The Armour Archive

Derian le Breton

If you want a high level introduction to wet your whistle, some of the Osprey books aren't bad. Ignore their illustrations though, they often take liberties.

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

My latest coin: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/4895432168/" title="Alaric by Derian le Breton, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4895432168_5f6c6c0886.jpg" width="500" height="245" alt="Alaric"></a> Pennies for Count Alaric le Fevre. Based on a billon den...

Derian le Breton

I have been thinking about doing silver and wondered how to keep it so it is visable against the polished iron. Master William Bjornson (An Tir) did a really awesome axe this way: <IMG SRC="http://www.billdawsonmetalsmith.com/ax1.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://www.billdawsonmetalsmith.com/ax2.jpg"> m His c...

Derian le Breton

I prefer my Turkish coffee unsweetened (and yes, you can get it this way in Turkey).

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Hmm, if the pewter is running out the vent holes, then they're too big. Surface tension should keep the pewter inside (just like with vent lines). You can also try casting with the metal a bit cooler, that will make it less likely to create casting flash, though you'll have to monitor the temperatur...

Derian le Breton

I used soapstone for most of it, but ended up using a sand mold as the back plate to get the mounting pegs to cast properly. Great! One thing you can try to help filling in the pin backs is to run vent lines out of the stone. A tiny drill bit can help here; you want to avoid air pockets. Using soap...

Derian le Breton

Neat!

What was the casting method?

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

All three dies done! Two today, all three in a three-day weekend, whew! I was able to get away with not making any extra punches through some creative engraving. Now to summon up the energy to make blanks and maybe get some striking in after work this week, so that next weekend isn't terribly crazy....

Derian le Breton

I'm aiming to get three coin dies done before Pennsic. We'll see if it's possible... One will be easy, but for the other two I'll have to make a bunch of new punches. Two dies down, one to go. Need to make at least two new punches. Already struck a pound for the first project, will need to strike a...

Derian le Breton

I love my benches that Conal made. Alas, they wont be coming to Pennsic with me

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Have you looked at the I Want To Be A... forum? As I recall there are several threads there that can help you.

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Another coin die, this one based off of an early 7th century Visigothic <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sisebut1.jpg">Tremissis of Sisebut</A>: <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/4822141077/in/set-72157603242207418/"><IMG SRC="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/48221410...

Derian le Breton

Derian: Good job on winning the competition! The coins looked amazing and I really liked your process photos. Did they judges include any contact information on your judging sheets? If so, perhaps you can seek individual feedback. Thanks! I ended up getting some good feedback today via email, so it...

Derian le Breton

Derian le Breton wrote:All photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebr ... 350515485/

I guess the judges liked my stuff (and docs); I won the competition!

No feedback though.

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Finished the sterling silver strikes: <IMG SRC="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4796766694_13e4356285.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4796771116_2885664c43.jpg"> Eight hammering/annealing passes. This is the third time I've done this with sterling, and my results get better e...

Derian le Breton

Isabella E wrote:Man, I wish I had computers to do that crap.

Feh. You'll get a much more medieval look without them.

Cool stuff Nissan!

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

When I took shop in High School, we marked by painting some blue stuff onto the metal (don't remember the name anymore) and then scribing the measure line with something like an awl (again, don't remember if it has a different name when used for this -- perhaps "scriber" ) I've always cal...

Derian le Breton

I'm working on some stuff for an A&S competition this weekend. <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/4785099517/"><IMG SRC="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4785099517_3d180a606c.jpg"></A> Cuttlefish bone cast ingot of sterling silver. <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/deri...

Derian le Breton

Fair enough. But we both know that you don't start out with Maximilian plate. I'm trying to figure out how to start cheaply and (relatively) easily--a few practice pieces and the like, and gathering references. True. The easiest technique to learn is punchwork. Engraving is hard and frustrating wor...

Derian le Breton

Jess wrote:http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTM

Am I missing something? This site has lots about shoes, but almost nothing on pattens...

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Coining is not unlike armouring. If you want to make an object that has the right medieval look, you must first study and thoroughly understand both the final objects themselves, and the techniques used to make them. Even if you don't want to do a precise replica (which is illegal under the 1973 Hob...

Derian le Breton

Approximately the same shape as the sole, with a leather hinge at the balls of your feet. Or you can omit the hinge. Strapping varies. I have a pair of <A HREF="http://home.comcast.net/~meisterdru/reenact.htm">these</A> from Dru, and they work great. I love them especially on cold, wet nights or ear...

Derian le Breton

People have been arguing about the location of Camelot for centuries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelot#Identifications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sites_and_ ... nd#Camelot

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

The belt-hook idea makes a lot of sense. I'm a bit skeptical of the "sword-breaker" suggestion.

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Some early swords with complex guards in the Istanbul Military museum:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/2099541292/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/2099540572/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/2098757141/

Unfortunately they're only dated by century.

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Music wire (AKA piano wire) is an easily hardenable spring steel for this sort of thing. Pretty much any modern tool steel will work, provided you can harden it appropriately. To get a medieval look, I recommend using medieval methods. A stick of steel, a coarse file, a set of needle files, and mayb...

Derian le Breton

Baron Alcyoneus wrote:When was that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Orl%C3%A9ans

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

I'm aiming to get three coin dies done before Pennsic. We'll see if it's possible... One will be easy, but for the other two I'll have to make a bunch of new punches.

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

When did the practice of breaking coins into halves/quarters start? I'm not sure when the first coin was cut, but the first English long-cross pennies show up under Aethelred the Unready, in the mintings of 997 to 1003. The long cross (which goes nearly to the edge of the coin) provides a simple gu...

Derian le Breton

Welcome! You've got some nice looking kits!

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

I do an early Henry III long cross penny. England ~1250 AD.

<A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/derianlebreton/3103405620/"><IMG SRC="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/3103405620_54b8bbb688.jpg"></A>

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

Suzerain, on the Royal Armouries website, there's an English basket-hilted sword dated to about 1540. (I didn't post the link because it's too long.) Aww, come on! You can make a short link using one of two methods: HTML version: <A HREF="http://www.google.com/ReallyLongURLOfDoom">google<...

Derian le Breton

Personally I recommend getting a pair that really fits. The revival shoes are okay, I had a pair for about five years, but I'm *much* happier with my new shoes from <A HREF="http://www.medievalshoes.com/">Dru</A> (which I bought off the rack, but they still fit like a glove).

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

The "Roman Tube" is supposed to be very comfy in hot weather (even with an under-tunic)

-Derian.

Derian le Breton

brewer wrote:[img]http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/Virginia%20matters/Images/Larger%20view/Item27.jpg[/img]

That's the one!

Interesting, though the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellesmere_Chaucer">Ellesmere Chaucer</A> was more my style.

-Derian.

Re: Marking for Accuracy or My Sharpie isn't sharp anymore!