The Armour Archive

Frederich Von Teufel

As you know, the knee cops definitely need to be deeper. Overall, the impression they give is...plain. The flat black paint, along with the black outfit makes them not really jump out. As constructive criticism, I think the first thing you can do is give the fans a bit of a shape, they're just...fla...

Frederich Von Teufel

You are correct, the top edge of those pauldrons is rolled to the outside, however I can't remember if that is a square roll or a round roll. The pauldrons are from one of the suits from the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Grazie and is covered in not just Mantova but in a couple of articles from Arc...

Frederich Von Teufel

There are dozens of different italian pauldron styles at that time (similar, sure, but not the same). If you can show us which pattern you're talking about, we can give a better response.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

This is done through the combination of slot rivits and leathers and provides sufficient movement for the use it was intended for: jousting. In deed, all the armour on that page is jousting armour, not armour for foot combat; there is a difference. You will notice that the left pauldron is not artic...

Frederich Von Teufel

Very nice little tutorial covering the basics; good job. The background makes it a little distracting at first, and you have a couple of spellcheck errors ("know" instead of "no"), but excellent all in all. I'd love to see this archived or at least linked to on the Archive Essays page.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

Hmmmm...I will tentatively explore the thinner guages. I guess I still have a number of ingrained instincts to overcome when it comes to making armour. The idea of .025 armour gives me visions of tinfoil and makes me shudder, but I'll give it a try. I've gained confidence in the safety of the end re...

Frederich Von Teufel

Ah. Well, I'd say that 99% of SCA fighters simply use a hard plastic athletic 'cup' as protection. Very few actually use a period brayette. As for the book I'd been looking at recently, it turned out to be Jean-Pierre Reverseau's "Armes Insolites du XVIe au XVIIIe Siecle". It's out of print but stil...

Frederich Von Teufel

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by flonzy: From all I have read, and the arguments I have heard from my reenactment/LH comrades, spring steel is the best option and mild is second for period look. Aluminum, T...

Frederich Von Teufel

I'm not aware of too many photos of brayettes on the web, nor in too many books for that matter. As for patterns I don't know of a single one on the web. For examples to look at, I know that the Tower in Leeds has a few, Philly has a selection, the Met has some, the Musee de L'armee, etc. Ideally, y...

Frederich Von Teufel

You know that old saying, "There's cheap, easy, and fast. Pick two." Well, with titanium it's "pick none". Nasty stuff, I'd almost prefer to work with stainless (which says a lot.) If it weren't for the wonderful armour it becomes... At high temperatures titanium "soaks" up oxygen, turning into tita...

Frederich Von Teufel

Nice. Good job on keeping the edges of the flutes crisp.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

Sir Tosh fights S&B regularly at the Monday night FP in the Barony of Storvik (Wash DC). There are also a few others at that FP who will play with the form occasionally.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

You know, I thought it was just another rather ugly spun top; not really bad for it's ilk, you can only do so much with a spun top. Then I noticed the price. *cough* *cough* WTF!?! If he were just asking the $175 I'd think he was fairly delusional, but it has a reserve . It doesn't matter how much y...

Frederich Von Teufel

Actually, since you are only making a small modification to the shape of the rattan, steam straightening is overkill. You can straighten the peice simply by resting the tip of the rattan on the floor, hold the other end in your hand, and then with the curve uppermost, step on the rattan with your fo...

Frederich Von Teufel

And take a look at the "Measurements" thread currently going on elsewhere in this Forum. They are talking about making vambraces so is should be of some assistance.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

One thing to add. Make sure you are wearing your gambeson/arming coat while you are taking these measurements and making the mockup. Nothing like realizing you've made the perfect size...for when you are naked.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

Oh yeah, and to answer the question: water and air flow. So long as you are properly hydrated you will sweat sufficiently, and so long as there is air flow your sweat will evaporate and you will be cooled. While water is easily taken care of while you are in armour, you have to work a bit harder to ...

Frederich Von Teufel

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Conrad the Mad: When its really hot, like Pennsic hot, I armour up, and pour water down the front and back of my neck, effectively soaking my gambeson. Keeps ya nice and comfy ...

