[Michael Clark]

Hey folks. I was curious to know if anyone could speak for any known armorers within the Canadian boundaries.

I've seen many great makers... in Poland, and the Czeck Republic. But I'm lookin' for somethin' a bit closer to home, perhaps?

Edit: My apologies for posting in the wrong forum, and thank you, to whomever moved it.

[Craig Peters]

Rob Valentine used to be in Calgary, but he's now moving to the States. I'm not sure who else is here.

[Kenton Spaulding]

Have a look here... http://www.flarcheveque.com/ This is Francois L'Archeveque, a young armorer from Quebec who does some impressive work.

Kenton

[Hugh Knight]

This is one of the premier Canadian armorers; I haven't seen anyone else from there I'd order anything from (which doesn't mean I've seen them all, so no one should take offense):
http://www.medievalrepro.com/index.html

His work is excellent (I've never ordered anything from him but I know those who have) and the prices listed on his web page are *very* reasonable. He has a full white harness for $16,000.00 Canadian!! And he's one of the *very* few in North America that seems to have a pretty decent understanding of shape, although I see a few mistakes (e.g., in the white harness I mentioned, the lower cannons of his vambraces should extend within the bell of his gauntlets--leaving a gap such as is shown in the pictures represents a serious mistake).

[Jason G. Smith]

There'a also Armurerie du Duché (Eric Dubé): http://www.armuredube.com/Site%20Anglais/index%20A-2.html who makes very good stuff.

I can also point you to SL armoury: http://www.sl-armoury.com/

And last but not least, atelier du heaume, from St-Hyacinthe. http://atelierduheaume.com/ He does good work, and not expensive at that. And you can ask him to do pretty much anything - including engraving and etching.

My favourite for munitions armour is Mercenary's Tailor, http://www.merctailor.com/catalog/index.php. Allan Senefelder's service is nothing short of exceptional, and he's willing to make your armour so you like it. I'm still trying to convince him to make my corrazina, though... That's for you Allan, if you're reading! BTW, Mercenary's tailor is not Canadian, but it may as well be. You'll get your stuff in two weeks, faster if Customs takes their thumbs out of their collective butts...

[Jean-Carle Hudon]

Michael,
I've been at this since '89 and the best canadian armorer bar none is Michael Dabek. He was trained in Poland, and did museum work in Austria and Germany before coming to Canada in the late 80s. When Eric Dubé started up he used to go see Michael for pointers and how-to's, SL started up some time later. Both Eric and Lavigueur are self taught, which distinguishes them from Michael who went through the old school aprenticeship training.
The problem with Michael is that he can't be bothered anymore for the run of the mill mass production that is availbale out there from many good journeymen, such as Dubé and SL and L'Archevêque and so on.. he simply makes more money working wih designers who need special pieces for restaurants, clubs and posh private homes... but if you have a need for something up there, and can get him going interest wise, he's still the best....
He's in Rawdon , Quebec, which is the foothills of the Laurentians some 50 mile north east of Montreal, and his phone number is 450-834-8493 . Good luck.
JCH

[Nathan Robinson]

[Michael Clark]

Thanks, all. Certainly are a lot of options! ... and most in Quebec, wow. Any conjectures to be made as to the reasoning behind that? I reckon it's a good thing I'm gonna end up there within a month and a half.

[Jean-Carle Hudon]

Michael,
first Dabek's rates : I'll admit that I never found his rates exagerated, and that most probably did help him move on to greener pastures as he felt he was working for little pay in the medieval field as potential clients would always, as is normal in a competitive world, compare his prices to stuff available elsewhere. I figure that a potential client submits his plans, drawings or pictures, and measurements, and whatever other information is needed, and the artisan makes an estimate. After that it's negociation, and a contract if there is agreement, otherwise the potential client goes his own way..
Second, how outlandish is outandish ? In the past he had a winged polish hussar with full feathers flying, a maximilian with all the fluting one's heart can desire, and finally, in the fantasy field. a client who needed egyptian hiroglyphs etched into full plate gothic armor, with stone scarabs on the forearms... I have seen a roman cuirass with dueling harpies on the front... if you do go to Rawdon, ask to see his pictures of past works. I used to bring them to Pennsic to make the scadians drool. Every now and then the drooling would turn into a contract for Michael.
Third, why Quebec ? In 89 there wasn't much, just a local sca chapter in Montreal, fighting amongst themselves with the added nastiness of linguistic lines being drawn. Splinter groups began. In 93 a major festival for all was held in Quebec City, organized by a bunch of do-gooders, attorneys and local big wigs, who were looking for a way to create a commercially viable cultural activity in the summertime, which would attract tourist and tourist dollars, a summer equivalent of the celebrated Quebec Winter Carnival. It didn't, but the local interest in medieval reenactment got the boost it needed to go mainstream. Boutiques catering to this new market opened in tourist settings, and eventually spread to small towns throughout Quebec... 95 saw the second edition of the festival, and this was a roaring financial success: hotels were full, restaurants made money hand over fist, and every little group interested in reenactment and role-playing with a medieval flavor figured that they too could juggle balls, spit fire, wear armour and stage live steel combat. This created a cottage industry and some very good artisans along the way... The festival didn't survive, for mainly political reasons, the City took it over by changing its' name and vocation to a colonial era event, but many of the artisans adapted to the change, so this new festival found the raw material to present a fair entertainment product without investing much,the groundwork having been done by the Medieval afficionados . The main winners were the Larp crowd who succeeded in harnassing this interestand bridging the gap with with the D&D crowd of fantasy role playing, now outgrowing their suburban basements and looking for adventure... if you want to see just how much this has grown, take a peek at www.bicolline.org. These guys are bringing Larp role playing to a whole new level... all for now

Cheers,
Jean-Carle