The Armour Archive

Thomas Powers

In my old shop I had the metal base for a large aquarium that I mounted 4 pieces of black pipe across the top longways so I had two slotsspaced apart from each other. Held 75 hammers. I also had a hammer rack made from an old steel wheelbarrow wheel that I clipped on bent heavy steel wire holders an...

Thomas Powers

Ahh Alcy, your numbers seem to indicate that *every* arrow would impact the armoured knights---not a good assumption.... Hits to open ground do not result in damage to knights... Now if you calculate the number that hit people and then take the 99% of that you can then come up with the wounded/dead ...

Thomas Powers

Looks like the exhibit is still running---at least there was a plug for it at the Munich Airport yesterday. We got re-routed when all the flights in/out of Atlanta were cancelled so the bumped us to Air France out of Chicago---better food but we had to make an extra plane switch and go in later so I...

Thomas Powers

Viking soapstone lamps: IIRC there is one shown in the National Geographic book on the vikings. It was originally a hanging lamp.

Unfortunately I can't check on it for a while---I'm in Germany until time to madly pack for Estrella.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I'm not up on leather; however the vikings did seem to ornament most things they used---note the intricate wood carving they did. I always considered it an artifact of "what do you do during the long winters when you are not telling sagas, drinking mead and making more little norse to grow up and go...

Thomas Powers

A bit earlier but there is good documentation for viking oil lamps carved from soapstone---and the stuffs fairly easy to find at art supply stores and dead simple to carve---you can do it with a nail.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I don't know what your size requirements are but bandsaw blades come ina variety of sizes including the nice re-saw lumber mill ones with about 1" wide usable and fairly thick---and you get them free when they are used...Ask around.

Heat treating: smiths, potters, *you*...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

So ROC you trying to tell us you're not a real "nose to the grindstone" type of guy? Grinders just don't care if it's steel or flesh, *buffers* go out of their way to try to hurt you with your own workpiece. The rule we had was "if you hear nasty noises in the basement followed by a lot of cussing"-...

Thomas Powers

Memo to self, never kick Atli with bare feet...Hmmm, induction heaters... You know with regular use you just don't feel *dressed* without your safety equipment. If it's "too hot" buy a *FAN*. I remember when i was working for a swordmaker that *mandated* safety equipment---we didn't have insurance y...

Thomas Powers

Now when you say "silver solder" do you mean the high temp stuff that the steel will glow when you heat it up to melt it, AKA know as "hard solder". Or do you mean low temp 2% silver solder like stay-brite that melts around 500 degF Hard solder makes a very strong joint---but you are using equipment...

Thomas Powers

There are a number of renaissance low country paintings of children at play. IIRC at least one includes sledding.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Toilet "paper", fire starters, rags, (washing, wiping, etc) stuffing for gambesons, plugging holes in your boat, rag paper (later), motley...

linen scraps usually go to making char cloth for flint and steel in my house

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I leave for Germany Friday evening; so it's up to the rest of y'all to get this bit of back documentation nailed down. I'm still a bit doubtfull on the medieval front.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Matt is that picture the state you sent it to heat treat at? If so how thick is the blank?

The originals I have seen have a much more tapered grind to them---helps reduce the weight and as you mentioned *much* easier to grind before heat treat!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

LOCATION?

I usually talk to the Vo-Tech people when i need something machined for a good price.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Can you post a picture---even if a drawing? The terms "cutlas" and "s shaped blade" and Medieval do not bring a picture to my mind. The Flamberge blades of the renaissance tend to have more "waves" and are not cutlas in style. If being documentable is important I'd call a quick halt to the forging t...

Thomas Powers

We were given all the cotton we wanted at the Gin this year. (in SW OK mid December) A few years ago we got some beautiful long staple cotton at a test facility, in S NM, about 2 garbage bags full. We also used to grow our own, in NW AR and plan to plant some this year central NM. If you are in a so...

Thomas Powers

"Forge Welded"!

Couldn't control myself, I'll go quietly officer...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I thought Ugo was living off the "Well beautiful, so you want a man with 6 pack Abs"---FX sound of cell phone dialing-ringing---"Ugo, Crash order and can you paint it skin tone?"

Nice stuff, I especially like some of the Negroli derrived items---I know I can never own the originals...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I can't promise but I'll try to get into Munich and get the catalogue (and visit the exhibit!)

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Most Salty Atli, you can have a civil war in the length of a table top!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Paging Maria.

Bump

Thomas

Thomas Powers

That's just it----it's not an INGOT; as it was not molten in the japanese method... There is a MAJOR process differential and how they get the starting metal between the wootz method and the japanese method. In wootz the metal spends time as a liquid in the japanese method it doesn't. Feel free to l...

Thomas Powers

Ahh; but look who made it? Most Apropo !

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Speak of the Devil, just got told yesterday that I will be spending about 2 weeks within ten miles of Munich. You still need that exhibit catalogue? I have one weekend that's free---I hope!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

The japanese did not start with a "cake" either. they started with tamagahne (sp) which is more like a bloom produced in a direct reduction smelting furnace. It is then broken up and sorted as to "guessed at" carbon content that is then forged into billets. No cake! (No cape! either)

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Peder, Wood or Metal Drill Bit---they looked quite different at that time!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

"De Re Metallica", Agricola provides tons of information on Renaissance mining, everything from panning ore to deep tunnel mining requiring pumping air into the mine and water out.. Mining and Metal Production: Through the Ages; Craddock, P. And J. Lang (eds) might also be useful for you if you are ...

Thomas Powers

In many areas of europe nudity is considered perfectly normal and violence is considered aberrant. Not so long ago co-ed bathrooms were common.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Wootz was made in more than just India, there are quite a lot of info on it's making in central asia as a whole---but the japanese did *not* use wootz. My guess is that as mentioned above 5160 at 25K layers+ no visible layering and a pain to weld and not hardening. Now stick an *old* black diamond f...

Thomas Powers

Yes all the O2 *does* get used up in a proper forge. You want your metal heating in a neural or reducing part of the fire. Coal, charcoal and propane forges all produce CO, carbon monoxide, so ventilation is mandatory! (at least the coal smoke will *show* you that you need breathng air. To do a "hot...

Thomas Powers

The SCA pretty much allows you to set your own authenticity standards---this can range from "pretty much plastic" to folks who spin and weave and hand sew their own clothes or smelt their own iron from ore using Y1K bloomeries. (As part of my long term goals I am replacing all of my handforged steel...

Thomas Powers

This came from a "Hausbuch" which contains a picture of many of the renaissance crafts. The particular one is "Das Hausbuch der Mendelschen ZwÃƒÂ¶lfbrÃƒÂ¼derstiftung in NÃƒÂ¼rnberg" just like the page said. There is quite a lot written about this on a previous thread: m This fellow is doing cold wor...

Thomas Powers

Different materials mandate different methods. A lot of armour today is made cold using mild steel. However wrought iron which was what was used in medieval and renaissance times does not work the same way. Blacksmiths run into this when they try to do it. Working it cold can result in the piece dis...

Thomas Powers

Is strong pull over 300 pounds or around 80-120 pounds to you?

Thomas