The Armour Archive

Mike F

The "Peers" may have been poor wording, but you gathered what I meant. I've seen too many people who want to deal only with people with similar skills and mindsets. Not on the Archive, mind you, just in general. My question regarding half-assed cheats is where the line is drawn. I dislike stainless,...

Mike F

I PMed him an apology and a link to a booklet detailing construction of SCA surcoat and tunic gambesons.

Mike F

Brewer: No malice seen, and I tend to have a thick skin (two or three posts of crap before I take issue). My intention was a research forum and a sort of re-creation forum. Research and Application might be a better monicer, plus we keep the R&A board. Chef: I agree about the cooler cosies, but ...

Mike F

Juke Box Hero (Foreigner), because lots of people (apparently) dream of being armourers, and few actually do it, or do it well. More philosophical, really, than anything else. Yea, that's why I like Sixteen Tons. Another day older, and deeper in debt. There's also a very depressing Flogging Molly s...

Mike F

Where on that site do they sell the burrs to go with the rivets? They sell copper sheet my the square foot, and with a punch and a little work, you have very authentic burrs. Steel you should have on hand, as well. If you want a more rounded one, then you're looking into more of a washer. Those I c...

Mike F

Cap'n, and the rest of the remove "authenticity" people: I agree. Mostly. Personally, I think we need a place for people to come and say "I need to do this." Ultimately, I'd like to see this board become "Historical Reasearch" and open another along the lines of "Accuracy in Reenactment" or the like...

Mike F

Erm what is MLA? Modern Language Association. It's one of several standards of citation and documentation. It and the APA (American Psychological Association) make up the most recognized standards (in my experience) of documentation. Basically it's a way of identifying a book, it's author and date....

Mike F

I'm inclined to agree that "How do I make this work in the SCA" may be more an issue for the armoring board, but where do you draw the line between that and "How do I make an authetic XX which adhears to SCA standards?" I'd rather ask about my Agincourt harness here than the Armor board, as it's mor...

Mike F

Hew: Apparently I've forgotten everything I've learned about chem in the last three months. Ah, well, so long as I remember the physics, I'm good. Thanks for correcting me. I also agree that it probably wouldn't help much. It looks like for every kilogram of salt you added per liter of water (which ...

Mike F

Salt water? Why? Salt (or any solute) lowers the boiling temperature of water, thus maing it faster to boil but cooler in temperature. If plastic bends at 300, that'd make 212 (or less, I won't bother with specifics) far less desirable. And if it bent at under 200, I'd worry about leaving it in a ca...

Mike F

My opinion: The SCA is covered elsewhere, yes, but there are many of us in the SCA that would much rather be more authentic, and if we cannot ask SCA related questions, then how would we get ideas of how to be more authentic within the SCA? (for example, awards, list legal armor, etc.) As far as the...

Mike F

I think "Working in a Coal Mine" and "Sixteen Tons" are distinct, but I agree on "Sixteen Tons"

Mike F

Leg vice. Best tool ever. Okay, for shops, I have only a few shops I've seen, but here're my suggesions: If you can, split the shop into four sections (and wall off one of you can, even just 2x4s and plywood) and use one for clean work (planning, reseach, etc) and store your patterns there in a long...

Mike F

Cad always taught me to cut the rivets very short, but I could've made it even shorter in my mind since then. Roofing nails, especially with leather, is the way to go, IMO. Rivets are great for a lot of things, but nails just hold leather better with a lower profile. You can get copper roofing nails...

Mike F

I personally use 1/8" rivets (shank, not head) for most of my work and 3/16" for my knee joints. Sean: Do you think the 1/8" is better for the knees? In my defense, my first two knees had less than 2mm gap through articulation. The ridge, on the other hand . . . I have a bolt cutter I use to trim my...

Mike F

Anyone else who needs a reason, barring massive difficulties, I'll be there. You know you all love me!

Besides, the last time we had a get-together we had a Mac harness there. It was gorgeous. If we keep coming, we can get more people to come and or bring stuff!

