South Tower Armouring Guild Newsletter.
news from the forge

Introductory Message
    Spring 2013
  April-May-June News
South Tower Armouring Guild
William Fedun, Proprietor

Lets see, whats up this year? 
 ....the Kemptville Medieval Faire, (done for THIS year! Oh yes, we will do it again next year!),
.....the Ottawa Comic Con (I get to do a panel on armour!) May 10 to 12 2013
....the Upper Canada Medieval show, June 8 and 9
....the Osgoode Medieval Show, July 12 - education day, July 13 & 14 2013
....the Festival of Spring tournament at my place, TBA (Dan and Dmitri's birthday tournament)
....my birthday tournament, TBA
....Brenda's birthday tournament TBA
And of course, the 7th annual pumpkin massacre first Saturday in November.
As well, we will be attending a non-medieval show....the Toronto Fan Expo  next August 22 to 25. Two panels!

I am in there with a large bunch of special guests.  (scroll down, way down, in with "gaming attractions".

Osgood Medieval Festival  6 to 8 July, 2013.   A stunning show.  This is their link. http://www.osgoodemedievalfestival.com/News.html   In both cases there will be medieval jousters, troubadours, and Brenda tells me that she has a wood fired pizza vendor AND a Belgian Waffle Cart.  Hmmm.  Come for the food alone! We have galleries of photos from years past on our Armoured Swords site....you should check it out, see what we do.

Fight Classes

The Armoured Company of the Sword continues to train every week in formal classes.
 (if that link doesn't work, then try this one... http://www.armouredswords.ca/   )

TWO VENUES!!!!  
     Lets look at the Algonquin College venue first, and then scroll down to check out the Plante Bath.

Basic Course....Algonquin Woodruff Campus, the gym in the "P" building.
Course Code GEN0088.  cost for this course is $160.57 incl HST  This is a non-credit Algonquin General Interest course, and as such is payable entirely to Algonquin College. (On line or at the Registrar's desk just inside the doors at the Admin building.)  
Wednesday evenings, 7 to 9:30, starts 1 May 2013

Second Basic Course, Friday evenings, 7 to 9:30 starting 17 May 2013.  Course code GEN 551
This is the one in which we are going to really push at the Comic Con this coming Saturday.
I really hope to run them Friday evenings through the summer!

Algonquin College Registrar's Office is 1385 Woodruff Ave, Rm. C150, Ottawa Ont., K2G 1V8.  tel 613-727-0002, or 1-800-565-4723, fax613-727-7754  email AskAlgonquin@algonquincollege.com.

  Why go through the college?  The cost for classes at the college are a touch over ten dollars an hour.  NOBODY in Ottawa will rent us gym space with mats for that low amount, particularly when you factor in insurance!  This is a deal!
      Now you have to remember, what you get out of the college is this.  Algonquin is keeping the lights on, providing free (shoveled) parking and insurance, and providing us with gym, change room and locker space. They have to arrange this attractive gym space with the owners, the Police Services Department.  If we don't get eleven or more sign ups, they will not do all the "behind the scenes stuff" which is required to get this course in place.  And they need those sign ups a week in advance.  If you delay and wait for the day of, they might well cancel the course on us.  So don't procrastinate!  Waiting to sign up "on the day" just means they will cancel it before you get there.  Call ME if you have problems.  613-821-1846 

European Chivalrous Handling Course...Level 1 Plante Baths Sunday mornings 10:30 to 12:30
Plante Recreation Centre, 730 Sommerset St. West (at Preston)....  Phone to register at 613-232-3000

The basic course is needed to get started in sword handling and be able to do it safely, a good grounding.  Not a lot of "dirty tricks", but you get all the basic moves required to aquit yourself as a competent swordsman on the field. 
We have decided to include a Japanese Katana component in this basic class.

