Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > My visit to A&A Reply to topic
This is a standard topic Go to page 1, 2  Next 
Author Message
Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team


myArmoury Team

PostPosted: Mon 07 Jul, 2014 7:05 pm    Post subject: My visit to A&A         Reply with quote

Today, I had the chance to drive over and see the guys at A&A again. As always, they were welcoming and generous with their time. And as always, there were fun things to see. There were some neat custom pieces in progress (and finished), some massive 2 handers made by Ian, and some prototypes for potential new pieces.

I was again struck by how good their custom work is. All the stuff I've owned and seen has been top notch, as good or better than everyone else.

Last time I went, I neglected to take my camera and people got on my case. Happy So, here are some pics. I'm away from home so these are more compressed than usual.



 Attachment: 65.7 KB
IMG_2773.jpg
Swords on the wall

 Attachment: 44.61 KB
IMG_2775.jpg
Durer, custom piece, and custom sword by Josh Davis

 Attachment: 30.68 KB
IMG_2777.jpg
Enormous two-hander by Ian

 Attachment: 32.75 KB
IMG_2778.jpg
Custom sword.

 Attachment: 60.42 KB
IMG_2779.jpg
Custom rondel by Josh Davis, gold-leafed Wallace ballock set, Friedrich spear, misc. parts

 Attachment: 60.61 KB
IMG_2780.jpg
Custom rondel with tooled sheath by Josh Davis. Fittings are gold plated

 Attachment: 68.64 KB
IMG_2781.jpg
Parts and pieces

 Attachment: 65.49 KB
IMG_2783.jpg
Bauernwehr (?), Wallace ballock set, Koln messer

Happy

ChadA

http://chadarnow.com/


Last edited by Chad Arnow on Mon 07 Jul, 2014 7:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team


myArmoury Team

PostPosted: Mon 07 Jul, 2014 7:12 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

By the way, their reference library is huge. Lots of important and rare titles. It's obvious these guys do their homework.

Some more pics. Enjoy!



 Attachment: 33.29 KB
IMG_2784.jpg
Messer trainers (1 single hand, two with longer grips)

 Attachment: 87.24 KB
IMG_2788.jpg
Craig and Chris's work areas. Ian's too? Castings in the foreground, some in-progress custom stuff.

 Attachment: 94.14 KB
IMG_2789.jpg
View of Craig's bench, in-progress stuff, the forge and grinders are through the partition.

 Attachment: 92.08 KB
IMG_2791.jpg
Chris's area.

 Attachment: 79.36 KB
IMG_2792.jpg
Anvils, stakes, and forms!

 Attachment: 39.62 KB
IMG_2794.jpg
Barrel of prototypes, one-offs, experiments, old stuff, etc.

 Attachment: 45.4 KB
IMG_2795.jpg
Suit with Wallace hammer poleaxe.

 Attachment: 31.59 KB
IMG_2797.jpg
Harness in Chris's office.

Happy

ChadA

http://chadarnow.com/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Mark Moore




Location: East backwoods-assed Texas
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Likes: 6 pages
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 2,294

PostPosted: Mon 07 Jul, 2014 8:34 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wow.............Do they need a janitor? I'll take out the trash. Big Grin ...............McM
''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump
View user's profile Send private message
Victor R.




Location: Klein, Texas
Joined: 28 Jan 2008
Reading list: 4 books

Posts: 347

PostPosted: Mon 07 Jul, 2014 9:13 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I think I'd like to go through that barrel... Big Grin
View user's profile Send private message
Tim Mathews




Location: St Paul MN
Joined: 02 Oct 2004

Posts: 172

PostPosted: Mon 07 Jul, 2014 9:16 pm    Post subject: Arms and Armor         Reply with quote

Greetings all,
I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to live in such close proximity to these guys and have the privilege, pleasure and distinct honor of being an old friend,client and low level part time employee ...
Slainte !

Tim Mathews
View user's profile Send private message
Jerry Monaghan




Location: melbourne australia
Joined: 29 Oct 2006
Likes: 2 pages

Posts: 114

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 1:09 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thank you Chad.
Very interesting work and really nice swords hope you had an great day

Regards

Jerry Monaghan
View user's profile Send private message
Mattia Perroco




Location: Noale (Venice - Italy)
Joined: 08 May 2009
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 4

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 2:28 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

View user's profile Send private message
Jason Elrod




Location: Winchester, VA
Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Likes: 48 pages
Reading list: 38 books

Posts: 717

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 2:42 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Yeah! I see some of my pieces in those pics.

Chad, thank you for this post. This is the first thing I saw getting up this morning. It really woke me up and put a smile on my face. This was better than a cup of coffee.
View user's profile Send private message
William M




Location: Buckinghamshire , England
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Likes: 1 page
Reading list: 7 books

Posts: 267

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 3:21 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wonderful, I really like seeing these behind the scenes photos as it puts more personality into A&A as otherwise it can be a bit faceless as often all we have to go by is an impersonal website.

Another thing I love about these types of photos is seeing the swords next to others, as it really helps put their proportions into contexts.