Mike F

If he did this the way he did the rebrace I saw, he cut the design outline and hammered the rest down with a flat punch.

Great work. See you at the ARS workshop?

Mike F

To sum up a brief but important point: Dave is right, the body wasn't padded (beyond a wool tunic) but they had pads on top of the shoudlers that the armor doesn't work right without, even for display. Personally, I'd put at least a little padding in the body, as getting hit can hurt. It's a tradeof...

Mike F

I look forward to seeing it when it's done.

A moustache hides a multitude of sins, but since you welded the nose, you should be fine. My upper lips are usually shot by the riveting and the like.

I'm jealous of you, just so you know.

Mike F

Boiling it? I know mouthguard plastic can be maliable when boiled, but you only reach 212 F when boiling water, which may not be enough for plastic. I guess it depends on the plastic. What type did you get? And have you seen the patterns on http://www.larp.com/legioxx/lorica.html ? The patterns are ...

Mike F

I'd say file it as well. I rarely rolled edges with my .062 steel and the edge was fairly safe and very smooth. I've switched to a more authentic style since, but I know it can be done with no rolled or flared edges.

I know nothing about actually forming Al, though. Sorry.

Mike F

Roll the lower lip's edge outward. Not into a roll, but into a flared edge. It's a bit plain, but certainly nothing wrong with that (especially if you plan on fighting). Are you doing teeth? How about a moustache?

Mike F

Emory is new to the Archive, and look what he sees. Now, don't impose your values on history, either. Besides, I'm sure people enjoy being alive, on the whole. Now, I assume that people ask for armor to be protected. I gave him the option if he wanted the optimum in protection. I have him the option...

Mike F

Not relevant. Different culture 500 later. I didn't check the dates. Someone mentioned lorica, and I assumed they meant the segmentata. See below. The word Lorica is a generic term in Latin for armour. By the 8th century they are not the same thing as waht the Romans wore. Again, I assumed he meant...

Mike F

The Romans had a padded (on the shoudlers) garment for under their lorica. http://www.larp.com/legioxx/subarm.html If you're looking for accuracy and you're doing Lorica (as someone mentioned) that's where you're going. If you want protection, use a 14th or 15th century gambeson. If you want a combi...

Mike F

I think the edges need to be wider unless you plan on welding it to the menpo itself.

I really like the overall shape. Good job.

I think you're well on the right path!

Mike F

Based on the embroidery topic, are there records of charges being embroidered on a surcoat? I'm thinking primarally for my Agincourt (1415) garb, but I also have a mid 14th centruy surcoat I'd like another one of. By embroidery, I mean the sort of patch-style thing with thread we see nowadays. Also,...

Mike F

Well, it looks like I need to get on the ball with confirming. I know I've asked before (and stop me if I'm dumb) but how will the Patron's rates work?

Mike F

For the love of Pete, <i>nobody crash the server!</i>

Travel safe.

Mike F

Hey, there. My suggestion is to pick something you like and look how to make it and find out all you can about it. The key is to armoring is to be able to see where something is "wrong" and fix it. There are a lot of little things that only true experts know that makes all the differance between goo...

Mike F

Believe it or not, at waist level there's 3 fingers space between the armour and the belly. There's just no way of making anything fit tight there, and still keep the gothic lines. That puts things into proportion. I can see how it'd look wrong on the ground. It's a wonderful adaptation for a fairl...

Mike F

The Moro had copper maille, but it was massive, butted, and certainly not what you were looking for. Just adding to Kuberry's list of latten maille.

Mike F

And the vice grips made me laugh. Ralph, were you the one asking about feminine fgothic armor a while back? While the curve is up a bit high for most gothic pieces, since I assume she has less of a gut and more of a chest than I, that's a great way of doing it and keeping the lines. Or curves, whate...

Mike F

Once again, I feel the poor cousin. Ah, well, some day.

What did you dish the plates in? That seems to be my primary problem.

Mike F

Dishing sitting down . . . You can do that? My life has been a lie.

The only problem is if she armors, your "alone time" goes away quite quickly.

Embroidered charges for heraldic devices 14-15th century