The Armour Archive

Sean Powell

Nice jacket and a great effort at reconstruction. I'm also glad you enjoyed NYC on New Years. You're braver then I for dealing with that chaotic crowd. Its nice to see something beautiful came back with you from the event. Some friendly advice tho now that you added the gazeri... Any jacket that cou...

Sean Powell

In defense of plastic armor and to some extent the DV munition gear armor: It is available off the shelf and now, not a custom order and eventually. Some people value "now". It is light which helps with endurance long enough to build technique and form. Some people do not have the endurance of more ...

Sean Powell

I have an alluminum cross and pewter pommel on my siloflex "dress-combat" sword. I only use if for sword and buckler but its length and balance is just like the waster I practice with but is slightly longer than my typical scadian basket hilted sword. For I two hander I like matched alluminum peices...

Sean Powell

LET THIS DIE!!!! Fer crying out loud. Do I have to se this post in the top 5 VERY TIME I LOG ON? If nothing constructive is going to be added about how to make armor, repair armor, modify armor or concerning armor at all and the thread is just being used to "review" a product but is actually "trashi...

Sean Powell

A close helm requires no chin strap if properly paded and fitted. I know they are rather expensive though. Good luck in your quest. Onz yes they do. check your rules of the list. From what I believe is a copy of Society Minimums, Armor standards, Section "A" subsection "i" (I wish I could just cut ...

Sean Powell

I've got a 3/4hp grinder I use for a lot of sanding. I'd trade up to 1 1/2 if I had the opportunity. I bog down or stall out the 3/4hp grinder too easily.

Sean

Sean Powell

If someone bumps this on Tuesday when I return to work I can pull the specific specs on the material. I have never tried to work with it but it WILL be less prone to rusting than mild steel. I also expect that it will be a bitch to work with cold. Do you know if the piece you have is annealed or alr...

Sean Powell

Generally speaking the magnetic stainless steels like the 400 series are poorly suited to armor work. They have very high yield strengths and a low range of plastic deformation before failure. They are most often used for stainless knives and cutting instruments as well as hardened bearing surfaces ...

Sean Powell

Suggestions: Get out of your usual routine. Take a drive in a new direction. Go shopping (or just window shopping) someplace you usually don't go. EAT FRUITS AND VEGTABLES, especially fresh ones. Use brighter light bulbs around the house and if its sunny outside GO THERE. Best suggestion, invite som...

Sean Powell

Anything under 5 med is a small picture. Actually I like to see the detail but it could be saved in a slightly lower resolution and could be cropped smaller so that there wasn't so much unused memory space... Now you want big pictures? Go check out Zweihammers Valsgrad 6 pictures. They wouldn't fit ...

Sean Powell

Man I have the terible urge to buy 1000 of these, smack a medial ridge in them with a block and chisel and then have the whole lot black-anodized. Knee length, split for riding and the right byzantine helm. Mmmm almost wish I did that time period...

Sean

Sean Powell

If a portion of it could be confirmed as authentic it would make a great piece to cut up for metalurgical analysis. Too ugly to do much else with.

Sean

Sean Powell

I'd be more interested in 1" or 1.25" round stock 18" long on a square stem. Grind one end to a ball and the other leave as a sharp corner (easier to do the grinding before the welding). If you REALLY want to build stake I'll take the aformentioned round stock version with the top bent in a shallow ...

Sean Powell

Flap wheel on my buffer is my favorite. 6" sanding disk in my drill press is 2nd but I'm woried about long term damage to the press. 4" sanding disk in my andle grinder is least favorite for anything other than helms. I want 2 hands on the work piece and 2 on the grinder and my toes just arn't dexte...

Sean Powell

I suddenly have the urge to drink a case of Mt. Dew, cut the top off one can, the tops and bottoms off all the othersand stuff the main can with the extra alluminum. I wonder of it would work for dishing as well? Or maybe I'm just craving some dew... /homer simpson voice/ Mmmm Dew... That is a cool ...

Sean Powell

I know artist arn't always noted for their accuracy but has anyone esle noticed that the artist has drawn the plates with the rear plates clearly overlapping the front plates? Its the opposite of every great helm I've ever seen.

Nothing special. I just noticed for the first time.

Sean

Sean Powell

Edited to add - what historical culture would be congruous with this helm, for those of us suddenly interested in designing an SCA heavy kit around it? Baron Alejandro, This is a good location for basic information pertaining to the Valsgrad 6 Helmet m One beauty of this helm is that it is (for the...

Sean Powell

For those people who don't read the clasified as often as the construction board, this helm kit is now for sale in another thread.

Oh and <BUMP> cause this is still such a cool helm.

