{"id":96054,"date":"2017-03-30T02:34:54","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T06:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=96054"},"modified":"2017-03-30T02:34:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T06:34:54","slug":"living-by-the-sword-carving-a-niche-making-warrior-blades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/03\/30\/living-by-the-sword-carving-a-niche-making-warrior-blades\/","title":{"rendered":"Living by the sword: Carving a niche making warrior blades"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Through<\/a>
Through smoke and sparks and staccato banging from his anvil, John Lundemo forges swooping swords that look like they should be pulled from a stone, swung by a samurai or thrust on \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d (Photo: Tor-Sven Berge\/ Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW HAMPTON, N.Y. \u2013Through smoke and sparks and staccato banging from his anvil, John Lundemo forges swooping swords that look like they should be pulled from a stone, swung by a samurai or thrust on \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 60-year-old has carved out a niche making pricey blades that are inspired by history but liberally mix in elements of East and West, high art and Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do tend to add my own flair,\u201d Lundemo said in his shop recently. \u201cMaking exact copies, I don’t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

While not precisely like the weapons wielded by gladiators or knights, these razor-sharp weapons stretching up to 6 feet long and costing upward of $3,000 are built to be used \u2013even if it’s for slashing milk jugs in the backyard.<\/p>\n

Lundemo has been making swords for about three decades, about half that in his workshop 50 miles north of New York City. The forge, anvil and scalding oil tank speak to his craft. And the posters on the wall for the movies \u201cGladiator\u201d and \u201cGrindhouse\u201d speak to his tendency to slice and dice details.<\/p>\n

His $1,950 \u201cSerenity\u201d sword, for instance, is described online as drawing on classic German, Chinese, Japanese and Swiss designs. But the butt end of the handle, the pommel, was inspired by a sword in the 1993 martial arts movie \u201cThe Bride with White Hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Movies, specifically the 1974 horror flick \u201cCaptain Kronos – Vampire Hunter,\u201d sparked Lundemo’s sword fascination as a young man. He began buying blades for mock sword fights with his brother. But there were problems with those steel swords.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was breaking them all the time. You know, halfway through a sword fight and your sword breaks, it’s annoying,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I started making them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He forged blades in the back of a New Mexico jewelry shop and later after hours in the upstate New York sign shop where he worked. Those first swords stunk, he says, but he educated himself on the finer points of edge geometry, metal tempering and distal tapering, which refers to the blade getting thinner from guard to tip.<\/p>\n

Over time, he established his brand Odinblades in what can be a cut-throat business. There is an army of sword makers who sell historical replicas, fantasy swords, \u201cbattle ready\u201d swords for under $100. Online retailer Kult of Athena in Elgin, Illinois, for example, sells swords from more than 30 makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely growing,\u201d said owner Ryan Whittlinger. \u201cThe market for higher-quality, functional items is better today than it’s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

The popularity of the HBO series \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d helps, but Whittlinger said a bigger watershed was the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d movies early this century, just as swords started becoming easier to buy.<\/p>\n

So who buys swords in the 21st century?<\/p>\n

Collectors and history buffs who hang them on a wall, \u201ccutters\u201d who want a sharp and balanced weapon for slicing jugs, pieces of bamboo or test dummies, and sword fighters.<\/p>\n

Whittlinger said moviemakers and theatre groups account for some sales, too. The apparently racially motivated killing last week of a black man in New York City with a 26-inch sword illustrates the rare times when such weapons are still used for their original purpose.<\/p>\n

Lundemo says he makes enough from swords for his wife and himself to pay the bills. They’re not getting rich, but the work has its benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cool factor is way up there,\u201d he said. \u201cCool factor 11.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW HAMPTON, N.Y. \u2013Through smoke and sparks and staccato banging from his anvil, John Lundemo forges swooping swords that look …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":96061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17241,17242],"class_list":["post-96054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","tag-swords","tag-warrior-blades","mauthors-michael-hill","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}