The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

The Chartres arm harness is the only one I'm aware of from the 14th century with a hinge integrated into the plates of the vambrace. All the others had hinges either applied on the inside, as in the Churburg arms, or on the outside, as on the example in La Musee de L'Armee. There's no evidence of a ...

Gaston de Clermont

D- You're doing good things for a good cause. I'm curious why it's "Blacksmithery" and "Equestrian" instead of blacksmithing and riding though... The pictures are well chosen, the layout is great, and the initiative to start such a project is highly commendable. May your efforts ...

Gaston de Clermont

Veg tan can work fine. I've lined a couple Churgburg #13s with it. They sell it based on square footage and thickness, with the thickness rated in ounces. 8oz is about what most belts are made of. It's great for the shoulder straps or even strips connecting the plates in this design but heavy for a ...

Gaston de Clermont

Sure, a torch can work. If you're thinking a regular propane torch though it would take a LOT of time. Check out this rig:
http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/armor ... _index.htm

Gaston de Clermont

It's a great helm at a great price. I'm curious how you'd pad the back of the head though.

Gaston de Clermont

I'm not so sure that particular offering is intended to replicate a specific piece, so it's difficult to say what era it's from. It does have a late 15th cenutry-ish feel though.

Gaston de Clermont

Yeah, the cuisse shape is quite nice. How high up on the leg does the cuisse go? It looks a bit short in proportion to the cop, though tht might mean it will fit more easily for more folks. You may find that making the cop deeper makes the articulation easier to work out. I imagine you had to be qui...

Gaston de Clermont

JP- are you saying you don't temper 410 or you don't temper 4130 or 1050? Have you done any testing on that to see how durable your steel is with that approach? I've seen at least one ugly crack from that method even from a quench in transmission fluid.

Gaston de Clermont

Verra nice! Who says the greave has to be rolled? A sabaton would end any cutting the end of the greave would do, no?

Gaston de Clermont

My tongs are about 3 feet long. You need REALLY long tongs to reach into the bowels of the forge. I have purple didiyum gogles and a silver heat shield smock. They work quite well, but honestly I like the mad scientist look too. As for hand tempering with a torch- I do that on occasion like for litt...

Gaston de Clermont

I have some details to iron out, but my wife gave a begruding OK for Gulf Wars this year. I'll be camping and fighting with Bryn Gwlad, Ansteorra. I'm hoping to head out Monday or Tuesday.

Gaston de Clermont

Eros- some other options:
http://www.franksupply.com/
http://www.caningshop.com/
It might be fun to do a cultural exchange day if you're close to the Texas border. We might be able to come down toward you, and bring some ratan if they won't ship it to Mexico.

Gaston de Clermont

Certainly pretty work! The originals from this era passed the leather straps through a slot. So can use a galvanized roofing nail to attach the strap, but the head of the nail would be on the inside of the vambrace, then the strap passes through the slot to get to the buckle. The buckle could attach...

Gaston de Clermont

Looks good Louis! I'm not sure what you couldn't melt with that setup. If you've got decent pressure regulators you could do bronze and silver casting pretty easily. As for quench tubs, I use plastic. You do have to be a bit careful, but the sheet metal cools so fast it's pretty hard to melt anythin...

Gaston de Clermont

I just made longer plates, sort of like what the Churburg #13 has, and made them wrap around the back. The look isn't quite right, but the protection is great.

Gaston de Clermont

I really recommend "New Edge of the Anvil". It's essentially a blacksmithing book, but it covers the metalurgy you need to know pretty well, and will give you an intuitive feel for what you'll have to do.

Gaston de Clermont

Yeah, I'm here in Austin and so is Master Peter (Max). I have an open shop most Thursday evenings which you're welcome to come up for. Krag's is well worth going to, even if he seems to schedule gatherings when it's a bazillion degrees out.

Gaston de Clermont

I'm definitely glad these showed up here. They're gorgeous! Thanks very much!

