Many of these specialty books haven't been reprinted lately are pretty expensive. The mokume book sells for $60-80 most of the time. Some wise-guy always has one listed for $500*. Midgett also has a more expansive book "Mokume Gane" that is even more scarce ... and more expensive.
There are several other mokume books available, but none are real cheap ( Ferguson has a good one).
Mokume takes many hours to make and can be sort of expensive for the materials. Failures are complete failures. Spending $60-90 for a book written by a major expert n the field, giving the material compatability charts and temperatures for making it can pay for itself in one good billet. There is a good reason mokume sells for $10-20 an inch. I recommend anyone who plans on making mokume getting one of those books.
Bo Bergman's book ,"Knifemaking", is the bible on making puukko knives . It is another case where there is really only one main reference book .... and the price reflects the value. It has been out of print for many years. A new copy fetches $400-500, use ones go for $60-150. Anytime you find one for less than $80 you should by it. You can sellit for $100 the next day. Occasionally I see someone asking $300-400 for a well used copy*. Bergman's book is another no serious knifemaker should be without.
The classic reference book on Bowie knives is, "The Antique Bowie Knife Book", by Adams and Voyles. IF ... and that is a big if ... you can find a copy it runs $400-900. I saw a pristine unused copy listed for $2000*. Unless you are a big time Bowie collector, you don't need this book.
Similarly, if you want to learn how to polish Japanese swords/knives and do a hamon, there is no better book that The art of Japanese Sword Polishing by Takaiwa. Luckily, they keep reprinting this book, and the price stays around $35. I recommend anyone having this book. It teaches a lot about hand polishing, and is irreplaceable if you plan on Japanese blades.
* When you see an item on Ebay/Amazon/etc. with a "Buy it Now" price that is crazy, it is usually a seller who lists it at an insane price to make it look very valuable. He also lists the same item at the realistic price to make it look like a real great price. This make people buy the regular price book quickly before someone else sees the great deal and beats them to it.
There used to be a knifemaker who did the same. He would put a bunch of knives up on the auction site priced at $400-500 each. After a week or so, he would start listing the same knives under a different seller name at $125 each. They sold because there was always a fool who thought $125 was a great deal, since they were really worth $500.
Invicta ( which isn't a real company - it is just a Chinese factory owned by Swatch Watch Co, the rest is just hype and sales smoke) does the same by putting up online sites listing the watches at $1000-2000. Then they sell them to Costco for $40-50 each and Costco sells them to you for $80-120. It actually costs the Chinese factory less than $10 to make one.
