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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Sun 01 Dec, 2019 5:40 am Post subject: A&A Thanksgiving-BFCM-busy :-) |
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HI All
Hope everyone has had a great holiday and got some down time this weekend. As we are selling things we are of course a bit busy through this time. Check out the website or FB page for our specials. Main thing is free shipping on in-stock items through Monday. We also have a couple of daily specials on a single sword.
Todays Sword
We also had a blog post on some of the Colonial American projects we have done over the years. There have been some great pieces in the early history of our country.
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Mon 09 Dec, 2019 6:02 am Post subject: Merry Axemass to All! |
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Merry Axemass to All!
We hope folks are enjoying the holiday season fully and life is good. We have a special on through the season till our axes run out that will hopefully help you with your seasonal chopping. Check out our deal on the Merry Axemass page on the web.
We also have a couple new blog posts to check out. One on our Nordland Axe a great christmas present for anyone on your list.
Also a look at our Gustav Vasa Rapier and some special versions we have crafted over the years.
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Mon 16 Dec, 2019 4:43 am Post subject: Knightly Pole Axe |
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Today's blog post is a look at our Knightly Pole Axe. We have made this piece for a long time and it is still a fun piece to make and even more enjoyable to have in hand.
We also have a musical holiday treat we put together if you like christmas music .
Happy Holidays
Craig
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Tue 24 Dec, 2019 7:48 am Post subject: Merry Christmas! |
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Merry Axemas everyone. We hope your holidays are full of great things.
If you need to relax and unwind check out our newest blog post about the required viewing for working at A&A. There are many a day we use lines from movies to communicate in the shop and if you have not seen the films you will miss out. We of course would not make fun of a coworker who had not seen them. That would be cruel.
Hope you get some enjoyment from this and see something that inspires you to check it out.
Best to all!
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Fri 03 Jan, 2020 5:53 am Post subject: Custom Orders and High Gothic Mace |
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Out latest blog posts discuss custom orders and what that may entail to start a commission and a look at Maces and our HIgh Gothic Mace replica in particular. Hope you find them interesting and informative.
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J.D. Crawford
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Posted: Fri 03 Jan, 2020 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: Custom Orders and High Gothic Mace |
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Craig Johnson wrote: | Out latest blog posts discuss custom orders and what that may entail to start a commission and a look at Maces and our HIgh Gothic Mace replica in particular. Hope you find them interesting and informative. |
I was pleased to see one of my commissions in this blog. What I've found with custom commissions (many from A&A) is that ideas based on specific historical examples are more likely to be successful than combined or made-up ideas, especially when there's a lot of detail available (measurements, pictures from various angles). Presumably that's because the original smiths new what they were doing, so there's less effort for the modern Smith to make it work in real life. One problem is that sometimes the published measurements turn out to be inaccurate, and that throws things off. The other problem with the replication approach is that one tends to get hung up on minor differences from the original, so probably 'inspired by' is a better way to look at it.
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Mon 13 Jan, 2020 5:07 am Post subject: Re: Custom Orders and High Gothic Mace |
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J.D. Crawford wrote: | Craig Johnson wrote: | Out latest blog posts discuss custom orders and what that may entail to start a commission and a look at Maces and our HIgh Gothic Mace replica in particular. Hope you find them interesting and informative. |
I was pleased to see one of my commissions in this blog. What I've found with custom commissions (many from A&A) is that ideas based on specific historical examples are more likely to be successful than combined or made-up ideas, especially when there's a lot of detail available (measurements, pictures from various angles). Presumably that's because the original smiths new what they were doing, so there's less effort for the modern Smith to make it work in real life. One problem is that sometimes the published measurements turn out to be inaccurate, and that throws things off. The other problem with the replication approach is that one tends to get hung up on minor differences from the original, so probably 'inspired by' is a better way to look at it. |
Could not have said it better myself J.D. the best is always to work from interaction with the original. But this is not always possible for a variety of reasons. So extrapolation form images has been an art that most modern smiths must develop. It is definitely not a science. When you move into the realm of replicating from art work it gets even worse. Period art in most cases the artist knew the subject very well. Today sometimes the weapons are flights of fantasy and can often defy the rules of material science and physics. Those can be a challenge :-)
Craig
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Michael P. Smith
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Posted: Mon 13 Jan, 2020 9:45 am Post subject: |
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Just wanna say I am really enjoying these blogs. Thanks!
