Contrary

I've been interested in weapons since i was a young boy, weapons like swords, bows, knives, and such much like the swords and bows you can buy that are from the Lord of the Rings movies. I'm currently about to graduate from highschool, ive taken 2 years of welding classes at college during highschool also, and i love working with metal. I was wondering if thats a good career possibility, if recreations of weapons in movies and mythological weapons like that are in demand, and if i might be able to make a lasting profitable career out of it. If so, does anyone know what type of training / college / whatever i might want to look into to be able to do this? Thanks!

striderkevin

I don't think there is that great of demand for the sort of thing you want to do. It could be a possiblilty of you wanted to do that on the side, but it may not be a good idea to rely solely on fantasy weapon making as a career.

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TheKak

Well you CAN make a career out of weaponsmithing, but from what I hear it takes a lot of time and dedication to get to the point where you can make any good money off of it. There is at least one professional weaponsmith that browses this forum and I am sure he will give you some imput. If you want more advice from industry professionals, go over to www.swordforum.com and they can help you find the information you need to get started.

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im2smrt4u

Join the ABS and learn to forge!

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Fire

sorry for the jumbled form that the following advice takes

YOU CAN DO IT- it does take a lot of work and effort and most of all, time- if you want to be a custom bladesmith, then do join the ABS- I'm not a member, but then, knives/ swords are only part of what I do, and while they have to my knowledge the best instruction out there, I have never been the joiner type-I just have to learn the hard way, but if you want formal training on the knives/swords end, they are the best there is- as to the buisiness aspect, the market is already pretty full, so expect to spend a lot of time developing customers- for you the best move might well be to be a welder for as long as it takes to build up your buisiness, as this pays well, and weaponsmithing for the most part does not- you will also have to understand a whole lot about how weapons work, the physics and practical mechanics, as well as some about how to fight with the weapons you are building, as this is absoloutly nescessary to build a superior weapon that actualy works- this part cannot be stressed enough as it will manifest itself in the little, vital details of the things you make (for example, ever wonder why medieval axes never had round handles, always square or flat ovals? its because if you hit something "real" the round handle lets the weapon turn in the hand and the hit tends to glance off /not sink in) to get the little stuff like that you must study real weapons, and learn how they were used- in time you will know what "feels " right- to be the best you must live, breathe, eat and sleep weapons- this can freak out friends (it does mine, sometimes) - read musashi, this helps understand a warriors perspective - rmemeber that real weapons are practical, and BELIEVABLE fantasy weapons must also be as such- that is why LOTR's swords work so well, because they aproached it from the perspective of building functionl weapons and armor for fantastic situations-

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