The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

I've found Kaowool at a reasonable price on Ebay, but there was on Cer-wool. The Kaowool comes in #6 and #8 (seems like that implies thickness, but the lsitings are inconsistent) and 2300 degree and 2600 degree ratings. Besides 1/2 inch, is there a prefered # and degree for this kind of forge? I'm n...

Gaston de Clermont

Krag,
A parts list would help me make the most of the weekend.
If anyone else is interested I can get extra in my parts hunt. Just let me know.
Thanks!

Gaston de Clermont

Much of the late 14th and early 15th century body armour depicted in manuscripts is hidden by cloth, so it's hard to be sure exactly what was typically worn. I've fought in Churburg style harnesses for years and never had a problem or a particular worry about armouring the upper back. Even padding f...

Gaston de Clermont

Krag,
Looks like I might be able to make it. What would we have to bring to make a forge?
What kind of insulation do you recommend? Satanite?

Gaston de Clermont

I've been fighting in a linen liner stuffed with tow (rough flax fibers, which linen is made from) for several years, and been extremely happy with it. They can be overstuffed, and made too stiff to adequately absorb blows, or underpadded, so they bottom out. It's an approach that takes a little mor...

Gaston de Clermont

Raising the cone is probably the more traditional approach. Most modern armourers form a cone out of sheet, and weld the ends together. As for the lining, you'll probably find that 50 holes are more than sufficient. It is time consuming than gluing but it's an authentic approach, and it's not horrib...

Gaston de Clermont

Abrasives like steel wool and etchants like naval jelly do take off the rust that's there, but create scratches and pits which are a haven for water, salt, acids, and goo. Long term it can increase the amount of maintainance, and dull your shine. The scratches also increase your surface area, creati...

Gaston de Clermont

I agree with Jehan. I bought a pigface from Alan several years ago. There was a little more delay than either of us expected, but it did arrive in reasonable time, for a good price, and the craftmanship was quite good.
It's probably fair to say he's better at pounding steel than communication.

Gaston de Clermont

So an oxy-something torch set up seems to be a popular solution for hot working. What about heat treating? If you're looking to get a full helm, or a cuisse up to a high enough temp to get it very hard, what do you use?

Gaston de Clermont

What kind of setup works well for hot working a helm? The propane forges I've been looking at at Centaur forge don't appear to have enough internal volume. Can the same setup be used for heat treating? Essentially- can you heat the whole piece at once?

Gaston de Clermont

If we're going that route- Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince

Gaston de Clermont

All good suggestions so far. I'd like to recommend a few things by folks who lived through the war- Geoffroi de Charny fought and died in the 100 years war. His writings should be added to the list. m and (while it's a good book it's slightly less relevant to your question): m Christine de Pisan had...

Gaston de Clermont

I think you'll find Brent knows his way around a library pretty well.

Gaston de Clermont

In trying to be accurate to what Lull and Charny wrote about knightings, I had the hours read in Latin during my knighting vigil, and some readings and a short ceremony in the morning conducted by a friend studying to be a Catholic deacon. We didn't do communion. I thought it was respectful of the h...

Gaston de Clermont

Everyone has a different tollerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. If you have no tollerance for either, your persona should be a present day denizen of your home town. That horribly flippant statment having been said, I like being able to learn about the era of my persona, and the material culture,...

Gaston de Clermont

Stonekeep,
How'd you get the kiln? How big is it?
(Curious, slightly soft buckler owners want to know)

Gaston de Clermont

Yeah, Krag has some cool toys. I'd like to publicly thank him for his help last weekend, and showing us the mysteries of heat treating. As for your request, I've made a few Churburg #13s, and I fight in one. Look me up when you get home and I can at least get you some patterns and help cut them out.

Gaston de Clermont

I stumbled across this on the web, and it's just entirely too cool not to share:
http://www.virtualani.freeserve.co.uk/
It's an Armenian city, now in modern Turkey built between the 10th and 13th centuries (at least the building's I've looked at.) It's kind of spooky that such a number of buildings were abandoned.

