The Armour Archive

Thomas Powers

So go ask the local fencers for loaner blades. You may want to go with standard epee's--- Much less a problem with school rules if you use something that is already OK'd for school use.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I can see the journal article now: "Ritual "killing" of early 21st Century Sports Armour---a new appraisal"

Thomas who has used a siscors jack to open up a helm that was a bit squashed...

Thomas Powers

No "De Re Metallica" has detailed instructions on how to build a single chamber bellow as was the most common form for use in smithing. That side has instructions on doing a double chambered bellows as was sometimes used in late renaissance smithing.. I'll dig my copy of DRM out tonight and cite you...

Thomas Powers

Well one thing to look for is that a double chambered bellows you pump the bottom board, the middle board is fixed in place and the top board floats up and down. There are valves in the bottom and middle boards and only perhaps a "popoff" valve in the top board. Since De Re Metallica has explicit pl...

Thomas Powers

I try the socratic method with the old Heavily spiced to hide rotten meat myth asking them is spices were cheap and getting to the spices may cost their weight in specie and so someone would be spending several times the cost of buying a cow to hide the taste of rotting meat....I think not.... Thomas

Thomas Powers

Note: they are complete unsure of it's date or location but will gaurentee it's authenticity...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Heat till it barely glows in a dark room, quench in water. Note that copper absorbs O2 forming coper oxides that build up along grain boundries and is brittle so keep the temp down and keep the time as short as possible and keep the number of repetitions as few as possible.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I would suggest reading the apprenticeship threads over at anvilfire---may even be in the faq by now; or at sword forum.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Or, it is possible to be active in the sca and even get to high estate without a registered name or device. I had tried several times back in the dark ages but each time something happened and it disappeared into the heraldic morass, then as I learned more about what I was interested in I realized t...

Thomas Powers

Thanks for the lead it had goon offpage whilst I was at Estrella. That bellows is probably not to a renaissance or medieval design either; most likely late 19th early 20th century Folks if you were trying to recreate a medieval wagon would you think that a model T car would be a good way to go? Thomas

Thomas Powers

Alcyoneus, your present is getting to be a Pell for his Jarlship to get back into shape with---"Thank you Sir may I have another!"

Glad the book was deemed worthy---I got one myself and will be making some things out of it as I have the time---most likely the hanging lamps.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

What alloy of stainless?

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Run don't walk over to the swordforum.com and mention this in the antiques and military sword forum...

See you there,

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Say what???? You go off for a week and folks are dumping defiacation on you? You know that quite a few cultures have *lame* smithing demigods should I ecpect Dinsdale with a baseball bat?

BTW where was I promoted at?

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I found Ash simple to cut---green and then drawknifed the bark off and waxed the ends. Light and strong when dry.

They are cutting tons of ask because of the emerald bark beetle in areas like northern OH; don't know if they would let folks strip it clean and re-use it though...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Well they do fit your "renaissance" theme as the double lunged variety came into blacksmithing from the gold smiths in the renaissance.. The one i built---no plans; but i got to examine a 19th century commercial one---did not use the counterweight shown on that site and did not need it. If I wanted ...

Thomas Powers

The medieval sources say "tin" not pewter so since it was more expensive they probably had a reason... Theophilus mention extreme cleanliness---no finger prints! followed by imersion in the tin using a tallow flux. Reading up on how they re-tin copper sause pans nowdays might be helpfull. Thomas

Thomas Powers

Go to the scrap yard andf get a nice heavy hunk of *steel* for your anvil. If you look you will find that early medieval anvils tended toward a large cube shape with rounded edges from much use. The london pattern anvil dates to the 1800's why spend money to be less authentic? The london pattern anv...

Thomas Powers

Back from Estrella with my forge---Hi Folcric!---what I was asked/hit up for while I was there was: ornate hinges for boxes, portable holes for banners, a spider for a very large dutch oven, an interior "shelf" to put a second level in a 14" dutch oven, a set of fire/cooking tools for working with c...

Thomas Powers

For high heels to "work" you must be able to walk on smooth level surfaces, save for indoors this wasn't very common in medieval times---shoot folks have trouble walking on cobblestone streets in sneakers nowdays!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Nobody interested? Ok that's just anothe 5 pounds off the axles...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

You would forge weld a thin strip of steel to make the edge of your scraper...since medieval metal armour was made from wrought iron the harder steel would work. It's not medieval but japanese swordmakers still use scrapers to shape swords---called a "sen". Theophilus would be a good easy read to fi...

Thomas Powers

"I am worth more alive than dead"

Thomas

Thomas Powers

In general they seem to be either 1.75 or 2" in diameter, dome headed, the 2" on 1" shafts and the 1.75 on around a 3/4" shaft---the large oval headed ones I'm keeping for myself. Price will range depending on condition (as found ranging from "why the heck did they throw this one away??? to hmmm wil...

Thomas Powers

Dome headed RR bolts at estrella: ran across a couple more today and wondered if anyone wanted any for making hammers or stakes?

I'll probably bring along a couple just in case. I believe my forge will be at the period demo center just ask for wilelm the smith

Thomas
SKA wilelm the smith

Thomas Powers

You might flog it at the IBA conference in early june---about 1 hour north of Indianapolis IIRC.
(Indiana Blacksmith's Association).

Thomas

Thomas Powers

abebooks.com shows 45 copies of Stone's glossary for under $40; quite a few of then the hardcover version---including the one for under $15

Perhaps you should consider a different bookseller?

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Sandpaper, no but a piece of wood, or wood with a leather covering, and grinding compound ranging from sand to emery was known---however you can get a pretty good finish with a scraper and a burnisher.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

James B please say that as "*SOME* SCA folks will get on you" I've been a member since 1978 and I wouldn't even blink. Real easy to equate *everyone* with the jerks... Shoot I've know *some* LH types that use a type of metal for their medieval and renaissance stuff that wasn't available till after L...

Thomas Powers

Knifemakers commonly use materials like coral or cactus skeleton which are more not there than there---we have methods of stabilizing and filling soft stuff...

Thomas---I'm willing to try!

Thomas Powers

If you can find what you need at a non-ferrous scrap yard the price will generally be a lot cheaper---buy as much as you can! If you buy from a metals dealer the qulity and price will be high! Learn the difference between the hardness states as the same alloy can come annealed half or full hard. Tho...

Thomas Powers

Sorry to be such a pain, Sir Gaston; probably a result of stark bier consumption and the weather front moving in the next morning---all this snow is quite pretty in the sun and cold but walking through dirty slush in the rain brings one down a bit... There is a very prevasive idea that all medieval ...

Thomas Powers

I'd be happy to take any mistakes carefully hidden in your pocket....make a nifty knife handle...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

The other thing twin bellows do is to keep the bellows from inhaling burning charcoal on the in-stroke. Now a check valve will do the same thing; but, funnily Theophilus shows a check valve on his organ bellows but not on his melting melting bellows. Two twinned bellows can alternating keeping a pos...

Thomas Powers

Actually the double lunged bellows is renaissance and would fit in for De Re Metallica's time period. Agricol shows single action bellows mainly because he is using ganged water powered bellows and so the double action is not needed.

Thomas