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Bill Collison is a bladesmith and armorer. He’s with the show Man At Arms: Reforged. I met Bill at Magfest 2018. He’s been an armorer and bladesmith for over 20 years and has been the armorer for the Maryland Renaissance Festival jousting troupe for many of those years.
0:50 – Bill talks about the piece he’s most proud of at Magfest – the Games Workshop 40K chain sword. It’s a sword made of chainsaws. He then talks about how he knows when a weapon is finished. He never feels 100% on any blade he’s made. He always wants to make them better. He also works on guards, pommels, swords, etc.
2:20 – Bill then talks about how labor is divided on the man At Arms show. Illya does forging, Matt will do finishing and then the others work on different parts. He then walks about enjoying making late 15th and 16th century armor. He also helps with Star Wars club accessories. He likes Celtic era blades to 17th century.
3:40 – He talks about being inspired by video games and anime. He’s inspired by making the fans happy and making the pieces that want to see. Bill then talks about how important their sanders are in completing their work. He also talks about listening to music or audio books or movies on headphones while he’s working. The shop can get loud and the headphones help.
5:22 – He likes working on all aspects of a blade. He enjoys making detailed pommels. It all depends on the piece. They’ve made a few hybrid blades on the show, fantasy and historical combinations. They might switch guards and pommels with blades and mix time periods. Sometimes it’s nice and sometimes it doesn’t work.
6:49 – Bill started bladesmithing over 20 years ago. He was taught how to make armor first and then he started making blades. Armor used to be his primary work but now it’s all swords. He worked on plate armor only and worked at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for 3 months each year, he would make the jousting armor and fix it. Their armor is about a quarter heavier than the actual armor. They joust much more than historical jousters ever did. They joust 3 to 4 times a day for 3 months. Armor can be hardened like blades would.
9:07 – Bill said that head shots sometimes worried him when he saw that in jousts but his armor has taken it. The jousters don’t even notice head hits or the armor crumples how it’s supposed to in order to protect the jouster. He’s happy when the jousters aren’t hurt because the armor was strong. He made sure they always double-checked their gear. The armor is like a second skin even with padding. You don’t want double impacts if the armor is loose-fitting. The armor is tailored. The jousting troupe owner owned the armor but some of them had pieces made for themselves.
11:36 – People have requested personal sets of armor but they’re a lot of work and can be expensive. But lots of people want a suit of armor. Bill has his own suit of armor.
12:15 – Bill’s first piece of armor changed him by giving him pride in knowing that people liked his work especially if they use it and recommend his work to others. His blades and armor have been around the medieval fighting community.
13:48 – He makes his weapons slightly differently for different uses. Their is theatrical use. Some need thicker edges on their blades. Some need blades that cut. Those are more expensive. He’s in a jousting troupe and knows they beat on their armor and weapons.
15:15 – Blademakers are artists. A blade is a piece of art. It can last for a long time if it’s taken care of. They are hung up and displayed. He tries not to think of the fact that his blades might last for hundreds of years. He has his won historic blades. People don’t get rid of their blades and kids will inherent their weapons.
16:55 – In an apocalypse, his blades will be in demand. Water wheels can be used to make more blades without power.
17:31 – Bill finds inspiration from the movie Excalibur. He’s a Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica fan, the classic one. Sorcerer and the Stone, old Disney movies. He loves the old Voltron sword. The Highlander sword is a good one, the stuff from the old shows. He recalls the old Knights of the Round table show from the 50s. Sci-fi series like swords. Star Wars has its lightsabers. There is the influence of D&D. All the RPGs out there influence what they do on the show.
20:14 – I ask which is the most famous sword out there. Bill says there are two. Excalibur is number one. Second is the Highlander katana. He says that he liked to create a katana and a medieval broadsword. They’ve done a Conan replica sword on an earlier episode on the show. They made it for a fan. He loves historical pieces.
22:04 – Rapiers are fun to build but they suck. It’s difficult to get the feel right and to get that good diamond cross-section. The guards can go from simple to extremely elegant and they take a while to build. Then comes the pommel and handles. They are the more complicated blades to make. They can only make so many rapiers a week. They can be tough and a lot of work. They’re currently making a late 16th century rapier. Horn handle and a dagger that goes with it. It’s a 6-7 thousand dollar set. They don’t do the sheaths usually. One guy will do sheaths. A proper period sheath is not cheap and can take a while. One man recently spent $6,000 for a Viking sword and sheath. The sheath was $500. Period correct blades can get more expensive due to labor.
25:25 – Bill says that if you want to make weapons that you should your local smith shop and just start working. Bill’s work can be found on instagram at Kaliban1776.
Links of interest and mentioned in the podcast
http://imakeswords.com/reforged.htm
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-AU/Warhammer-40-000
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082348/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076984/?ref_=nv_sr_2
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086824/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103442/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
https://www.instagram.com/kaliban1776/
For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi
Guests: Bill C
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: science fiction, fantasy, artist, sword making, armorer, bladesmith, highlander, swords, excalibur
