The Armour Archive

Mad Matt

Yeah I've got two cats always in my shop. They don't come near me when I'm working. The dog is a whole nother matter. He's super hyper and super playfull. I always pick up all metal bits and put em in a box as soon as I finish cutting each piece. Also all power tools are unplugged when not actually ...

Mad Matt

What kinda steel. What's your hammer like? I've dished a lot of bosses the old fashioned way. List steel type, thickness etc. How deep did you get it? Were you working from the outside in or the inside out. Really describe your hammer it could be the problem and so could the metal. -----------------...

Mad Matt

Well the whole problem is in your wording. Don't ever "smash" a rivit. Here's how to properly peen a rivit. Properly peening a rivit requires finess. Brute force has to go sit in the corner for a while. Start by trimming the rivit to the appropriate length. The appropriate length is determined by th...

Mad Matt

Now for the safety tip. I earn 1000 stupidity points. I usually let my dog keep me company in the shop. The stump I put this thing on is a little lower then most (knee height). Long story short. I'm bashin a disk with a 12# sledge (tentatively thank god) and my dog jumps up mid-swing and I nailed hi...

Mad Matt

Well Sasha my dad did the welds. Cause I can't use a stick to any results that even resemble a weld. They're not pretty but definitly strong. CBA that's the complete setup. Also helmet tops aren't round they're oval. As to the sharper transition thing. I don't see it getting any sharper then what I ...

Mad Matt

Well I finally got it put together. Now it's just gotta get screwed to a stump and have the inside edge of the bottom piece filed down so it's not quite so sharp. And my 45 pound foot operated hammer should be done either tonight or tomorrow too. Anyway lemme know what you think. Ask me questions an...

Mad Matt

For 1/4" id I'd say mark up from 5/16 by about 20-30%. Part of what you charge for things should depend on the quality. Not just for how well rings are closed but also based on fitting experience. I charge a little more then most people do. I've been makin maille for over 10 years though and have fi...

Mad Matt

LD. Charles is a good and trustworthy person to trade with.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

Well in the hopes that this stupid snow and cold weather will go away sometime soon I think it's time to start planning another armourers gathering for the Ontarians and anyone elce willing to make the trip. I'll be happy to host it again. I now live in Stayner Ontario which is right near Wasaga bea...

Mad Matt

Morlahn Hobbs: That's EXACTLY the stuff I was looking for. Historically accurate fittings for COP's. Thank-you very much. Thanks for the other links too. One of these days I'm gonna get me some real medieval buckles. ------------------ The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy. Mad Matt's...

Mad Matt

LOL that's funny.

Like I said I could use a new hard drive.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

I could use a hard drive. I'll be getting these sabatons back soon.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~mad666matt/sabatons2.html

They'll fit a size 11-12 round toed boot.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

Still not exactly sure what you're lookin for but it'll be around $20 plus shipping +/- $5

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

I could do it but it would be a few months till I could get to them. If you're intersted take a look at the round toed sabatons in the german transitional section of my website. And put your name on my waiting list. ------------------ The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy. Mad Matt's ...

Mad Matt

Anyone know where I can buy these things.

Or where I can buy a punch and die for making rosettes.
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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

[This message has been edited by Mad Matt (edited 03-01-2001).]

Mad Matt

I've found that the best way to attach a maille skirt to yourself is to make maille belt loops with smaller rings. then just put a belt on. As far as attaching maille to leather goes take a look at the thread about attaching an aventail to a bascinet somewhere around here. You could also do it with ...

Mad Matt

The only tools you need are a couplea ballpiens and a hunk of wood. Although a block of lead will work better I hear. Make a small depression in your hunk of wood by puttin the ball of a small ballpien hammer on it and then hit that hammer with a bigger hammer untill you've driven it into the wood. ...

Mad Matt

Sounds like Kolontar. Go to Norman's site and see the maille and plates section. Read the text it's there for a reason and it is excellent. Here's the address. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3505/page9.html As I've said before. Everyone should read Norman's site several times. It's wonderfu...

