Other Favorite Sites:

International Arts Movement

One Life

Samaritan's Purse

Mythgard Institute

Know What You Believe

Dr Corey Olsen - the Tolkien Professor

Lovesick Clothing Company

J.Brendan O'Shaughnessy

Art by David Delagardelle

Fine Artist-David Slonim

Music:

We have a pretty broad taste in music. Everything from traditional Irish & Celtic tunes, acoustic guitar, experimental rock/punk, to loud hardcore/metalcore music. So check them out and see what we listen to when in our shop.

Traditional Tribal, Folk, Celtic/Irish, Percussion Acoustic, & Bluegrass music:

Darol Anger's Republic of String