Chivalrous Sword Handling Level 1 Sun @ 10:30-12:30pm  

 April 7 to June 23.  Check exact dates and times and prices by phoning 613-232-3000 

European Chivalrous Handling Course...Level 2  Plante Baths (taught concurrently with basic course above)
Plante Recreation Centre, 730 Sommerset St. West (at Preston)   (Sunday afternoons, 01:30 to 03:30

New Line of Swords

Better than factory made swords, less expensive than antiques.   I have put some of Tom Kazor's "rescue" swords up on my "Featured Item" pages for you to check out, and see how drop dead gorgeous a simple weapon can be!  These are the swords they wrote sagas about!

Medieval Armour Projects
What going on in the forge...

The two piece armour seems to be the most popular.  And I have a couple of new tasset designs. Click TwoPiece to see the two piece armour designs. They are looking better and better all the time!  And I think I might have finally perfected the "South Tower Spaulder".  click Spaulder to see those, or just go to page "two" of the single pieces section of the armoury.  (I know...its properly spelled "spadlerer", but who am I to fly in the face of the D and D world?)

Body Armour Cuirass. Breast/back/faulds/tassets.

  One, Two and Three Piece combos. 
      Hottest armours are my three piece suit (click ThreePiece) in several of its forms.  (I can get real creative with this suit!), my flip up visor helm (click VisorHelm)  Other hot items are my Chain Mail instruction book (I wrote the book on chainmail !) I have even made a "Lady Armour", sort of a three piece armour made a little different so ladies can wear them comfortably...You can see those in the brand new Princess's Chambers . This is armour, not fantasy...grin!

Armour Making...formal classes and South Tower Saturdays

(look at the smiles!  Think they were having fun?)

 Formal Armour Making Classes..... 

  The South Tower Armouring Guild is a sole proprietorship registered in Ontario in 1995. In effect, it is a group of individuals who make armour in the medieval fashion, and test it out by fighting in it with real swords. The armour made in William Fedun's shop have been used in fight clubs all over the world, and have been seen on stage and screen. It is real armour, designs of which are based on measured drawings he personally made while studying in museums in Malta and Vienna. For further information, call 613-821-1846, or email stag@southtower.on.ca

 So many people have asked me for formal classes.  As I observe the people who make armour in my shop on my usual open house Saturdays, I am struck by a couple of things...mostly that though the spirit is always willing (and boy is it ever willing!), the knowledge base and skill set of how to make a good looking armour is simply not there.  Drill bits spin in their chucks, and rivets rattle. Breastplates are lumpy and mis-shapen and sharp edges abrade skin.   Making armour is a skill, like typing or learning to drive, and what one person can do another person can learn how to do as well.

       Are the classes expensive?  Well, lets look at what you get in, say, the first two days!  You get two solid days of instruction by an acknowledged expert in a professional workshop dedicated to the art of armour making, plus two associated Saturdays to apply your studies, and you go home with a breastplate which cost you half the price of that one you were drooling over on line!  Whats holding you back? 

Acclaimed Medieval Armour maker William Fedun is offering formal armour making classes at his armouring shop in the village of Metcalfe (just south of Ottawa) on Friday April 12 through the 26th, and then for all five Fridays in May.  His description follows:

The whole course is only seven well spaced out days.  I expect you to take advantage of the "South Tower Saturdays" to finish your projects because I would rather spend valuable class time teaching you new stuff rather than to do drills.  A lot of people have their weekends booked up so I have set aside Fridays for formal training.  Day one is the safety and basic tools training day...all other days require day one as a prerequisite. Days 2 through 7 pretty much stand on their own.  I rarely take more than two students per Friday, so when you book it, you tell ME which day in the below list you want me to cover.   Bookings for these classes....  stag@southtower.on.ca   or phone 613-821-1846

Day 3....(and day four are actually combined classes)
A bit more advanced, this class requires that you take the first day or demonstrate equivalent personal knowledge. An equivalency test will be administered if students wish to take this class without taking the basic first two days. More time will be spent on working with metal, and the science behind complicated articulated items. The student will lay lay out, cut out and safety finish a set of knee cops.  Dishing, raising and shrinking of steel will be demonstrated and practiced.

