The Armour Archive

Jacob

For low profile splints, metal is the way to go. Narrow strips of plastic would have to be thick to be protective. I have steel splints under my padded cuisses and they do an excellent job. The sheet plastic lonar armour I tried allowed a lot of pain through. I suspect splints of that barrel thickne...

Jacob

I buy pickles in jars. A friend of mine bought one of those individually packaged pickles in a bag once at a gas station. He said it was good. If I wanted a plastic barrel, I'd talk to the places listed above to get one locally for free (I hear that's a carwash around here). If you're using it for "...

Jacob

I wear a heavy gambeson with my 13th c kit. It is my main body armour. I carry a large shield as fits my persona. I could wear an elbow cop on both sides, but it would be historically incorrect and less comfortable. If I am bested on the field and someone takes either arm, I'll yield and try to defe...

Jacob

Kingdom Crusades just passed

Ice Castles (the first after the winter)
Ymir
Saphire Joust
Highland River Melees

And others including coronations and baronial investitures.

Jacob

Jacob

Nice! I like this style for small or light leather straps. Another variation to try is to make them slightly v-shaped for thick leather straps. I don't know of anyone making v-shaped ones without decoration (I looked for quite a while last year). It's always good to see authentic styled brass buckle...

Jacob

Nails come in lots of sizes and a few different heads. Rivets are not hard to make using heat and barstock. Blacksmithing references have details on this or ask here.

Jacob

For mine, I sewed the padding down to splinted leather legs. My pattern is the same as would be used for leather or hinged metal legs. I used cardboard or paper and cut out the approximate shape a bit large. Then I held it in place and moved around, trimming as required. If you want something to go ...

Jacob

Check out Krag's page here: m I have some in progress to replace my old ugly ones. My old ones point to hidden splinted leather cuissse with padded cuisses over top. I wear knee pads under the poleyns. The knee pads help brace my bad knees. I think future versions will be pointed to longer padded cu...

Jacob

My persona(s) does not progress in time. However, as a craftsman, I've been working through the evolution of metalworking. I started out making maille. Then I started a 13th century persona and have been working on the garb, plate armour, and accessories. Recently I built a replica of a 14th century...

Jacob

Check out mrks' site. He's done some nice ventilation stuff for an enclosed production space. www.tiarmour.com I'm usually the only one in my shop, so I just wear a filtered mask. I also have some large doors, a large fan bringing in fresh air, and walls that allow a bit of the breeze through. A buc...

Jacob

I agree, make the pieces a bit large, and then put them together into a garment that fits. Make sure to use heavy duty thread and/or small, tight stitches when hand sewing. The COP I made recently is already showing need of slight sewing repair after one tournament and a handful of practices. It's a...

Jacob

That's a hell of a swedge! I have a number of smaller half pipes that I use the inside or the outside of. They're perfect for curving splints in armour, for example. It will work as an anvil, but keep looking for something flat, too. A flap disk on an angle grinder will clean the dishing form up. So...

Jacob

I have a few pictures of the original compared to the one I made here: m I'd still go see it personally if I could. I don't think there's much else near Churburg, though. That would make it difficult to combine it with visiting other things without traveling a lot. I haven't been there personally. J...

Jacob

The sheet I bought was 16ga and very easy to work if you're doing any dishing. Right in front of your eyes you want to be looking straight through the holes. If you are looking through an angle you will see the sides of the holes. For example, my light weapons helm (early 13th century helm shown in ...

Jacob

If they're not wearing some sort of medieval clothing, too, than yes, it's testosterone. If they're hiding the minimum armour under the clothing from the lightly armoured period they want to represent, then testosterone probably plays a smaller role. New fighters have a better excuse. But, it defina...

Jacob

Some of my research on the topic can be seen here: http://filebox.vt.edu:8080/users/jselme ... rticle.htm

As far as why the great helm became popular, it is easy to make and therefore inexpensive, and it is a landing pad. That's not a bad thing when you are fighting for your life with no significant shoulder armour.

Jacob

Jacob

Sweet! Take your time, then, and make it awesome. The end result when an artist or craftsman can do exactly what they want to without too many constraints is their best and always great to see.

Have fun, post pictures.

