The Armour Archive

wcallen

Boring. Like most people around here I like earlier/armour stuff too.

Let me check the ones I have at home. I will probably take them if they don't happen to overlap with the ones I have.

Wade

wcallen

If first dibs falls through, just tell me where to send the money. E-mail address works great to contact me.

Wade

wcallen

Since you are planning a weld in the middle and you will be really annoyed if you have to make major changes in the shape - a few things to change. No point on the cuff. That is easily removed later, but they don't have them. The cuff is pretty straight on the inside of the wrist, so the pattern for...

wcallen

As usual, it depends. These: m are generally .020-.033 in thick. There is some grinding involved in finishing work, so starting with 20g would work. I think most people who are attempting similar things and don't want to make heavy SCA stuff are using some combination of 18g and 20g. Most of this wo...

wcallen

I am with Sha-ul. Lead is bad. Sure. Having kids eat it is a bad thing. It does bad things to brain development and learning. But we aren't grinding it. We aren't putting lumps of it in daycare centers. We are putting it on a bench and whacking it. You are much more likely to be harmed by all of the...

wcallen

Since you mention mail specifically, I will start there. This may sound odd, but if you look carefully and are willing to spend some time in the search, it might just be easier to find some pieces of authentic mail than to try to get modern mail that really, really is right. I have several pieces of...

wcallen

Yes, except almost all of those parts taper. More than the slip roll will handle well. And they generally get creases in stupid places - which also annoy the roller no end. We had a really good roller. Got it used. There was a time we used it for some things, but it was a pretty short time. Generall...

wcallen

A very general question, so I can give a very general answer.

1/8 inch.

Based on the most normal size used in authentic 15th-16th-17th century armour.

Wade

wcallen

Someone was nice enough to post the pattern Aaron and I did for a 15th c. german cop. The result is a lot like that one, but it is made from 1 piece - the "Y" thing. All real late 15th c. German floating cops I know of are made from one piece, or almost all from one piece with a little gus...

wcallen

All of my recent ones are raised, but we used to do them in 2 pieces for production work. No matter what shape you do, you will need a little shaping, but it is a lot less from 2 pieces. My first reaction was "what is the 3rd piece" too. We always did it with 2 down the middle of the arm l...

wcallen

Hmm. Don't know. It doesn't seem to take all that many pairs since you can mix/match. I am interested in a pair of these and a pair of the 14th c. side-laced boots, so that is 2 of 5 already. I would get more but I really want to try them on and see how they work. James wants one pair? Anyone else? ...

wcallen

Sign me up too. I need it. I usually buy 2 copies, so go for it here too.

Wade Allen

wcallen

Nope, mine (which I don't wear much) wouldn't pass. It is mostly from the same period (1380-90), but not right enough. Maybe someday I will put it on and take a picture. I know, I am an armour Laurel and would be willing to complain even with a drink. No greaves. That blows it. I generally wore tall...

wcallen

First - NO CLAIM THAT THERE IS ANY AUTHENTIC SOURCE FOR THIS. Knut did it. He made a shirt of mail with green yarn threaded through it. He would wear it while exercising by running out in his less-than-best neighborhood in Chicago. Basically an armoured sweater. Supposedly he even had a drunk grind ...

wcallen

Almost anything?

Lots of armour requires very little leather. Just lots of work. Breastplates, backplates, arms, legs, greaves, sabatons, even a frog-mouthed jousting helm requires very little leather.

More seriously, what do you need? And what period are you interested in?

Wade

wcallen

Since you aren't planning on getting it hit a lot, yes 16 or 18g mild will be fine. I have done sets from 18g. before without a problem. Even for combat, 18g should be fine. For the SCA they SHOULD never get hit (well, that is the rule.. it doesn't work out that way). For other forms you probably ar...

wcallen

Thanks Toby, a DVD will do nicely. End of the year... OK. Just tell me where to send the money and how much. If I buy something maybe I can come over, pick it up and get the DVDs at the same time. For those not 'in the know' this a lot of pictures. Of individual parts of (I think) every piece of arm...

wcallen

That is good news Toby. Thanks for the change to you, David, whoever got it to happen. On a very similar topic, any idea when the new book on the Wallace will be coming out? I want to spend some more money in the gift shop. And I want all those nice pictures you were working so hard on while we were...

wcallen

I guess I need a pair or 2.

