The Armour Archive

Thomas Powers

The iron used in medieval times was wrought iron a *composite* material consisting of a usually pretty pure iron with ferrous silicate spicules distribtued throughout it. It doesn't work like modern mild steel. For example in the lower grades it can't be worked cold and even forging it at a red heat...

Thomas Powers

I'm sure an exception will be made in your case Sir Axel... Is your friend's dad making spurs with medieval materials? If not his processes may not be the same. I know a lot of folks doing stained glass and *not* a *one* of them is doing it the way Theophilus wrote down in 1120. (Actually I'd bet th...

Thomas Powers

If you'l be in ALB; let me know I'm 1 hour south on the interstate! What's the weight limit for carry on's???/ I used to carry all my scrap back that way before they had a limit since I was always nudging the limit on suitcases...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Forge welding was used a lot more with wrought iron than it is with modern mild steels. Wrought iron welds a lot easier and resists burning up at welding temps more too.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Agitation is what powers the shrinkage, why hand washing is suggested rather than machine.

It is generally a good idea to wash *any* cloth before working with it to save yourself surprises later...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Go to the thrift store, buy a nice herring bone worsted suitcoat for $3, cut and sew. accept compliments gracefully.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I'd just phrase it a bit differently; the bull hide apron *is* the occupational differentiated clothing for a smith back then.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

First things first, I don't know if that particular outcrop would work well (the stuff does vary as one would suspect) and I don't recall if it's on tribal land (only been up that way once so far) *But* you know anybody going to Quad-State next year? I'm going to try to make it and would be able to ...

Thomas Powers

The wrought iron I got from the old ohio pennitentiary seemed to work very well in making blister steel. Ric Furrer got about 1500 pounds of it from me after we tried it out 2 quad-states ago...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Yeah grinding dust build up then igniting into a smoldering mess was a fairly common occurance when I worked for a swordmaker. Adding Al and you can get thermite!

Grinding and polishing does create fine dust that is a hazard.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

You know forging a low grade wrought iron at or near welding temp even a pretty soft rock would work---bet I could do some shaping on an endgrain oak anvil!---much different from forging 5160 at an orange heat...

Thanks for the pics, cites, etc!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I expect I'll run into Frank every once in a while down in these parts... The thing about "block anvils" is that we have some fairly good bracketing as they seem to have been used over a wide area and during a wide timespan---makes it hard to go wrong with one! (Eastern Europe, Spain, England, Irela...

Thomas Powers

Hey if I had $100 for every time I've had this conversation the lights in the entire county would dim every time I fired up the equipment in my shop! Now I know you know and you know that I know and they know that we know and we know that they know...we are a very knowledgable forum......must be tim...

Thomas Powers

THANKS!!!

very much like the one at Bath from centuries earlier, now all I need to do is to win the lottery and hire a college student to hammer my cube till it gets the slight mushrooming seen on early anvils...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Think of dishing a cop where the preform is thicker just where it will thin out during dishing. The result can be a consistant thickness over all. No need to start with an oiverly thick sheet cause you know that part of it will thin out with use! This is the advantage of making your own plate IMHO a...

Thomas Powers

Dang you already caught it.

I think we all know what you meant; but we do have some folks come through here that are just getting started and may be believing a lot of gets talked around.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

The "micro stump anvils" look to be the type sold in europe for putting a work hardened edge on a scythe out in the fields. Often used in rocky areas as the hammered edge doesn't tale as much damage when you hit a rock in use. I'd love any cites on anvils for my files; I know a Y1K irish group that ...

Thomas Powers

My shirt was decotative so it was only butted---and at 1/4" id was pretty nice back in 1980/'81 when I made it. Don't know what tie wire gauged back then,

For rivited mail have you looked into bailing wire? A local farm store ought to point you at some.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Well actually I'm not in Socorro NM; but It's our mailing address, I'm on a paved road even! now 4 houses to the west is a ranch that's over 100 sq miles and that borders one a friend of mine owns that's about 160 sq miles... Neighbors don't mind a forge or even the scrap pile out back! Nice place t...

Thomas Powers

80 pound pull isn't very much either, it's too light to be dear legal in most states I've lived in.

Nice clean looking bow with period release mechanism.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Brian about 20-25 years ago I watched Sir Polidor raising a wrought iron helm at a Middle Kingdom Armourer's guild meeting.. I believe that though it's not economically feasable for the general armourer both the materials and processes *are* available.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Swordsmith, can you document the swedish pattern double horned anvil to the 5th century? I'd love to know the cites, most of the anvils I've seen even halfway near to that period are relatively small horned---if any. I'm thinking of the rather mushroomed cube anvil from a bit earlier in Bath Englans...

Thomas Powers

wrought iron is a *composite* material made from a generally clean iron mixed with ferrous silicates (slag). High grade wrought iron may have over 100,000 ferrous silicate spicules per square inch. They give it it's wood grain appearence when badly rusted and also cause it to mush out like broom str...

Thomas Powers

Cat, you can't harden mild steel wire by heating and quenching. You don't get carbon steel wire unless ther was a very good reason for them to make it. It's harder to draw. So expect wire to be mild steel unless otherwise stated. Note that by flattening you get a more period appearence as well as th...

Thomas Powers

I like to forge them out a bit wider and domed before I do the grinding---less grinding and the wider face seems to work well, of course you make thse in a range of sizes and weights. If you are anywhere near central NM, stop by I usually have a bunch of "starter stock" for these and you can use my ...

Thomas Powers

Not just copper oxides but copper acetate as well! Not good stuff for you.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I've always had a yen for the pot in "Iron and Brass Implements of the English House" that had the words "The wages of sin is death" cast into the handle---neat burn if you grabbed it in a hurry...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Velvet is a type of weave and so it can be made of almost any fiber; my wife ran across a bolt end of a wool velvet at a designer "garage sale" once used for high end upholstry. Might be another way to go...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

The problem is that there is a difference between "iron" and "wrought iron" such that it is very easy to tell by a simple section, polish and etch. Wrought iron---the material--- was what was used in period times, "iron" is a modern product that postdates the ACW in it's production techniques. It's ...

Thomas Powers

And *thats* the sort of stuff I'd be wanting to see in the documentation!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Didn't the polish winged hussars have a vary late lance charge?

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Wrought iron is what maille and plate armour was made from in medieval and renaissance times. In low carbon form it's often referred to as "iron" a bit confusing as sometimes cast iron is also just called "iron" not to mention that very low carbon steels are sometimes called "iron". Wrought iron has...

Thomas Powers

Are you skilled in raising sheep for handspinning fleeces? It's not the same as just raising sheep. More care in the pasture---you're trying to keep the trash out of the fleeces, some places even put "coats" on the sheep! More health care, any period of stress on a sheep leaves a weak place in each ...

Thomas Powers

The picture is from 1583 and shows what someone in the 1300's wore? Would it be like the pictures from medieval and renaissance times showing what king arthur was wearing? It could be that the artist had heard the same discription and this is their take on it---if so it may be just as accurate as yo...

Thomas Powers

My research library has several hundred books in it, if you are interested in medieval metallurgy and technology let me know and I will take the time to type in some titles...

Thomas---only 100 more boxes of books to unpack from our move! we're 3/4 the way done!