The Armour Archive

wcallen

I am happy to play. Yes, I have some. Almost all is visible here: m Avoid the reproductions, they are carefully segregated off under a "Reproductions" link. The armour is here: m And there are other odd items like knives, arrow heads, daggers, etc. Way too many pictures to post here on a t...

wcallen

Mail voiders or sleeves (voiders aren't normally as complete) seem to be pretty common in the 15th and 16th c. Here are a couple: m m Both are 16th c. but the idea is similar. They would have been worn with a body protection. Probably normally a cuirass, but brigandine could work too. Thy are often ...

wcallen

I looked more closely. The roll goes in not out, so I would like to move it to closer to 1510. Pretty much the same thing, but a little later. Still interesting. Yes, and when you told me I couldn't buy it, I agreed that it was completely reasonable for you to keep your toys like I keep mine. I wond...

wcallen

I found a few more pictures of that stand. m m I tend to re-design the dummies every year so I don't have a specific way I make them. This was just the latest. This way seems to provide reasonable support for the parts that need it and a reasonable shape with pretty minimal investment in wood or tim...

wcallen

No comment on who to get, but that is a lot later than 1450. In 1450 you need a nice kastenbrust. Or just say you want a later date, either way works fine.

Wade

wcallen

Everything you guys have said sounds plausible/possible/probable. I 'think' the triangular rolls feel more solid then a standard round roll. Granted, there is more metal there, but not including that, they just feel more...substantial? I don't think that there is a lot of difference between a "...

wcallen

Notice how Wade does NOT repeat NOT have the feet faced straight forward! Straight feet look hyper dorky! Also note that the shoulders are sloped, not straight across! Yup. And the pose isn't some dorky fashion mannequin pose either. Basically straight up and down looks good. And the non-straight f...

wcallen

Yea, probably really tail fins. They are a cool style. They are most prevalent on pieces where the overall design is a relatively clean/smooth look. They would go much better on these than big roped rolls. More fun looking than boring little round ones or worse yet, flat ones. Some flatter ones offe...

wcallen

I own one, but I just build my own now. Metal or wood, both work. Most of the recent ones have been wood. This is actually a shot of the latest one: m Some 3/4" plywood and some pieces of 2x4. It probably didn't need as much shape as it has, but I am a little goofy. When you make it you can get...

wcallen

Personally, I don't think we will ever know exactly what they did. I have done it both ways - make a roll and then put the angle in and putting the angle in while making the roll. I tend to do the first on smaller rolls and the second on larger ones. Even when I am attempting to do it your way, mate...

wcallen

Tacks really do seem about right. I have played with a few real 16th c. fingers and they approximate what they used. Not that this matters, but they seem to have used iron/steel rivets. I haven't seen any signs of any non-ferrous ones used for leathers where there was any indication that the rivet i...

wcallen

Not a video, but I have a bunch of pictures. Most of them are even of a child wearing armour. Some show a series of it at different layers (t-shirts do get into the mix, sorry). m Click on each picture and you will find more pictures (of most of them). I bet some of these stills could be rolled into...

wcallen

Make a breastplate. A pretty boring late 14th/early 15th or very early 16th c. globose one isn't that hard. It can be done by some pretty basic dishing. Less cutting and riveting than COP/brig/armoured surcoat. Can look good when you are done. If not carefully finished at least it provides a good pr...

wcallen

REAL SUV = Suburban. Pickup = F150 with 8 foot bed. Nothing smaller need apply. 4x8 flat in the back between the wheel wells. No problem at all. Moving the shop? Hell. Aaron and I moved the shop 3 times in Milwaukee. When I moved out they offered me the choice of moving my stuff from Milw. to Madiso...

wcallen

â€¢ A 4 by 8 sheet of sheet metal will not fit in an SUV. I agree completely with most of these comments. I have not only set up a shop, but had to move it several times. Yuck. But how can someone from the great state of Texas say that? 4x8 sheets of metal or wood fit nicely in all REAL SUVs. Fit i...

wcallen

Would it be wiser to spend the money on a throatless shear, blow torch, true anvil, stakes, and whatnot instead of a welder since I'm a newbie with little experience? I agree. If you wander my set of recent work the suits for my kid, there are a total of 4 welds in all of them. All in the helmets. ...

wcallen

Hmm. People building armour in NC.

And I never meet them. How odd, I am sort of in the middle of the state.

I either get my stuff as drops from a local sheet metal shop or I buy 1050 from Admiral Steel.

I wouldn't do the second unless you are pretty serious.