Has anyone actually played with the sizing on these? I am an 8 1/2 Wide in normal US shoe sizes. No wides here, so I guess I end up with a 9? Anyone able to confirm that it is likely to work?

If so, I would probably like a couple of pairs.

Wade

wcallen

working hot? I never anneal - that is what the heat does for me. Same for spring steel and stainless. They just move less quickly and (at least for spring) you have to be more careful about dumping it in a bucket when it gets too hot to hold (as in, don't do it). Mild is terribly forgiving. The only...

wcallen

Thanks for the videos.

I would love to see more - videos and pictures. Any chance they can be posted so those of us who don't play facebook can see them?

Wade

wcallen

Once again, I can contribute: m I have a few arrow heads. Most from Germany. Some are arrow heads, some crossbow bolt heads, etc. Mac says that the socketed ones are more likely to be western european, the others more likely to be eastern. Most of these are purported to have come from the site of a ...

wcallen

You are in Milwaukee. I remember Caer Anterth. It has been a while. Tried talking to Valerius? He is a nice enough guy and has certainly done this before. He lives in Milwaukee. I think that there are some other armourers around there too. I would suggest some more rolls on the arms and neck too, bu...

wcallen

That elbow has a riveted seam in the back. Like the real ones usually did at this period. Actually sometimes they were really open, or sometimes they had another plate in there, but the idea is the same. A riveted seam. These really are a fun project. Maybe they should be put next on the list after ...

wcallen

The uppers we made were put together with sliders on the back and leathers in the front and middle. This allows the back to extend and the front to compress. Works nicely. I have seen some pauldron/spaulder things from the 15th c. (that at least claim to be from the 15th c.) that seem to have slider...

wcallen

Wait til you work on the back. It makes the front look like a piece of cake. Anyway - yes, the thing is going to close up when you roll it into a cone. That is the way things work. You need to bend the pattern into the right shape to see what it will do. next, no the top should not be level with the...

wcallen

Yup, both German and Italian (German had a lot more lames) underlap the main plate and each other the other way. The line would look pretty similar in a drawing, but the other way is the way they did it. This lets you have a nice roll on the top of the main plate and a nice roll/bump on the top of t...

wcallen

On the leather thing... The period solution for 16th c. armour is generally to use steel (well, whatever material the buckles are made from) plates that mount buckles to whatever they are attached to. So steel plates to attach steel buckles to the breastplate is the norm. I have several of them, wan...

wcallen

That gorget seems weird. The normal way is simple. I don't have good pictures of this one, but... m Look inside. You can see the leather strips. I do have inside shots of this one: m Same thing. The rivets you see on the outside are fake. They are used in temporary assembly, but then just filled on ...

wcallen

You mean like:

<img src="http://www.allenantiques.com/images/A-99-a-open.jpg" width="600">

?

Sure, it happens all the time.

Wade

wcallen

Yup. Normal finger gauntlets for 1 handed weapons. Add the little shields for 2 handed weapon work. A buddy of mine did that for years with his Wisby gauntlets. You get the best of all worlds without having to buy lots of pairs of gauntlets - Cool, authentic gauntlets good finger movement for sword ...

wcallen

One request for one elbow. Cool. That is a little piece, I will try to remember to bring it. Anything else?

Wade

wcallen

Yes, always a nasty conflict.

Wander by Drew.

James, be sure to come by and talk if you are in the area.

Sometimes Mac and Cet wander by. I haven't heard from them this year, so I have no idea whether or not they are coming.

Wade

wcallen

Friday? Saturday?

Give me a ring on my cell number and we can probably arrange something. I don't have any other plans yet and Tom will be in my car so he is a captive audience.

Wade

wcallen

Almost time. This weekend. Anyone interested you have my phone number and Tom and I will be at J-29 while we aren't wandering around. One of us should be at the table most of the time (the rules, ya know).

Wade