The Armour Archive

Gaston de Clermont

Heck, that's a steal at 10x the price.

Gaston de Clermont

Charny dixit, "...they gird themselves up and so rein themselves in round the middle of their bodies taht they seek to deny the existance of the stomachs which God has given them: they want to pretend that they have not and never have had one, andeveryone knows that the opposite is true. And on...

Gaston de Clermont

I have to wonder if loosing a father is a common theme among the Tuchux. We all do things to fill the voids we perceive in our lives, and perhaps the Tuchux community is particularly good at filling that kind of loss.

Gaston de Clermont

Awesome.

Gaston de Clermont

I'd rather plannish than grind. If you have the right shape stakes and good hammer control it's kind of fun. Griding edges gives you quick and obvious results so it's not bad, but grinding bumps off a surface gets old fast for me. I'm pretty sure Cet could raise a helm from 14ga since he's been doin...

Gaston de Clermont

Brian does occasionally talk about upcoming books here:
http://www.chivalrybookshelf.com/
but you'll notice from the dates that it's not kept particularly current.

Gaston de Clermont

Did RecklessAgony say he wanted to portray an African knight? I must have missed that. Norman, you do have a point that we shouldn't draw too many conclusions from effigies and illuminations. What they're showing isn't always intended to depict the full reality of medieval Europe any more than the m...

Gaston de Clermont

The Knowne World Party is Friday night after The Deed. We could meet up there so none of us would have to worry about the burdens of hosting. The challenge then is finding each other. The pewter archive pins could work if enough folks have them.

Gaston de Clermont

I'm going, planning on Sunday to Sunday at the moment. I'll be camping with the grand Ansteorran barony of Bryn Gwlad.

Gaston de Clermont

My understanding of the squire's tourney is that unbelted fighters can enter with the sponsorship of a knight. There's nothing that explicitly forbids someone from being a squire for a couple hours besides the willingness of two eligible parties to don that feudal bond. It's a contract, and like mar...

Gaston de Clermont

I argue that a statue or illumination of St. Maurice created in the 12th century is extremely relevant. Check out this one: m The artists was clearly trying to depict what St. Maurice would look like in armour from the artists own era. Sure, the details are a bit crude, but they had some sense of wh...

Gaston de Clermont

Charny advised against over-tight armour as well for similar reasons.

Gaston de Clermont

There's a bar just below the top cross bar in the illustration I initially posted. Is that supposed to be twisted up like the arm of a catapult, or spring loaded? It could create more downward force to close the trap.

Gaston de Clermont

I've never had a reception issue there. You might want to at least watch The Deed on Friday after the main melees are done. The schedule has a lot of tourneys listed, and there are always good pick ups. The squires tourney is a good one if you're eligible to play.

Gaston de Clermont

The critters I've caught so far are around 7-8 inches long top to tail, so they're likely rats rather than mice. If St. Joseph is any indication of scale the following trap on his bench could only hold a very small mouse, but it might kill a much larger beast with a strong spring.

Gaston de Clermont

I have the modern spring traps, and they're working just fine. I'm really interested in seeing how well the following trappe works, and with all my other projects I'd rather buy than build one.

Gaston de Clermont

Does anyone know where I might be able to buy a mouse trap based on this design?
http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/200 ... etrap.html
The cold weather has driven some rodents into my house and I'd like to get medieval on them.

Gaston de Clermont

Doesn't the EK shield of chivalry have the blue tyger on it? Seems like it did years ago when I carried it. Many kingdoms have a populace badge. You can recognize Ansteorrans and Calondiri from a mile away because so many of them wear it. The closest I've seen from the East is what the belted and un...

Gaston de Clermont

I use a couple of Hal's saddle stakes, a swedge block, planishing balls, and an anvil.

Gaston de Clermont

Jovian made some headway on his scales in the shop Wednesday. Come on out in a couple weeks if you can and you can probably get started on a set of your own.

Gaston de Clermont

Very cool, guys. Thanks! Of course more pictures are always welcome!

Gaston de Clermont

Does anyone here have the research prowess to help this good man out?

Gaston de Clermont

Both work fine. Some depth of curve is necessary to let your shoulders move forward when throwing a blow or blocking a shot. The flat designs require a lot more movement from the plates, or a much narrower top to accommodate your arms properly.

Gaston de Clermont

A lot of armour in the 1390s, at least in Frankish regions, was concealed with fabric. The form of arm harness they were wearing under that fabric wasn't a bazuband according to any of the evidence I've seen, but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

Gaston de Clermont

I shoot for cherry red rather than orange. It produces less forge scale, and the forge scale on 410 is intensely stubborn to remove. I tend to temper closer to 450-475F. I'm finding that 0.040 is a little easier to work than even 0.032. You have a little more margin for your temp being off since it ...

Gaston de Clermont

We have a combat engineer shipping out to Afghanistan in a couple weeks, and he'd love to keep fighting. Any tips on how he should get in touch with like minded folks out there? How would he find this loaner gear?

Gaston de Clermont

I'd take what Klaus said in a different direction- make your armour out of things you can maintain. If you don't have the tools to work it either acquire them, or choose armour you can fix. Gamboised cuisses and maile make for a nice kit if you don't have all the grinders and hammers to take care of...

Gaston de Clermont

4130 has molybdenum in it, and if I can work it I'm sure someone of your skills wouldn't have the pain you describe. It was developed for ease of working and welding, and it's forgiving of fairly primitive heat treating. Of course thin sheet will tend to warp with a fast quench regardless of the all...

Gaston de Clermont

You're boiling the metal. Move your tip head around more or back off on the gas a bit so you're not overheating that one spot. It just needs to melt. Tip cleaners are a decent idea- you might be clogging the nozzle with liquid steel, but it's unlikely.

Gaston de Clermont

I LOVE the links you posted, AL. Thanks! I'm most focused on late 14th century stuff, but the images I scrounged up should be applicable (scroll down a little here): m Note that it's relatively common to make them very much like James did, with a leather edging. You have to do something to keep the ...

Gaston de Clermont

There's a chance you picked up something stainless (they'll pein, but not as easily) or masonry nails (they're so hard I use them as engravers). A point we haven't emphasized well is to have a very solid surface behind the rivet. A rail road track is the most cost effective for new folks, they're ju...

Gaston de Clermont

Hopefully my article and pictures would help in your quest:
http://burgundianhours.blogspot.com/search/label/Rivets
Wade's right about leather. My default for most of the bigger straps is 8oz, but for gauntlets and more intricate bits I go a touch lighter.

Gaston de Clermont

Love it!

Gaston de Clermont

You've come a long way!

Gaston de Clermont

I like Jeff, Gwen, and everything they sell. They always seem to be out of stock on the maile though.

Buying a better mouse trap