The Armour Archive

Krag

I just email you a pic of the original piece in original condition from 2500 Years of European Helmets, Curtis.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

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Krag

Bud K is a discount warehouse for rejected swords and knives from other distributors. They wil all have a defect somewhere. bent blades, uneven grindlines, loose handles. I bought some blades off someone that got them from BudK. I had them take some pics from specific angles. I got two nice even sha...

Krag

Yep, I just replied. You know, I kept thinking zi was mispelling it, since it seemed everytime I looked at a post/email, it was different!? I can't rmember Ancient's stuff, other than a sugarloaf and burgundy leather. Ahh..looks like he took the basic poleyon design and just added rondels to the sid...

Krag

Hey, Haven't seen you around in a while. Looks like you've been keeping busy! Nice job! How did you do the eyes? Weld in separate piece, heat it up and stretch it out, or something totally different? How's vision? I guess more specifically, how far from your eyes do the eye slits sit? --------------...

Krag

Could you be more specific on the armour? A lot of the 14th century stuff was a single cop on leather uppers. Check out the Company of St. Gabriel's home page for some nice examples. Gaston and Elrick have some in the member pic pages also. (Gallery III, link at the bottom of this post) ------------...

Krag

GREAT SITE! Good job on both the organization and content!

Does the guy who did the reproductions have a website? Those were great!

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

How clean of an edge does duct tape give you. Have you tried clear packing tape?

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

I just air cool all my stuff by normal ambient air, then temper for a couple hours at 400 F. Burying it in hot vermiculite will prevent it from rapidly cooling...depending on your alloy and purpose, this is good or bad. What are you making (size, thickness, etc) and what's it made from (A2, A6, 440C...

Krag

Take it out and "wave" it around a bit until dark (below critical point). if you just lay it on a table, one side may cool faster than the other and the object will warp. This is more a concern for knives/swords than armour. if it's air cooling, I'm guessing you're making tooling, or blades. Most A-...

Krag

It's the one that has the chalk marks that say: SAE-5160 or SAE-4130, not ASTM-A-36 http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif . Seriously, though, all alloy sheet steel has the numbers stamped somewhere. Most high carbon steels do as well. Mild generally doesn't. If you find sheet steel with any le...

Krag

Way to go Chris. You gave away the secret. Now we have to hunt everyone down that has seen this thread and kill them.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

I is so smart, I compiled a list of unquestionable, with out a doubt, absolute, true facts: Romans always wear red, Greeks always wear white. A good knee to the chest can kill a man in full plate. Midevil people had wonderous breath and never had B.O. due to all the honey they ate/drank and bathed i...

Krag

The Craft sounds like it might have been one I was looking at. I had a second one...but I can't remember if it was a book or website...that had about 30 or so swords and knives and such from all different eras. It showed the overall shapes of the blades and tangs as well as the laminate layering of ...

Krag

yeah, I know...it's weapons, not armour.... I'm looking for some pretty technical books and websites dealing with oriental blades, construction techniques, styles, etc. I want to make a wakazishi (sp?) and want the shape, style, metal, etc...to all match. i used to have several bookmarked, but they ...

Krag

I've used everything from 3/4" bolt heads to jackhammer bits to make stakes. If it fits your need, go for it. Hatchet stakes are good for starting an edge roll and working narrow flutes and such. You can never have to many hunks of steel! ------------------ Krag von Berghen KragAxe Armoury Member's ...

Krag

I saw it also Bjorn. It had a lot of South American tribes as well as New Guinea, and several South pacific island cultures. Watching them "tap" in the tats was interesting to say the least!

I think it was TLC.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

Pretty much what it sounds like. Picture a hatchet blade with the rear laying flat on an anvil face. Do you know what a cut off stake looks like? Instead of a level edge, it's curved like an axe blade.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

The tang was drawn out from the blade to run the full length of the handle. I welded on 1.5" of 1/4-20 threaded rod, to which the round pommel is threaded. The rod sticking out is a 1/2" long 3/8" square cross sectioned spike. It's purpose is to leave 3/8" square holes in people's heads http://www.a...

Krag

It actually shrank up quite nicely when dried. I've sanded one down to just under a milimeter. It's about like stiff posterboard. I plan on halving the current thickness, then it should be pretty pliable and "paper-like". It's a nice ivory white color on the flesh side and a slightly darker tone on ...

Krag

Thanks. It'll get a wooden scabbard with metal caps, either nickel silver or brass and etched. i finished it last week and added the pics today (or will in the next hour) to the above link. Not too many people here are into late period saracen type stuff. I guess everyone's just looking for "seax". ...

Krag

I second the above. I used to operate a hydraulic brake. The dies are made with really tight tolerances. I've seen a set of couplings explode on this machine due to a mis-alignment of the dies. It's not the part that you worry about with low tolerance dies...it's the machine and the operator! ------...

Krag

I wet-sand with everything finer than 220 using a slightly soapy water mixture. then buff with gray tripoli compound, then white rouge (on different wheels, and clean the part between buffings!).

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

It will stain you a slight yellow-brown. Hmmm...artificial tanning salon? It's best if you can agitate your solution while etching. Also, sharpie pens will start to lift along the edges after about 20-30 minutes depending on the strength. Also, if you warm the solution up, it etches faster, but will...

Krag

Cool. I have the first one. I'll have to see if I can find the second one.

Thanks

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

I have a 48" one, top spike, butt spike. I used it at Great Western War and loved it. i pretty much got my ass kicked by everyone in single combat for the first month. I was just getting ok with it when I pretty much quit fighting (no time, no other local fighters, etc). I made a pole axe now to use...

Krag

Well, I lucked out. The last few days have been under 96 and semi-overcast. The curing beat out the rotting and the hide is fine. I had to turn and re-pack it each day for a week, but it saved the hide! It's soaking in borax/water for an hour and will be cut, strtched and tacked down tonight. BUT, t...

Krag

I added a repro knife I just finished as well. This one was a remake of one in my collection of originals. It turned out pretty cool. I tend to get lost in some of the more "fancified" stuff...it's nice to go back and appreciate a simple design. I plan on remaking about 20 knives I currantly have in...

Krag

Is that where the expression, "Walk tall and carry a big stick!" comes from?

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

Brandr, does he have a website?

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

I downloaded it with no problems off a T1 connection, but don't have the application to play it.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

Rogaine twice a day.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics

Krag

LOL! Ya know, I had to go back and watch 13th Warrior after you made that comment! I've been known to redo blades/handles if they end up looking like someone elses work! Well, the handle is almost finished. I used ebony and white maple in a hex pattern for the handle. I was going to use mastadon ivo...

Krag

Knifemaking monopolized by knifemakers...go figure!? http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif The Viking sword I mentioned is CAS Iberia...I think, which is a big production/distributor of swords. Any damascus blade you find will be hand forged in the begining. That's just the nature of that type ...

Krag

When you get into Pattern welded/damascus stuff, you're usually looking at private custom makers. I've seen a couple distributor type places with damascus blades, but not many. They had one for the "Hercules" movie with Kevin Sorbo that was a damascus Viking sword. If you're wanting a period Viking ...

Krag

Aluminum, brass, copper...all the soft metals load up blades and belts. For blades, use a fine oil, for belts, use wax.

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Krag von Berghen
KragAxe Armoury

Member's Pics