The Armour Archive

Sean Powell

16ga mild may be the legal minimum but I personally would never trust my head to anything less than 14ga. My present hat is 12ga stainless. Yes the stainless is somewhat stronger than mild but there is nothing magic about a certain thinkness. Unless you are highly weight concious 14ga stainless is a...

Sean Powell

Being a complete outsider of the SCA and reading other posts (i.e. the thread about the "card being pulled") it seems like there is a lack of continuity. This may sound real crazy, but is there a parliament (a committee that issues rules based on insurance and lawyer reviews) that would rule minimu...

Sean Powell

Now that is a creative solution... I salute your inginuity and dedication.

and you have cured any thoughts I ever had about doing the same thing.

Sean

Sean Powell

Palymar sounds like an utter ass. Now watch as all his sycophants come crawling out of the woodwork to nod their heads in unison, swearing that he's really a nice guy, and Bascot's account couldn't possibly be true. Never, never trust an SCA marshal to actually know anything about armour. Not too l...

Sean Powell

Back X number of years ago when I was a Marshal in Training in the Midrealm we had to bounce one guy for having insufficient protection on this wrist. I think he was wearing a street-hockey glove. Said fighter went to his car and grabed three pieces of rigid plastic which he bent and then taped in a...

Sean Powell

Salutation, I am about to buy some piece at the metal supermarket... 1 piece of metal 2''x6''x12'' as an anvil 1 piece of metal 1/2''x3''x15'' for rolling edge 5 tube going from 1'' to 7'' diameter These piece will be stakes I'll use. What kind of metal should I request from the seller when orderin...

Sean Powell

At the moment I only have 3 armoring projects in the works. All three stalled for either missing that one last tool or material or got pre-empted by a project with a more pressing deadline. Right now banner stands and 2 Heavy Weap Arballista with deadlines are delaying my return to metal pounding. A...

Sean Powell

OK I don't have a pattern for a plastic hilt but I have seen them made before. Its likely to be fugly and definetly non-historic but it should work. I hope this description will help: Start with cardboard. Draw a capitol letter "E". Maybe 9" to 10" tall and almost as wide. Then draw a second back to...

Sean Powell

Project list? Do you mean soley mine or the one I am helping other people with or the ones I'm supposed to be only helping with but end up doing all the work anyway? Do you mean only armor projects, or all metal-working projects or all the metal and wood projects that come out of the shop or all ins...

Sean Powell

Not that I am an expert but I believe the term "or with equivalent riveting techniques" has been taken to apply to brass rivets spaced closer than the minimum 2 1/2" apart. Seeing as how there is no minimum steel rivet diameter or inspection requirement for head diameter after peaning or even minimu...

Sean Powell

Ouch! OK Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if you want to wear that... costume... then the choice is yours. By the looks of things that "armor" is primarily formed and painted leather. The patterns only vaguely resemble patterns for metal armor as the flames and elaborate edges are not partic...

Sean Powell

My demo and pas-d-arms shield: m 2 layers of 1/4" birch plywood, glued over a form with ratchet straps, alluminum edging, canvas, yellow polly rope glued to the edge and then leather to hold it in place. The leather is tearing a bit. I may replace it with raw-hide one day. My SCA tourney shield is a...

Sean Powell

Sean- I stil have that first gorget you helped me build when I was at your old aprtment/shop room They charged me so much to replace the carpet in that room that I could have bought you a whole suit of armor... A note to the young and stupid: Carpet makes for a poor floor in a shop. Spilling cuttin...

Sean Powell

- If it's really supple, make pouches for scale model siege engines (see the thin grey suede): Hey Hew, a bit off topic but could I get some more pictures of that mini-treb in the picture? I'm presently building 2 mini-arballista and 2 full scale machines. Next is either going to be a mini-treb or ...

Sean Powell

I wouldn't bother... but shops that work in Ti know places that recycle Ti and the recycle costs are higher than you might think. Cash in your chips and get yourself some fresh sheet.. or more spring steel. Given the greater ease of forming spring steel, welding spring steel, finishing spring steel,...

Sean Powell

A) You can cheat and weld it out of two pieces with simple curves or B) it can be raised down over a saddle shaped horn and then bent and sharpened over a creasing stake. or C) it can be raised down over a regular horn using the "hammer on air" technique. Either of the last 2 techniques are best don...

Sean Powell

I believe I recently saw some at a Home Depot near me. They were orange and used for marking the edge of roads and driveways so plows would know where to go in deep snow. I think these are the right type but I have never built a combat legal x-bow before.

