Today we have a special edition of Whiskey and Weapons for you all, and it revolves around a question we frequently get, "Why don't you guys at Arms and Armor have a maker's mark on your products?". In exploring this topic we delve into history, from the relative lack of such marks in the medieval period right up to an incident in the mid-1990's when our old mark bit the dust. Grab a beverage and join us for a really interesting discussion with Craig Johnson and Dr. Nathan Clough of Arms and Armor Inc., makers of fine historical weapons since 1982.
We take a look at three medieval swords from The Oakeshott Institute collection, drink a glass of whiskey, and have some awesome discussion.
As always, our swords are entirely made by us at our shop in Minneapolis, MN out of 6150 carbon steel, hardened and tempered to 50-52 Rockwell. Our swords and other weapons are made to look, feel, and function just like the historical originals on which they are based.
Click here to learn more about The Oakeshott Institute: oakeshott.org
And here to see all of our highly accurate historical weapons: www.arms-n-armor.com
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985