The Armour Archive

Klaus the Red

Murdock, is the BP the right length to come to just below the rib cage on you? (I'm 5'7" so it should be the same for me.) I will trim the bottom if it's too long.

Klaus the Red

...this one goes up to eleven...

Klaus the Red

Swell- I got your coat collar 90% done last night.

Klaus the Red

Cos the doublet is in his collection?

No, "context" as in... is this from a letter? An e-mail? A quote from a publication he wrote? A remark you overheard at a cocktail party? And I see the item number mentioned above but not the title of the catalog.

Klaus the Red

No arguments here. Until such time as I get my riding skills back up to where they ought to be, I'd be equally happy learning to be ground crew and watching the experienced hands take their lumps.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Done. I will have your new coat finished this weekend, possibly sooner if you can get me that arm and shoulder point info we discussed. Drop me a line once you have that worked out and we can talk shipping logistics for both our items.

Klaus the Red

Awesome-thanks for the input. I count 8 so far...

Klaus the Red

Nice. What level of skill in the saddle are you looking for before you'll consider someone advanced enough to start the mounted work, and is that instruction predicated on bringing one's own mount?

Klaus the Red

This sounds almost too good to be true! If you continue to offer these sessions on a regular basis, I will have to fly down and attend at least once to try it out after Zil and I have moved to the San Jose area (this late spring some time). It sounds like a good excuse to reactivate my old dusty equ...

Klaus the Red

Sounds useful- who carries it?

Klaus the Red

I have a great deal of desire to keep my shoulders intact now.

All it takes is one good axe shot to remind you how close the bones are to the surface...

Klaus the Red

I reckon something could be worked out, and I might be interested in learning the procedure myself to apply to a couple of pairs, depending on the level of cost and toxic hassle. I waxed these after buffing with Butcher's Boston Polish, which is carnauba-based- works great for leather too. PM me and...

Klaus the Red

At some point in the next few months (hopefully before Pennsic), I hope to have some sets of heat-treated spaulders for sale. These are a collaborative effort between Max Engel of Northstar Armory and myself; he makes and heat-treats the parts, I polish, assemble and strap. Here is a picture of the ...

Klaus the Red

If for some reason Scarneck doesn't want the globose, I'll knock $50 off the total for your new arming coat in trade for it...

Klaus

Klaus the Red

David, what's the context of Pierre's statement? Is a detailed description of the Kienbusch coat published somewhere? I've been trying to run down such info but haven't had much luck.

BTW, I think Blair says something like, "maybe 15th century, maybe German."

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Reasonable, then, if not necessarily safe.

Klaus the Red

For most 14th century kit, I believe the only items which should be pointed through mail are spaulders and floating besagews (either at the armpit or at the elbow), assuming the tops of rerebraces and cuisses go over the arming coat but under the mail. A point will probably last longer if it's first...

Klaus the Red

Right next to the naval peanut butter, of course. Slightly deeper in the naval.

Sorry, couldn't resist. A good hardware store should have some. Be advised that it's hideously caustic and one should have on rubber gloves and safety goggles while dealing with it at all times...

Klaus the Red

The camail and leather band on that example in the Wallace Collection are modern recreations (and this I have from Mr. Edge himself), so it follows that the wire is also. Find some pictures of the Churburg bascinets with associated camails if you want to get closer to the truth. I believe one or mor...

Klaus the Red

Yeah, fooled me too for a moment- it looks kind of like a lock plate for a bank vault or something, doesn't it?

Klaus the Red

Turtle Wax is a teeny little bit acidic, so beware- I left a coat on my bascinet for several weeks of non-use, and because it had gone on in a sort of squiggly pattern (being liquid from a bottle), it left a very faint grey pattern etched into the steel when I finally buffed it off. Very annoying. M...

Klaus the Red

I'll be adding a mount to my BP as well just to be complete, though I never expect to joust in it. I believe it's not so much a bracket, actually, as a row of four independent staples like vervelles peened over on the inside- what appears to be a bracket in the photo above is the template for lining...

Klaus the Red

I was under the impression that hose for this period were still fairly short, not much higher than the knee, but I welcome any pictorial evidence that can prove me wrong.

Klaus the Red

Bob, pictorial evidence aside, is it safe to assume that the armet would have been passed over (in preference to the sallet) by the average, lightly armored common soldier simply due to the fact that its closed design would limit visibility and ventilation? I'm assuming these factors would explain w...

Klaus the Red

Patrick, what's the earliest that this style of lance rest appears, to your knowledge? The 14th century breast plate in the Met (the one with the v-shaped stop rib) has the same 4-staple mounting system remaining, but the only complete lance rests I've seen are 15th century or later. Really nice wor...

Klaus the Red

I was about to take a close-up pic of some nails and post it, but found both sets of batteries for my camera were dead... maybe later today.

K

Klaus the Red

If you're doing a German bascinet or one from earlier than 1360 or so, you can always try making the tubular style vervelles yourself from sheet stock. I've found they're easy to make but challenging to install if you don't have the right equipment- ie, a Whitney punch with an oval die. Drilling hol...

Klaus the Red

hows this project coming along? Slowly... I had to bump it in favor of garb for a couple of paying customers, but I now think I have enough information in hand regarding the order of assembly (Jeff, thanks- got your notes) to start that soon. I did a spraypaint job on all the plates that I wasn't v...

Klaus the Red

Ever consider offering some vervelles?

Klaus the Red

You know, we should propose the idea of vervelles to Beathan over at Armor and Castings- based on his latest batch of buckles and belt mounts, those could be right up his alley.

K

Klaus the Red

It's such a pity LMS went out of business- his Churburg vervelles were the best I've seen on the market and I've had set sitting around forever just waiting for that special bascinet. (And no, you can't have those- I'm selling you enough of my nice stuff as it is. ) Klaus (PS, trivia- Mandrake's ver...

Klaus the Red

Bring it on... I've missed your business as a great source for belt hardware.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Very nice work- are you doing the full grand asiette sleeve with all the gores, or just a big inset? (Hard to tell from the pics.) As the competition, I'm curious how you can get away with charging so little for something so labor-intensive.

Klaus

Klaus the Red

Too lumpy. It was only my second experiment with raw cotton as opposed to batting, and either I didn't spread it thinly enough or didn't quilt it at enough points to compress it suitably, probably both. I think I was trying too literally to get SCA-mandated padding thickness of 1/2", which really is...

Klaus the Red

Having discovered this winter for the first time that a long topcoat goes a long way towards keeping your legs warm (and obviates the need to wear long johns under my pants to work and get all sweaty), I suggest the following theory. Early mediaval period = fairly long tunics. What need is there for...

Interest survey: heat treated spaulders