The Armour Archive

Cet

Cool, I'll see you there. $30 is right.

Cet

I'll be going. Want me to bring that stake?

Cet

Flonzy, who do you know that's doing a high quaility portrayle of a late 14th century knight or a Duke from any period with or without a trust fund?

Cet

Army blanket ought to work pretty well as they are usually on the thick side. You can full wool by washing it in hot water which will cause it to shrink and thicken (so cut the wraps after fulling or they'll be too small) To be period correct you'd want to stick with woven woolens rather than knit m...

Cet

Hi Eric,

Could I trouble you for a copy of the measurements you mentioned? I have measurements for the Royal Armoury helm but nay others ( or alternate sources ) would be great.

Cet

"But insights about the way armour should fit are not so easy to come by as they are based on experience with good and bad armour." Actually I don't think this is quite true. We have examples of extant pieces as well as secondary sources such as paintings and funeral effigies available for study. Wh...

Cet

They're just long rectangles- waste fabric from clothing projects. I just wrap them snugly and tuck the excess under the final wrap. The strap on my poleyns helps to keep them in place as well.

Cet

They're just long rectangles- waste fabric from clothing projects. I just wrap them snugly and tuck the excess under the final wrap. The strap on my poleyns helps to keep them in place as well.

Cet

Wrapping the knees with wool blankets is mentioned in "How a Man shall be Armed" which dates from the late 15th century. I've been using stips of well fulled wool 6"-8" wide and long enough to wrap around my knees 3-4 times for quite a while now and it works great for me and I've spoken to some othe...

Cet

Sussen, what wire thickness is your mail?

Cet

Thanks for the heads up Craig. I'll have to check and see how that stacks up against the prices I'd be getting from my regular supplier. It's always nice to have a secondary source available.

Cet

e-mail sent

Cet

That's sad news. From my brief correrspondance with him he seemed a great guy.

Cet

Stainless prices have been creeping up- based largely on a surcharge on nickle or so I'm told. The secondary market for stainless has dried up as well forcing me to by prime material rather than drop or heads and tails. I had to bump up the retail prices of my Rough from the Hammer stuff in October ...

Cet

Quote: How prizes at Tourney, and Barriers, are to be lost. He that giveth a stroke with a pike from the girdle downward or under the barrier, shall win no prize. He that shall have a close gauntlet, or any thing to fasten his sword to his hand, shall have no prize. He whose sword falleth out of his...

Cet

As James said, the SCA has extremely loose standards of appearence in terms of hard and soft kit. Pretty much any attempt at pre 17th century kit will get you by. Some find this lack of firm standards infuriating while others love it. Personally I'm rather ambivalent about it, though my prefrence is...

Cet

For anyone using the dryer method for rust removal who wants to minimize after rinse rusting, rinse the mail in very hot water (120 degrees+) and it will dry very quickly when removed from the rinse. It's an old carb rebuilder's trick.

Cet

I now sell the predished tops that Ron developed. I can also provide them welded if you require that.

I'll send an e-mail with a price list.

Dave

Cet

E-mail sent.

Cet

I've seen them represented in Italian art for example: Niccolo di Giacomo da Bologna's "Emporer in Battl" from "Farsalia" 1354 Milan Biblioteca Trivulziana, Ms 691,fol 87 as well as a couple of paintings of the crucifiction shown in Boccia's "Armi e Armature Lombarde" One dated to 1370 and the other...

Cet

Does any one have suggestions for creating body molds for sizing parts?

Cet

I used mild steel wire for some test pieces and brass wire for the finished piece. I made the staples by cutting short lengths of 18ga wire, around 2" if I recall, held the pieces with a duck billed plier with jaws around 7/16' wide and bent up the excess on either side of the jaws by hand. When I s...

Cet

I can't speak to the commonality of staples vs nails but I did make a scale armour using hand cut staples. They were easy to make and have worked very well during 3yrs of use.

Cet

Master G is a great guy and you can't go wrong with his stuff. I believe he's been away for a bit and is a little behind on e-mails but he's catching up as we speak.

Cet

Me too, Me too!

Cet

What is your final sanding grit befor you move to the emery wheel? I sand to a 600 grit finish befor moving to the polishing stages.

Cet

If your friens would be interested in historical mysteries they could try:

P.C. Doherty
Peter Tremain
Ellis Peters
Sharan Newman
Alan Gordon
Candace Robb
Caroline Roe
Lindsey Davis
Steven Saylor

Cet

I plan on doing one on a Northern Italian Knight circa 1350 to accompany my new kit. Hopefully I can start on the hard kit sometime in Feb.

Cet

Until Garth posted the picture I didn't know Sir Logan's SCA name. I made the great helm and under-helm bascinet he's wearing as a matched pair. The bascinet is based on the one shown in the effigy of the Beccadeli effigy circa 1340. It has a moderate point just back of center and ends a bit below t...

Cet

e-mail sent.

Cet

The carving on the tomb of Phillip the Bold is probably the most commonly sited example of this practice. I've also seen a manuscript illustration from the Bodlien Library showing an inverted aventail which clearly has a cloth lining. There are more examnples of aventails with cloth covers e.g Walte...

Cet

Hi Swabere,

My shop is just south of Trenton. I'd be happy to have you come by and help you get started. I'm pretty booked until February but if you want to send me an e-mail ( the address is in my profile) we can set up a time and talk more about it.

Cheers

Dave Rylak

Cet

This is a great site. Thanks for posting it.

Happy new Year

Cet

I got one of these for Christmas and I can promise that the pictures on Andre's site (as nice as they are) don't do them justice. They're beautifully made, fully lined, and have nicely embossed buttons. Can't be beat for Court Garb.

Cet

Hi Murdock, I can do the #14 style breastplates any where from the basic Rough from the Hammer pieces to fully finished and strapped- though I only do the later on a limited basis. I could forge a stop rib for a RFH piece if you wnated to do the rest of the finish work. Shoot me an e-mail if your in...

Making body molds?