The Armour Archive

RenJunkie

That's kinda rough news... I appreciate it tho.

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

Hey, gang. Does anyone know of someone who makes C&T legal fencing morions or cabasets? Preferably someone in the US , partly to avoid overseas shipping costs, and partly to make getting it adjusted easier and quicker. I've asked a few US armorers, and they've declined...or not answered. It's hard t...

RenJunkie

Thanks, Sean!

Chris

RenJunkie

For brand new linen, what would I be looking for? I'm not going to have time to go poking around thrift stores looking for tablecloths. And it would bring me back to the question about identifying a good weave for this lol

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

Glue question (because I'm trying to avoid making glue): Is Elmers School Glue or Glue all safe to be in contact with steel? They're no longer true milk-casein glues, they're classified now as synthetic and "vegan-friendly". I have no idea if the current formulation is corrosive to steel or not. I t...

RenJunkie

Sweet! I'm looking forward to going through the details on your page. Will cotton muslin work? I can get it very thin and waaaaaay cheaper than linen. even then the stuff is $7 a yard for the 100 inch wide stuff. I'm thinking of making the strips about 1.5 or 2 inches wide. Does that sound about rig...

RenJunkie

Is the linen strip glued on or just wrapped dry? I'm having trouble figuring out (probably me missing a critical sentence somewhere) if the linen stays on under the leather, or if it comes off before the leather goes on.

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

Sweet! I was planning on swinging thru one or both to get some hide glue.

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

Envirotex? I'll start working on tracking it down. I'll have a look at the Foxfire book. I have a guess at the method it describes....curious to see if I'm right or if it's more like the brewers' method. I hope so, because I haven't got that way to work on my own yet. I haven't heard of Les Landes, ...

RenJunkie

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have a look at it. Any suggestions on how to figure out what style elements and shapes fit my timeframe and which are too late for it?

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

I can't get pics at the moment, but it's this one: https://www.museumreplicas.com/falchion-sword It's just cut down to about a 25 inch blade to remove the severe damage. It's still in its rough-from-the-angle-grinder state from when I got rid of the mangled bit a few months ago. If it wasn't wavy fr...

RenJunkie

I'll definitely look up the Theophilius recipes, thanks! I agree that the Townsend's stuff isn't brewer's pitch; nether the yellow nor the no-longer-available black. My experience actually makes me suspect the inverse of your description: beeswax with some black-colored pine pitch. The black version...

RenJunkie

Thanks for the suggestions and links! I do feel a bit silly. Not only because I failed to mention the blade is straight (MRL falchion) but because I totally forgot about the images of Smith with his sword, and that is literally the ideal years of where I'm trying to place this project. Though, with ...

RenJunkie

Hi gang, I'm re-purposing a damaged blade and after cutting off the severely damaged part at the end, and I'm left with about a 25-ish inch blade which I plan to make a hanger out of. I've got the guard type locked down for it (a very simple one lol), but I'm not sure about the tip shape. I can find...

RenJunkie

Hi gang, So, I'm about to start experimenting with making brewer's pitch. From my research, it looks like it was made by burning down the sap-riddled wood and catching both the pitch and the char from the process. Not experimenting with that at this time, I'm going to be using pine resin and melting...

RenJunkie

That's kinda brilliant, Roland, thanks for sharing that. Hopefully in May things will be closer to normal and I'll have time between semesters. I definitely want to give it a try.

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

When prototyping, I recommend using the softest wood practical. Mostly because as soft wood is far easier to shape then say... the hat block I made from maple. I spent 10x longer on that damn thing then I needed to. Smoothing out the facets was a nightmare. Balsa may be a bit too soft if you plan o...

RenJunkie

I think that these "cow mouths" and similar wide toed shoes may be the "dawn of the straight last". At least that's how it appears in art. Shoes seem to have distinct chirality right up to then. Even the late 15th C shoes that have rounded toes don't look like they came off straight lasts, any more...

RenJunkie

Hi gang! I was gonna respond a couple days ago, but I couldn't get the forums to come up, I kept getting all kinds of time out and error messages. Anyone else been having these issues? There's no reason to ask forgiveness, John, I fully intend to play with making proper lasts....someday. It'll be ye...

RenJunkie

Hi gang. I remember seeing years ago (maybe here, maybe elsewhere) someone who was using a couple chunks of 2x4 to simulate a last for a 16th-century Mary Rose-ish shoe if I recall. But it may have been a turnshoe. My goal is Mary Rose-ish shoes (and maybe boots). What I remember: The 2 pieces were ...

RenJunkie

Do these legs and arms (On Ernst's thread) only exist in a German or Scandinavian context in the 16th and early 17th century? I'm loving that Gustavus had Panzerarms....lol And would they be...out of date (in terms of battlefield stuff)? Even kings can have a preference for out of date stuff if it's...

RenJunkie

I would posit that the short sword is a continuous tradition back to cruciform swords of the middle ages if not the Roman Empire for most European cultures. No doubt. But it's the common-class weapon, like the messers that I'm looking for. A big sword-ish or machete-ish knife that you could carry e...

