The Armour Archive

Jason Grimes

Hmm, don't know why it was posted twice?!? Here is the other picture I was talking about: http://www.frostyfoot.com/grimm/images/armour/swissreislaufer.jpg Spaulders, munions galore. Even a gorget with shoulder caps (I think that's what they are called?). I think Wade has one of those too.

Jason Grimes

Thanks Wade, I think the stuff I have is no where near 10oz more like 5 to 6 oz. Let me know if you are going to purchase some buff leather, maybe we could split the order or combine them to get a better deal? Andy - Heh, spaulders and pauldrons look easy but really they are very complex pieces. I s...

Jason Grimes

I always get a bit nervous when an old thread pops up that I was involved in. You never know if you said something intelligent or.... Well anyway, I'm glad it was at least useful. Wade, I'm curious about what you said about the internal strapping. I have some elk hide which is very much like you des...

Jason Grimes

I know that Patrick and Ugo both collaborated on a project for that movie (that I can't remember the name of) as one example of armourers of similar ability working together. Although it was for just a short time. I have the same feelings for my workshop or laboratory as I call it. Even with my kids...

Jason Grimes

There are some sliding rivets on the Churburg 13 vambraces. They allow the lower cannon to turn with the wrist. Given, the same was not continued up to the spaulders, but it is the earliest turner like construction that I know about (1370's ?).

Jason Grimes

Suzerain wrote:the barbute with the Avant harness is, indeed, incorrect for the harness. it is, however, certainly not a "fake"

I think bender was talking about the Phily breastplate and that it might be fake. At least I think that is what we were talking about.

Jason Grimes

I don't know if I would call it a fake. Many times only bits and pieces would survive that were later put back together incorrectly to furnish, like you said, decor bits. The tassets look to be in the style of 17th century armour, so maybe it was cobbled together or created then? You would need to s...

Jason Grimes

I'm pretty sure that the helmet shown with the Avant harness does not belong. It originally came with an armet not a barbute. Just something to keep in mind.

That Phily breastplate just looks wrong to my eyes in so many ways.

Jason Grimes

Raising can thin the metal too, all depends on how you do it. But I agree with Richard, it was done originally with a combination of both techniques. The old armourers had an advantage that we don't any more. They could pick and choose which plate to use and match the best properties of the plate to...

Jason Grimes

Hot bluing and gilding or cold bluing. If you heat polished iron up to around 550 degF you get a nice shiny dark blue. Doing it in nitre can result in a shiny black---then you guild! Thomas Given the time period, the iron/steel was probably not gilded. Instead applied plates and whole parts of the ...

Jason Grimes

Has anyone here used these sanding sticks? It's reasonable explanation that's what they are. Is it a leather strip impregnated with grit as Keegan postulates? Is there some kind of bonding agent, like a wax or glue to keep it from rubbing off the leather right away? Did anyone write about it? I don...

Jason Grimes

The Ring Lord sells riveted ring punches also. I had a pair of these and they did not work at all. They were made from adjustable pliers, because of this they would break punches all the time and they wouldn't punch cleanly. I ended up just throwing mine away. I use a modified nail set punch and a ...

Jason Grimes

It looks to me that he is filing on one of the spurs. The metal post and wooden(?) block would make a very good rest to hold the work steady while you file.

Jason Grimes

Jason, this one is as you describe, mimicking the puff& slash of the clothing Yes, very much so, although I was thinking more about this example: http://www.frostyfoot.com/grimm/images/armour/ps337948.jpg Here are some others, the first one is my personal favourite, it's sublime armour poetry: ...

Jason Grimes

That is so cool!

Awesome job Jiri!

Jason Grimes

Gustav Johannes Losen wrote:and again

Hi Gustav, this last image is not a burgonet, it's an armet.

Jason Grimes

Did you want this to be historical? I don't think I have ever seen the chevron pattern on a historical example. I do like the bands of flutes on the originals that are very similar to your last pic. The only problem I can see is that they need to come together more at the bottom. Originally the flut...

Jason Grimes

A&AMK depicts fully wrapped elbows on the Wladislas suit that I think dates from 1515 or there about. It's German in manufacture if that fits with your suit. Now that I think about it they might not be completely wrapped all the way? I can't remember and I don't have A&AMK with me right now ...

Jason Grimes

I have done that before as well, it will work and make the metal softer. It's not a full anneal, but it does help.