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Fri 17 Jan, 2020 4:57 am Post subject: Heat Treatment in Medieval Period Pt2 |
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Michael P. Smith wrote: | Just wanna say I am really enjoying these blogs. Thanks! |
Thank you Michael that's good to hear. It's been a bit more work than we anticipated but we enjoy hearing from folks that enjoy the posts.
Today's post id part 2 of the Medieval Heat Treatment discussion Hope you enjoy it.
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Jean Thibodeau
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Posted: Mon 20 Jan, 2020 3:46 pm Post subject: Re: Heat Treatment in Medieval Period Pt2 |
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Craig Johnson wrote: | Michael P. Smith wrote: | Just wanna say I am really enjoying these blogs. Thanks! |
Thank you Michael that's good to hear. It's been a bit more work than we anticipated but we enjoy hearing from folks that enjoy the posts.
Today's post id part 2 of the Medieval Heat Treatment discussion Hope you enjoy it.
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Yes I second that the Blog is a good and informative idea.
Every custom order I've made with A&A has been a good experience, and it can be a completely custom from scratch custom order, or simply a modification to one of A&A's production weapons. In some cases I just requested that an axe, a Poleax, or the English Bill be heat treated on the cutting edges since many period polearms where not heat treated.
If I remember correctly, there is, or was, a Video of my customized English Bill's head being heat treated.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Michael Beeching
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Posted: Wed 05 Feb, 2020 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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Craig,
I just saw your new article on Type XVs, and I just felt inspired to comment on it, as they're my favorite swords.
https://www.arms-n-armor.com/blogs/news/the-pointy-joy-of-type-xv-and-xva-swords
...I again want to thank you for making my Type XVa, which I commissioned upon graduating from college. It has been a wonderful companion in learning about swordsmanship in Liechtenauer's tradition.
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Fri 28 Feb, 2020 5:25 am Post subject: 2 New Blog Posts to Check Out |
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A look at the weight of some antique rapiers from The Oakeshott Collection as part of a discussion of how heavy or light a rapier should be is one of our recent blog posts.
Today's blog looks at a new option for our Meyer Training Rapier. A longer blade with a Schilt.
and last but not least we have renamed our Unique Items Section (used to be the muster page) on the webpage it is now The Artisan Collection and is the spot to get one of items from our craftsmen. These are sometimes replicas, proof of concept or pieces that inspire us to just make a cool thing so check it out if you like something special just for you. We have a couple new swords available now.
Something fit for a Lanister as someone noted
Hex pommeled Sword of War
Be well friends
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Fri 20 Mar, 2020 11:10 am Post subject: A&A Blog Tucks, Estocs and Medieval Hunting |
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We have had a couple blog posts I suspect folks might find interesting. We also have a special on through April 15th with free domestic shipping and discounted International shipping. Check the detail here
We have two posts on Tuck reproductions we have done with videos
Tuck 1
Tuck 2
The Medieval Hunt
Everyone stay well and safe
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Michael Beeching
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Posted: Thu 16 Apr, 2020 9:14 am Post subject: |
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Craig,
Just curious, how are things over in Minnesota? The company I work for is considered essential, so we're still at work. However, not everyone is so fortunate. Are you and your colleagues still able to keep production going over there?
-Michael
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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Posted: Mon 20 Apr, 2020 5:24 am Post subject: New Sword Prototype |
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Today's blog post is a preview of our new sword we will have in production shortly. The current conditions have delayed the sword a bit in production but you can see the prototype in action on some videos and get a sense of what our new Type XVIIIc will be like.
Original our Prototype XVIIIc is based on
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Michael Beeching
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Posted: Mon 20 Apr, 2020 8:54 am Post subject: |
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That's a glorious brute, Sir!
...Am I wrong for thinking this needs a hexagonal pommel and guard rather than a round one?
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