Wade

wcallen

We haven't done the real answer yet. It depends. Easy/hard I will leave to others. It really depends on what you are used to. MIG - good for speedy welding in sheet. TIG - Good for stainless (and other things, just slower than arc/mig for normal stuff) Arc - good for heavy stuff like tool making. O/...

wcallen

I will have to take a picture of them straight so you can see. Short answer - the parts just don't fit. Never were intended to. Points on everything don't help. This isn't as bad, but look at the images of this arm straight: m They don't fit very nicely in that position either. Also - arm lames are ...

wcallen

Yup, those (not really a pair) are the silly ones. Very late. Really past the time frame I prefer. They have lost all sense of style - they just add engraved lines, rolls, maybe roping and lots of spare rivets to make them look cool. Since the cop is so small, they have to add the second set of lame...

wcallen

Have you seen evidence of temporary riviting to aid construction in surviving antique pieces? The referenced piece is an antique piece. So, yes. Odd holes exist on a lot of antique pieces. The most common and noticeable are the may 'fake' rivets you see on 16th c. armour where the outer plate has a...

wcallen

I haven't found a good correlation, but I haven't really tried to do a real study. The quick measurements I did were wandering around the house checking things. The pieces varied (roughly) mid 16th c. through early 17th c. The worst offender was a 17th c. arm with the silly little cops and 4 lames. ...

wcallen

I've also noticed one thing that helps in making a good and tight articulation. You should kepp an eye on two things: a distance between the upper and lover lame rivets and the total height of the knee (or elbow) cop. The distance between the rivets should be about half of the total cop height (or ...

wcallen

OK, how about we start by narrowing things down to the 2nd or the 30th. I left the 2nd in play because I don't know whether Coronation and the study day are a real conflict for people who want to attend and it is possible that some people might be able to carpool with someone going to Coronation as ...

wcallen

Full length mail sleeves seem to have been tailored. I don't have a good one to play with, but the form of the mail sleeves in my collection should give you the idea: m m Both have bent elbows and tapered forearms. They would have fit relatively closely. The bent elbow allows good movement. I put a ...

wcallen

I mostly work from the outside, but I do find that a slight line from the inside helps those of us who don't do this all day, every day get the alignment right. Note on how careful you (don't) have to be. These aren't 'flutes', they are 'recessed bands', but really that is the same thing. A stepped ...

wcallen

Shame you couldn't do a travelling roadshow and visit us down here in Australia! Hmm. Don't say that to loudly. My wife has talked about a trip down under. With some sharing of the costs you might con me into something. Not that I really want to get on a plane for that long. I'd love to come. Hopef...

wcallen

Sorry, can't help.

I don't remember seeing one like this on the forum recently.

I also don't know of any actual 15th c. Italian gauntlet made that way. Generally 1-2 mitten plates and little finger plates to cover the rest.

Wade

wcallen

Delaminations certainly happen in medieval metal used to build armour. Zoom in on this image: m You can see lots of delaminations esp. near the top of the flutes just right of the center. I have seen lots of other examples. The inclusions that cause these seem to be more localized and smaller than t...

wcallen

I don't sell, so I won't have the answer. I bet that a few details will help - you say 'a' but I bet you mean a pair. Period? Simulating 1330? 1380? 1520? Other? All on leathers? or leathers and sliding rivets? Rolled edges? Creases? Flutes? mild/spring/stainless/tempered spring/tempered spring stai...

wcallen

The chaining method isn't mine. Knut made it up years ago. It is kind of nice. Done carefully it allows you to pick a ring, hook it into 2 others and weld/rivet that ring. Basically you touch a ring once and you can do half of the welding/riveting before you assemble the shirt. Because of this, usin...

wcallen

The previous suggestion of arms and legs lead me to propose a more general version of the same idea - auxiliary pieces. This includes arms, legs, gauntlets and gorgets. All pieces that aren't usually the focus of museums or books. I updated the list to this: m This list includes 2 or 3 similar items...

wcallen

As you can tell, everyone has an opinion. IMHO.... I picked 9mm flat riveted with round rivets for a reason. Light. Easy to assemble (all of the assembly bending is the weak way). Easy-ish to rivet with the pliers. You can actually assemble the shirt and then rivet it later. I assembled major portio...

wcallen

This will sound really silly, but why not just go for the gusto? 9mm riveted flat ring mail with round rivets. The rings were pretty easy to buy and not all that expensive. They hook together easily and you never have to use 2 pairs of pliers. With small fingers you could probably do it with no pair...

wcallen

Feel free to use the pictures as long as they help. Referencing my page is perfect. Anyone can do that. I definitely prefer that to copying the pictures and forgetting where they came from. They have some subtle shape. You might want to print the images out in as close to your size as possible for a...