Jason Grimes

Here is the original I found from the Eyewitness book Knight. The image is large so I left it as a link: m Here are the close-ups of the rolls I did on my gauntlets. They are unfinished, but I did sand the roll a bit to get rid of some rust and to make it easier to see the roping. http://www.frostyf...

Jason Grimes

I like your idea of etching the ropes, then rolling, Jason. Do you have any evidence for that having been done in period? It wouldn't surprise me a bit. The etched ropes were done after I rolled the edge in the last picture. The rolls on the last finger lames are a bit of a special case. I was look...

Jason Grimes

Here is the picture of some roping I did with a wire-supported roll and just using a chisel to put the ropes in. http://www.frostyfoot.com/grimm/images/armour/ropping-close-up.jpg Here is my attempt at the higher end ropes, the roping on the very last finger lame is done with a different technique. ...

Jason Grimes

I agree with schreiber, it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish (low, med, or high end ropes). I would like to see what Lord Ogier has come up with too, you can never have too many roping techniques I think. Alcyoneus - Your rolls are looking good, but I think something that would have h...

Jason Grimes

Ignore all those remarks about anvils not being good enough to hold stakes, it seems the stakes and hardy holes do not match properly, or the anvils were too light. Well I never said it wouldn't work, just that there are better options. As you said usually stakes would not be able to fit in the har...

Jason Grimes

One of the anvils used in the 16th century in Greenwich was octangular in shape if I remember correctly. By far most of the original anvils were just simple rectangles or blocks. I really like the double horned anvils, lots of usable edges and forms. Since you are able to control how the anvil is ma...

Jason Grimes

Looking good David!

Jason Grimes

Thanks Klaus that picture helped a lot! Steve- It's hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like the originals were more curved and covered more of the thumb then yours do. This would also help with the articulation, the more you can get the rivets lined up on the same axis the better they will ...

Jason Grimes

I'm thinking you want to rivet each plate to a leather backing? I'm not familliar with the Wisby gaunts at all, were they found with the thumb plates riveted like that? The only way you are going to get better articulation with them riveted to each other is to lengthen the rivets so they are more lo...

Jason Grimes

Hey Karl, I think I have to agree with Michael on that one. It looks to me to just be the style of shading the artist used as you can see the same shading on the guy to the right of him. I won't go as far as to say that the breastplate is cloth covered (it might be) and I'm not sure that I can see r...

Jason Grimes

Thanks guys, that makes me feel better about the paint. Konstantin - I think I'm going to go ahead and mix up a little more paint and just repair the spots that I scratched. I don't really feel like removing the paint and starting all over again. Ralph - I did file the surface down some so it is smo...

Jason Grimes

I would not buy one from TheRingLord, at least until they change the design. I bought a pair and they did not work well at all. The biggest problem with them is that they were made from a pair of adjustable pliers, that made them so sloppy that it was almost guaranteed that you would break the bit. ...

Jason Grimes

I had started this kettlehelm about 2 years ago and I want to just finish it and get it off my project list. My main question is about the liner. I was thinking of doing a simple linen liner for it? It is made using the simple spangan type construction and when I made the skull I made it a bit longe...

Jason Grimes

Moog wrote:oh... I was just interested in it from a reverse engineering prospecctive but i would love to test it as well. what kind of tests you have in mind?

You do not want to use my mail as an example to reverse engineer.

You really need to look at the originals.

Jason Grimes

Hi Moog, Have you done some destructive testing on mail before? I only ask because, with all of the work I have put into the collar, I would like to see it used to farther along our understanding of how protective mail was. I'm hoping people who had done some mail testing before would be interested ...

Jason Grimes

I have some very heavy wedge riveted mail that I made for a bishop mantle collar in the late 15th to early 16th century style. It is made of 16 gauge wire with just the overlap flattened. I will add some pictures tonight when I have some time. The ID is around 6 or 7mm if I remember correctly. The p...

Re: Is this how spaulder articulation is supposed to functio

Re: Is this how spaulder articulation is supposed to functio

Re: Is this how spaulder articulation is supposed to functio

Re: Anyone in the U.S. willing to take an apprentice?

Re: Earleist use of turners?

Re: Breastplate question...

Re: Breastplate question...

Re: Breastplate question...

Re: To dish or to raise, that is the question ;)

Re: Hinged Wings On Spaulders (you gotta see this)

14th century kettle helm questions

So you say you want to test some riveted mail?