The Armour Archive

Kilkenny

I don't beleive in grounding gauntlets and I have never had my fingers smashed even in the Combat of the 30 which is all long weapons. That you have been fortunate has nothing to do with the distinction between grounding gauntlets and non-grounding gauntlets. And whether or not you believe in them,...

Kilkenny

I will second the value of drawing. It demands that you see the piece, translate what you see through your hands, and then see how your drawing differs from the piece. That iterative process makes you "see" the piece multiple times and in different ways. It's part of why, when tooling leather, there...

Kilkenny

In ancient days when rocks could be taped to rattan handles to make mace heads ('cuz they were soft)....I made a pretty good record with about an 18 inch long mace. Left-handed with a shield.

Up close and abusive.

Kilkenny

Gorgets are required because of an incident where a fellow whose helm rested on the middle of his chest nearly had his throat torn out as the tips of two swords passed within a quarter inch or so of his skin. He had raised his hands to take an overhead swing with his greatsword and in doing so tippe...

Kilkenny

Just out of curiosity, but has anyone tried submerging leather in water/hide glue mixtures? Yes, in conjunction with baking. Maelgwyn showed it to me when I went down to visit him for the day once. Works well. Do you happen to remember what ratios were used? How hard did the leather get when prepar...

Kilkenny

H Perhaps just including wax in the pot would do as well or better than glue. Maybe something like 25% wax,75% water. That would avoid having to melt the wax separately. Anybody ever tried mixing hot water and melted wax? Sounds crazy, maybe. That process simply will not work. Waxes that you really...

Kilkenny

One of the very serious but poorly discussed problems with working partially tanned leather is the cutting process. What sort of tools were necessary to cut this stuff accurately? Or was it simply worked wet? The poorly tanned sole leather I have on hand (as does Gavin) is a bitch to cut, even with...

Kilkenny

When a person who loses, say, ten percent of their fights, argues that candidates should be beating them fifty percent of the time to be considered, there's a rather obvious break with reality ;) I've known people who were highly skilled, at the peak of their game, dominating in their kingdom and wh...

Kilkenny

No, that's precisely it. The tools for task A are virtually identical to task B. While today we have a distinct shape for, say, a graver -with its half round wood handle and bent tang- those shapes had not evolved. So the ONLY information we have to identify the contents of the box is the purpose o...

Kilkenny

The other tools, obviously. Besides, how would you really tell the difference between wood carving tools and most leather working tools? Today we have many distinct shapes by modern convention, but those conventions did not exist when the Scott made the box. Sometimes "obviously" just means it's al...

Kilkenny

Don't know if it qualifies, but I've put a small "streamer" on my spear for some time. Two or three pieces of broad grosgrain ribbon sewn together longwise to make a strip, then wrapped around the spear saft and sewn to itself. I snip the fly end to a point or a swallowtail. It's only 3 or 4 inches...

Kilkenny

Banner on a spear is pretty much a style points thing, not very practical. I've had them on mine, but smallish, of sturdy cloth, and there for the message (No Victory Without Honor). I've used them on other people's spears to their detriment - for example, catching the pennon with my point, swirling...

Kilkenny

Very cool. Elegant, sleek, sinister. My favorite piece of your work.

Kilkenny

Light rapier uses foil, epee, and double wide epee blades. thrusting only Heavy rapier uses heavier blades than above. thrusting only cut and Thrust uses the heavier of the blades from heavy rapier and even heavier blades than what is legal in Heavy Rapier. Percussive (chopping) cut with the edge o...

Kilkenny

And if it is is it cheap? and how would you do it? Based on the question, the answer has to be no. ;) It takes a good (sturdy) sewing machine, plenty of room for laying out large pieces of fairly heavy fabric, some skill running multiple pounds of fabric through a sewing machine, a decent pattern (...

Kilkenny

Darn. Not ready yet. I normally shoot a 65 and a 70 modern longbow. I have a 140 that I plan on building up to, but I am not there.

And it is more technique than muscle, but the technique requires that the right muscles be up to the job, too

Kilkenny

Serious question here, regarding the attribution of tools to a craft based on handles with no metal bits. How do they know these handles went on leather workers' tools? How would one know that these were not engravers' tools ? Wood carvers' ? The Pictish box might as well have held the tools of the ...

Kilkenny

Leo, the professional leather worker's answer is pretty much "backstitch and trim, don't tie off". I backstitch. Sometimes I also tie off on the "inside" of the piece. if the stitching ends at the open end of a piece, where I can get into it I may tie off so it's captured between the layers. and if ...

Kilkenny

Any reference in particular? I've read some crazy stuff in nineteenth century book binding and conservation texts. Talking to modern conservators and restorers is equally frustrating and contradictory. I deal with a few who make a living at it, as well as a parchment maker who dabbles in medieval b...

Kilkenny

it seems like after every practice I play the shower game of "I hope I took that". My favorite is the shot that a buddy of mine hit me with in the tricep that was light (arm raised, it skimmed down). It was pitch black the next day. I know that game ;) And it's true that some of the worst bruises c...

