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!!

Ok I am still having some internet connection problems that I have been told will be corrected here in the next 48 hours or so.. Now I have heard this all many times before from Cox and those square nuts simply do not want to provide the services that I am paying them for so if these are not corrected in that time I will be taking this up to the next level.. More as this progresses...

Now on new pieces.. First off I wish to thank everyone who took part in my surgery sale.. THANK YOU ALL... it really helped with my down time while I recovered.. Things are still a bit tight $$$ wise but now that I am able to get back to working that will take care of itself.. Which brings us to this... I have 24 more pieces to go in my series of 125 Japanese style blades. I have been thinking about this long and hard and well, I am going to wrap these up and get them done and over with... in fact I will be posting the next bunch in the next two days...These are some really nice ones coming up...Gen II  and Gen II cutters as well as a couple of Gen III blades.. So take a look and see if anything strikes your fancy. I will be posting an update when they are up...

In closing I wish to thank everyone for the support and well wishes during my recovery... It is greatly appreciated..

THANK YOU all once again...

~~~JPH~~~