The Armour Archive

Prince Of Darkmoor

My dad taught me an interesting lesson this weekend about hardening metals. He took a 1/2" steel rod and heated one end up and quenched it in water, then heated up the other end and just let it cool. He did this sometime during the week while I wasn't there, but demonstrated what I'll explain below ...

Prince Of Darkmoor

I always love seeing pictures from museums like those. Thanks.

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Salinas Swordsman
Darkmoor Armoury
M.A.I.L. - All your Chainmaille questions answered here

Prince Of Darkmoor

Looks good Matt. The only constructive criticisms I could offer are to make sure that you didn't dish the bottom of the helmet top where the side skirting is to be welded. the flatter you can get it to line up, the better. But as was pointed out above, it is a tiny thing. Next time, just raise a hel...

Prince Of Darkmoor

I fought with a kite this last year in tournament. It was actually smaller than most other kite shields I've seen. I think mine was about 28" long and 12" wide at the widest point. Still worked pretty well. I hate having to peek around a larger shield because I end up leaving myself very open, so ha...

Prince Of Darkmoor

They're pretty much carbon copies of the B1. If the guy says its a Beverly and its got the manufacturer's stamped metal plate on it, then it should be fine. Otherwise, I'd be a bit suspicious. Besides, if you're in the market for a shear, you ought to bid on the B3 Ivar has for auction on Ebay. http...

Prince Of Darkmoor

We got one of the Harbor Freight ones for $79 while on sale. Works pretty well. No complaints really. I was going to buy the yellow one they have in their catalogue, but when I placed an order (via their online catalogue) and nothing came for a month and a half, I called and bitched them out. Turns ...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Very cool, my friend.

Prince Of Darkmoor

I also swear by linesman pliers now. I used to use one pair of slipjoint pliers and a pair of needle nose. Then I started working tougher material like 12.5 galvy, so I needed extra leverage. Then I bought two pairs of linesman pliers and I've never mailled happier http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/s...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Armadillo, thank you for the clarification of facts

Prince Of Darkmoor

I posed a similar question a couple months ago and the general consensus was that they are good for planishing, but not really any good for dishing. English Wheels are where you have two sets of rollers, like on a bead roller. There is a concave shaped wheel and a convex shaped one. Rolling the stee...

Prince Of Darkmoor

A friend of mine asked me to pose this question since he is writing an essay on safety in the workshop. Specifically, its going to be safety while making maille. Since I'm no expert on the subject of safety with this equipment, I thought I'd ask you all to take a few minutes and write down your thou...

Prince Of Darkmoor

It's all about the Magic Cat's Ass.

Prince Of Darkmoor

My favorite armourer-to-newbie advice is:

"Go ahead and do it that way - I'll remember to hit you there in tournament."

Prince Of Darkmoor

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>I can't begin to tell you what its like watching someone's helm bob back & forth as you sucker punch them with your basket, then pound on their collar bone with your shield edge, over & over... </f...

Prince Of Darkmoor

My 14ga hot rolled helmet has taken some dents in it, but that's fine.

I almost wonder if having a dentable helmet is better for your head and body than having an extremely thick and stainless one?

Prince Of Darkmoor

Sold!

Prince Of Darkmoor

Still have one left.

Prince Of Darkmoor

If you end up not making one, I've got a shield boss for sale right now in the Classifieds.

If you're set on making one, I can see about getting some pictures of the shield boss setup I use to make them. It's pretty cool. Just bolt the flat blank down and start a-whackin.

Prince Of Darkmoor

Matt, I didn't know you were Amish!

Actually, you look more like a Rabbi.

Can we call you Rabbi Stitchman? Oy!

[This message has been edited by Prince Of Darkmoor (edited 11-06-2001).]

Prince Of Darkmoor

Got it, thanks. I'll send the boss out Saturday.

Prince Of Darkmoor

I've got something similar to that: http://www.geocities.com/darkmoorarmoury/fluting.html It was inspired (or damn near ripped off) from Steve Belden's design. The pictures on that site are crappy, but you get the basic idea. Works well for creating big gothic looking flutes, but I'll have to get sm...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Been messing around with a couple of shield bosses and I thought I'd see if anyone wanted them. They're made from 12 gauge mild steel and have been primered black on both sides to prevent rust. No holes. They are roughly 8" across with a 1" flange. Since these were my first two shield bosses, they a...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Good point Rainald, but believe it or not I've already thought about that. That's why my home address isn't on the site - only the shop's address is. If they show up on the weekend at that address looking to do some stealing, they're only going to find me with a large hammer in my hand.

Prince Of Darkmoor

JT, feel free to move this to the Off Topic room if necessary. http://www.geocities.com/darkmoorarmoury/page16.html Here is a rough draft of the text I propose to use for the terms and conditions of ordering from me. I think it's pretty blunt and honest and hope that it is clear enough. I think the ...

Prince Of Darkmoor

I use a simple rule of thumb for judging whether or not to use certain steel gauges for my armour:

If I can easily cut it with my aviation snips, I'm not using it.

Prince Of Darkmoor

It is, however, extremely difficult to choose from the smaller groups--without a bunch of recommendations, we'll find it more difficult to know who is skilled versus who is just big in a small group. I agree. I mentioned the non-sca combatants book idea w...

Prince Of Darkmoor

It should be "Masters of Armoured Combat" so that Bedlam and I could be included.

Prince Of Darkmoor

Take me to your leader.....OINK

PIGS.....IN....SPACE....SPACE....space...space....

Just like on the Muppets show.

Prince Of Darkmoor

At least he didn't put "SCA" in the title. It's utter crap, and I'd sooner taunt angry bears with pork chops tied around my waist than have my ownership of that helm be public knowledge. It looks more like a deep sea diving helmet than anything else. There's obviously some talent out there for creat...

Prince Of Darkmoor

It wasn't clear to me from your description, but you do know that when working something hot with a torch, you only heat up the spot you are working on (well, its immediate surroundings, too..)? Yup, I knew that. But it didn't help much because I didn't w...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Ideally, I'd like to use the forge to heat the steel up, but my shield boss thingy is set up in such a way that I have to place the steel over the form, lay a large ring around it, and bolt it down with four bolts. By the time I get all that done (without burning myself) the steel won't be that hot....

Prince Of Darkmoor

This weekend I was trying out our new shield boss apparatus (holds steel disks in place while you sink it) and I was trying to see just how deep I could get them before they thinned out too much and tore. I would dish for a while with a 2 lb sledge with a rounded face and then switch to a 3 lb rawhi...

Prince Of Darkmoor

The answer is simple, my friend:

(a) either make your fireplace your forge, or
(b) tear down your fireplace for the bricks!

Either way you can keep warm during the winter by just firing up the forge...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Ideval, I thought I'd mention something that I learned by mistake in regards to your desire for a "tortoise-shell" design. When I was dishing the spangen panels for a spangenhelm, I accidentally dished one the wrong direction, so I had to dish it in the opposite direction to get it to fit right. Whe...

Prince Of Darkmoor

Maybe he got tired of receiving 1600 emails yelling at him for having SCA in the title of his auctions

Need input on torch and welder safety

Couple shield bosses for sale

Advice on T&C's

Rawhide v. Metal Sledgehammer