Watching a sword being made is a wonderful and rewarding experience.  That is just what I spent two weeks doing at our Generation2 foundry.  And watching these skilled craftsmen (and that is just what they are, Craftsmen) just blew me away! 

They start with a flat bar stock of 5160 and/or 10/60 carbon steel and start forging it just like the skilled craftsmen centuries ago.  They start with a hot forge as shown below. 

On this day they were heating and hammer forging the "Musso" Bowie blade.

I observed them heat the raw material and hammer it out, keeping the metal red hot so as to work the steel.  Once they forged it into a workable shape it was sent to another craftsman to grind out the final look. 

Why grind it?  So as to give you the beautiful lines you see in every Generation2 item.  And to be able to fit the handles to give you that tight fit and finish we have been known for.  But as you look closely at our swords or knives you can still see the hammer marks from forging.  Our customers demand quality and that is just what we give them. 

Next we moved on to the heat treating and tempering stage, and it is done at one station.  They heated the blade to a red hot temperature and then oil quenched it to harden it.  This is called the hardening process.
After hardening we use a unique tempering process.  To give it the flexibility needed to a point.  (Sorry, this is a Proprietary Trade Secret).
"Let me interject here and say this.  It is not good to flex a sword.  Each time you do this and take it to that limit (meaning the point that once you go past here, you risk damaging the memory of the steel.  You will weaken the blade each time you do this.  Do not do it." 

Shown here the heat treating and later tempering of the blade.

Next the blade move on to a polisher who puts a high polish that many of you have come to appreciate in our swords.  There is also a person who machines out the pommel and cross guards of our swords and knives.  Also a specialized person who shapes all the handles, and person who fits them all together. 
And yes a person who does final inspection to ensure proper fit and finish. 

We even have people who only do the wood scabbards and people who do the leather scabbards. 

Each piece of the sword or knife and each scabbard it made and fit for just that piece, not mass produced and mass assembled.  Each one is meticulously  done, but yes at different specialized stations. 

Why are we showing and telling you this.  Because you have asked and because we are proud of our exclusive and specialized foundry and we are proud the the quality it produces. 

Well we have just finished a large shipment and shipped to our retailers the items they needed for the Christmas orders and we are tired.
But, I just have to say that the visit we had from one of our long term retailers (Jason Ryan from Arms of Valor) ws great and it helped him being here.  He came just as our shipment from the foundry arrived, helped us get them un-packed and he shipped his orders from here.
And of course he (Jason) and as many other people is wondering...  Where has Gen 2 been?  Well as you can see we now have a new name and Logo (Legacy Arms) and you will be able to see below we have new items we are working on...
Sorry this is all I can say.

Keep watching folks, and keep in contact with your retailers.

Sincerely,

Clyde Hollis