Day 4.  A full day on the science and application of articulating joints.  Articulation is considered to be the ultimate expression of the armour's art, and it has to be done right.   Pivot rivets are used to pin the pieces you made on Day 3 together into a beautifully articulated item.  These take some time to do, and if you need more time to complete your projects, there is always Saturday. 

Day 5.  This day included working with different metals such as aluminum, brass, copper and hot or cold rolled steel. Chemical and fire colouring is explained and demonstrated. 

Day 6.  includes eyeletting, buckle making ropussee and chasing.  Leather tooling and decoration are demonstrated.  Students will go home with a fire coloured pair of vambraces with their coat of arms embossed onto them.

Day 7.  Helmets...and other heavy plate items such as Grande Gardes, and jousting armour science are explored. 

The graduate will become conversant with armour types and styles. Some experience with heavy armour plate will allow the student to start in on a helmet.

The Flea Market is new and updated. New price reductions. (The idea is to keep dropping the prices until they hit zero.... Click FleaMarket.

Rentals....
I finally have enough armours that I can offer them as rentals!  I have a couple of nice armours steel armours which look pretty, and of course, my battle swords are always available for plays and pagents. Furs, banners, boots, flags, sword belts, I got 'em all!   Email me stag@southtower.on.ca for all your medieval rental needs. A. J. Ermenc will be handling all the rentals, freeing me up to make stuff. 

Professional Development Projects
      Visited the Palace Armoury in Malta, where I took measured drawings of a gorgeous "splinted" armour; and again this year, an exhaustive measured drawing session involving spaudlerers. Last winter, I was scouring the museums in (of all places) Cyprus, and this year I recorded every single armour in the great armour museum in Vienna.    I have several projects which I have fully documented, most are only partially documented.  I have put some of this information up on my blog......most recent blog posts are at the top.

Internal Links of interest 

            How to make a breastplate .....................
            How to make a back plate ......................
            How to make a Bayonette ......................
                      and the finished item ....................
            How to make a greave ............................
             My Post and Beam experience...............
               and the eventual result....grin! .............
                Muskets here   and   here............

     The skinny on the South Tower Spaudlers ....
             Malta Armour Gallery............................
             Vienna Armour Gallery..........................

             Prague Armour Gallery..........................
(give me a few days to get these galleries up guys!)

Our Own Chivalrous Swordhandlers website
       And there is a new forum as well, http://sword-handling.whatsupdark.com/   which is Shayne's site.  Lets see if we can make it rock!  Coming soon...a "find a ride forum", and a "how to make armour" forum.  This is "web 2.0" at its best.
Also, my swordhandler's blog.  http://swordhandling.blogspot.com/   It is a blog, rather than a forum.  No reason why it can't be made into a forum though....if you want to be a guest poster, let me know.

Brooms...
     Other things on the go as well.  Brenda really did make a whole pile of (believe it or not!) handwoven brooms!  These are lovely, you know, the nice handmade ones with the braided heads, the H. Potter specials!    They look exactly like a handmade broom from 1867.  She got fancier than that though...with  brooms of different lengths, double headed brooms, and so forth.    I have finally built a page called the " broom squires page" up there in the palace.  If you have a special stick all carved up (ahem)  in the best Pagan fashion, and you want Brenda to brush it, we do that.  Again, you have any ideas, let me know.  (stag@southtower.on.ca) Just remember, sometimes specialty materials are hard to come by at different times of the year....like willow should be harvested in the spring, and corn husks in the fall! 

