Visit with Tom Kaczor
 

Yesterday my son Jonathan, his dog Dante and me drove to London , Ontario to visit with Tom Kaczor, by far the best sword restorer I know.
Old timers among us know Tom and still remember his late wife Ursula (may she rest in peace!).

Tom re-creates old swords out of genuinely old blades (many of which are gorgeous wootz) and hand-made everything else. His forte is Polish and Cossack swords, but he does Turkish, Persian and Indian examples, too. He makes his own scabbards, leatherwork, crossguards, handles, decorations in exactly correct ethnic and era-wise style. The quality, authenticity, sophistication and the artistic levels of his creations is mind-boggling. Any 16-18th century magnate would be glad to get his sword in exchange for 3-5 villages.


He also does armour: one of the pic shows Jonathan fully dressed as a Polish hussar complete with hauberk and " bekhterets" and wielding a Polish Karabela. I was allowed to practice cutting Tom's hibiscus with a Turkish Kilij. I succeeded right away:-)


Both Jonathan ( who grew up surrounded by sword books and swords ) and myself were truly astonished by the quality of Tom's work. I have seen his creations on the web, but to see them " live" and to handle them was an unforgettable experience. The artistic level of his creation can be matched only by his personality and hospitality! He is one of the nicest people I have ever encountered.

Here are several pics from the trip.

Enjoy!

#2
 

Batch #2

Nice and unique stuff! (and you look the same as you did years ago!)

You mean handsome ? ;) .

Jose and Fernando,

You should see my portrait in the attic...

Thank you Ariel for sharing! Fantastic to see Tom and his amazing work! I still have a Burmese dha he made a replacement pommel for! Highly recommended! God bless Ursala, I remember she was the one who handled my order 🙏🏼

Superb skill.

Thamk you for sharing this! :)

Tom is a wonderful guy, a gentleman, and truly an artist.

It's great to see that he's still going strong.