Mad Matt

Well I finally made a fairly small update to my site. And I've changed the way I take orders. I've now got a no obligation comission waiting list. I decided to change the way I do things after building up a fair sized backlog and not liking it. I hope to be ready to accept new orders by around the e...

Mad Matt

Well I finally made a fairly small update to my site. And I've changed the way I take orders. I've now got a no obligation comission waiting list. I decided to change the way I do things after building up a fair sized backlog and not liking it. I hope to be ready to accept new orders by around the e...

Mad Matt

Ok so I think he meant flush and tight. http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/tongue.gif Thanks for the shining review Johnaton. If you're thinking of getting a shirt you should tell me now and I'll put you on my waiting list. I'm currently booked till the end of March and there's already a couple fairly...

Mad Matt

That's what I meant.

Also It's not me dooin it. I'm just bein my usual helpfull self.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

More specifically look here http://www.crosswinds.net/~mad666matt/aveleather1.html

And you should understand.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

Ok perhaps I wasn't clear. I'll try to explain better. You thread a leather lace that is approx 1/8"-3/16" square through the top row of rings in the aventail. Now you sew that leather lace onto the leather strap using waxed linen or sinthetic sinew. Ie. You're not sewing the rings to the leather st...

Mad Matt

Actually you can dish leather.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt

Yeah I've peened a lot of rivits. My personal harness has well over 700 in it. And I still have to do the wisby gauntlets (double the number of rivits.) As well as a brig type gorget. For peening rivits cut with bolt cutters there's a bit of a trick to it. 1. You MUST trim to the appropriate length....

Mad Matt

The leather lace is sewn to the leather strap with sinthetic sinew. You can get a lifetime supply (big roll) from your local leather store for around $5. Vervilles aren't absolutly necessary but they are pretty. The way the vervilles work is that they go through holes in the leather strap that goes ...

Mad Matt

Galileo You're dooin it? And you're makin a rivited stainless aventail and attaching it for $90. You're not secretly a sweat shop worker from India are you? CBA. There are some pics of an aventail attached to the leather strap by the method I described on my website in the aventails section. Just lo...

Mad Matt

Unbelievably expensive because there's a huge amount of work in them and they take a great deal of skill. A single gauntlet has more work in it then a pair of spaulders, a pair of articulated arms and a pair of artuculated legs (not the greaves) all put together. Christian Fletcher makes finger gaun...

Mad Matt

Before you start Just a note on the leather. The weight you've got is fine but you want to use something with a soft temper. Ie. Oil or chrome tanned. Veg tanned leather is generally too stiff for this type of application. It's more expensive too. If you use stiff leather it'll defeat the whole adva...

Mad Matt

Trim each and every rivit. It only takes a second if that. Just nip off the end with a pair of bolt cutters. Use belt head rivits. Copper is easier to peen and leather likes it. Leather and brass do get along but brass rivits are harder to peen. Go for a length of about 3/8"-1/2". Some places will b...

Mad Matt

POD that was a quick and dirty tutorial. Not in-depth by any means. STEVE and POD: Lemme know if you run into any troubles. STEVE: Try it with butted first. There's a good chance that the first time you do it you'll have to take some apart and redo part of it. You just need to do the sleeve area so ...

Mad Matt

Ok POD. No triangles if you don't want a seam. Here's the quick and dirty instructions for making a 90 degree sleeve. Build a narrow strip that comes out from the top of the shoulder about 6". At the end of that strip at another strip on the side and attach the end to the other side to make a loop (...

Mad Matt

Go to the pattern archive. Get all the steel patterns. Use em for leather. Basically patterns for steel are the same as patterns for leather. Lamelar is a good scrap leather armour. So's scale. Spaulder and greave patterns are the same. If you're hardening the leather you'll need to make the pattern...

Mad Matt

Oh and you want an aventail to be around 7-8" long.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Mad Matt earns 1000 stupidity points. Safety tip for dog own

My fancy new shield boss makin tool. Sasha thanks take a loo

Ontario Armourers Gathering part 2.

Brass rosette washers and 14th c buckles.

The official Mad Matts comission waiting list. (x-post)

The official Mad Matt's comission waiting list.