About Hickory Arms |
Hickory Arms was founded by Marc Bernier in 2003 as an offshoot of his son's wishes. After watching Marc practice western martial arts with wasters he had made for himself and a practice partner, his son Jarrod proclaimed “I want a sword just like daddy's.”
Since the Hand and a Half sword was double Jarrod's height, (he was only three at the time), Marc created a small “hobbit” sword for him to wear to medieval faires. This sword generated quite a bit of interest and some requests for duplicates. Thus Hickory Arms was born.
As the number of requests grew, so did the number of swords produced and the variety of designs. Mini crossbows were designed and built a year later. Now, having a variety of products Marc began selling at local Faires, with a great response.
In the Fall of 2004 Marc partnered with Nathan Smith, a friend who had a small CNC router. The ability to rough cut using the CNC system allowed in increase in the quality and complexity of designs. Preserving the original hand finishing techniques maintained the care and beauty of the original pieces.
After several years, scores of swords, and hundreds of crossbows sold at Faires, Hickory Arms Online is born. |
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| Here are some photos of us and a few friends at a private Medieval Party we help host. |
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About the Owner |
My name is Marc Bernier and I am both the founder of, and the craftsman behind, Hickory Arms. I am a practitioner of western martial arts, and I understand what the western martial artist needs in a wooden waster. I have been crafting functional wooden weapons for over a decade, and have made self bows as well as swords and crossbows.
I do not buy my wood in bulk, the hickory for each item is hand selected at a local hardwood supplier. When selecting boards I give special attention to the pattern of growth rings in the wood, if the growth rings run the length of the wood then there is less chance that the item will break. This is true for both bows and wasters.
After the wood is selected each item is rough cut and time allowed for the wood to “settle in”. At this point each waster is planed so it will be straight. Once I am satisfied with the quality of the wood and the rough cut piece I hand finish each item in my woodshop.
My prices are competitive even when doing custom work and I am not afraid to say “No” when a requested item is likely to be unsafe. The safety of my patrons is one of my greatest concerns.
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