Here at the Balefire forge, we believe that a good sword should last a lifetime. Certainly, it may need a few repairs over the years, but with adequate care and a bit of fine-tuning, your trusty companion should see you through to the bitter end.
While we’re bespoke makers, we want to do our bit to make sure every sword can be repaired and reused again and again, taking the cost of replacement swords off your shoulders and making historical fencing more sustainable. That’s why we offer our deluxe care kits to help you take care of your swords at home, and replacement blades to keep your favourite furniture in service.
We also offer an affordable repair service – the modern-day equivalent of strolling through the marketplace to your local blacksmith’s shop with a broken tang or a dented cup. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a local blacksmith these days, but we’ll happily take your broken sword, blade or furniture via post and get it back to you in better shape.
In our six years as a business, we’ve had very few of our own creations returned to us for repairs. We see this as a good sign, but we also want to open up our repair services to swords from other makers. Having made both blades for existing hilts and hilts for existing blades, Chris has a comprehensive knowledge of tangs and fittings across the full range of makers. He can quickly get your sword repaired and reliably running, wherever you got it from.
∴ Price Guide ∴
| Tang Repair | Broken tang rewelded/replaced and thermal cycled to improve resilience. | £100 +p&p |
| Quillon Repair | Bent quillons straightened or broken quillons rewelded. Heat treated if necessary. Priced based on the complexity of the job. | £50-150 +p&p |
| Cup Repair | Dismountable cup redished to remove dents. | £50 +p&p |
To get your faithful sword back in service, get in touch with your requirements, and we’ll respond within 3 working days with a timescale and quote. Once your invoice is paid, we will let you know the address to send your sword, blade, or furniture to. We aim for a fortnight’s turnaround time from the day your parcel arrives at the forge, and will keep you updated throughout the process.
∴ A Routine Repair ∴
You draw a deep breath, suffused with the scent of freshly baked bread. Somewhere a flute strikes up a merry tune as the market traders lay out their wares.
The habitual string of geese parades across the cobbles in front of you, driven by a child with a stick. She stops and gapes at your torn clothes and bloodied nose, then remembers her manners and dances away behind her hissing wards.
As you round the corner, the scent of bread is replaced with hot, thick charcoal smoke, and the flute is underscored by the rhythmic chime of a hammer. You duck under the horseshoe-shaped sign hanging over the smithy door and announce your presence with a cough.
The smith looks up from his work, his face smeared with sweat and soot. He takes in your sorry state, and that of the sword you hold out to him, and sighs.
“What have you got yourself into this time?”
“Ah,” you beam, “it’s not so much what I got into as how I got out of it.”
Shaking his head the smith reaches over and takes the dented sword from your hand, checking it over methodically, tutting at the bent quillons and the battered cup. Then, gesturing distractedly toward the seat by the glowing forge, he lays the injured sword over the anvil, and the hammer’s chime resumes.