Sean

Sean Powell

Son of a B!+c4. I've been checking the construction thread twice daily for mention of when these would be on sale. Luckilly I was bored and happend to check here (when I only do ever 2-3 months).

PM definetly sent!

Sean

Sean Powell

1/4" = 6mm (or a reasonable aproximation there of) so you might consider 6mm Foamies. This is a closed cell art foam you can get at many craft stores (JoAnn's etc., A.C More and others) Multiple colors available and in convenient 9"x12" sheets. I can get 3 sets of balista fins out of a single sheet....

Sean Powell

My knight uses a thick wall Brass Bushing. About 2" ID, 3" tall and 1" walls. Its strong enough to give good rebound response and soft enough to prevent marring of the outer surface. I usually use wood but have a steel swedge block from Ironmonger that I use occasionally for certain shapes. I'd use ...

Sean Powell

Some questions that came to mind I hope you guys can help me with is. What is the smudge I seem to chase around the metal all the time and it never quite goes away until I stop applying Compound? How often should I re-apply compound? Should I grind at like a 45 degree angle or a perfect 90? The smu...

Sean Powell

I personally find this armor facinating. First they do a great job of reinforcing maile with steel plates but the plates are tailored to fit the body well and still maximize the flexibility of maile. The they finish it by putting a non anatomicly contoured garbage can lid right in the center... WTF ...

Sean Powell

Ahh! that might explain what happened! Back in college we made a few leather halfgauntlets. We shaped them in warm to hot watter to get a knuckle ridge for the fingers and dome at the base of the thumb. Anyway we then set them on top of the radiator which had a fairly consistant flow of hot air risi...

Sean Powell

Nope! Easier the other way around. The "Solid" top of the early post is created by CAREFULLY shaping 2 helmet halves to match and then welding the seam and grinding the weld smooth until unnoticeable. It requires dishing a larger piece of steel, a thicker piece of steel since it will stretch more, h...

Sean Powell

Hi all, Have a question I thought I would throw out. What pieces of armor do you think would be most feasible for mass production? Alexis 1: Spaulders 1 dish form and one cylinder or slight conic form. But the reason no one does it, spaulders are simple to make with basic tools. 2: Gothic gauntlets...

Sean Powell

Ujiyori, you list your location as "Kingdom of Artemesia" I assume that this means you are SCAdian. were you intending to use Brass Elbows for SCA heavy combat? If so I would be very skeptical of their strength. You may wish to consult with your local marshals before pursuing the matter too far. The...

Sean Powell

Luckily my present shop is in the basement so I don't have to worry about heating too much. I have worked in unheated and semi-heated shops though so let me ask a few questions and them may help you think through the issue. How much do you plan on using the shop during the winter? Daily, weekends or...

Sean Powell

I'm noticing the conversation a bit late but... I have one of Hal's lead dishs. To keep it from bouncing all over the table I attached 4 tabs of leather to it with a large hose clamp. I then screwed the leather down to the table. The upper edge of the dish has deformed and rolled over the edge of th...

Sean Powell

Well I want to thank everyone with their assistance, especially Tim for the very detailed "I want to be a..." post. We printed it and are treating it as a checklist. One lady has already begun redirecting some of her celtic research. A strong effort is being made to use only period appropriate mater...

Sean Powell

Hell yes! I've got a newbie in town who is sort on funds but long on skill looking for a helm like this. And if she dosn't want it I'll keep it for myself.

Whats the cost for a size large in 12ga? How much for shipping to Pennsylvania (19320)?

Sean

Sean Powell

Copper works just fine with steel. Many people use copper rivets to attach chin straps to mild-steel helmets. Any galvanic reaction is insignifigant compared to the chemical reaction of exposure to human sweat etc.

Sean

Sean Powell

Hello all, At business meeting tonight two nice young ladies were discussing starting heavy weapon fighting with me. Luckily they both want their SCA combat gear to be persona focused, something I approve of. Unfortunately one wants to be "Norse" and the other "Celtic". Now I know that these ladies ...

Sean Powell

I saw one once for cutting miniature heater shield shapes. The core was alluminum but could just as easily be wood or brass or whatever. Around the edge were 3 pieces of steel banding screwed to the core. The edges of the steel banding were sharpened before attaching. That and a softish backing mate...

Sean Powell

I was in Portland OR on business recently. If the only lights in the city were from Starbucks signs you could read at midnight with no trouble. If you added all of the other coffee shops you could read at midnight with sunglasses on... ...And I can't figure out why. Coffee still tastes like someone ...

Re: Armor for mass production

Avoiding becoming a Genericelt (SCA)