Of the various sword smiths and armourers who operate in Europe, I am curious which ones produce arms and armour using tools and forging methods most similar to those found in medieval Europe. If, for instance, people wanted to travel to see a smith who operates using very similar tools and technology found in the Middle Ages, who would you recommend?

Maybe if there's a bladesmith or armourer at Guedelon.

I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. Does anyone know if there is such an individual there?

Hmm, there was a blacksmith, but more to make tools, if I remember well. That said that was a time ago, and since the castle begins to be closer to its end, maybe there is one today... but honestly, I don't think so.

So from what I gather, you are as much interested, or perhaps more interested, in the smithing process vs the final product.

There are many things that smiths can do to get closer to historical forging or a historical-ish product. Using wrought iron (albeit a technically post-medieval) and welding in steel or case hardening, not using power tools, using charcoal, etc. are all valuable, but one must ask how far one needs to go.

Most (the vast majority, I think) of the weapon or armour smiths in the Middle Ages were not operating alone. They were either one step in the process (e.g. blade -> hilt -> polish) or worked as part of a much larger shop. This also extends to materials. Even 19th century wrought iron is not the same as the bloom iron or steel that medieval smiths would typically work with. And even if they get bloom material for the weapon, what about the tools? Is it ok for their hammer, their files, their anvil to be made from modern materials (or by a modern factory)? What if their anvil is of a 20th century pattern? It's also comparatively hard to find a smith that uses historical fuel. Charcoal is less space-efficient than coal or coke, less controllable than gas, and more expensive than either.

My point is not to rain on your parade, but rather to help define your limits of verisimilitude, because you're going to have to make some concessions to the limitations of the smiths you might want to see making any kind of blacksmithing into a career.

So! To be a bit more supportive, there are two smiths I know of that probably get quite close to what you want. Thijs Van de Manakker does a lot of historical smithing and smelting, though he specializes in pre-medieval stuff. http://www.thijsvandemanakker.com/

Jens Olesen is also pretty good, and demonstrates at Museum Thy in Thisted http://museumthy.dk/forside.aspx

If you're really interested in product over process, I think Fabrice Cognot's work is really exceptional, and also Burgundy is beautiful. http://www.historicalbladesmith.com/

I expect you know a lot of this already Craig but I wanted to make this post more useful to potentially less-informed readers as well, so I hope it doesn't feel like I was talking down to you. :)

If there's none at Guedelon, then it might be worth checking other medieval parks like the Danish Middelaldercentret or that medieval village where Roland Warzecha holds annual training sessions (Geschichtspark Barnau or something?).

IIRC Johann Schmidberger and his son(s?) work out of a smithy that dates back to the Middle Ages, and uses antique forge and tools. This is in Austria somewhere. I think he still has a website, but it is in German.

Alexander,

Fair enough, and no offence taken. I am asking on behalf of someone who is interested in organizing trips to see people who still practice traditional activities and trades, or people who re-create historical activities and trades. This person does like the "romance" of historical craftsmanship, so the closer and "purer" one can get, the better. Obviously, the fact that medieval sword production typically involved at least two craftsman from entirely different areas means there are limitations to realism, not to mention difficulties with bloom iron and charcoal, and the like. So I guess I am trying to find out those people whose work most closely approximates the type of tools and technologies used.