Armorer vs. Smith

[Zulgyan]

Maybe a dumb question, but I'm not getting the difference between the 2.
In the part regarding specialists:

Armorer: It is mandatory that there be one Armorer for every 50 fighters in a player/character's employ in order to maintain the arms and armor of such men, Elves, or what have you. An armorer can also make arms and armor, providing he has no maintenance duties to perform. Unassisted he can make one suit of
armor, or three shields, or five weapons per month. With two assistants (one must be a Smith) he can double this volume, and with six assistants (two must be Smiths) the volume can be trebled.

Smith: As already mentioned, a Smith is able to assist an Armorer. For every 50 horses or mules in a player/character's force there must be one Smith to maintain them.

I always thought the armorer made armor, and the smith or blacksmith made weapons.

Can someone explain this to me?

Thanks!

[doublejig2]

Isn't it simply specialization on the part of the armorer? A smith is a more general worker of metal not practiced in supervising and engaging in the whole craft of armor making.

Another distinction that might be useful in a campaign is between mass produced armor and single suits crafted for high paying, afficinado noble patrons. These latter were stunning catered masterworks, requiring master armorers. Hence, given a contract for payment and time, armorers could fill an order for 5000 units of field plate for an army, but it takes a master armorer, time, vast amounts of coin, and a duke to produce the duke's perfect to fit, style, function, and awe, personal plate mail, for example.

[talysman]

A smith is someone who makes stuff out of metal. Mostly, iron, but obviously there are specialists in other metals (goldsmith, silversmith.) Their main job is making and repairing tools, equipment, and things like nails or horseshoes. They would be the ones who would change the shoes on a horse. This is why a smith is needed if a castle or fortress has horses.

A smith could also create makeshift weapons or armor, but they'd be pretty crude. An armorer is a specialist. There could also be weaponsmiths, or smiths who are renowned for making swords. But at the very least, you'd need an armor if you wanted to run an army.

[Desparil]

As mentioned above, an armorer is more specialized than an ordinary smith, who would generally be responsible for making buckles, nails, horseshoes, and other mundane goods - hence being useful as an assistant to an armorer, since all kinds of clasps, fasteners, and assorted iron fittings are needed in medieval military equipment.

The part about weapons is also realistic; the armorer is responsible for maintaining the armory in general, which includes weaponry. Generally speaking, only blades had dedicated specialists, depending on the area either swordsmiths only, separate guilds of swordsmiths and knifesmiths, or a general guild of bladesmiths. Even in the era of factory production, armorers maintained their association with weaponry, becoming the title of someone who maintains and repairs guns. You might need the super-specialized swordsmith for that Hattari Hanzo blade, but that guy isn't going to make your pikes, bills, and crossbows - that job goes to the armorer.