Phil Hartsfield blades

[guruk...@hotmail.com]

I have 2 swords, a Shinobi and a Katana that were given to me. I am
looking for anyone who has ideas what would be the best way to sell
them. I am told by the original buyer that the Shinobi cost him
$3-4,000 and the Katana was between $4-5,000 when he had them made by
Phil back 20 years ago. How would I price them?

[Chas]

<guruk...@hotmail.com> wrote

Hartsfield's stuff doesn't go down- they don't wear out, they don't eat and
they don't go peepee on your couch, so they hold their value very well.
If they were made 20 years ago, and you've got some way of determining that,
they might even go a pretty good premium. The steel stock he used was very
rare, very expensive and very hard to work.
He used a hand-cranked grinder because it was the only way to work the steel
without burning it and belt abrasives just tore up on it. Even stones like
Nels Cooper used (big industrial ones) had a tendency to burn.
His stuff is very expensive, and now that his son (?) has joined him, his
production may go up a bit.
He worked with a lot of martial arts people (Toshishiro Obata is his most
well-known) to provide real cutters. His stuff is used for tameshigiri
competition/performance, so the reputation is well-founded.

--
Chas
http://www.jacksandsaps.com/