The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

I have some hardness testing files, and haven't been particularly pleased with their accuracy.

Gaston de Clermont

I hope they fit my small paws well enough, and that I'm brave enough to fight in something so pretty.

Gaston de Clermont

Thanks to Mac, my worthy opponents, and the pilot of my plane who got me back on the ground in time to bid again. I'm glad the proceeds will go to a good home and I'm very much looking forward to owning some of Mac's beautiful work.

Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Gaston de Clermont

Having seem your work up close, I think the market will bear a higher price than you've set.

Gaston de Clermont

Sorry for the delay- I just replied to an email I'd missed earlier that I'm thinking must be you. PM me if you don't have a reply in your in box and I'll get you squared away.

Gaston de Clermont

You can probably get a good idea of the percentage who will do so by noting which of them already do something to game the rules, or push the boundaries of what is reasonable to get an advantage. Perhaps acting out wounds isn't the best way to do things, but if done reasonably, without crowding the...

Gaston de Clermont

Uh- I was on the first US BotN team, and I'm friends with the guys who went over there. Most of them are still playing hard. Yeah, it's a rough sport, but the injury rate Konstantin imagined isn't accurate.

Gaston de Clermont

What Tascius said. There's a range of options to suit your tastes of intensity, accessibility and authenticity. You can practice perfect, documentable technique with WMA folks, though it's usually not full speed and frequently not in armour. You can use steel weapons at full speed with some of the g...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm in favor of rules that create a vigorous and dynamic fight that looks more like what our medieval predecessors did. The more we're able to encourage that, the more we're doing right in my mind. This eliminates the play acting of wounds, which we have no evidence of, and discourages double kills ...

Gaston de Clermont

I love this idea. I'm curious about the longer term implications if this becomes more common. It seems a larger shield to protect the leg gives a bigger advantage, and folks will keep their arms out of the way more. The changes with double kills would make two sword less effective. Great weapon figh...

Gaston de Clermont

Dropped the prices!

Gaston de Clermont

I'm surprised I still have these.

Gaston de Clermont

The pieces in the original listing are still in stock.

Gaston de Clermont

We can do custom work, though it takes some time and costs a bit more. The polished cuisse and rerebrace sets I'm listing here are ready to ship.
You can PM me if you'd like to explore options further.

Gaston de Clermont

Polished 410 doesn't rust if you treat it with a modicum of respect. Treat it like you totally don't care and it will take you seconds to clean.

Gaston de Clermont

We have two sets of cuisse splints, and one set of rerebrace splints for sale. They're all 18ga 410 steel and polished up nicely. http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/2013/11/cuisses.html $150- cut to $140! for all the splints for both your legs, shipping within the US is included. http://burgundianh...

Gaston de Clermont

When you're estimating the temp by eye just be sure the pieces get to a bright orange color. A duller red is below the critical temp to harden. The duration of your tempering cycle makes a difference. You're likely to find that flat pieces will deform some during the quench. Curved pieces tend to re...

Gaston de Clermont

There are very few people who manage to make armour as their sole profession. The margins are slim since the market is small and hemmed in by other options, hobbyists, Indian and eastern European work, and sport gear, and it's rough on your body. If you get to the point where you can create things t...

Gaston de Clermont

Can you test with some scrap saw blades? I'd heat it red hot, bend it how you wish, and let it air cool. If it cracks, you've learned you'll need to temper it. If it's too soft, you've learned you'll need to quench it to keep it springier. If you quench it and it cracks after, then temper. Check thi...

Gaston de Clermont

One of the things I most like about the boards is it makes a better lid than the blanket stuff:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kZvmREXs26g/U ... 55_271.jpg

Gaston de Clermont

I've been using their Duraboards. The thickness and temp you select will depend on your application.

Gaston de Clermont

FiberFrax is the best of both worlds- it's not quite as efficient at Kaowool, though you can use a few layers easily. It's WAY more durable, and doesn't turn into free flying cotton candy that scratches up your lungs.

Gaston de Clermont

First time I worked 1050 I was heat treating a greave made by another armourer- nice shaping, but it was oddly soft for the alloy, like the piece had never been fired. After the quench I noticed a small bend from where my tongs had touched a plate. I tried correcting with a small hammer tap like I w...

Gaston de Clermont

I'd take a bit of care- if they're speaking literally, it could be that the steel has been hardened but not tempered. If that's the case, it could crack like glass. Most likely, they're being a little looser with with their terminology, and Amanda's right, it's just not been heat treated. There are ...

Gaston de Clermont

Wow! More depth that I expected. Nice work!

Gaston de Clermont

Do you have pictures of your work you can share, RoundTop? I'm curious how much depth you're able to get in 301.

Gaston de Clermont

You can anneal 410, though you have to cool it very slowly. Out of the thousand or so pieces (not an exaggerated number, we make a lot of splints) we've made in my shop, one piece has cracked, I do advise tempering. I agree with Tascius- if you're not heat treating it, use a 300 series stainless ins...

Gaston de Clermont

Good tip! To add- Black Magic rouge is great stuff. I used to stress about different kinds of rouge, optimizing it for different stages, now I just use that.

Gaston de Clermont

It you put the rivet head on the inside, and the hole in your steel is close to the shank diameter of the splint, you don't have to add the weight of washers. The steel splint becomes your washer. Pictures: http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/200 ... orial.html

Gaston de Clermont

Boiling the leather makes it hard to control how much it's going to shrink or how hard it gets. The better method I've observed is to paint the leather with slightly watered down hide glue (you can get it at an art store, it's sort of like powdered raw hide) and bake it at a low heat on a form. If y...

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