RenJunkie

Hi gang. I was watching a Scholagladitoria video and Matt made a throwaway reference to the English having a Renaissance tradition of hangers similar to German langemessers or grossemessers (is there a distinction between long-knives and big-knives?). Now I had never heard of that before, all of my ...

RenJunkie

Maybe one step up or one step down from running away with the circus. Depending on who you talk to. But definitely higher on the social ladder than common variety Carney folk! I dunno. When I worked Ohio Renfest, we often joked about being the lowest form of carnies....lol Chris Care to elaborate? ...

RenJunkie

Otto von Teich wrote:Maybe one step up or one step down from running away with the circus. Depending on who you talk to. But definitely higher on the social ladder than common variety Carney folk!

I dunno. When I worked Ohio Renfest, we often joked about being the lowest form of carnies....lol

Chris

RenJunkie

Greenlight. Here's the link to the online report: https://www.qaronline.org/reports/lead-studs-shipwreck-31cr314-queen-annes-revenge-site The report says that the pieces joined together in Fig 4 are leather, but since conservation, they have been found to be horn. It's on display at the Maritime Mus...

RenJunkie

It's for a research project, artifacts from a 1718 shipwreck. I have to confirm with the conservation lab that giving more details won't violate my confidentiality agreement. Hence my extreme vagueness. Because I'm paranoid, and if I screw up grad school because I'm obsessed with finding a better th...

RenJunkie

Hi gang,

Anyone have any idea what soft-lead (not alloyed) studs or tacks would be used for? Especially the kind with decorative beaded or floral heads? Or at least where to look for this?

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

Hey, gang. I've been not pursuing my interest on naval architecture before 1600 for many, many years. I kinda want to start pursuing now...lol. This isn't restricted to big, blue-water vessels, but little sailing boats operated by one guy out casting his nets, or small-time trading between villages ...

RenJunkie

Hey, all. For swords (backswords and rapier-ish combat swords, not anything big...think soldier-colonists and explorers, not Landsknechts) that would have been handed out to levees or other "militia" type soldiery, would the scabbards for their swords have wooden cores or be leather only? Particular...

RenJunkie

Thanks for the responses, guys. I could test it, but I don't have any stain on hand, and figured if someone had prior experience with it, I'd then know if it was worth spending the money. Age....white pine never ages dark enough for my taste. My tool tray made from 150 year old longleaf southern yel...

RenJunkie

Hi, gang, quick question about wood finishing. Can I put linseed oil over a modern stain, like the kind you get at Lowes or Wally World? Linseed oil only darkens the wood a bit (even less if mixed with turpentine), and on standard white pine boards (not yellow pine) it's just being too pale for my t...

RenJunkie

That's really a lot more simple than I figured.

So, it makes a super-supple, all-weather leather? Will it shape over a last, say for shoe-making?

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

Sounds good. Harness Honey or olive oil it is. Probably olive oil...lol

Yeah, I've never had olive oil go rancid on me either. I just thought it would be prudent to check. And of course, you never know what unexpected gems will pop up

Thanks!
Chris

RenJunkie

I'm disappointed this thread hasn't had more traffic. That's pretty much the time frame I want my primary impression to be.

I'm digging the handbook page. It looks great and is full of good stuff.

Thanks!
Chris

Re: Anyone Make SCA Fencing Morions or Cabasets?

Anyone Make SCA Fencing Morions or Cabasets?

Re: Panzerhosen

Re: Documentation for glues used in scabbards?

Re: Documentation for glues used in scabbards?

Re: Documentation for glues used in scabbards?

Re: Documentation for glues used in scabbards?

Re: Recipe for Brewer's Pitch (and maybe cutler's pitch)?

Re: Recipe for Brewer's Pitch (and maybe cutler's pitch)?

Re: English "Hangers" Around 1580-1615?

Re: English "Hangers" Around 1580-1615?

Re: Recipe for Brewer's Pitch (and maybe cutler's pitch)?

Re: English "Hangers" Around 1580-1615?

English "Hangers" Around 1580-1615?

Recipe for Brewer's Pitch (and maybe cutler's pitch)?

Re: 2-Piece Shoe Last

Re: 2-Piece Shoe Last

Re: 2-Piece Shoe Last

Re: 2-Piece Shoe Last

2-Piece Shoe Last

Re: Panzerhosen

Re: Messers, Hangers, and Bauernwehrs

Messers, Hangers, and Bauernwehrs

Re: Is it possible to live at "Renaissance fairs" like place

Re: Is it possible to live at "Renaissance fairs" like place

Re: Lead Tacks/Studs

Re: Lead Tacks/Studs

Lead Tacks/Studs

Square Rigged Boats/Small Ships

16th Century Munitions" Scabbard Construction?

Re: Stains and Linseed Oil

Stains and Linseed Oil

Re: How Do You Make Hot-Stuffed Leather?

Re: Mineral Oil or Olive Oil for Leather?

Re: 16th-17th Century Clothing Guidelines Feedback