The Armour Archive

Otto

I am, unfortunately, sometimes a little slow with things... but I always at least try to let folks know that I'm behind. That way, they can cuss me out if they want to. Oh, evil... I do beleive the gambeson material was black... I'll see if I can't get her to post a response here as I'm at work and ...

Otto

I beleive you should see those soon... just last night, she was cutting material for 2 tunics, a cloak, and a gambeson...

The tunics and cloak should be yours, and then I'm not sure about the gambeson.

Otto

She's still here... just doesn't get online much anymore so she can concentrate on her sewing. Last I asked her, she only had 2 orders to complete. Yours must be one of them. That being the case, it should be done soon. Also... if the Yahoo mail is not getting through, try using kmvast@cablespeed.co...

Otto

My dear wife makes both items... cotton shell with cotton batting (4 layers in the body of the gambeson... 2 layers in the arms and also in the arming cap) $100 for the gambeson... $5 for the arming cap. ------------------ Otto's Armoury (home of one HIGHLY overworked armourer!) http://www.members.t...

Otto

I'd go with the brass rivets unless you are looking for the contrast. I've done some brass work using stainless steel rivets in the past that I thought looked OK... pics on my page under the "brass" sub category near the bottom. ------------------ Otto's Armoury (home of one HIGHLY overworked armour...

Otto

Well, the small and the mediums are still there... being ignored... though someone did find the large.

Otto

If anyone's looking, I have a few gorgets on Ebay. A small, a medium, and a large. All start at $20 and since they really haven't been getting much action lately... a $20 bid would probably get one. Just look under "gorget" and they'll be easy to find. ------------------ Otto's Armoury (home of one ...

Otto

I've always had good luck just going over the edges with a file... in the case of gorgets, I give them special attention and use sandpaper as well.

Otto

It's either a 16 or 24 oz ball pein hammer. I don't have any brass hammers... though I might try one at some point.

Otto

The technique is sadly simple. For the basic rolled edge just involves flaring the last 1/2 inch or so of the edge to at least a 90 degree angle, then turning it over and gradually tapping the edge further inward until the roll is complete. Best to do this with an eye toward not flattening the roll ...

Otto

Just for giggles, I tried out both rolling and roping the edge on a couple pieces of 16 guage mild steel tonight. I've never had the need/time to do so before, but always wanted to. I have to say, it was far easier than I thought. The rolling went very well, the roping pretty well, since I really di...

Otto

I wouldn't say that Signo... perhaps you just pay more attention to detail... or perhaps you haven't made as many of these as some of us. Either way, speed in the armoury isn't everything.

Otto

For me, a pair of spaulders takes about 1.5 hours. Articulated half-gaunts, 2 hours. A gorget, only 45 minutes.

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Otto's Armoury
(home of one HIGHLY overworked armourer!)

http://www.members.tripod.com/SBvast

Otto

AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

My EYES!!
My EYES!!!

I'VE GONE BLIND!!!!

Who thought up this evil contest anyway???

Otto

Your gorget pattern should be about 4 inches longer than the circumfrence of your neck. 3 of the 4 inches allow room for 1/2 inch of padding, the last inch allows for 1/2 inch overlap on each side of the gorget.

Otto

David, any good on-line sources for COP pics? As to rivets, I'm going to stick with good old copper belt rivets. I've found them to be my rivet of choice when working in leather. No speed rivets, pop rivets, or other such things for me... only normal rivets and proper peening, and yes, using proper ...

Otto

I want to check on other's prices as a matter of practicality... if I want to charge $200 for something that others charge $100 for, I'm not going to sell any of them and it'd be a waste of my time. I find that method has worked fairly well in the past for me. Also, you must remember, I don't do EVE...

Otto

I'm probably going to add a couple of items to my site that I've been asked about a number of times in the past... and I wondered what going prices are normally for such items... bauzabands and coat-of-plates are the 2 items in question for now. I'm only talking about basic construction/ mild steel....

Otto

The sad thing is that the items display a certain amount of skill in metal working... but the designs and inaccurate historical references are all SOOOOOOOO BAD!!!!!!

Otto

A jigsaw can easily do the cutting in stainless. The real trick here is going at a SLOW speed and taking frequent breaks. Oil the blade... household/ 3 in 1 oil will do. Cut, running the saw at a slow speed with a normal amount of forward pressure. After cutting an inch or 2, stop cutting and do som...

Otto

Re: Jigsaw use... Personally, I don't clamp the metal down, I leave is free so I can move it around and keep the point of cutting as close to the edge of my workbench as possible. This provides the best support of the metal and reduces vibration/ improves cutting. Most times, I'm cutting within abou...

Otto

Confirmed jigsaw user here... going on... I think about 18 years in armouring now. A cheap $1 blade lasts me through numerous projects (I can usually get at least several gorgets and a couple of helmets out of a single blade). Also, I found using a B2 to be very inconvenient at times...had to move t...

Otto

Does using the gas improve the quality of the weld over flux-core, or only the cleanliness?

Otto

How much cleaner are the welds when using the gas? I have a fairly nice welder that can be used either way, but have used the flux core wire.

Otto

The few time I have done the particular style you are talking about, I shaped the domed top-plate until the fit was adequate, drilled a rivet hole in the upper section of the body of the helm where I knew one would go on each side of the dome-plate, inserted the dome-plate and marked where the holes...

Otto

It's my understanding that if you don't have the gas, you need the flux core wire. If you are using the flux core wire, the gas is unnecessary (though the weld needs a little more clean-up, I'm told)

Otto

Thank you for the kind words http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif If you want to see pics of the half-gaunts (or ones just like them), they're on my site. Though, I will say that the ones I mailed out are nicer than the old pic on my site. ------------------ Otto's Armoury (home of one HIGHLY ...

Otto

When I do such a helm top on a great helm, I assemble the upper halves of the helm, flip them over on my metal and trace the inside of the opening at the top... to this I add about a 3/4 inch border. No tabs. Work around the edge doing your bend in a gradual fashion... many passes. When it's close, ...

Otto

Patrick, if those are his shoulda-ma-pads... all he needs now is his hemit

I haven't seen that tape in years... you gave my wife and I both a chuckle.

[This message has been edited by Otto (edited 10-26-2002).]

Otto

Provided the creases are not sharp and you have a rubber or leather mallet, you can remove the creases by putting them over a fairly flat anvil type surface and tapping/hammering them out. Not a big deal really. Much of the bending of the back plate of a helm of that nature can be done over your wor...

Otto

Do what I did... break a finger on your right hand three years in a row... during the ensuing "healing period", you get to do lots of off-hand work... since that's all you can do. Painful, but it works http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif (warning, it's somewhat embarassing when the broken fin...

Otto

Using what material?

Otto

So, just for the sake of curiosity, does anyone know if long term SCA heavy fighting induce the "punchy" type thing which is the bane of many long term boxers?? It would seem a possibility, so I wondered. [img]http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/confused.gif[/img]

Otto

I had almost the same sort of experience... though it was somewhat moderated since I trained with a couple different groups. Many experienced fighters and even chiv often get off on whomping a newbie. A rude practice at best. When I was nearing time to authorize, I asked a local baron (and knight) w...

Otto

Forgive any inaccurate terminology...

I think it's the lorica segmenta? (the one with long horizontal steel bands which meet in the middle)... I'm guessing that it's made on either a solid leather vest or on a few internal leather strips on each side as the base...

Could someone enlighten me?

Gorgets for sale

Rolling/Roping Edges

Pricing help

SCA Heavy and long term injury???

Lorica Construction