Kilkenny

Looks like we need to start a cuir buoilli guild...once we learn how to spell it. Whenever I get to that word I just wing it. I spell like Lewis and Clarke, who had something like a dozen different spellings of the word Sioux. That's okay... there wasn't a particular spelling of "bouilli" more popu...

Kilkenny

Part of how the wax hardening works is introducing wax into the interstices of the leather, where it solidifies. If the glue is already there holding fibers together, then the wax doesn't have as much space to fill. They're not, in my estimation, going to work well together. Also, in terms of addin...

Kilkenny

One comment on all of this.

If you have one foot out in front all the time, whichever one it may be, you're doing it wrong

We move in this game.

And most of the time, I fight sword foot forward - but that's 'cuz I cheat, there's a sword for each foot, and I try to never be squared up

Kilkenny

I am not sure why you think period sued was just full grain leather worn inside out. I can't imagine why they would not have been perfectly capable of producing suede splits.

Deer is also an option to consider, it makes for really comfy - if not too terribly durable - clothing.

Kilkenny

daggrim, After my experiment i would advice dying before any hardening is done, it will darken the dye but after it is hardening you will need to use more dye and it will not come out evenly. As for adding glue to the pot of 175 water. That is the process i call flash hardening. I don't think it wo...

Kilkenny

3. Place on wooden cutting board or other non meltable non flammable low heat transfer object. Why does it need to be low heat transfer? I was hoping to use a set of stainless vambraces as forms. The other piece of the puzzle here isn'[t as important if you're using stainless - but wet veg tan leat...

Kilkenny

So, here's the other Big Question, do you think that the glue can be added to the 175 degree water, 1:10 mix, so that I could accomplish the hardening and the glueing in a single step? Has anybody tried that? That would be a very efficient way of getting this done. Or, if anybody has a better idea,...

Kilkenny

Cool, but without metal bits, we really aren't going to be able to glean much , which makes it a frustrating tease

Kilkenny

The shapes in a Wisby involve very little forming beyond simple curves you can put in with your hands. To the extent the chest pieces call for a little bit more, it can be achieved with a rawhide mallet or a plastic/rubber hammer. Does not require a dishing stump - you can, literally, put your steel...

Kilkenny

If you think of it as a stake for metal sculpture, rather than as an armourer's stake, it starts looking much more interesting, imo. Use it for raising forms that you want to evoke something, but where some odd facets lend more interest. Halberds - it's for raising the eyes for some of your demon in...

Kilkenny

No, just pointing out that "they hit hard in period when they fought in earnest" isn't a very good argument for force levels in SCA armoured combat, with rules that limit every other aspect of "earnest" fighting. What we do doesn't resemble mortal life-and-death struggle, so the argument is apples ...

Kilkenny

I think it's pretty obvious we are not recreating fighting in earnest. Otherwise, there would be grappling, kicking, full body targeting, shield smashes, blindsiding, etc. Do you actually have a disagreement with the statement that it is not uniformly accepted that the SCA is recreating "deeds of a...

Kilkenny

Personally, I would not try to do anything to make that helm look like anything but what it is, an SCA sporthelm with a nod to Norse designs for inspiration. For the rest of the kit, I would shoot for something appropriate for ca. 1000 Scandinavia. With the hinged cheeks and chin lock, and the spect...

Kilkenny

Be sure to test the floor polish for cracking. I use Resolene. Maybe the floor polish nowadays is different, but when i was in the Air Force, in the 70's, some people used floor polish on their boots, and they ended up looking like they were made of shiny cracked glass. That was long ago, though. K...

Kilkenny

Jester: Perhaps you should not use such a narrow concept of the phrase "deed of arms". First, there's not much to suggest that they were uniformly courteous engagements of gentlemen absent malice. Quite the contrary, I believe. Second, it's not uniformly accepted that the SCA is recreating "deeds of...

Re: Forgive my ignorance...

Re: Training the eye for accuracy.

Re: How long a mace?

Re: Gorget or not?

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: SCA Topic- The Measuring

Re: 6-9thC Scottish leather worker's tool box

Re: 6-9thC Scottish leather worker's tool box

Re: Spear with a banner in SCA combat

Re: Spear with a banner in SCA combat

Re: Medieval Bat. Man Armor - Full Suit

Re: New SCA rapier rule

Re: Is it easy to make a Pavillion/tent?

Re: Help Shooting Warbow

Re: 6-9thC Scottish leather worker's tool box

Re: Newb leather working question

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: (sca) Light shot, good bruise.

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: Right Leg Forward fighting style

Re: Todays Veg Tanned Leather for Garments

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: Hardening leather: the finer points (not remaking the wh

Re: 6-9thC Scottish leather worker's tool box

Re: Plates fro a wisby coat

Re: Golf Ball Stake.... Iron D made me do it.

Re: If noone gets hurt, we arent doing it right

Re: If noone gets hurt, we arent doing it right

Re: building a kit around this helmet

Re: protecting painted leather

Re: If noone gets hurt, we arent doing it right