The Armour Archive

Sean Powell

the first sentence of my thread said this is an "all leather" CoP. Think of the rivets as decoration to make it look like it's the real thing, -Gregory- So are there leather plates under the leather shell or is this a faux COP with the rivets just providing the illusion of a COP? If the later maybe...

Sean Powell

Hello folks, I just finished up my all leather coat-of-plates today. It is inspired by one of the front-opening Wisby finds. I thought that the front opening Visby finds were presumed to be lamellar or salvaged lamellar plates sewn inside another garment? Sorry but I don't keep that book at work. E...

Sean Powell

From an engineering perspective the solution is easy. Don't put the damn hinges on until ALL of the shaping is done, and that includes roping, rolled edges and that final trim cut to get the edge line straight. Second thing. No mater what you do the pins of your hinges will almost never line up. If ...

Sean Powell

Block of steel with four 1/2-20 UNF fine thread holes tapped at 1 inch intervals. Weld the balls to the top of fine thread hex bolts but try to leave the hex portion partialy accesable. Assemble the bolts to the block with fine thread prevaling torque nuts. Redular coarse threads might work but the ...

Sean Powell

I tried to build something like the Legio Draconis shield press once but the person helping me couldn't measure or mark a straight line so I threw it out. Then I tried a tree but it rained and the wood got moldy and the glue didn't set right. Version 3 was made from 2 10' long 2x6's. I choped the wh...

Sean Powell

Hello, I took a swing through the search function but didn't quite find what I was looking for. I'm trying to find a GOOD pair of long cuff, supple leather gloves without a lot of insulation that can be used in a pair of gauntlets. For my last pair I hand sewed a leather cuff to a regular pair of gl...

Sean Powell

And none of the three names are to be confused with W.A.Whitney from the same area and time period. W.A. Whitney was the other brother and the company USED to make punches but now makes CNC turret punches and heavy machinery. Luckly a lot of the dies used by W.A.Whitney were similar enough to the on...

Sean Powell

What was the price before it was $149.99? I seem to have forgotten.

Sean

Sean Powell

Yes, Your stake is welded up already. I can grind and finish it this weekend. I will post the pic and if you approve it's a deal. Hal Finish it at your convenience. I won't have a need for it until near Christmas. Post pictures if you want, it's good for business. Drop an email to powell.sean (at) ...

Sean Powell

Very nice price. If Texas time wasn't an hour after Eastern I'd have loged on at midnight and bid $45.01. Similar sized stakes from forged solid steel from Ironmonger run in the $150 to $175 range. More for custom. Lets hope that the welded pipe construction lasts us hobby pounders for a while. So H...

Sean Powell

Like many sheet metal tools at harbor freight it's aimed at the do-it-yourselfer working with auto bodies or motorcycles. They are generally under strength but will get the job done well enough in thinner gages and on a budget. The profesional or semi-profesional will just weld up what they want rat...

Sean Powell

This is the son speaking. I need must be some sort of Italian gauntlet used around the end 15th begin 16th century. Robin D.C. Late 15th cent Milanese, shouldn't be too difficult. You might consider something more like the Avant harness. It has seperate finger tips but larger plates across the base...

Sean Powell

The best thing to do is ask your son what HE wants. If if can show you a picture online and you can link to it we can skip the guessing game completly.

Sean

Sean Powell

There are Pros and Cons to both the phone and the net. I deal with Switzerland on a daily basis. With a 6 hour time difference we have about a 3 hour overlap where I can call and reach them at their desks (assuming they arn't on one of 6+ weeks of vacation). I can send an e-mail from my desk at 5pm ...

Sean Powell

By and large I agree with Sir Rhys (no surprise there) and if anyone wants to come out and play we can have a non-SCA friendly bout of arms with the shins and feet being legal targets... IF we are fighting with single handed swords. If we are fighting with pole axe, and I know that it greatly limits...

Sean Powell

Purpose = medieval reenactment Material = steel Sort of tools : not very much yet Details : not so important although they must give a lot of protection. Thierry, Not a problem. Work is boring today and I'm surfing FAR too much. Most Medieval Reenactors are specific about the time period they are r...

Sean Powell

What style gauntlet? (finger, mitten, bifurcated) For what purpose? (SCA, WMA, Live Steel, Fencing, Boffer, dress) From what material? (steel, leather, plastic) What sort of tools do you have? What sort of experience do you have? What's your budget outlay? How finiky are you about details? How soon ...

Sean Powell

Step one, for your safety, if you have pointly elbows you should also have pointy elbow cops. We all have pointy elbows but some of us are gifted by mother nature in the excessive winter insulation department and it is not such a big deal. You should look into pointier then average elbows or find a ...