Gaston de Clermont

Nicopolis is good- David Nicolle's book is tantalizing, but too short. Dupplin Moor. 14th century Scotish and English engagment. Bodies were stacked chest high by the end. I imagine an excavation there would be intensely interesting to a large percentage of us. Infantry Warfare in the 14th Century b...

Gaston de Clermont

Mr. Orc- mead with fruit is tasty. I can't recall a period recipe with fruit, but I'd be happy to see one. I've always heard metheglins described as meads with substantial herbal component, regardless of carbonation. I've also heard that's where the word "medicine" comes from, but I have doubts abou...

Gaston de Clermont

I'd be interested.

Gaston de Clermont

I was reading last night in Kelly DeVries book Infantry Warfare in the 14th Century ( m ) that after the battle of Dupplin Moor in 1332 that thousands of fallen soldiers were burried in a mass grave on the battle field. It sounded much like at Wisby. Does anyone know if there's ever been an attempt ...

Gaston de Clermont

The recipe in section 14 of Guter Spise is a good, though quite sweet, 14th century mead:
http://cs-people.bu.edu/akatlas/Buch/recipes.html

Gaston de Clermont

I hadn't seen a link to this here, but I know there are some Burgundian buffs around who might like to check this out:
http://www.clevelandart.org/exhibcef/burgundy/html/
It's all 14th and 15th century stuff from what I've seen. The funerary crown is spectacularly gaudy.

Gaston de Clermont

Taltosh, I shaped my nails with an angle grinder, and a bench grinder but was careful not to let them get hot. I still probably softened them a bit, but they were still fine for working on brass. You're going to be engraving tool steel with tool steel, so I'd be sure to keep your nails as hard as yo...

Gaston de Clermont

Neat! How much does it weigh? What kind of paint did you use?

Gaston de Clermont

Cute! Are the edges rolled or flared? Even though I rolled my edges I know mine cuts at my love handles sometimes- not that kids are likely to have that exact problem, but a thin edge against tender skin could leave a cut. As Jacob said, the original has a deep dish to the center plate. Really all t...

Gaston de Clermont

I've had some success with masonry nails on brass. They're expensive for nails, but extremely cheap for engraving tools. Make yourself a little handle (something rounded that fits in your palm like Michael was describing) out of scrap wood, shape the point how you want and you're good to go. This is...

Gaston de Clermont

Yes, the Pembridge helm is dated to around 1370. There's also a great picture in Barber and Barker's "Tournaments" of an Italian tourney about then with guys wearing beautiful corrazinas and helms very much like the Pembridge. I'm still trying to figure out why the sugar loaf phased out, and bascine...

Gaston de Clermont

Sure, that's more expensive than most scrap steel, but really at that price for a pair of gauntlets you'd be paying about as much for the gloves as you would for the steel. For something that could give you lighter, better hand protection I'm not going to complain. I've heard most carbon steels rust...

Gaston de Clermont

If it's your first try, I'd recommend folding over the edge without the wire, just to keep things simple. Wire wasn't always added inside the rolls of period pieces, though some claim it adds strength and makes it easier to make an even roll. You probably won't need a heat source unless the shape of...

Gaston de Clermont

Knoch,
I've got a few different versions of it. I just stumbled upon one last night in a random box (still unpacking). Are you looking to make a new one?
Gaston

Gaston de Clermont

Alexis- I can see a thinner metal might be more prone to deforming in the quench, though here I'm mostly concerned with a local thinning. A thin spot will cool faster, causing it to shrink before the hotter metal around it. You're unlikely to see something like that happen with a gentle curve like M...

Gaston de Clermont

A great helm or a pig face would be appropriate with a corrazina. Edward's sugar loaf is all kinds of cool, but would be an unlikely match with the corrazina, since that body harness pretty much shows up after the black death, and I can't think of a sugar loaf confidently dated after it. I wouldn't ...

Gaston de Clermont

The guys who lost the battle, and were subsequently had their bloated corpses piled into a quickly dug pit, were mostly militia as far as they can figure. So it's been concluded that their gear wasn't cutting edge stuff. It's not clear if they just didn't fight in helms, or if the helms were scaveng...

Deserted Medieval City in Turkey

Battle of Dupplin Moor excavation?

Burgundian art exhibit in Cleveland