The Armour Archive

wcallen

OK, so the other pictures were the mid-eighties. Yes, that I Jay. Those pieces were made as individual pieces. We didn't have the time to be doing armour as suits in one shot. I am not sure any of our customers could have come up with the cash at one shot either. Those arms are more fun than they lo...

wcallen

2 separate issues here. 1 - how are pauldrons put together? 2 - how to make the tassets work? 1. My impression is that how pauldrons were put together varied more by location of manufacture than by time. Unfortunately, I tend to really stare at something more when I am making one and can miss detail...

wcallen

Last time I heard, Tom does it that way too - starts with the top and works down. I think I did the last one I did in an even more perverse way, I started at the top and the bottom and filled-in in between. I wasn't making it fit a helmet, but it did have to fit the neck pretty well. The middle plat...

wcallen

I have personally only used 1050 and 1070. Both work reasonably, I prefer the softer 1050. That is what I have used for all of my non-mild, non-stainless armour. I never got into the other alloys because I was trying to stay closer to what was used in period. That is just my personal slant on things...

wcallen

I tend to present to slightly older kids. 6th grade. I have done the same thing for 3rd graders too. Of course, they never get to play with any weapons I have. I do let them play with an assortment of pieces. I find that it really helps them understand - even the teachers get into the act. In order ...

wcallen

Backwards .. It should work in plastic, but you will have to be careful to deal with the extra thickness. It will 'step' a lot more. Play around with it. Probably messing with patterns as each plate is added to deal with the allowance for overlaps. Back to the pauldrons. They are not low-end pieces....

wcallen

Ah, we all get some help. That is a nice gorget. Perfect example of the period. Annoyingly, the parts right next to the joints are patched. The idea is like almost all other gorgets like it. A wiggly rivet on the left shoulder, and a pin in the rear plate and a keyhole in the front plate. The rest o...

wcallen

Well, not quite. We are admitedly being sloppy about our terms. What we really mean (usually) is medium carbon steel. At least that is what I mean. Some people creep up from there. Wikipedia defines this as: Medium carbon steel Approximately 0.30â€“0.59% carbon content.[1] Balances ductility and str...

wcallen

Hmm. somebody was talking about that effigy recently. Does anyone have any more detailed shots of it? I would like to see any sign of buckles/hinges on the black parts. On the body - that could be almost anything. High class civilian clothing had the same look without any steel. I would personally g...

wcallen

Yup, shoulders are (mostly) the same as the tassets. Here is one from the inside and outside: m I have seen some really cheap ones that used leather straps in all 3 places, but it won't move in quite the same way. From playing with the pieces, the general idea seems to be that you put sliding rivets...

wcallen

The pictures are so small.... There probably is a rivet on the lower right one. Might be something on the left one. Hard to tell. I certainly can't find a rivet on the upper one. These are all of the later 'flair on the inside, bump on the outside' variety, but you can see what the upper tuning coll...

wcallen

OK, this image shows how the plates are put together:

http://www.allenantiques.com/images/A-62-inside.jpg

These separate in the middle because the tassets can be divided for long/short wear. You would just run the straps all the way down if you don't want this flexibility.

Wade

wcallen

I don't see any sign of rivets. Turning collars on arms seem to have been made in 3 ways: The normal way - outward flange on the inner (lower) plate which engages into a bumped out ridge (it looks like a roll, but it isn't on the edge). Sliding rivets - which engage in long slots. The way these are ...

wcallen

That depends on what style of 3/4 legs. Specific styles vary a good deal from early 16th c. to late 16th c. The changes mainly occur because the lower edge of the breastplate and fauld you are trying to attach the tassets to change a lot in form. If you mean the really long tassets like the ones on ...

wcallen

Nope. In my experience, 1050 spring untreated - but worked - is noticably better than mild. We did a lot of work on identical milanese gauntlets in mild and spring many years ago. We tried them in 16 mild, 18 mild and 18 spring. All were reasonably heavily cold worked and planished. The 18 mild acte...

wcallen

These aren't really old, just from the mid 80's. A small shot of our shop with a bunch of stuff lying around (it shows up in TOMAR too): <img src="//ils.unc.edu/~allen/shop.jpg"> Look carefully, there is a bunch of stuff in there. The junk on the table is most of a very plain 15th c. harness. A harn...

wcallen

I think that helm is probably a Polidor (pattern or kit). The eye slots are a little sloppy to actually have been cut by him, but they are exactly the shape that was popular there for a while in the late 70's. Polidor was the source for a lot of the spangen and barrel helms in the mid-late 1970's in...