Swords on Line, Knives on Line
       Gradually getting away from selling factory production swords here on these pages....what with EBay and sites like CheapCrapolla dot com, the quality has dropped along with the price.   I can't and won't sell used, shopworn or damaged swords like so many EBay stores are doing!   I will be selling a lot of nice stuff at the shows, and of course, in my showroom, and may even put some of it up on these pages, but generally speaking, I shall only carry really nice stuff, stuff I am really proud of. Like Tom Kazor's antique "rescue" swords, and my own handmade and re-hilted daggers and knives.     I shall continue to carry swords made by CAS  Hanwei, and Bermejo in my showroom, and perhaps even post part or all of my inventory up on these pages, but of course, armour is where its at right now.   Swords on these pages  may be inexpensive, they are NOT cheap. I only carry swords which I consider to be excellent value for the money.

  Oh, and just so you know...this web domain site, like me, is large, cumbersome, and often out of date!  I notice that  some of the pages are really dated....they are only there to hold space for something more important to put up there, such pages are clearly marked when you drop into them.  I hereby state that IF the knive or sword is still offered, and IF I can still get it, then I WILL honour the price shown. 
      Below are some of the sword companies I will continue to deal with for the forseeable future.  They all have web sites of their own....and special orders are really easy to do. 
        

Bermejo Swords...  Bermejo is based in Toledo, Spain, and they have been making premium swords since 1911.  Bermejo swords are tool steel, oil tempered.  Don't let the heavy gold plating on the crisply detailed brass furniture and chrome plating on the sword fool you...these swords are ready for fighting.  In fact, they are "issue" swords to many of the armies in the world.  Therefore they are VERY pretty, light, quick, and surprisingly serviceable.  And for a serviceable sword, they are also surprisingly inexpensive.  You can see a nice sampling of the swords in the "contemporary swords" area in the map above. (Go to "weapons shop!) The Bermejo company went under in 2008, and their assets were purchased by "Armedeo Espania", also known as "Toledo Swords") 

Hanwei Swords ... The state of the art in sword making today are the Hanwei swords.  Justly famous, they single handedly overturn the accepted ideas about Chinese quality....Hanwei makes really good swords, and due to an accident of international currency exchange, very inexpensive for  North Americans.  This state of affairs will not last. (I note that prices of the China made swords have increased by 23 percent in the last year!  Its starting!  Late breaking news...I noted in the last sentence that the prices and increased by 23%.  Well, they have doubled since I wrote that back in February!    Just as the prices rose to their proper level in Hong Kong in the sixties, the proper level in Japan in the 70' and 80's, they are rising to their proper level after ten years of over competive pricing in China.  Don't panic....its just normal market forces at work.  They are STILL the best deal out there!

In the showroom....
(Open by chance or appointment...call to be sure I am here....613-821-1846.)  Open most Saturdays during the year unless I am away at the Ren Faires! Other days by appointment.

       You can also find in the showroom fighting gloves in both goat skin and deer skin, padded vests, South Tower Armouring Guild Tee shirts and patches, and a huge quantity of knives and swords that never quite seem to be put onto the web site. People have told me I should charge admission to walk through my showroom! I have plenty of armours on display, my personal collections,  and lets face it, I built it because Brenda was tired of stubbing her toes on chain mail shirts lying in her living room.  So that is where I put all the cool stuff.  So if you find yourself in the Ottawa area.....please drop in. 

   Armour Backlog schedules...
         One week backlog as of 8 April 2013.  Email for latest update  marshalbill@gmail.com
 

Traveling to your place to train you....
    The tight shop schedules are making this increasingly difficult to pull off.  If you have a large group, I can do that.  Standard fee of $600.00 for 8 hours training, any amount of students.  You rent the hall.

Surfing the web...
      I have a personal blog, http://southtowerarmouringguild.blogspot.com/.  Its where I put my finished articles so the customer (and everybody else) can see them.  Its a sort of running diary of stuff which comes out of my shop, plus a lot of armour pictures from Museums around the world.  Please note,  I refuse to judge anybody else's work or web site, or comment upon them in any way. I dont mind if anybody else comments on my work.  Even a critical comment, if well thought out, can improve "something" about this little operation here.  Anonymous haters and spammers will simply be deleted as a matter of course.    (Leave Comments here.)