Gaston de Clermont

Aaron- yours is a fine question. I wouldn't advocate the route of making the knee harness into an orthopedic brace. Making good leg armour requires someone who's part artist and part engineer. Making them part orthopod too sounds like too rare a combo. It could happen, and you'd probably get a kille...

Gaston de Clermont

Schreiber has a pretty good point. Plus mild steel will tend to work harden less, so you won't get so much cracking and it will be easier to really see how the dishing is supposed to work. From both a sport and a historical accuracy perspecive you'll want to shorten the body harness by a couple inch...

Gaston de Clermont

The big idea to latch onto is that the first pass of sanding should take out all the hammer marks you don't want. If you find you're sanding right through your metal in that process, you should spend more time cleaning up with the hammer. All subsequent passes are just making the sanding marks small...

Gaston de Clermont

Raito- he's new, and he's trying to improve. You have some good points, but try to be gentle! Ewen- I really recommend looking at a lot of pictures of the original Churburg #13. Take a tour, and check out the armoury here: m This guy collected some good pictures of it for his reproduction: m Raito t...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm not so sure on this. I temper a lot of my stuff around 475, and it softens (and toughens) the steel significantly from the initial firing. So the temeratures might not be so far off.

My bigger question would be why powder coat? Bluing might be a prettier option.

Gaston de Clermont

I understand folks are saying Arnica helps make bruises go away, but how does it really do that?

RoaK, I thought it was the Saxons who won. We were the side facing the pavilion, without the two dukes and an earl. I was having too much fun to be really paying attention to the score, though.

Gaston de Clermont

Alejandro- I wasn't so focused on the later period stuff but the piece I remember had a couple colors to it. There was some red, and maybe blue or green mixed with some gilding. The stuff Soleil posted is fairly close, but it was more colorful. I don't recal the date on the piece, so it may have bee...

Gaston de Clermont

It seems the supply of even the 2 inch stuff is dwindling and not very reliable. Apparently there's not so much demand for the really thick stuff so they tend to harvest it before it gets that thick. I had to call a couple places before I found any. I've turned some daggers out of it. Knoch- We real...

Gaston de Clermont

Mmmm. Poleaxey goodness... Bumping so that all might partake of the wonderment Martel has brought to us...

Gaston de Clermont

By the colors it looks like it's trying to be a Makita, though they'd probably plaster their name all over. I'm not sure where folks are finding $120 grinders unless they're the giant two hand monsters. You can get a good DeWalt or Makita for about $45, or a Ryobi for about $30.

Gaston de Clermont

A couple summers ago I was in Paris and saw a painted suit with what I think was an armet. I think it was etched, and parts were gilded. A friend is having something similar built and was looking for documentation. Does anyone have a picture of this armet, or a similar painted armet?

Gaston de Clermont

Rex has a bit of a point. It's not an amazingly efficient set up, but you also don't have to heat the whole helm, all the air inside it, and all the insulation it would take to surround it. Plus you get the option of only heating a single area which might make some forming a bit easier, and you're n...

Gaston de Clermont

Real breastplates like you're probably thinking about only came about in the last decade of the 14th century. The Churburg #13 is the only surviving example of one, though there are a number of pairs of lung plates and a lot of coats of plate which have survived. It's a pretty good first project, th...

Gaston de Clermont

I'm using a propane forge for my hot work, but it heats the whole piece, rather than the focused heat Eric's design provides. Is the inverted bucket insulated with anything? What's the white board by around the burner made from?

Gaston de Clermont

Glorious!
What kind of steel are you using, and what's your heat source?

Gaston de Clermont

Cool pics. Yours sweeps back more at the bottom of the side and the sides aren't as tall. Matt, I think your eyes are focused on the right spot to take your helm to the next level. Right now you've got a great face plate and the onion dome looks particularly sweet from the front, it's just the bott...

Gaston de Clermont

I think they should be rated like diamonds. There's karat, color, and clarity for those. Large bruises are more impressive, but those of deep or unusual hues are more impressive (I'm fond of the green spectrum they get after a few days). Things like visible tape lines and maile patterns should be a ...

Seeking pic- painted armet from the Musee de L'Armee