The Armour Archive

Mike F

Must be a dangerous sport if real armor won't protect you. You can modify Mr. Bryant's stuff for kendo (except the helm and grill) without overly much trouble, but talk to your group first. They probably won't want anything prettier than they have. To be honest, they may be concerned that metal migh...

Mike F

Kubb is a lot of fun, and actually requires a lot of strategy as well as physical skill.

Mike F

Buy me a welder?

That's really neat. Are those rods or bars behind the grill? (vertical)

How did they do that? Rivets? Forge welding?

Mike F

Ahhh, Jin-Roh. How many times I've wanted to make that armor. Anyway, to go back to actual topic at hand, the existant armor is, indeed, made because it's effective. However, the armor from Jin Roh and the Orc armor from Appleseed is loosely based off of real Japanese armor. The sode (upper arm cove...

Mike F

I've only seen one man who might work with minimum armor, and he's a world-class body builder. He explained (besides it fit his persona) that if he wore anything at all (aside form clothes) on his legs, he couldn't feel blows.

Mike F

The situation on free CAD was heavily LINUX-based as of two or three years ago. There are some relatively ($200) and very ($9.95) cheap programs out there, so do you really need free, or can you pay $10 at Wal-Mart?

Or can you find someone else to do it for you? How complex is it?

Mike F

I'd say standard knee with latten trim. I don't know, but I doubt they'd make a piece that crutial and load-bearing weaker by splitting it up when they didn't need to.

Mike F

Too thin on the cars. The farm equipment may or may not be too thin. Bear in mind, the difference between 18 and 14 gauge (easy and awful to move, respectively) is only .025 of an inch. Once I get the steel order I have squared away (I should have the steel by the end of the week) maybe I can work s...

Mike F

I'm sorry, I have little to add, as I'm just learning myself, but I've been following this thread since the beginning. I'm glad you like the peculiar mix of gentleness with throwing all your weight behind the hammer to get the steel to move. I don't do that much since I started hotworking, but I rem...

Mike F

I think the argument on aluminum shields was that it was the same weight, just thinner and it had a longer lifespan.

a 24x36 blank made of 1/2" plywood would weigh almost nine pounds before you cut the blank to shape. This is before the guard, handle, edging, paint, etc.

Mike F

Thrusts, by their very nature, can cause a substantial amount of damage and pain. There's nowhere else for the force to go except in you and the hands of the thruster. I'd say more armor. We're using techniques they used to kill people wearing padded armor/maille, etc. Even if it's blunt, I wouldn't...

Mike F

I'm doing fairly well, but we'll never get up there if we don't help bump for people.

Mike F

He didn't ask for the accuracy of the armor, I'm not a fan either, but he asked if it could be done.

Mike F

Mykaru offering helms for $200 or less? Time to go Japanese. With my original concept, the jingasa itself would be 20ga spring steel as it's not actually structural. It would tend to be a bit heavier than it needed to be, but it's an idea for a build-your-own. The slatback and grille arrangement is ...

Mike F

Barring comments about the weapons . . . The sabatoons on the darker one would need to be modified. On hard ground the spikey bits would raise the sabatoon up, dig into the surface, or make it very unstable to walk in. The knees on the same suit are basically normal knees with a fluted covering bolt...

Mike F

Admiral Steel is pretty nice. Once you see their price beaks, you'll order more and more. Shipping varies withthe freight line they use, but I got a quote you can't beat for mine. Or you can order 1050 spring steel from me and if it's under 70 pounds, I can ship USPS. But it won't be as cheap as the...

Mike F

Wulfe: I'll give you a buzz.

JT: 3,838lbs and the weight of the steel I added to the order at the last minute.

Mike F

The only SCA legal ones I've seen are grillwork under what is effectively just a cone. If the jingasa is riveted, just make a paper come style cone and start welding a grill on. What I'd suggest for entertainment would be a rather steep jingasa (as the shallow ones tend to hurt on a downward sweep) ...

Mike F

I heard back from Admiral Steel, and the shipping quote I got was substantially less than $500. I'll give everyone a heads up when it's all done, but it's very possible the price won't increase a dime.

