The Armour Archive

William of Otterton

I've used the Youtube videos from Richard Head Longbow to good use. The page of videos there from Bigbowbrum have been useful to me too. I've also used Longbowshop.com for a long time too. Even with them in the UK and shipping to Canada, I've found them reliable, fairly well priced, and typically we...

William of Otterton

+1 to Asbrand's suggestion but I used glued-up 1"x3" boards. I used 1"x3" ash cut into 2-foot lengths (or thereabouts) and just glued and clamped them. A bit of time with the sander and they were perfect. Alternate the grain and they're super strong. I've had myself and my dog on there, so that's pu...

William of Otterton

That's a fascinating image Egfroth. Thank you for that. It helps a lot!

William of Otterton

Crossbows in England? I'm very much wanting to keep developing my portrayal of someone in Devon during the wars between Stephen and Matilda during the early-mid 12C. However, I'm wanting to use a crossbow for my target archery as my shoulder just can't take the strain of a more typical bow any more....

William of Otterton

If you're a fan of the Dwarfish game of Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl, then Thud! is a game for you!

William of Otterton

I wouldn't object to my name being put on the stock list for my wooden bowls... Granted, I'm miles behind updating the website. I do commissions if requested, but generally just make what I want and when I want to. Woodworking by Greg http://gregsaul.ca/ OR https://www.facebook.com/WoodWorkingByGreg

William of Otterton

My only twitch out of this is the phrase "period pottery" as that can vary greatly depending where and when you are. For example, there's scant evidence for pottery as the dominant form of plate across England for most of the Middle Ages (from the departure of the Roman garrisons up until the rise o...

William of Otterton

As a former Baronial Herald of Septentria in Ealdormere, I had some fun insights into what Their Excellencies did around various events. Let your officers know how much room they have to speak *for* you at times. I was lucky enough to be trusted to be their eyes & ears many times at events to help t...

William of Otterton

And now it's on ebaumsworld too.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/vie ... e=83701398

William of Otterton

Cross posting on here for a friend. This happened on Monday October 21st in the city of Oshawa, which is about 30 minutes east of Toronto in Ontario. The gun case was being used to carry the swords, not firearms. The iaito, based on what I was told, looks very much like a katana with a rebated edge....

William of Otterton

I've used in the past for my wood working. Even without making any efforts to market or promote it, I was always getting hits on the shop and even making sales with minimal inventory on it. Considering it's working for me without any real effort on my part, the small percentage that comes off for th...

William of Otterton

A friend of mine, in the SCA, was sued in civil court successfully by someone for "demeaning and limiting his future business opportunities" simply by posting a bad review/opinion on a forum. Be careful of how you word things. He only just finished paying off the settlement as it was in the thousand...

William of Otterton

Not research based, but fairly well-researched fiction is The "Crowner John" series by Bernard Knight. It's a decent 12C romp through the character of Sir John de Wolfe, King's Coroner for the County of Devon. About 10 books in total I think and an interesting look at medieval law, crime and justice...

William of Otterton

Or you can sell off all your old crappy Canton loaner gear for hundreds of dollars and the outfit your folks with new gear. There's a sucker born every minute, folks. If someone can sell those "historical" pieces and get that kind of money for it, good for them. Almost makes me want to start buying ...

William of Otterton

I like this. I'm going to see what I can come up with. Or fail miserably. But hopefully come up with something.

William of Otterton

I had the honour of being requested by TRH to build their reign website.

For any interested, the website for Nigel & Adrielle is http://www.petreathule.org/royalty/index.html

Humbly,
Wm. of Ot'ton

William of Otterton

Mostly just spoons and simple knives. I haven't hunted as much for the actual utensils yet.

William of Otterton

...is very much a woodware culture from post-Roman Britain to the early 17th Century... I have spent a lot of time searching through online museum collections for European 12th Century items... and found far more pottery than wood. See the links in my original post. My comments related to mainland ...

