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I have burned myself and cut myself many times
It's one of those things that just kind of goes along with forging.
You take that piece of slag that gets in between the web of your thumb and the hammer and
you just take that in stride. It's going to burn. It's going to hurt, but you just keep working.
I do forged blades so I take a chunk of raw steel and stick it in a forge, heat it up, beat it into shape.
And heat treat it, grind it, and finish it.
I'm basically just an artist with a real heavy bent towards doing metal.
My preference, historically speaking, is for the everyday working blade.
The sword that would spend its time on the battlefield and not tucked away in a castle someplace.
Making something that's historically accurate gives you a better understanding of how it was used.
It gives you a better understanding of what was involved with producing this piece of equipment, or this fabric, or whatever.
It's one of those things that gives us a better sense of who we are, where we came from, and what our ancestors went through.
Customers range from hunters all the way through recreationist. I've actually had pieces done for displays in museums.
A lot of the swords that I make are actually used for choreographed pieces.
People at renassaince fairs, theater companies, what not, will order things.
I've been a fencer for thirty... Thirty-five years.
Well we just started an intro to foil class and this class is mostly kids.
Which is... Kind of interesting. Sometimes it's like herding cats.
Fencing is a very technical sport and there's a lot to learn before you can actually do it.
It takes a lot of patience and a lot of effort.
The historical stuff started a very long time ago when I was a little kid. I can pretty much trace that back
I was in third grade. I snuck into the sixth-grade section of the library and found Ivanhoe.
I've basically done something artistic or historical ever since.
This is what's been paying the bills for the last twenty-five years.
Making historical reproductions is a fairly limited market. If you want to get rich, don't become a blade smith.
Or for that matter, don't become an artist.