And my headache is gone. Ahhhh.

Mike F

Well, I know a few of you are confused, so I'm going to make this very brief, I'll elaborate tomorrow. The truck I've used for two and a half years I can no longer use. Insurance issues we never had before. So I rent the biggest truck they have. Well, the steel didn't fit well, and we damn near dest...

Mike F

Re: Women shooting better than men I've heard the low center of gravity guys do better with full-autos, (from years ago, don't take as law) so women would be even better. And I agree they should kill her on principle, but the breastplate makes me sad. The dullness of a sword may have originated in t...

Mike F

I'll be down in Chicago between 5:00 and 6:00 today, perhaps as early as 4:00 if plans change, but that should be a good bet. The invoices have my phone number on them, so if there are any questions you can give me a call. Wulfe, could you PM me your address? It turns out I'll be a half hour south o...

Mike F

Alright, chances are it'll be picked up tomorrow in the early afternoon. I have obligations tonight, and it's quickly getting to the point that I won't make them if I need to head down there today. They have yet to call me sayoing it's ready, so it won't be an issue for waiting. Unless other arrange...

Mike F

I think you were the one I didn't send out along with Alaric's once I found the problem. I've fixed the problem with the order, but it may take until tomorrow. I'll tell everyone when I'm informed the steel is ready, but you know as much as I do with when they're gonna call and say it's ready. So, t...

Mike F

If you end up doing soapstone, never use powertools, never blow on it, and wear a mask. Soapstone can cause blacklung like coal or sillicate dust. Basically it can harden your lungs so you can't inhale. It's also cumulative like lead, so you might not notice any effects for months or years, and then...

Mike F

Besides the steel order?

A hounskull visor
hourglass gauntlets
Mogami Do
a kabuto
two menpo
a set of kote
14th/15th century arm harnesses
sabatoons
and I'm sure a few others that havn't seen the light of day in a long time.

Mike F

Okay, due to the rather . . . inaccurate . . . methods of keeping track of orders on the board, I'm 8 sheets short on 18ga and five sheets short on 16. Now, six of these 18 were going to be mine, and four of the 16,but that means two of the 18 and one of the 16 weren't. Anyone willing to give up two...

Mike F

So long as it's paid for, it doesn't matter much where it is.

I havn't gotten anything back from anyone from Chicago (except Alaric and Ingrid) regarding their orders, so I'll go on the numbers you had, plus Alaric's modification to it.

Mike F

I'd assume it was a holdover from the o-yoroi where the right side was completely seperate. The left side was more important to defend, as it was facing the enemy when you used a two handed sword or a bow.

That's pure conjecture, ask Effingham.

Mike F

Okay, this is worth it for us, off of Admiral Steel's site:

http://www.admiralsteel.com/reference/heattrt.html

To add to Sinric's info.

Mike F

Invoices out for everyone but the Chicago crew. ('Cept Ingrid, 'cause she asked seperately. ) How do you guys want to do the pickup arrangements on the steel in Chicago? And I'd appreciate not taking the truck through Chicago proper as Wulfe mentioned. I've done that enough for one lifetime (once). ...

Mike F

Wulfe: So far the only group I don't have hard numbers for is the Chicago group. Since we originally threw our stuff together, I'm not sure how much is yours. Also, if you have seperate numbers, I can bill everyone individually.

Mike F

It happens to all of us, man. I'll get you the poundage when I have it.

As far as being swamped, it comes and goes. I was more distracted than swamped.

Mike F

I did manage to get the 14ga in. I'm getting the full invoice by e-mail in a few. I'll probably pick it up on Tuesday or Wednesday. If I can get cash or checks (amounts forthcoming) when I drop it off, I'll just leave orders with who people designate. If that's unworkable, I'll haul it all back to W...

Mike F

Wulfe, I said I'd try, didn't I? I had my terms laid out fairly clearly. I don't mean to cause you any grief, as you've been a great help with all of this, but with close to two tons ordered, the logstics, my exams, the studying for my exam which took up all of yesterday except when I checked the si...