The Armour Archive

Thomas Powers

I didn't see a small dog humping his---oh, shameless *PLUG* not *PUG*, Nevermind... I like making dishing hammers from these bolts for hot work---must have a dozen or so from my last walk along the rails to clean up for use. If they still have the nut you can make a hammer with adjustable weight, or...

Thomas Powers

Repousse you work from the back, chasing you work from the front. You usually use a combination of both with repousee providing the mass elements and chasing providing the details. Advice: learn how to anneal your metal and not just normalize it. Keep your repousse tools rounded and polished to avoi...

Thomas Powers

The IR is not hard on the eyes as the focal point is usually around where the hand will be holding the tongs...wearing a light set of welding gogles helps the eyes too. I built some special hammers for deep dish forging with the heads offset and curved so you can get deep down into the bowl---made t...

Thomas Powers

Nice write up; BTW did you ever get a date for the introduction of the cast iron cauldron?

Your statement "Around 1500, iron cauldrons began replacing bronze cauldrons" is a bit ambiguous as you don't specify cast iron or wrought iron.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Ah weedhopper, we have a comission for "evil armour" so planish this piece to "Tocatta and Fugue in D"...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Ball Mills used for crushing ore or coal use large steel balls, they start at 8" dia or even greater and get thrown out when they get "small", I once picked up a milk crate of the 4" ones but they are all gone but my few hoarded ones. Picked up a headache ball off a crane too; had a crach friend who...

Thomas Powers

You might want to look into industrial mop or broom handles.

If possible try to get air dried ash as it's less brittle; I gave away a bunch of 2x2 ash that had been drying for about 10 years in my shop trusses when I moved, sigh...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Where are you getting your wrought iron wire from? It's rarer than hen's teeth or lizard lips!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

IIRC there was a single piece pot in the viking exhibit that went around about 5 yrears ago that I didn't see in these pics. I've done single piecer's over 1.5 gallon in capacity but I'm working hot and those domed metal pieces sure make a great parabolic IR emmitter!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Dang Auguinare, there you go introducing reality into the discussion right before we could start selling him on a "plaster caster" kit and dipping the result like you dip candles.... OTOH I bet there is already shilding out there specifically designed to protect this area while doing radiation treat...

Thomas Powers

Since lead is a reproductive toxin perhaps you should look for someting a little less effective but not a problem that way, especially if you will be working it into shape!---what about tin?

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Memo to self: must ask his Jarlship to put sand in Alcy's armour---while he's wearing it... When did the term "hourglass gauntlet" first get used? Although the hourglass is ancient the use of it WRT armour may postdate the use of that armour. Alfred the Great had a special lantern built for time can...

Thomas Powers

Since the spinning technology of the time spins either way equally well I would look into social factors that would tend towards a "favoured way", (much like the shakers always built their boxes to go to the right for doctrinal reasons).

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Shoot there were tons of regional difference in dress, look at the irish famed for their leines or the wearing of the Anar; look at the differences between the norman and saxon clothing---you could differentiate a norman from a saxon and no one has ever mentioned the "k" word. I don't see that this ...

Thomas Powers

If it's the one in the pick above it looks like a lousy thrower and with the sharp internal corners for stress risers not a design to survie throwing well.

If you just want it for the looks; more power to you!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

I spent several years throwing about 1 hour a day on the average into a suspended log (end grain). I threw about a dozen *different* blades of different shapes and styles each time as I was trying to train myself to throw *any* knife and not just one particular knife. Hmm I'm back in the country aga...

Thomas Powers

Dear Gwyneth, this is Jo Ann Powers, Thomas Powers wife, and with 30 years of teaching spinning, I was puzzled by your response on plying. Actually, you can ply in the same OR opposite directions of the original twist. Plying in the same direction of the initial twist will give you a snarly yarn, pl...

Thomas Powers

Especially on the early wheels they spin just as well going either direction---when there is a spindle rather than a orifice/flyer so I don't see the linkage. (Look at wool or cotton great wheels). There are extant illuminations of people spinning on this type of wheel from those time periods---IIRC...

Thomas Powers

The stocks are usually set up in the town Square also used as a marketplace so how about mouldy/soft vegetables, rotting fruit, etc.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

[quote="Alcyoneus"

I've seen the World's Ugliest Crossdresser, he lives in Wichita, and he doesn't know that...

Can we pitch in and buy him a clue?

[/quote]

Medieval Eye for the Crossdressing Guy???

You never told me his Jarlship had "changed"....

Thomas---far far away

Thomas Powers

Are you looking for research books or kit items or what?

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Desti---how wide are the dies on that home built rolling mill? Can I roll 1' (30+cm) wide stuff on it? Do you know how much you have to beef up stuff to get it to work right for wider stuff? It depends on the cross sectional area and so it's a power factor not linear. When I drew out my experimental...

Thomas Powers

Charka, from India not the middle east, in particular you are looking for a "book Charka", I don't know when that particular type was developed, I'd research it throughly before I built one for A&S. Just called my wife, she's been teaching spinning for 30 years now..., the book charka was developed ...

Thomas Powers

They look like very nice chairs and very easily transportable; now anyone want to speak as to their periodicity---one aspect of the original question I have not seen addressed

Thomas

Thomas Powers

My wife is spinning some cotton with a staple of 3/4-1 1/4" . Longer is better, why egyptian and sea island are preferred and Pima was bred. Be sure to save all your linen scraps to use for padding in gambesons/helms or to be made into charcloth for flint&steel sets---medieval uses for such scraps.....

Thomas Powers

I'd say the Definition of ASO includes cast iron because if the item is *steel* you can re-work it---if too soft you can hammer harden, or hardface, or try to re-heat treat. If you don't like the shape you can weld or grind on it---if it's some sort of steel! Cast iron is just useless for anything e...

Thomas Powers

I built a spring fuller to use with my triphammer to draw out billets sideways into plates. My first trial worked fairly well. Now I need to get the blasted hammer re-built after the 1600 mile move...it was time for it anyway. Nothing says *WELDED* like drawing out an inch wide billet to 4" and less...

Thomas Powers

Some makers call welding up two, or more, high carbon steels "super damascus". Alloy patterning is often more definite than carbon differential patterning anyway. The big problem with pattern welded steel is that every weld has the potential to be a bad one---junk trapped in it, too hot, too cold, a...

Thomas Powers

MikeA has not mentioned the possibility of welding two different high carbon steel alloys together to get a pattern welded knife with a high carbon content, L6 and 1084 for example. The welding of japanese swords is a bit more complex as well. Manfred Sachse's book on Damascus Steel has pictures of ...

Thomas Powers

To tan it keeping the hair on you may want to taw it wth alum.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Well not quite what you were looking for but I've always like the bohemian ear spoon---just for it's name! Stone's glossary has pics of it.

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Please put not work friendly on such links. I may have a talk with the boss in my future...

Thomas

Thomas Powers

Are you planning to silve solder them, or use a low temp solder? (or even the low alloy low temp silver solder like stay brite?) Hight temp silver solder is very strong but it is expensive and you will need a torch to apply; buy lots of flux too! They make solders coloured for the various Karrets of...

Thomas Powers

Tip: check your neighborhood for someone with a catapult or trebuchet!

Thomas

Thomas Powers

In the winter warm up the anvil before using. We used to build a small fire in paint cans and hang them from the horn and heel until the anvil was warm to the touch. THERE IS NO "RIGHT" SHAPE FOR AN ANVIL! Most of the world forges on things that do not look like the london pattern anvil and it doesn...