Good luck,
Sean

Sean Powell

Hello all, Enough of you do volume production that you should have encountered this before. I need to order several more boxes of rivets as I'm just about tapped out but I've decided I'm frustrated by having to cut each rivet to length every time. Obviously I can order shorter rivets and use them st...

Sean Powell

I've always wondered if a moderatly skilled machinist couldn't convert a hydraulic log splitter into a press for shaping simple cops in a single press. I suppose it begs the question: could it form the basis for an albeit slow but powerful single stroke punch press?

Sean

Sean Powell

Well I have my list of armor bits and cost for material. I'd post it here but I can't figure out how to keep the computer from thoroughly scrambling the space deliminated format. If anyone can help me please do so. On the topic of tools. It is possible to spend far more on tools than on armor. Newbi...

Sean Powell

I think you will find that on close observation, the strips are not truely straight but have a subtle curve to them to keep the spacing even while traversing a curved surface. You may find it easier to cut curved steel from sheet than use straight stock... ...then again you are working on history in...

Sean Powell

As best I remember my basic chemistry: Alluminum reacts with just about everything. Luckily it quickly forms an non-conductive coating which shields it from further rusting. Steel reacts slowly but does not form a protective barrier as iron-oxide is still mildly conductive. By physically connecting ...

Sean Powell

OK once upon a time I worked for a company briefly that produced specialty cabinets for electronics. Most of their work was done by CNC turret punch. The company sucked otherwise I would have stayed and been using their machinery for an mini-armoring business. A turret punch functions like a giant h...

Sean Powell

i have just sarted making one of these but a steel version, with out hijacking the thread is there anyway that wearing it under my breastplate won't dig in? or is it just lots of padding? tom Sorry to be terse but maybe get it to fit properly? Back when I wore a gorget like this (in steel) the gorg...

Sean Powell

Most laser/plasma/water cnc shops I know can take DXF files which is the standard export file for autocad so you should be ok. Be sure to specify where you want the kerf (inside the line, outside the line, on the line) and try to specify at the edges of one plate can be cut simultaneously with the e...

Sean Powell

I wear a very nice pair of later period stainless half gauntlets with a full 360 degree cuff. The metacarpal is articulated to allow wrist flex. I have been hit on the inside of the wrist and because of the articulation functioning as intended, the sword simply drove the steel into my forearm with n...

Sean Powell

Thanks for the advice so far. I've done the scrap bundles of miss-matched trimmings before. You are right, you get a good deal for the price... but it often leads to armor with 3 brown straps, 2 blue that are a bit thinner and one white that is thicker but softer and more prone to stretching. At the...

Sean Powell

I thought just struck me: Turn on the grinder and let it spin for a while with no work piece. Now walk over and touch the housing. Large spark that continues to tingle while you hold it: bad electrical grounding. Check the wall socket, then the cord then the machine itself. Small spark once: Your wh...

Sean Powell

Hello all, I'm almost completly taped out for strap material and am now stuck ordering some online. I'm used to picking up leather and feeling it in my hands to decide if it is the right weight and pliability for use as straps. I usually prefer heaver straps on legs or chin-straps than I do on arms ...

Sean Powell

Based on research posted hear earlier it is unlikly that the dome pieces overlapped as they were secured by samwiching between 2 strips with the rivets running in a single line between the two plates. Its a tricky construction style but I think Hal had some good pictures of it.

Good luck,
Sean

Sean Powell

I'll echo Krag on this one. First confirm that the machine is grounded properly. that means its outer metal housing is connected to ground incase the wireing fails. Second ground yourself, you can use a computer grounding strip or a length of wire or even stand on a a metal plate with the right shoe...

Sean Powell

IMHO: silver solder is not as strong as welded for any application, maile included BUT it is incredibly stronger than butted links. Most butted links "fail" when the open edges of two links align and under tension both links spread sloightly and pass by each other. In butted all this requires is suf...

Sean Powell

Not sure about washers but Fridges are 20-22 gage. I would assume that a washer was similar. Older models are probably thicker than newer ones. Different sections will vary depending on purpose. Odds are that the sides wrap around the back and the edges are screwed down. You can undo a screw or two,...

Sean Powell

Are you connected with the SCA in your area? I havn't been in the SCA in Chicago for a number of years but I think "Kugi" had one... something about using a car jack against an I-beam in his house to achieve pressure. If you have moderate power tools (mostly a jig saw) you can build 4 D shaped forms...

Sean Powell

Well we could always just clasify it as one of the grotesque helms from late period and almost anything is acceptable. I say you post LOTS of pictures of it on multiple armor boards and in about 6-9months we can see poorly made repros coming out of india in 18 and 20 gage. I think Museaum Replicas c...

Re: What kind of metal stake should be ?

how long should a rivet be?

Q: leather thickness for straps?