NEW GLARUS (WKOW) -- The community of New Glarus is probably best known for the New Glarus Brewing Company.
But there is another company making a name for themselves, one blade at a time.
Amy Waddell is 'Someone You Should Know.'
"They are just beautiful pieces of art," says Amy Waddell.
Amy Waddell has a passion for swords.
"They stand for honor, they stand for loyalty, they stand for a lot of things in life that if we all lived by them we'd all be very happy people," said Amy.
But Amy didn't get these swords from somewhere overseas. They were made right here in New Glarus. Amy and her husband started Albion Swords in 2001.
With the help of Swedish Swordsmith and researcher, Peter Johnsson, Amy and her crew are able to recreate swords centuries old.
Peter traced a 15th century sword that sits in a museum in northern Italy, and Albion's recreated it.
"I carefully document the originals by making drawings, taking photographs and measurements," said Peter Johnsson.
"There's a presence there, a very powerful emotional feeling a part from all the details of measurements and dynamical aspects," said Peter.
Once Peter is done with the renderings, molds are made and a machine cuts the carbon steel to form the blade.
But from there on out, everything else is done by hand.
From the grinding, to wrapping the handle or hilt.
"We are very intent on accuracy and precision," said Amy.
Albion Swords makes about 2,000 swords a year and sells to customers from 48 countries.
They are not only recreating history, they are also bringing the big screen to life.
"We have recreated swords from Sleepy Hallow, Highlander, Conan the Barbarian and Beastmaster," said Amy.
And the process they use to recreate these ancient weapons of war is surprisingly quite similar to how they made swords years ago.
"It was a whole line of specialized craftsmen fulfilling different parts of the process of making the swords and that's exactly what we have here," said Peter.
"When you want to look at a sword that a 15th century prince would be holding, you want it to be the one you're holding too," said Amy.
Amy says Arnold Schwarzenegger purchased a number of their recreated Conan swords which by the way are no longer in production.
For more information on Albion Swords visit: http://www.albion-swords.com/