Oh and no offence to Mattia Perroco, but I hope that meme posts are not going to invade this forum. Sad
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Mark T




PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 4:41 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jason Elrod wrote:
Yeah! I see some of my pieces in those pics.


So do I! Wink

Can't wait to see which ones are yours, Jason. The massive two-hander isn't one of them, is it?

Looks like someone has another version of A&A's Wallace 466 ... would love to see how that one turned out.

This thread makes me wonder at just how many custom A&A pieces there are out there that we otherwise don't get to see ...

Chief Librarian/Curator, Isaac Leibowitz Librarmoury

Schallern sind sehr sexy!
View user's profile Send private message
Bryan Heff




Location: Philadelphia
Joined: 04 Mar 2012
Likes: 8 pages

Posts: 370

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 5:31 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Those pictures are great. For sword geeks like us....seeing a working shop like this, behind the scenes is really cool. Thanks for posting Chad. There is something about a rack of finished swords...just sitting there like a rack of hockey sticks at Sport Authority or something...kid in a candy shop.
The church is near but the roads are icy. The tavern is far but I will walk carefully. - Russian Proverb
View user's profile Send private message
Sean Flynt




Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Likes: 10 pages
Reading list: 13 books

Spotlight topics: 7
Posts: 5,981

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 7:33 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I love some of those one-offs/prototypes. This is an inspiring thread, Chad. I also now feel better about my wall of bare blades and pile of parts on my workbench. Laughing Out Loud
-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
J.D. Crawford




Location: Toronto
Joined: 25 Dec 2006

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 1,903

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 7:36 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks, that's pretty cool. I wish I could drop by like that. One of those blanks (I don't know which) might be my next custom sword. -JD
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Jason Elrod




Location: Winchester, VA
Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Likes: 48 pages
Reading list: 38 books

Posts: 717

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 12:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Mark T wrote:
Jason Elrod wrote:
Yeah! I see some of my pieces in those pics.


So do I! Wink

Can't wait to see which ones are yours, Jason. The massive two-hander isn't one of them, is it?



Nope. Not lucky enough to own the two hander. Mine are a little more boring than that. One of the Wallace Dagger sets is definately mine, I can tell by the wood grain and I suspect the Durer is mine too. The S-Guard curves the opposite direction than the standard model and I can't imagine there are too many out there like that.
View user's profile Send private message
Joel Chesser




Location: Oklahoma
Joined: 23 Oct 2003

Posts: 724

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 2:36 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I saw one in there that will be on the way to me soon! Big Grin
Very fun thread, thanks chad for sharing.

..." The person who dosen't have a sword should sell his coat and buy one."

- Luke 22:36
View user's profile Send private message
Joe Fults




Location: Midwest
Joined: 02 Sep 2003

Posts: 3,646

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 3:11 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing these.

Fun little thread.

"The goal shouldn’t be to avoid being evil; it should be to actively do good." - Danah Boyd
View user's profile Send private message
Jason Elrod




Location: Winchester, VA
Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Likes: 48 pages
Reading list: 38 books

Posts: 717

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 3:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That 2 hander is up for sale on A&As muster page and it is huge.

Check out the comparison with the German Bastard Sword (this pic shamelessly stolen from A&A's website)



 Attachment: 10.22 KB
[ Download ]
View user's profile Send private message
J. Nicolaysen




Location: Wyoming
Joined: 03 Feb 2014
Likes: 32 pages

Posts: 795

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 7:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Great thread Chad, it is nice to see some behind the scenes! Edited to add: I know from your collection that you are a great fan and sponsor of A&A, and it is very cool that you have this opportunity. Everything I have from them is great and it is neat to see where it all comes together

In related news, I got a nice box from A&A today.......! Hopefully posting some pics of something in the long daggers thread today.


Last edited by J. Nicolaysen on Wed 09 Jul, 2014 6:24 am; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message
Russ Ellis
Industry Professional




Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Reading list: 42 books

Posts: 2,608

PostPosted: Tue 08 Jul, 2014 7:37 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing the pictures Chad, I've been wanting to go meet Craig in person for years almost made it last year. Maybe some day...

The thing that strikes me is how clean the shop is. Sure there's a jumble of stuff here and there but comparatively speaking, my shop is a wreck. Sawdust on the floor random bits of leather here and there and everywhere odds and ends that I haven't finished yet and may never... I wonder what sort of elves they have working there to keep it so nice.

TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
View user's profile Send private message
Lee Pupo




Location: Pennsylvania
Joined: 30 Mar 2014

Posts: 26

PostPosted: Wed 09 Jul, 2014 8:18 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

It's really neat to see the place where the magic happens. These guys must be quite proud of what they do. If you happened to see a "Town Guard" sword there, it may be mine. Craig said that shipping was delayed by problems with the bluing, but that's just fine. It only adds to the anticipation!
View user's profile Send private message


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > My visit to A&A
Page 1 of 2 Reply to topic
Go to page 1, 2  Next All times are GMT - 8 Hours

View previous topic :: View next topic
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum






All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum