The Armour Archive

Kilkenny

accodring to current reports it supposed to be quite comfy at Pennsic this year. Course i've watched people drop in the woods battle when it was only 80. Hot is relative. It's also a good idea to actually get out in the heat before your first day of war. We may be lucky and there won't be another h...

Kilkenny

Hi all, if I was to use the 50/50 bees-parafin wax could I do tooling, then harden it? if I did would the tooling be ruined or stretched? thanks, Aaron It's not hardening after tooling that can make for problems, it's forming. If you tool the piece in the shape it's going to be in when you harden i...

Kilkenny

This is a pretty classic example of a rigged survey If you want people to tell you what they think are the two most important attributes, ask them to do that. If you want them to pick from a list you offer, phrase the question so that you are asking them to prioritize your list. As it is you've told...

Kilkenny

As near as I can tell, you run the guige strap from the top fasteners at the hand grip to the top fasteners where the arm strap mounts. It's not independently mounted.

Someone who has seen more surviving shields and better pictures may have different information.

Gavin

Kilkenny

One of my favorite tricks for heat control in armour is a frozen camelback. I put it on under my gambeson but not against skin. It's a large ice pack down my back and as it melts it's cold water to drink without having to wait for a waterbearer or walk to where the water is. The wash cloths in ice w...

Kilkenny

Frieman, you ain't gonna need that return ticket to Drachenwald 'cuz I'm gonna knock you right back across the pond!

Looking forward to seeing everyone. Of course the mad packing craze has not quite set in but is going to hit soon since I'm leaving here Saturday morning.

Gavin

Kilkenny

Murdock wrote:"I

Kelson looks nothing like Russle Crowe. i think Kelson is bigger.

.

All a matter of opinion I suppose. I've noticed the similarity on multiple occasions.

Gavin

Kilkenny

Anyone know if rabbit glue will darken or change the color of dyed and antiqued leather? I'd love to use it on this project to harden the leather and to attach the lining materials, but I really don't want the decoration getting any darker than it already is. Yes, I do plan to test it on a scrap, b...

Kilkenny

Inside gauntlets is an excellent place to use Sorbethane. An 1/8 inch layer is sufficient, so it will fit inside your gauntlet. I don't like trying to use street hockey gloves under gauntlets - I had enough trouble finding gauntlets big enough for my hands without having to allow for the extra space...

Kilkenny

I conducted a thoroughly informal survey years ago and found that chivalry level fighters (from all over the Knowne World) who were primarily broadsword slingers used swords that balanced about 4 inches in front of the guard. It seems to offer the best compromise between the blinding speed that come...

Kilkenny

I'm going to side with Duke Logan on this one but possibly for different reasons. I love the falicy that a broader impacting surface is somehow softer. If you build 2 thrusting tips of identical construction techniques with the first 1.25" in diameter and the second 2.5" in diameter it will take FO...

Kilkenny

You may want to get some info on rabbit glue. (is it really rabbit? I don't know but EWWW if it is....) I have heard that it hardens the leather nicely without getting soft in the sun like wax can. Supposedly. I'm not a leather expert. The glue sounds like something worth looking into anyway. Cat P...

Kilkenny

How many weeks have you been doing the two-a-week practice schedule ? It may take a bit of time for your body to build up to the demand. I might recommend that you work hard and fast at one practice (bear pit, spar as much as possible, etc.) and work slow and precise at the other one for a month or ...

Kilkenny

Best way to get an absolutely reliable answer - test piece. Take a scrap of your leather, paint a stripe across it with your paint, let it dry and apply your dye and see how it works. I don't think you're going to have a problem with the combination you've described, but I would do a test piece if i...

Kilkenny

Are you talking about period gesso, which is what Rev and A Fuller are describing, or the acrylic "gesso" that you buy in bottles at the art supply store? The latter is basically a thick acrylic paint, and it stays flexible, depending on how thick you put it on. M. I'm talking about the (apparently...

Kilkenny

A question for those who have gone through the process of applying gesso to their leather work and painting over it. How does the gesso hold up to wear and tear ? I've never worked with it, and I hesitate a bit because it seems to me it would not stand up well to SCA combat. Any "before and after" p...

Kilkenny

I used to use Testor's Basic model paint on leather. Lasted about a year fighing at least once a week. This is the stuff that comes in the small square bottom jars that you might paint miniatures with. Worked OK. f Definitely a ymmv item. Those paints are enamels and my experience with them was dis...

Kilkenny

Sorbethane isn't a foam, it's an energy absorbing polymer. A layer less than a quarter inch thick is very effective - *not by itself* - but in conjunction with something like armaflex. Gavin Hey Gavin, This is a new one for me. I did a little searching and found some very interesting material specs...

Kilkenny

Guy Dawkins wrote:I' putting together a Kong headed mace and am not sure of the length I should go for.

I know this is somewhat of a personal preferance. So whats your favorite length?

For me the mace is an up close and personal weapon and I prefer them to be no more than 18 inches long.

Gavin

Kilkenny

For padding helms I prefer the foam rubber pipe insulation (armaflex is one brand name) and Sorbethane. The pipe insulation lends itself well to making a framework that allows airflow inside the helm and permits one to hear, while a pair of sorbethane pads at either temple provide a significant incr...

Kilkenny

Ahhh...I see. So period rivets had a larger head? It didn't even cross my mind that the rivets may have differed. Aside from using those aluminum ones, it looks like my only options for the future would be to use washers or make my own rivets. Well crap. Nice SS splints, SS knees, SS rivets, and al...

Kilkenny

Ok, it sounds like normal acrylic can be used. I was hoping that was the case. Now, what if I used it over oil based dye? Would the paint still stick, and will it hold up under use? Also, what kind of finish should I use? I want something durable that will flex with the leather and will keep the le...

Kilkenny

Aside from questions of weight or failure characteristics of the metal, I would have a concern about another failure characteristic....that of the arm holding said *spring* steel shield. A shield of this material will vibrate a great deal when struck, and I would anticipate many people finding this ...

Kilkenny

You aren't suppose to marshall in armour. And I hate when marshalls wear helmets, I think there is a greater danger for them when they do. Pennsic is always short on marshalls. I try and at least help with inspections once a war. Over and over, the reason I hear that we can't have more battles at w...

Kilkenny

<snip> Find Edward Zifran of Gendy and let him tell you all about early Pennsic and the wonders to be seen today. <snip> chuckle.. Eddie's never been to a Pennsic that wasn't at Cooper's Lake. Lots of good stories, but he would have to make it up about single digit Pennsics I would heartily recomme...

Kilkenny

Thank you for your reply! I will be sure to include washers next time. I was simply going with the assumption that bigger rivets = bigger holes, and smaller rivets = smaller holes. I assumed that both would perform in the same manner. Well, we all know what happens when you assume... Again, thank y...

Kilkenny

Really excellent work on the forming Dan. Very impressive.

Gavin

Kilkenny

Interesting terminology divergence. As I understand it "ricosso" is not the guard, but the area above the standard hilt that one may grasp, sometimes but not always protected by a secondary quillion. You appear to be using "ricosso" to refer to the guard (quillion). Gavin Hmmm, now that I go back a...

Kilkenny

The best fighters enjoy hitting other human beings . . . hard. The honest ones admit this. Cuan LOL, yup, and going home without any bruises in return. In the S&M spectrum, I'm all S, no M. JP I've said for years, beginners are masochists, knights are sado-masochists, Dukes are sadists. Gavin

Kilkenny

depends on the Kingdom. In Calontir Ricossos are legal. Now, by legal I mean you can have them on the weapon they just can not be functional to kill with. The way I made mine was I cut out 6 equalateral triangles (3" x 3" x 3") out of blue camp foam (stack 3 each). Taped them up, then taped them to...

Kilkenny

On curious images, This is a good one from the same early 13th century copy of William de TyreÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Historia From what I can gather, they are heaving this intrepid knight over the walls with long poles. Perhaps the earliest depiction of air assault troops in action. I would have to complain abo...

Kilkenny

This discrepancy in original and reproduction leather tooling has been of interest to me of late. I have noticed that most modern tooled leather reproductions suffer from a sort of modern style issue. I used to do a great deal of tooled leather and because of these things; I have studied many perio...

Kilkenny

Konstantin the Red wrote:You don't search ether, you breathe it, and then they can cut on you.

Of course you don't search ether - that's what Google is for.

Or did I just never understand the real joke behind ethernet..... ?

Gavin

Kilkenny

Painting the background begs the question "what color shall I paint the background" - which I dodged by not painting it Gavin I'd paint the background white and the border green, but then it would match the shinbalds I'm making. My flowers will all be metalic gold and not pretty colors like yours. ...

Kilkenny

I have one in child size. I push it off of playground equipment to see it go splat. I have whacked it with a stick but it doesn't catch the peak reliably. I have all sorts of amusing visions from this information. Nissan smacking a child sized crash test dummy with a stick is funny, but there's jus...

Re: Rabbit Glue and color change

Gesso and leather

Re: What length for an SCA mace?

Re: Air assualt