School Demos... 
      As fun as they are, they cut into my shop time....so the charge for doing a school demo is $80.00 (travel and prep time), plus $45.00 per hour, plus HST (for class time).   For that you get me, Brenda (a registered TA in the OCDSB), a suit of armour I can dress a teacher or big student in, a couple of chain mail coifs and mantles for kids to try on, a stack of chain mail shirts they can all try on.  In addition to the rules of chivalry and  names of the armour, we cover heraldry and chain maille making.   I am only available in Eastern Ontario.   Email me at stag@southtower.on.ca.  Or phone me at 613-821-1846 to set up a time.  Teachers may rent classroom resources, but that is a different thing entirely.  email me if you think this might be an option. I have lots of stuff!  stag@southtower.on.ca

    click here to see the classes in action.....
 

 To the US Based Customer.......as of  April 2013

The Canadian Dollar is nearly identical with the US dollar as of this writing. 

I have to pick a baseline price...and that is Canadian, because my bank is Canadian, and so credit cards are processed in Canadian funds. Its much the same as US...but of course there IS an exchange rate.  It is usually favorable so worth the hassle.

 Normally the US banks don't have a problem with currency exchanges, but keep an eye on them.  They are only human, and have been known to miss a Canadian transaction.  Watch your credit card statement and make sure they handle the exchange rate correctly. 

Americans only pay one tax....a ten dollar and seventy five cent border crossing "paperwork" fee. Doesn't matter the size of the order....the fee is the same. 

 Shipping in the US is figured from Ogdensburg, New York, either US Mail, or Fed Ex ground...your choice. I email you the tracking numbers. 

Terms of Sale

I don't take advance money until it is time to make your item.  Then I require at least half down before I start....and the second half before I ship.  I don't do payment plans...they add complications to an already complex task.  

I DO request  full  advance payment for customized portions of the work.  This might include drawings...depends on how elaborate the customizing will need to be! Changes halfway through the job will be costly, better to sort it all out on paper first!  You can figure on a token development charge to design a custom armour.  (I call this an "are you serious?" charge, and it will certainly apply to Wizard of Oz tin men, and Tony Stark's Iron Man!)  Sometimes a modification is no big deal...say scalloping the edges or replacing a lace with a buckle. 

  Returns on stock items....no problem.  No questions asked. No restocking  charges, but YOU pay the shipping. 
                   No returns on custom items, (who else would wear it?) 
                    No Refunds for the the customized portion of a returned stock item.

   If I cannot complete your custom project I will  return your money. (of course!) 
                    If there is an undue delay in making your item, I will let you know, and you can cancel your order.
                   Jogging my elbow with weekly requests for updates does not bother me at all.  

   A photograph of you front and side (in a tee shirt is fine) will go a long ways to tailor your armour correctly.

  Shipping costs are non-refundable

  Who owns the drawings?  All intellectual property is mine.  This includes pictures on this web site, templates and draft patterns. I invoke copyright on all such materials.  So no, you can't have my drawings to help you or that other armourer make that custom piece. Even IF you have paid a development charge.  And turnabout is fair play...other artists are safe from me ripping them off.  So that Doctor Doom mask you want me to make?  Best obtain that copyright before you get me to make it.  That Deviant Art pic you like so much....get the artist to sign off on me making it.  Doesn't take much effort, and shows the chivalry which defines your character.

                    When comparing prices, please keep un-advertised costs such as hidden handling fees in mind. Sometimes that great deal on "Cheap Swords dot com" might not be so great once all the nickles and dimes are factored in.

The South Tower Armouring Guild is run by strict guidelines involving environmental sustainability, fair play, fair wages and safe working conditions for my employees, and I take personal responsibility for anything we do, make or sell.   click HERE for the complete manifesto.  An ecological footprint is inevitable...I choose to make it a light one.