The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

I like your maile Magnus! From the pictures I've seen you have one of the nicest kits at that war.

Gaston de Clermont

Dig around in a library and find period images which you really like, and copy them. I'd consider wearing your kidney belt under your tunics. It looks like you could shorten it by a couple inches and still get the required protection. If you want a wide belt, use the 8oz you have to make a wide and ...

Gaston de Clermont

The English won?! Freaky.

Gaston de Clermont

My squire Aedinius Sextus Maximus (aka Ronnin) is nearly done with a great scale shirt in 410. I'm working on some sabatons in the stuff at the moment.

Gaston de Clermont

I generally rivet mine to the helm so they attach above and slightly behind the ears and buckle near the chin. Having anything bulky like D rings near your ears is a pain and they're difficult to adjust. The rivet can be very low profile, which is what I want since as Chef said, there's no evidence ...

Gaston de Clermont

I'd anneal it too. An alternative though is to pick up a couple more torches and heat the crap out of the area you want to shape. If only that area is hot, it's going to be the part that will move most easily. Cheap approaches to annealing- get a bunch of charcoal and a bellows or hair dryer. Dig a ...

Gaston de Clermont

Mine are blued mild steel. After fighting with them for maybe 12 years in a variety of hot climates and sweating on them like a beast they have minimal rust. If you don't have the cash for stainless consider blueing. I haven't been a fan of brass rivets on these. I've replaced maybe 20 of them and t...

Gaston de Clermont

The flat faced hammers from Harbor Freight can be decent planishing hammers. I've tried finding uses for the autobody dollies a friend gave me- just last night I tried even. I still haven't found a curve they really fit well enough to use. I really don't mind Harbor Freight quality for hammers. I re...

Gaston de Clermont

Here is a nice photo of HRM Titus' helm http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s294/russell_smith93/forum%20source%20pics/308039160_iMgMD-Ti-1.jpg ! Bar's gone up again. is that an Ugo helm? It looks like the same helm Titus has been wearing for years, but tarted up with new maile and a fancy hat on it...

Gaston de Clermont

I've fought in gauntlets of that design for years and been very happy with the level of protection.

Gaston de Clermont

Louis, that's your first articulation work?! Kick ass! The brass rivets you articulated with don't look bad at all, though JP's right, you can save weight and get a great look with 1/8 inch rivets. Roofing nails work wonders, though the heads look most appropriate on late 14th/early 15th century gea...

Gaston de Clermont

I've been fighting pole most of the time for the last year or so and had no problems with 0.032. The stuff will dent occasionally, though less so than the 16 gauge stainless I used to use. The exact temper makes a difference too. I can make it anywhere along the spectrum from quite soft or very hard...

Gaston de Clermont

The biggest pieces I can do are breast plates and cuisses. With the thicknesses of the pieces you're suggesting there's not a lot of chance of warping, but you might prefer to brace them just in case. Unless you're jousting or doing very high contact fighting you could probably get away with thinner...

Gaston de Clermont

Exactly, the thickness of the oxidation is what is changing the colour of the light bouncing through it. The temper colours are *thin*. Once it gets too thick no light penetrates and returns. That sounds consistent with what we see in a colorful sunset. The more humidity and crap in the air the ric...

Gaston de Clermont

Hopefully Louis won't mind a detour in the thread-
Why exactly does tempering make his metal turn purple? What causes the different tempers to draw different colors? I'm aware of the different hardness associated with the various colors, but what exactly is causing the color changes?

Gaston de Clermont

Cotton, wool or linen are all better for padding than polyester. Polyester reflects a lot of heat like it's petroleum kin, the garbage bag. Cotton swells when it gets wet which is why it can make great canvas, and why jeans are a pretty bad choice to work out in. Wool and linen don't do that. Linen ...

Gaston de Clermont

I've been doing a lot of Max's heat treating for him over the last year or two. I'm not as fancy as the place Chris recommended, though I imagine I'd also be cheaper. My process does leave you with scale to clean up.

Gaston de Clermont

I've been using Fluid film lately: m It's lanolin based, developed by the US Navy for keeping their gear from rusting when it's exposed to sea spray. It seems to work fairly well. It's easy to apply, smells nice, doesn't attract grime as badly as other oils do. I have to admit though that a wax like...

