Website for training tools I make

[Brian Hunt]

Hi all,

since I have been getting lots of requests for the prices of the various equipment I make for sale I thought I better put together a basic website. It is a very simple site with no frills. The pictures take a couple of minutes to load because I have found I need to reduce their size so they will come up faster. I still need to update lots of things and add more pictures, but the basics are up and running so here you go. http://www.emerytelcom.net/users/blhunt/sales.htm If you have any questions I can easily be contacted by private message.

I would also like to say thanks to everyone who has ordered from me or has a back order for one of my helms. I am currently working to get caught up on the back log of my helmets just as fast as I can. Even though I have sped up part of the manufacture, these things still take a long time to fabricate. Sorry for the delays on them.

Thanks for everyones orders, business, and interest.

all the best.

Brian Hunt
GFS


Brian Hunt
GFS

[Mark Driggs]

Brian,

Once again you tempt me to part with more of my money for your well crafted wares. My wife and I will have to make an equipment budget for the next fiscal year.

BTW, do you have dwarves working for you in the 'Dwarven Smithy', because having seen you in person, you are anything but 'dwarvish'. All the best,

Mark Driggs
ARMA Provo

[Will Adamson]

Now you're just going to have to quit your day job!

[Brian Hunt]

Hi Mark,

there is a story behind the name Dwarven Smithy. When I was seventeen a good friend (who passed away at way too young an age) gave me a volkswagon body with the instructions to make something out of it. So I drug an anvil into my bedroom and proceeded to make my first very crude suit of armour. I would work on it at all hours late into the night (small town, bored teenager). My mother got tired of the noise and posted a notice on my door one night "Ye old dwarven smithy is closed for the night." thus the name.

Will,

since I am already self-employed, my day job is whatever work I get through the door.

all the best.

Brian Hunt
GFS

http://www.paulushectormair.com

[Benjamin Smith]

The wasters look almost exactly the same as the With Intent wasters, have you guys been working on plastic wasters together, or just happen on very similar designs?

[Brian Hunt]

Hi Benjamin,

There are differences in our wasters. Mine are an adaptation of my wood designs. I found it neccessary to do a narrower profile than what I used with wood to get a better balance with the plastic. Basically I shaved about 1/4 inch off of both sides of my original design. It is just a coincidence that this turns out to be a similar profile to the one used by Eric Winkler. This may just be a case of the material itself helping dictate design. Additional, my wasters have a rounded edge and With Intent Wasters have a more oval edge. I believe I am also doing a different type of pommel design than With Intent Wasters, so while there are similarities, there are also differences. My current cross design is the exact same design I was previously using with wood. Using screws to hold the cross in place is neccessary since the plastic I use cannot be glued though it can be welded. Since Eric and I appear to be using similar plastics, I assume he uses screws for the same reason. I also use two different plastics with similar characteristics, one is more flexible than the second plastic but comes out with a rougher finish. I happen to like the slightly stiffer plastic for my personal weapons.

Thanks for looking.

Brian Hunt
GFS

http://www.paulushectormair.com

[Brian Hunt]

Hi all,

I fixed the size of the pictures so they should load much better now for people.

thanks.

Brian Hunt
GFS

http://www.paulushectormair.com

[David Kite]

I don't know if it is just my computer, but most of the images are coming up broken. FYI.

David Kite
GFS, ARMA in IN

[AlexCSmith]

Must be your machine or something. I have no problem viewing all of them.

[David Kite]

Must be your machine or something. I have no problem viewing all of them.

Hm, well poop.

[Randall Pleasant]

Must be your machine or something. I have no problem viewing all of them.

Hm, well poop.

I can see the image of the sparring helment but none of the other images.

[Brian Hunt]

For some strange reason, my ISP had erased all of my pictures except for the rapier and helmet ones. I have fixed the problem and will keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't happen again.

thanks for the heads up.

Brian Hunt
GFS

http://www.paulushectormair.com

[Brian Hunt]

Hi all,

sorry to bump this thread, but I wanted to address a problem that occured with two of my swords at the International event. I am fairly certain that everyone saw one of Stewart Feils guards break on his arming sword during his prize play, and I broke the guard on one of my longswords during free play. Both of the guards that broke were from a prototype guard design that I no longer make or sell. Also, as a result of that experience I have decided to beef up the thickness of my guards from 3/4 inch material to 1 inch material (as reccomended by Eric Winkler). Thanks Eric.

The reason that the two guards broke was because they were both placed under a shoulder step up where the blade went from the width of the handle (where the guard was attached) to the width of the ricasso. This created a pivot point that allowed the guards to butt up against and create a great deal of stress that allowed them to break. I no longer attach the guards at this position (and only ever did so on my first six wasters), instead I now attach them to the wider ricasso area which allows for more flex in the cross. I would like to add that the new attachment point on the ricasso is where the guard was placed on every weapon I delivered to the International Event - no one recieved a weapon with a prototype guard attached to the shoulder area of the grip.

I don't remember if Stew's cross broke against a plastic waster or a wood waster, but my longsword guard was broken when playing against a wood waster with my plastic waster. This is why one should only use plastic against plastic and wood against wood. <shrug>

Once again, I would like to stress that both of these weapons that failed had cross designs that were prototypes no longer in production and that I am replacing Stew's sword with my current design (at no extra cost to him) and I am going to also be retiring my longsword and replacing it with my current design.

Thanks to everyone who has purchased something from me. I appreciate your business. If you have a failure with one of my products, please contact me and I will look at your problem. If it is not the result of abuse, I will take good care of you.

thanks again.

Brian Hunt.
GFS

P.S. I would like to add that most of my equipment is built to try and withstand the gentle use of Stewart. I alway figure that if Stew can't break it, it will survive anyone.

http://www.paulushectormair.com
http://www.emerytelcom.net/users/blhunt/sales.htm

[Jeffrey Hull]

That seems cool to me -- making efforts to improve quality as you learn more from use and other's experiences.

Not every maker of wasters, or swords, or armour etc. is willing to do that, so your efforts and honesty are laudable.

I need to save up and get one of the longswords someday.

Good luck,

[Matthew_Anderson]

I'd just like to say I'm very pleased with the longsword waster I got from Brian. It's very sturdy, well balanced, and has a nice long grip. I'm still not crazy about using the nylon wasters for certain drills, but for free play they are great. As Brian and others have said, I think it's best to stick with nylon/nylon or wood/wood when drilling or sparring.