The Armour Archive

Mike F

Aren't scutums curved a bit much for a table?

Now if they make a tank/futon, I'll be set for home defense.

Mike F

Damn. I like it.

Makes me wish I did Viking. Not that the early 15th century English campaign tent is poorly documented.

Mike F

Watch out with the sausages. I've eaten chared on the outside but raw on the inside brats, and they're unsafe and disgusting. I'm glad you're having fun, and you've learned the black heat lesson (It's the black heat that gets you every time, burned my gloves just yesterday) Remind your friends that ...

Mike F

As an aside, have you ever seen anyone fight in a Hussar rig? It'd be a blast, but the only full Hussar I've seen removed his "wings" before combat. Probably for the best.

Mike F

Dude . . . Are you running manure in there?

Nicely done. I like it a lot, except it's a bit low. Hell, you can work around that, great job, man.

Now make something cool!

Mike F

Doug: Depending on what you have on your face, yes, wasters can be just as safe with a pommel as a blade. I hadn't thought of that. Sorry, I'm not big into waster fighting, so I forget it's slow or armored. The issue I have with grabbing arms or blades has to do with the thumb. If the thumb is held ...

Mike F

A throw can be dangerous, even if it's just a trip. And an untrained man making a mistake is more of a threat than malicious intent. There's a guy I know who fights like a moron and is dangerous to everyone because he thinks you fight like in a movie and thus is uncontrolled and foolish. He is the o...

Mike F

Doug: A large chunk of Fiore involves slamming people into the ground. I've studied it (not as exhaustively as many) and the times I've practiced the unarmed vs dagger left me with a healthy respect for the dangers involved. I know how to fall, and I wouldn't do real fighting with throws. I've done ...

Mike F

Ah. I think I see. Thanks.

Mike F

I'd do bascinet with either a hounskull or a rounded visor. The visors should be shown in the last image on the AEMMA site.

They'll look nice.

Mike F

What'd be the difference with the AP tip?

It's wonderful. Personally I'd have a larger disc on the blade side, but the customer wanted that handle.

Expertly done. Good job.

Mike F

You've nailed several things. If I may, however: Grappling isn't a problem with me. While I wouldn't want to take a gauntlet to the face, blocking weapons with armor or grabbing a haft of a weapon (already legal in SCA rules) seems fair and accurate. I assume (through your words) that you are discus...

Mike F

I'm confused. I've seen illuminations of poleaxe combat. Is that not considered foot combat, or am I missing something? And yea, being mounted on a horse gives the rider a hell of a lot of punch. I wouldn't do mounted combat or joust for just that reason. Very dangerous stuff. Look at Lloyd and Grub...

Mike F

I've never tried it, but I've always been advised that welding anything to cast iron is very difficult. It has to do with varying melting points and the point at which the carbon burns away. I'd say stick welding is possible, but I'm not sure it torch or TIG could work. Maybe if you had a hard steel...

Mike F

The torso looks similar to a Turkish harness on plate VI of Oriental Armor bu H. Russell Robinson

Same book, page 151 is some line art of "banded armour." Looks Chinese.

Can't really help beyond that. I don't see much like that outside of Rome.

Mike F

If the anvils that historical armourers where basically cast iron or low grade steel why is it that we now demand such a high quality hardened anvil? They didn't use cast iron. Hard faces have been used as long as they were available, even if they had softer bases. The problem with cast, as mention...

Mike F

Just took a look at Rene. Quite a . . . descriptive look at things. Those are about as similar to combat harnesses as many of the things I see taking the list nowadays. That being said, we should look into those rules to see if they can be modified for an "accurate" tournament. Just think, not only ...

Mike F

Absolutely. You need to be careful with the legs as well, simply due to how they change shape when you move. Bear in mind, there are examples as early as c1400 of completelty enclosed arms and legs (particularly English) and those don't have internal bands. The points keep them where they need to be...

Mike F

I don't like it. The horn isn't a horn, and the face dents, chips, and shatters. That being said, I have one and it's absolutely useful. I use the horn for riveting, the face for rough work, and I use stakes in my leg vice for any precision work. It's not the best tool for any job, but for the cost ...

Mike F

Anyone who presents a good, coherent proposal to any SCA marshal has my full, unflinching support.

I've mellowed from wanting authenticity to simply wishing for people to have fun. This twin setup, where each group gets what it wants, is a great idea.

Mike F

While I've seen some later period arms with sliding rivets on the top, it seems all earlier arms were constructed in the same manner. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but having seen many suits built like that and wearing arms built similarly, it works. And it works well. It's probably since it's ...

Mike F

I'm in the Milwaukee area, and if you're willing to scamper south even more, there are a large clump in Chicago. We've got a few armorers (mostly inactive, sadly) and a bunch of people with some skill (like me) but many are currently inactive (like me) but ultimately we have a pretty good chunk here...

Mike F

Neat stuff.

I like all your gear, its put together very nicely.

Mike F

Thus making for a pretty ugly hounskull.

The globose klappvisor faces would work, however.

Mike F

Do you have a specific timeframe inside of the 14th century? The very, very, VERY late 14th century may see a sallet (I do 1415/Agincourt, and I find them a hair avant garde even for me) but I think the most common style of helm through much of the 14th century (the later half at the very least) was...

Mike F

It's a great piece. I really like it. No real criticisms, sorry, but I like it.

Mike F

I'm going to second Randall's thicknesses with the proviso that I'd go one thinner in hardened steel. I'm unsure if I want to do a 16ga helm, even in carbon steel, but I'll figure that out when its done and if my head hurts.

Mike F

kiyohara wrote:Nissan i cant wait to see you in it. Its so pretty a helm i'd almost consider not hitting you in the head

Now, now, no backing away from what needs to be done.

When I actually get a harness together, you can hit me for that, Nissan. I'll just try to hit you back.

Mike F

Take it from someone who drive bus and truch for a bit (all the truck work was personal, not professional) get a triangle of plastic or wood, tie/chain it to the forge, and stick one on either side of one of the wheels when you're using it. It will NOT move, so long as the wedge isn't sliding on the...

Mike F

Stonekeep: I'd like to withdraw the shire of Lub Siochail. We're probably going to abandon the shire in the next few years, and I don't want to soak up anyone else's loaner gear.

Mike F

Thomas: In period, I'd absolutely agree with you. However, the sulfur burns off pretty well in a few minutes, then you're left with mostly coke.

I find it's a better fuel for a few reasons, but sulfur impregnation is what kept me from it for a long time.

Mike F

Looking forward to seeing it!

Mike F

Power density may be an issue. Same reason why cooking charcoal isn't as nice as chunk hardwood charcoal.

That being said, once you go coal, you probably get spoiled.

Mike F

Assuming, of course, the idea is useful and they could get away with it. German guilds were not very free-flowing, if you catch my meaning. And if people die when your product fails, I'd do what was proven to work as well. That being said I've seen metal plates like that on fingers (except many more...

Mike F

If I recall, one of the gambesons I've seen (perhaps a misnomer) was seven layers, alternating silk and linen. I'll look into it, but Chuck was a huge fan of it, so I'll talk to him this weekend and ask him more about it.