Gaston de Clermont

Hal- most people do use leather hinges, but all the originals pieces I've looked at used metal hinges. Bear in mind I'm fixated on 14th and early 15th century harnesses, so I certainly could be missing something. Can you document a leather hinge to close the vambrace?

Gaston de Clermont

For first arms, those rock! I particularly like your lame design (it's WAY harder than it looks) and not many people attempt a full steel vambrace, but you managed to make it work. A few points- if you make the elbow cop deeper you'll get more articulation from the bend of the cop and you're less li...

Gaston de Clermont

I basically use a home made trash can lined with Kaowool, Satanite and ITC100 and fuled with a single home made burner. I get good enough results from it that a local professional armourer has me do a lot of his heat treating- maybe all of it. The rig wasn't super tough to make, and it lets me custo...

Gaston de Clermont

A few of the armourers here in Texas use transmission fluid as their quenchant. It seems to quench a bit faster than oil, but it's self extinguishing and forms a more manageable film on the surface of your steel. I still use a water quench so I can use the home oven for tempering. Other quenchants t...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm with the masses saying angle grinder- but even decent brands can be pretty close in price to the Harbour Freight models. I've found a Makita at Home Depot for $35. I prefer DeWalt, but have gotten many hours of good use from Makitas. If you can find a bench grinder with more than half a horse po...

Gaston de Clermont

I set myself a goal about two years ago to lighten my total rig including myself by 30lbs. I hit the goal and kept on going. Reducing the armour weight has definitely helped my fighting endurance and speed but loosing my gut has helped in so many other ways. I sleep better, I have more energy, my ba...

Gaston de Clermont

There are a broad range of stainless steels and a given steel can be in a variety of states. If a piece is work hardened, which stainless easily is since it requires so much pounding, it can be brittle. However you could take the same piece and anneal it, giving it pretty much the same properties as...

Gaston de Clermont

Mac- wonderous work! Is the star in the middle of the besague an attached piece, or gilt, or what? How'd you do that?

Gaston de Clermont

I'm still amazed at all those pics. The livery is cool, but Jean-Paul, did you spot the Burgundian flag? Very nice. As for wool- I understand light weight wool breathes better than cotton. Cotton swells when it gets wet, preventing air flow. It makes it great for pavillions, but not so great for get...

Gaston de Clermont

I'd pay to see the 5 man fights. There are some bad, bad men on those lists.

Gaston de Clermont

In this gallery are some spectacular photos of the mud: m And here are some beautiful photo's as well: m Seriously, if you have any interest in armour, click on the links. The fact that they got that many people with such good and consistent kits together is stunning. So guys, how what drives such ...

Gaston de Clermont

Sharp! Getting used to the gear makes a world of difference. I've found a number of opponents have trouble with the limited vision if they don't train with a close faced helm regularly.

Gaston de Clermont

I'm with Ceddie. My bascinet is 17.5lbs including the avantail and padding. Most of it is 12ga. My first knight, Duke Gregor, fights in a mostly 10 guage bascinet. 10's pretty darn thick for a spangen though.

Gaston de Clermont

Though it is correct that spring steel is not period, technically mild steel is not either until very late in the SCA period range. Historically, wrought iron is correct. Please try to assert only what you're sure of. Your statement isn't true. Metalurgical analysis of pieces of armour from the ear...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm curious about Matt's articulation too. In general we're best off emulating the originals as best we can, rather than copying each other. There's a picture of the inside of the Churburg #13 arm harness in seen in Brion Price's Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction (Folks call it TOMAR here)....

Gaston de Clermont

Normally I'd completely agree with your statement Ingelri, but the profile of Matt's knee looks pretty shallow. I'm curious how Matt got so much articulation from them. Matt- I like the shaping you're doing on the cuisse. Getting that shape to be smooth takes some serious work. How'd you do it? You ...

Gaston de Clermont

I can't really agree with much of your third paragraph, Trevor. They had higher carbon steel which was used in things like knives and fire strikers throughout most of the period we study. Quality varied, and the use of this steel in armour was limited, but it would be tough to back up the statement ...