|
I'll try to answer in sequence- as to my profession, I own and run a company here in missouri- We sell just about every type of knife, sword, and edged tool/ weapon you can think of- my basic idea has been to provide the best gear for the money that I can, so we deal in fine functional weapons for those that need em, and costuming and deco pieces that are frankly useless in real life- i just make it a point of pride that every customer knows what their purchase is and is not capable of, hence the interest in ludicrous ammounts of testing- I see far too many other dealers selling junk as "functional " and "battle ready" and this realy irks me- one dissapointed customer gives us all a bad name, and most will react better if you just tell it to em straight anyway. I got my start at a small ren faire, and that has shaped what I do now, so as far as events I do mainly ren faires, sci-fi cons, etc.- so when we (I currently have a part time three man crew that does custom stuff, including myself) got into the custom market it was at first just aimed at swords for re-enactors, and a lot of blunted stage stuff for the inappropriately named, "live steel market"- We have since branched into some stuff for a few Kali practitioners, and some stuff that is definately in the "wierd " category- I have a client that wants the "buster sword" from final fantasy- and never mind that he would never be able to lift it.- as to the pay- for most it is one of those jobs that you realy have to love- and you have to love knives to know them well enough to do it well and ever have hope of it becomming a decent living- but I guess I do, and it has been fairly good to me, if somewhat nerve wracking at first- as to learning to do knives and swords, there are tons of books out there, some better than others- I recomend anything by wayne goddard, a mastersmith with the ABS- and the complete metalsmith by tim mcreight- the book that started me off was by a guy named David Boye, titled step by step knifemaking- that one is so far the best beginners guide I have ever seen.... beyond that expect a lot of trial and error, burns, cuts and abrasions- I made my first knife at 14- and am now pushing 27- and at this point consider myself "ok" at making blades.
as for personal favorites, it tends to change based on what I have around to play with- old standbys that I always come back to are my CAS Iberia templars thrusting sword, my MRL Falchion,
any of the assorted battle axes that I have built, and the short sword I built to keep beside my bed, next to the pistol (not the best neighborhood)
on the bat'leth, I have access to a stainless steel version, 48" overall, that I used to stock, and took to some shows- quit doing so, because the damned thing was without any kind of sheath, and incredibly sharp- and most of the "klingon " groups I have dealt with will not allow metal weapons other than the aluminum ones- just wasnt worth the hassle of carting em around- would be neat to find one out of carbon steel though
As to discounts Shakran, hell yeah- Don't have a site to "plug" as of yet, (nor would I trespass in the house of the Hal) but when I do (soon, hopefuly)i will have to talk to Halx about advertising here- for now pm me and I will send you my e-mail so we can start confabing on that.
__________________
Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens
|