wcallen

I have seen a few others that sort of resemble the second one on my page. Most of them are from low-quality infantry splints. Their breastplates seem to be flatter than the cool shape of the high end breastplates. They are also solid instead of having gussets at the arms. These are much more like a ...

wcallen

Yes, go for it. A new one every year. That is even a little smaller than the first one I made. Your rolls are just fine. And the finish is nice too. Doesn't everyone's 10 year old have a bunch of (part) armours lying around to show how they grew? I guess lines on a door frame would be easier, but a ...

wcallen

The rings look reasonable, the collar is kind of nice. The price is a lot higher than I would contemplate. I just bought one that has 2 sleeves, is not in as good condition, but still has nice rings and is mostly sound for a whole lot less. Once I actually get it (I am dealing with shipping), I will...

wcallen

That is exactly what we used years ago (Valerius Armouries). I don't do enough work to merit keeping that stuff in stock now, but we sure used it a lot when we did commercial work. You have to treat it right. Keep it air-tight, refrigerate in hot weather, apply and let it dry right, but cool stuff a...

wcallen

I will shoot a picture from the inside of the gothic gauntlets. We will see when I get around to setting up the light, shooting, editing and posting. I will do it. If I forget, remind me. Everyone should have access to interior shots. I always like seeing them. The flutes are not put in with a jenny...

wcallen

I am happy to help. Feel free to share with anyone. I do prefer if they are linked instead of copied. I collect what I can as part of my way of studying armour. I am always happy to share what I can when it will help - just like the other members here who share their experience. I am not nearly as a...

wcallen

These are very low quality. I shot them with an old digital camera with a movie mode and I didn't have anyone to manipulate the camera. They get the idea across, but they really need to be shot reasonably then edited. To keep everything together, the first movie is of one of these gauntlets: m The g...

wcallen

Multi-layer breastplates. Yes, I have read the article too. It discusses mid-17th c. English breastplates. Most of the ones discussed are formed of 2 layers which basically look like breastplates. The article includes X-Rays of the breastplates which show some of the structure. One I remember also h...

wcallen

I am glad you can tell. Given the work you do, I assume you could. You do very nice work. I try to be honest and clear. Some people cannot tell the difference between old and modern, and others might think I am trying to claim I made something I didn't. Clarity is better than confusion. There are a ...

wcallen

First half of the 1500's. I would use a medium carbon steel. Given the lack of consistency in the authentic results, a nearly random mixture of anything between about 1010 and 1070 would do. Since we don't see steel that varies like they did, I play in 1050. c. 1500 : m 1550-60: m 1505-10: m 1510: m...

wcallen

Actual damage from use is pretty rare. I think they tended to repair the stuff and put it back into service, or scrap it for use in other pieces. I could be wrong. Some actual examples: Jousting armour - A23 in the Wallace. Significant lance-strikes on the front plate of the frogmouth. Similar on th...

wcallen

As usual, a way too general question. 1510 has almost nothing to do with 1590 when we are talking about the design points in manufacture. From memory (Tom has my copy of The Knight and the Blast Furnace), Italy, Germany and Greenwich all had a different curve in adoption and stopping tempering. In g...

wcallen

Once you have the pattern, you also need to get a good idea of where the shaping is done. Backplates actually have a lot more shape than you would guess at first. A breastplate is (roughly) deep in the middle and shallow at the edges. Backplates are deep in the top, but in a shape that mimics the fo...

wcallen

Mac can comment. I generally make the plates, fit them, then flute it up. So dishing comes before fluting. There are probably other ways, but this seems pretty straightforward. Note: If anyone cares.. the pictures I posted of the gothic gauntlets are of a real pair, not a pair I made. Wade

wcallen

This isn't the best shot, but it gets a little of the idea across. m The wrist of this type of gauntlet should actually droop down. These gauntlets will droop a little farther, but it was hard to get it to droop and stand up all at the same time. The idea is to allow your wrist to bend down a little...

wcallen

Yes, As Jiri says, these are definitely to be interpreted as final, after all of the work is done thicknesses, not as the appropriate thickness to start with in the construction of the piece. Someday, If I can get the guy up the street with a trip hammer and a forge to get his trip hammer in running...

wcallen

As usual, there are way too many differences to make any real generalization accurate. That said. Here we go on a generalization based on a few examples. Munition 16th century helmets like burgonets, morions, etc. Generally pretty thin - 18-16g ish. Some cabassets I have seen are actually pretty thi...

wcallen

I have had one for a few years now. I don't use it all that often, but it does everything I need. It was easy to set up and has worked without any tracking adjustments no matter how often I change the belts or what odd things I do. I work on the rubber wheel some, but mostly in the slack. I got it a...