Fantasy Unit Armorers Kit
 

Several months ago I talked to Kris Antczak korona45@yahoo.com about a unit armorers chest. Real ones, if full, cost in the $10,000's of thousands of dollars. I have met a couple of folks who own/owned them and 10k years ago was the amount related to me.

There is a chest in Joop and Don's newest book and this was what got me thinking. But the more I thought about it, I decided I was a pistol guy and so much of an armorers kit was K98's. Which I know nothing about.

So, the decision was made to go with pistols. I did not always explain myself well and since we were doing this over the internet, it took a while.

There was an incredible amount of detail work involved, routing, hand sanding, finishing and well, more than I expected, but here is the finished work. The props are his, so although primarily a luger project, it will have P38 parts and PPK parts in it.
It turned out far cooler than I thought it would !!

Ed

Me Like!!

All I have to say is very,very nice.
Thanks for the post.
George

WOW. That is impressive. Thank you for sharing.

Joe

Ed
I like it I like it!! Bill

Wow, what skill some folks have!

and how much will they cost??? really nice....
 

..

A VERY nice bit of woodworking!

Wow Ed,

That is cool. Very nice work.

Ron

Ed ,

awesome blossom !!!

when does production start ?

Bill

Exquisite work, Ed. Very nicely done. Cherry with a hand rubbed tung oil or boiled linseed oil finish?? I like the brass fittings along the edges of the box. Haven't seen those before.

Regards,
Doug

Doug, the brass was my idea. Kris will make it to your specifications.

Originally i was going to try to have him make me 3 or 4 and sell them, but the cost was a bit high. I decided after seeing it in pictures and talking to him, that there was little profit for me and him by me re-selling. Thus my reason to post here with his email, and if anyone wants a copy or one like it, they can contact Kris.

Kris originally was going to make it army green like the originals, but I decided to go a different route. The wood is maple and we went with a slightly reddish shade, he could have made it from almost any type of wood and of course stained it with almost any color.

Like I said, you tell him what you want and he'll do it.

I am very pleased, and thank you for him.

Ed

Ed,
I really like it! Well done.

Mauro

That is really nice work.

Charlie

Thanks for sharing Ed really neat.

Very nice! What does it weigh fully outfitted?

I don't know, I won't see it until November when i am home on vacation from iraq :)


Ed

Ed,
That is awesome.

VERY VERY NICE Ed!

Lovely!!!:thumbsup:

Unbelievable and outstanding! While a detailed one like that may be too costly to resell because of all of the routing, you might consider designing something similar but simpler as a storage system for collectors. You could sell the box and generic inserts separately (holster insert, pistol insert, accessory insert). Could make pistol inserts for different type pistols, or make a generic one that is configurable with moveable pegs to accommodate several types of pistols.

I sure would be interested.

Or Using a thermo plastic that looks like wood, create various trays in different configurations.

Since the outer box is still wood, this would still look great and lower the cost considerably!

On a separate project, I looked at having something made from plastic. The initial cost is a thousand to several thousand dollars, then after that it is just blowing out the parts you want.

not cost effective for something like this.

Jerry Burney and I discussed this many times, in fact for about a month or more before Kris was involved and then during.

Your idea Clark of boxed like areas was my first thought, easy, cost effective etc., much like a fishing box with those plastic inserts, but assorted sizes. But Kris is a craftsman and his thought was to make it as nice as possible, thus he routed and measured so parts would fit exactly, more like an original. I originally intended on having him make 4 or 5 and selling them for a good price, but you would have to have the right person. Most people won't pay for what this cost to make.

In fact, I had discussed with Kris to be the exclusive seller of these. After realizing the cost was prohibitive, and this is a part time job for Kris, we came to the agreement that I would show it off and allow others to get direct with him.

Ed

Ed:

I hear you. The box is just downright phenomenol and really got my mind working as to how I could better store my collection.

Clark