Sean Powell

Le Bump! Hey Mike, I have some time at work and will be going through what numbers I can but I wasn't following your general theory presented above. Any chance you can point to specific sources that include the diffusion equation and related variables. I'd like to follow along. Nothing I know about ...

Sean Powell

Plasma cutter or CNC plasma cutter? It makes a difference. If he can CNC according to CAD files I may have some work I could send him. If he can plasma cut by tracing cardboard I may also have some stuff I could send him but not much. If he wants to rip sheets into tiny identical squares he's going ...

Sean Powell

Hal, I'm looking for a stake.: 8-10" long straight section, 45 degrees up at one end (with a cap), 45 degrees down at the other end (with a cap) and a plate for vice mounting. If you decide to make one like this for practice I'll buy it sight unseen for the same price as the present stake and tube s...

Sean Powell

Remove the paint? I have a hard enough time getting it to stick well. If you have well bonded paint that is not chipping or peeling and plan on painting again or covering with fabric I wouldn't bother with stripping. I'd grab some 100 grit sand paper in a vibro palm sander or maybe a medium/coarse s...

Sean Powell

That question has been raised here recently. Zweihammer is building a kit for this style of helm. Research related to it is historical accuracy is here:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... highlight=

and pictures of his kit being developed are avilable here:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=63633

happy hammering,
Sean

Sean Powell

Durasteel.

That is a wonderful picture. Is it copyright to you and do you mind if I use it explaining armor to newbies? You are right. I probably cut my COP's too long but not my corazina which could explain why I like one so much better then the other.

Sean

Sean Powell

Cat,

Try a sharp cross peen hammer rather then a ball peen. More of the energy seems to go into deformation and less is wasted with the hammer moving sideways.

Sean

Sean Powell

OK someone needs to get one of these and decide if it is only designed for 18-20 gage car pannels or if we can play with 14 gage stainless helmet halves. This MIGHT be enough reason for me to get a compressor. Harbor Freight: Supplying the tools armorers only WISH they had in the middle ages... Sean

Sean Powell

OK that's surprising. Duct-tape or straping tape rope is only something I've ever used as an emergency fix when a hose clamp is blown. I'll keep that in mind. Konstantine mentioned more period styles of basket hilts. many years ago I picked up a pair of schiavona baskets but they were a fairly small...

Sean Powell

I thought Dm was DEKAmeters and dm was DECImeter. The capitol letter indicating that it was 10 TIMES the length of a meter vs one tenth the length of a meter. The best way I know to handle scalling a Wisby coat is to put on your gambeson and then a tight fitting t-shirt. Have someone take a sharpie ...

Sean Powell

And should these things be slightly magnetic?? I just picked up all three in one hand and felt a slight magnetic "pull" between the small one and the medium one... The hammer, the chisel or the anvil? Idealy none of them should be magnetic although if they are it usually dosn't result in much of a ...

Sean Powell

Hello all, I've used a number of different basket hilts over the years and they have had a number of different methods of attaching to the rattan. Of the top of my head I have used Hoseclamps, screws in from the bottom, wood wedges, bolts through the rattan, u-bolts and once a tapered fit and tape. ...

Sean Powell

Zweihammer, As a suggestion, you may want to add a 1/4" radius at the lower corners of the eye slots. The dishing/shaping process or fighting could cause cracking there. It's a common problem with great helms that have large unflared eyeslots where they meet the nasal portion. I'm looking forward to...

Sean Powell

OK, now that I understand the project let me ask a few questions: When you cut these strips into useable lengths how much curve will each short piece have? Once you push them through the shield and fold them over how much will a shallow curve really affect anything? Next time you might want to cut a...

Sean Powell

That's not an unknown phenominon when working with a shear. The cutting action stresses the steel verticly as it deforms and breaks but since the steel is angled slightly up and down some of that stretch comes out as length. Try to tear a plastic bag and you will notice the same phenominon. Do I KNO...

Sean Powell

I've got a store called "Woodcraft" near me. They may have an online presence as well as I believe that they are a chain. They have a selection of rough cut boards for custom woodworkers and can order just about anything. They also sell small pieces for decorative inlay... or knife handles. Ebony, b...

Sean Powell

A random link: m 2500 Years of European Helmets by Howard M. Curtis, Pg 50: "Great Helm, English, Third Quarter of 14th Century... belonged to Sir Richard Pembridge... The bottom edge of the helmet is rolled inwards over a thick wire so the surcoat won't be cut." I can't verify for myself and Curtis...

Re: New Leather Coat-of-Plates

Long cuff welding gloves for gauntlets

SCA: Methods for Attaching Basket Hilts