The Armour Archive

RalphS

I bought a similar grinder (used and beaten up) with a 6 HP 3 phase 400 V (European) motor. I ripped off all the worn-out stuff, cut a big circle segment out of the support plate on the motor side, and trued up the rubber contact wheel. It's a lovely grinder to work with, plenty of power, and with t...

RalphS

What Wade said.
Look at the historical pieces that the modern ones tried to copy, and then create your own interpretation using both.

RalphS

I can't seem to find it now, but someone did a really great "how to" essay on cutting steel with a chisel and hammer. Here is a link to Sasha's short beginner "how to". http://www.armourarchive.org/essays/sasha_metal_cutting/#02 I think you mean this topic: http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/vi...

RalphS

I can't seem to find it now, but someone did a really great "how to" essay on cutting steel with a chisel and hammer. Here is a link to Sasha's short beginner "how to". http://www.armourarchive.org/essays/sasha_metal_cutting/#02 I think you mean this topic: http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/vi...

RalphS

Tomas, what is your ambition regarding armouring? It makes a lot of difference for what you may want. Personally, I have 3 anvils I use on a more or less regular basis, and another one that's for now a collector's item. My first anvil was a 54 kg cast steel anvil, somewhat on the light side for blac...

RalphS

Way cool!
This really warrants a professional photo shoot.

RalphS

Nice hat! The Maciejowski bible has some nice illustrations of Y-straps which were used to tie the helmet to the head, you could use something like that (even though it's earlier than your period). Instead of a liner you could also consider a padded coif, separate from the helm. For the paint: sound...

RalphS

Yup: the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, well worth a visit and a good collection of armour. Don't forget the rest of the museum if you have time. Then there's Nuremberg with the Germanisches Nationalmuseum and the Kaiserburg museum, and there's Ingolstadt with the Bayerisches Armeemuseum. Probably plen...

RalphS

All work...
But I'll make sure to have some time to play as well!

RalphS

I'll be driving my motorbike this Saturday and Sunday.
And then a whole week in Vienna!

Back again through Germany to the Netherlands the next weekend.

RalphS

Please see my request in the Historical Research Forum.

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... p?t=115978

RalphS

I'll be taking a trip from Kopenhagen to Vienna, and have the option to visit some cities along the way. Can anyone recommend anything in particular? The route gets me near Rostock, Berlin, Dresden, Praha, Brno, Bratislava, and of course Vienna. A detour of a 100 km or more is no problem. So, what a...

RalphS

Files can be sharpened a couple of times by etching them in acid. I've successfully used phosphoric acid, but I guess any controlled etch will do.

RalphS

Halberds wrote:Hmmm... perhaps I could dress up as an abrasive asshole.

Yeah, but a dull one...

RalphS

Rolled lower edge. Bl@nken$h!3ld?

Just kidding, this look quite OK for fantasy armour.

RalphS

Here is a picture of the bottom of the helmet in Stockholm. I'm not sure whether the edge is turned, upset, or just the remainder of something thick which was drawn out inwards.
Any opinions?

RalphS

I wouldn't pay more than $10 a piece.
It's easy to make them yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrw6XH-lb08

RalphS

Klaus the Red wrote:... and took a chunk of skin off my left elbow

Klaus, that's elbow grease, not skin you're supposed to use.

RalphS

Not armouring related (though it did happen only a few meters away from my workshop): I once put a pitchfork about 10 cm into my thigh, it almost came out the other side. Somehow I managed to miss all important parts and didn't feel a thing, I thought I'd just punctured my jeans, until I saw the blo...

RalphS

Suzerain wrote:... and notice that there's a nice strip of raw flesh still embedded under my other thumb.

Just duct-tape it back in place. Use some super glue too if you want to be really sure

RalphS

I just priority mailed 20+ pounds of 5/16" real wrought iron plate to Andrew Young in Maryland; hopefully for playing with at Pennsic. I believe it is Byers bi-directional rolled plate due to a more platy rather than stringy fracture and it's use as part of the water tower at the *old* Ohio State P...

RalphS

Been using it for decades, and never noticed any bad effects like excessive scarring. Perhaps if you compare it to cosmetic surgery, but not when the wound is caused by a coarse file. Last year I managed to rip my arm open pretty badly, a very clean but gaping cut. At first I considered gluing it to...

RalphS

Definitely these two, they lie side by side:
http://www.nationalmuseet.dk/sw20374.asp
http://www.thm.dk/

An overview of lots of musea:
http://www.mik.dk/museer.aspx

RalphS

I work on my commissions at a very low pace, so things frequently take over a year. I tell this to the customer, tell them to remind me frequently if they feel things should be ready faster. I take no deposits. When I am working on the piece, I send a quick update with some pictures. Overall this sy...

RalphS

Do you have detailed pictures of the holes? If the pairs are of clearly different size or shape than the other holes, this would support Chefs theory. It does seem to make sense to me.

RalphS

The speed of the quench should be matched to the type of steel, shape of the piece, and the desired hardness and possibly its distribution.

Rather than going for anti-freeze I'd go for warm oil if I'd want a slower quench, but only if cracking or warping of the piece in question would be an issue.

RalphS

Yup. But it depends on what you compare it to, and just how pure it is. Add a bit of phosphorus for instance and things look very different, and you still can't call it steel.

Just a quickly googled link: http://www.iron-ore.biz/Phosphorus.html

RalphS

Here's a crop from a picture of a gestech helm in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich, it shows brass capped rivets in various stages of wear.

RalphS

Here's how I learned from a silver smith how to (silver) braze: 1) make sure the surfaces are completely clean 2) make as good a fit as possible, we're talking hairline fit here 3) using iron or stainless steel wire, tie things together so they won't move 4) make a saturated solution of flux in wate...

RalphS

There once was a man from Devizes,
Who's Balls were of different Sizes,
One ball was so small,
T'was no ball at all,
But the other One Won several Prizes!

Sorry, couldn't resist

RalphS

Pitbull Armory wrote:Back from doctor now, Metal removed from my eye, Rust was sanded off my eye with a small dremel. Metal removed asap = no dremel.

Hmm, a dremel you say? In my case they just scooped out a part of the cornea with a sharp spoon-scraper-thingy.

RalphS

What a load of <censored> I had 5 glaives cut out in 1/4" hardened steel plate, by waterjet, from a print-out in full scale and a PDF of the same (single line which the machine could follow all by itself), for the whopping cost of something like $70, including 25% VAT. And that was in Sweden, not kn...

RalphS

I once spilled quite a bit on my dog. Poor thing, it took me several hours with an angle grinder to get him out of it again. Do you know how hard it is to have eye- and hearing protection to stay put on a dog? Ever since that accident he has stayed way clear of the workshop and aerosol cans in gener...

RalphS

What do you mean, not for sale anywhere? I have no trade secrets, this is what I use all the time.

RalphS

No further comments to this picture needed I think...

Crosspost: Musea in Germany and Czech Republic?

Musea in Germany and Czech Republic?

Re: Wrought Iron for Pennsic Play

Re: Howdy