The Armour Archive

hrolf

I can do this. It will have to be after pennsic, though, i'm tied up with my actual job and pennsic projects until mid august.

hrolf

Put stonekeep's spring stainless elbows on those puppies. So I don't have to

I look at those vams and think to myself "Hey, low profile armor that i can cover up with stuff". No need to care about period/not period for me, i'm putting maille over it.

hrolf

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:Hrolf-
If I can't swing a scabbard in one of your wild color combos, howsa bout using one of the brown and tan ones until I get back from War?
-V

ya sure

hrolf

hnmm. the devil, you say. I might have to spend more money with you, go lowpro, and put the sleeves back on my hauberk...

hrolf

my armor is stored in my armor bag. usually stuffed in my closet. Maille collapses down nicely!

My gambeson and assorted padding is stored in a loose breathable bag after washing, so that it does not reek yea unto the heavens.

hrolf

Glaukos, I use a homemade mix of 50/50 paraffin/bees wax. I combined them in a double boiler and let them cool. The paraffin stabilizes the beeswax I believe. Anyway, I use this on darn near everything, from my mild steel armour, as a coating on my tillers for the crossbows, on my handbows, etc...W...

hrolf

I researched some coke and found a brand called L brand m They claim it makes no smoke or smell. anybody use this brand? If I research propanes more and find a course nearby that shows how to use them properly then maybe my parents will be persuaded to let me get one of them. If not this L Brand lo...

hrolf

use a fast-coking coal, light up with coke left over from last time instead of fresh coal, and consider adding some lump charcoal into the mix.

Put a chimney on the forge.

All of those things will cut down the smoke problem.

hrolf

NEEDS MOAR NICKELZ.

hrolf

the B2 is my favorite cold working tool ever.

hrolf

There is no better armor for protecting the arm pits! hell yeah. If you have a knee length hauberk, it's also admirable ass-wrap protection. the other hidden benefit: it's actually cool to wear in hot weather. Once i've warmed up, i can feel the slightest breeze through it in a very pleasant way.

hrolf

I'm gonna switch to maille soon too. Do you guys wear aluminium, mild or stainless? i wear mild, which i keep oiled to keep (most) of the rust off. Part of the protective ability of the net of links is a function of mass; basically, the more mail weighs, the more effective the energy dissipation be...

hrolf

it works exceptionally well. I wear mcdavid hexpads over my shoulders, short ribs, sternum, hips, and thighs, a kidney belt, a linen tunic, and a knee length hauberk belted and bloused at the waist. I have not yet worn more protective armor that gives me the sheer mobility that mail does. Plenty of ...

hrolf

while it would be absolutely lovely to have a dagger and scabbard and belt for shanking armpits with, it's not strictly required that i have one for war.

i have survived 3 years without one, i can do another.

hrolf

http://www.mcdavidusa.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=210&DEPARTMENT_ID=394 Has anyone used this? I'm wondering how the collar bone protection is since in the picture it looks like the pads aren't as far forward as I'd like. I use the lacrosse version - which, i believe, is no longer sold. The shoul...

hrolf

it's mentioned, perhaps as a poetic device, in Gawain and the Green Knight: "Well nigh slain by the sleet, he slept iron-clad more nights than enow in the naked rocks, where clattering from the crest the cold brook tumbled, and hung high o'er his head in hard icicles." Stanza 31, lines 17-...

hrolf

'mil' is US-centric machinist slang for "one thousandth of an inch". 'thou' is also used interchangeably. Yes, it confused me too. to the OP: I wear one of Torvaldr's low-pro kidney belts, and a mcdavid hexpad shirt under my maille. I have never so much as gotten a bruise in the torso or a...

hrolf

I ordered my greathelm from clang. 5's across the board - he's a standup dude with no communication delays, good prices, and high quality gear. He seems to have bad medical luck that slows him down from time to time, and may or may not be accepting orders right now - but if he is, get in on that whi...

hrolf

it's not bad.

I like Kvass better, though.

hrolf

there is no functional reason to make a Ti knife. It's just not the right material.

it's going to suck to sharpen, by the way, and is not likely to stay sharp very long.

Still, have fun with it.

hrolf

i made a dragon! rar.

hrolf

the thumb tips are a bit wonky to my eye.

but the way the thumb lames are attached to the base of the gauntlet are The Right Way, IMO. Thumb hyperextension is nothing you ever want to have.

hrolf

an oil quench might work out nicely. Water might be getting you too brittle. Try using a blacksmith's temper to condense the quench/temper steps into one. In brief: anneal as usual. Heat again, quench in oil. Use some sandpaper (or a scythe stone, if you can get one) to get down to bare metal along ...

hrolf

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:I think I'm gtonna take one day a week and start pumping out all the dagger scabbards I owe. I can do them fast now.

hrolf

salt water bath. maybe a 9V battery for giggles?

hrolf

specialization.

You can like everything and do one thing with sufficient depth much more happily than liking everything and doing everything in a shallow fashion.

it's also substantially cheaper.

hrolf

Maeryk wrote:Umm.. Geoffry V of Anjou is "modern"???

you pull the wiki embedded graphic but don't read the article? come on man, it's like 3 paragraphs long

hrolf

well, it work hardens and sucks to drill. buy a punch.

hrolf

Hrolf, hold on there: Sawbones is nowhere near the stage where he's normalizing rebar tie wire to pierce for riveted mail. Right now, galvy's his best choice all around, and he's primarily building for Dagorhir-Belegarth, which means he's getting hit with foam. Butted that isn't made too big for th...

hrolf

i would strongly recommend you don't use galvy.

it's ugly. it makes everything it touches stink like zinc. You have to be ridiculously careful about heating it up.

hrolf

flint and steel works great. Make sure your charcloth is DRY, otherwise it won't catch a spark.

hrolf

you also has an easy fix. so the sad shouldn't last long.

hrolf

Could anyone direct me to examples of verified period norse heraldry? as "a rules-encumbered means of graphically displaying arms on stuff", there isn't any; migration period northmen didn't have arms. The Normans dreamed it up post-Hastings - so your great-great-grandson might have arms,...

hrolf

Guillaume de Cambrai wrote:
Of course they are MUCH smaller than the Standard Northern Army shield, but they get over it eventually...

... a glaive?

hrolf

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