Jacob

Jacob

The only thing overly ambitious about a 14ga spangenhelm, if that's what you really want to do, is the gauge. If it is only for show and experience, you can be easier on yourself and use one of the lighter gauges you already have. If you want to use it for SCA combat, you have to consider how you wi...

Jacob

There are no requirements to use a bargrill in the SCA. Perhaps you mean that it is your customer's requirement. I don't know how easy it'd be to make a seperate visor and keep the original look. You could shape the bargrill to have the same outline as the original visor. You could also make two hel...

Jacob

Cat,

Look for this book for sale or through your library:

Arwidsson, Greta and Gosta Berg. The Mastermyr Find: A Viking Age Tool Chest from Gotland. California: Larson Publishing Company, 1999.

Some of the best early blacksmithing projects are tools.

Jacob

Jacob

or leather

Jacob

For small ball stakes at low to zero cost, you can use trailor ball hitches. I have found a number of them for free over the years of searching through metal scrap. Here are a few I made: [img]http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jselmer/images/Blacksmith/armour_hardie.jpg[/img] They're straight shank to fit...

Jacob

Some people may find this interesting. I found a company that makes a similar punch to the one I have. I'd never head of them before but it looks like a nice punch. The overall size on mine is larger and it has two large bolts to hold the body together when you dont need the deep throat (for heavy p...

Jacob

Hew, here are some pics of the stake plate I made from one of those plates. I cut and filed some larger sized holes in the middle for heavier stakes. It was then welded to a pipe and base. The pictures are from before I bolted the top and bottom to the "portable" leg vise stand. It must be bolted be...

Jacob

I post the articles I write here: m I have found quite a few links to them around the net when looking for more info on these topics, but none of them are on Arador or the archive. Lack of a scanner has forced me to leave a number of ugly pictures in the cauldron essay and cut down on available pict...

Jacob

What are these being used for? I may have some, but they're not "unseen." My only new written work is a short write-up on early coats-of-plate, but it probably wont be ready for a couple days at least.

I don't mind spreading knowledge, but I wont do your homework.

Jacob

Jacob

Just making sure I didn't miss it. Good luck getting your shop back up and running. I just moved into an appartment and had to leave my shop behind at my girlfriend's mom's house. I haven't got many large tools, but I still never look forward to moving them. Hopefully you've found a place you want t...

Jacob

I just got an opportunity to go to the Met in a few weeks. It's a one day bus trip from DC so I think I'll have about 7 hours there on a saturday. Do you think it's worth trying to get behind the scenes? I haven't been there before and I'd be most interested in seeing 15th century and earlier constr...

Jacob

Wrought iron is what would have been used throughout the middle ages. The process of making it was different than most of the wrought iron you can find now, but that's the closest material. Pure iron doesn't have the grain found in wrought iron. Either way, for any of your first few pieces of armour...

Jacob

The W.A. Whitney site is here: m but they don't seem to admit to making hand punches anymore. You can check with their distributers, though. I believe the #2 and #8 are nearly the same but both the punch and the die do not swap. Make sure the distributer knows which model/maker you have. I have an e...

Jacob

It sounds like you have a later 14th century kit (late 1300's), by the way, just in case anyone at the faire asks. The above suggestions for the arms sound good.

Jacob

Jacob

It should be fine if it's annealed. You will want to keep it annealed regularly or work it hot. If you are hot working, be careful not to burn it. As soon as you burn it, it will look like crap, crack, and will have to be thrown out. You'll know right away. It'll look like fireworks (burning metal) ...

Jacob

For a long time cast iron was thrown out as scrap because it is not workable, even hot. It seems that it wasn't until the 15th century that cast iron began to be used. Even then, it was cast into forms, not worked hot. I don't think you'll get good results hotworking (or coldworking for that matter)...

Jacob

It looks like it's in good condition. The portability may be slightly exaggerated depending on how easy it is to break down. It's more mobile than many setups, though. Current price of $360 is excellent, but below the reserve. If I were looking for such a setup, I'd probably go to $500 depending on ...

Jacob

I'll assume for the moment that they're all in good condition. The hilts will break down. There may be a hole for you to pass an allan key or screwdriver into to get enough torque to turn the pommel off. Check out tripplette or other olympic fencing sites to see if you can find out more about what y...