William of Otterton

Much of the answer to your question really depends on where we are in the 12C. England is a different answer from the Crusader States, Germany or the Low Countries. From the research I've done, through Robin Wood's excellent book The Wooden Bowl , it appears that England (my personal area of interes...

William of Otterton

Did you check out these guys? https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wulfheod ... 3802621780

They've got some great photo galleries and information on that time period.

William of Otterton

That is very nice. I've been hesitating doing a fabric paint on linen standard for some time now. This gives me a little bit more courage to try it.

Thanks for sharing!

William of Otterton

Nicely done. Thanks! What kind of jig do you use? Standard Jo-Jan 6-pack Right or left wing? These are straight / no helical spin with left wing feathers. Left because that's all The Longbow Shop carries where I ordered them from. The 11/32 modified bodkin points and nock inserts are from there too...

William of Otterton

I made these target arrows over the past week. 11/32" Port Orford Cedar shafts from Rose City Archery 125gr Modified Bodkin Points, feathers and horn nock inserts from The Longbow Shop in the UK I decided to go with all black fletch this time, just because. Last time I used grey and before that I di...

William of Otterton

I'd be in for something like this too. Personally, I prefer utilitarian over pretty due to my portrayal being more base than noble. Something that'd be just as happy cutting a hare over the fire as it would be trying to use last-ditch on a battlefield. Simple cruciform design, leather over wood hand...

William of Otterton

That's why I kept the "Griffin" part of the name as a nick-name. This way, if someone forgets or doesn't know and goes with the older Griffin, they're not entirely incorrect and there's no need to remind them.

William of Otterton

Just to avoid any confusion here... I changed my SCA name some time ago but never updated it here. Previously I was using "Griffin de Stokeport". I came to the conclusion that it wasn't a terribly accurate name style especially as I've changed to mid 12C in Devon. Thus, I've changed it to William 't...

William of Otterton

Greetings, The Canton of Petrea Thule, located in the ancient Barony of Septentria in the Kingdom of Ealdomere does announce the annual tournament of archery prowess The Late Winter Shoot. Being held on March 23, our Canton does invite any and all archers, regardless of their skill with longbow, rec...

William of Otterton

Out of curiosity, what did you make it out of? Papier mache? Do you have any pics with the hood off?

I'm pretty inspired by this.

William of Otterton

That's so cool. I love it so much I may need to borrow from your creativity and do something like that for next year.

Well done.

William of Otterton

Wouldn't a great deal of this depend on the station of the person wearing said tabard/surcoat? While someone of great estate (Kings/Dukes/Count/etc) would certainly have the best and greatest way, would that hold true of everyone else?

William of Otterton

Griffin what details are you interested in? Looking on the outside gives us the general shape but not much in the way of internal construction methods. There is a German book on chests that gives the details of joints and construction. Specifically, the joinery work of the legs and sides and how th...

William of Otterton

I'm looking at doing a repro of the 12th Century Crusader Chest that's in the holdings of Bunratty Castle in Ireland. Possibly full-size but more likely scaled down a little bit since I can't really transport an over 6-foot long/2-foot high chest in my Elantra. Although, the wife may just like a new...

William of Otterton

I watched some BBC show or something that featured a segment on the Faroe Islands. Apparently sod roofs are still in regular use there today so maybe look and see if there's anything there that may help? They featured some house that was built in the 1500s (complete with a ships keel as the main sup...

William of Otterton

Posted on behalf of Baroness Anne Tinker of Ealdormere: This Coronet was purchased from By my Hand at Pennsic, it's the work of Master Jurgen. It was stolen (along with a number of other items) from a friend's car the weekend of October 13th from a parking garage in Toronto. http://www.scametalwork....

William of Otterton

The comment about the cross colour was more of an afterthought, not the core of my question. But thank you for your inputs. What I'm more curious about though was the way the battles were drawn up. In looking at some specific battles of Henry I and Stephen, the forces are generally listed as fightin...

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