I do collect. Some wallhangers,but, I officially have more functional than flashy. I shopped MRL a few times and did some deals outside and at Renaissance Faires. I LOVE Irish swords. I have 3 functional and two wallhangers in Irish style alone. One is factory-stock from MRL and all the others are home-altered or altered at the forge of a friend from Faire.
I like to carve my own handles. It always looks better than factory and it's always good practice. I love to commision blacksmiths to create a better crossguard than the one it comes with.
I worked at Bristol Renaissance Faire for 12 years and loved every minute of it. Ahhh, to wear a sword in public is so liberating! (Don't ask about when I worked at the Nudist Camp in MI. These forums aren't ready for THOSE stories yet!)
I'm happily almost married with an 8 year-old step-daughter who is physically handicapped and wheelchair-bound. I work very sporadically in a bunch of fields, but, mostly doing carpenter work and quotes for my brother's home-remodeling business. The SWMBO is being quite the breadwinner, so I can't complain at all.
I wanna learn to work metal myself one day. Or design. I do a lot of drawing and I love to design the hilts and furniture for my blades, but, until I can do it myself, I'm always keeping my ear open for a good forgemaster to send work to.
How bout some pix?
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/Cuhail/IrishKey-Guard.jpg)
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/Cuhail/Irish2-Hander.jpg)
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/Cuhail/IrishS-Guard.jpg)
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/Cuhail/Comparisonphotos.jpg)
Now these are only my Irish hilt blades and the bottom was a before and after with a Stainless blade I picked up on eBay. I built the grip and cut the ring on a lathe at a friends home. $38.95 beginning to end. A great wallhanger!
The one above that is the untouched MRL Flared Irish. Above that is the two-hander from Atlanta Cutlery converted to an Irish hilt. The top was my first functional blade that was the inexpensive basket hilt from Atlanta Cutlery converted to an Irish Key-guard.
I have a bunch more and even more soon. I hope to gain a lot with participation in the forums here.
We'll see,
Murphy[/img]