Frederich Von Teufel

Depends upon the stake. In my shop I have stakes that started out on 2" stock and taper down to 1 1/4" and others that start on 1" stock and taper down to 1/2". Most of my heavy using stakes are on 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" and are tapered to fit into a Pexto stake plate (which have a ascending series of hol...

Frederich Von Teufel

If you are looking to color the stainless steel black, then it is possible, though not through the same method as with mild steel. www.caswellplating.com has a kit that will work.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

I'd say a well fitting arm harness. A good harness can make a world of difference to a newbie's fighting if it fits and moves well. I've seen many, many people who's harness slide down into their wrist, flops away from their elbow and just generally fights against their movements, rather than workin...

Frederich Von Teufel

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Dalewyn: Speaking of calibration, I ran into a related problem. One time I was fighting greatsword against a sword and shield fighter, and I was getting lots of partial bloc...

Frederich Von Teufel

For most purposes and most armourers, you would never need to anneal your steel as you work it. Cracks in a peice can occur for many reasons: metal is prone to cracking (like some aluminums), over-hardening, over-working, stress risers from marks/cuts in the peice, etc. However, for most peices, if ...

Frederich Von Teufel

Chef, I question why you decided to make your response to me a deliberate attack upon me, specifically deriding me and calling into question how much I know about armour. You put words into my mouth, insult me, change what I did say to suit your own purposes, and make wild claims about how little I ...

Frederich Von Teufel

I've certainly tried to understand Chef's position on reenactment and historical accuracy, and while I respect his position I think I tend to agree more with Ugo, and here's why. The further we go back, the fewer examples we have of extent armour. We have quite a few peices of armour from the 17th c...

Frederich Von Teufel

The first peice is actually quite a familiar style to me. The style is attributed to be the creation of the Helmschmidt's (although I take such attributions with a grain of salt). There's actually a fairly complete extent suit done completely in this style. I've been thinking about doing a recreatio...

Frederich Von Teufel

I can not answer your question because there is no one answer to it. There is no one pattern/shape of stake for raising and, to a certain extent, you can raise over pretty much any stake. The shape and size of the stake will be determined by what shape you are trying to get the metal to be. I...

Frederich Von Teufel

Always go primary source if you have the choice. Osprey doesn't match to that standard. Now, if that was all you had, then it's one of the best choices, but you have more than just that available to you. Since you obviously are looking for more subjects than just armour, things are a bit more...

Frederich Von Teufel

Your question is a bit ambiguous, being phrased in the general way that it is, so let me start off by saying this. If the blow hits you , you know exactly how it felt, and you have the ability to call it correctly. If you throw the blow, you have only how it felt on your end of the sword, so can onl...

Frederich Von Teufel

The one on the left is a burgeonet, which I wouldn't date any earlier than the mid 16th. The middle looks to be a close helm missing it's visor and right cheekplate, which could be as early as the late 15th, but most likely 16th or 17th. The one on the right looks to be a close helm missing it's vis...

Frederich Von Teufel

If depletion gilding is not something you want to do (and I can certainly understand why), you have to realize that anything you do just isn't going to look the same. The only thing that really looks like period depletion gilding is...depletion gilding. There is also the longevity factor (that you t...

Frederich Von Teufel

Personally, I use a hardened tool steel rivit set, but then I peen thousands of rivits a year. For someone who'll just be doing a few, any chunk of metal would do. Wood or HDPE (or any soft material like that)only work for a limited time (a few rivits) so wouldn't be appropriate for your application...

Frederich Von Teufel

What do you mean by "perfect"? "Period"? "Looks like it'll work"? "Safe"? Definition of terms here are important, since depending upon what you mean, the answers are "no", "yes", and "yes". And what is your intended finished product? Demigauntlets? Finger gauntlets? 14th century? 16th century? Give ...

Frederich Von Teufel

Oh, and by the way, that's one hell of an expensive book you have there, take care of it. Currently there is one copy going for $750 on Addall, and that is the first one I've seen in quite a while.

Frederich

Frederich Von Teufel

There is a fair amount of primary source documentation for cloth covered armour. In addition to the multi-piece armours, single peice breast plates were covered. Going just off my memory, I believe there are some photos of such in A&AOMK, and I know that both the Met and Cleveland have some. If no o...