The Armour Archive

Kel Rekuta

Josh W wrote:Discuss.

Seems like my kind of drinking buddy, except that he fences with wire.

Kel Rekuta

Bob,

By "the ironwork roughed out" do you mean these thick bars have yet to be forged to an appropriate width and thickness? Maybe its just my lack of coffee this morning but that looks pretty strange. Please enlighten me.

Kel Rekuta

It really depends on you definition of "sole leather!" Leather industry terms are widely misapplied, even by professionals in their respective niches. Ask a finisher, a shoe manufacturer and a garment maker to define "upholstery leather." I guarantee the only thing they will agre...

Kel Rekuta

Kilkenny, Yes! I saw those!! You know darn well that leather case in now on my to-do list. Cat lol.. You and me both. But for me, the Philadelphia Art Museum is only about 2 hours away. I'm going to have to go down and check out the hunting bags as well as that case. I bought a glass beaker at Penn...

Kel Rekuta

now combine those thoughts and you get: 'THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT....BUT i GET TO DECIDE IF YOUR GOING TO BE OR REMAIN A "CUSTOMER"! I like that............. That has been one of my business policies for twenty years. Its called a business relationship not indentured service. "I'...

Kel Rekuta

In the '90's G. Gordon Liddy's "Stacked and Packed" Calendar featured a number of armed and armoured bimbos photographed by Syr Stephan, a Northwoods knight who happened to be a successful boudoir photographer in mundane life. Daemon de Folo did a SCAdian pinup calender in the '80s. I thin...

Kel Rekuta

I think I might have enough armor? Most people have lots of plate and padded stuff. If you have riveted or welded mail under it, narrow enough occularia, et cetera then you have it. It isn't the same standard as the IJA or whatever its called these days. I, personally, would very much like you to j...

Kel Rekuta

What kind of maille was it? Butted? Riveted? How heavy was it? With the amount of destructive testing that has been done to historical maille previously I would think either someone got a unique shot in (i.e. one in a million) or the fighter that threw the blow is someone I would really like to stu...

Kel Rekuta

Leo Medii wrote:So....how does one get to actually do these tourneys?

Ask for an invitation. Collect enough armour to meet the requirements. Join us, have fun and drink with us. Not really that difficult if you have complete armour.

Kel Rekuta

I have seen but that could be because they are doing a demo. Most demos get a little wilder and faster since the point is to make it look impressive adding the element of danger. Its not a demo. its a recording of the actual tourneys edited for a demo. They are hitting plenty hard. The look of it i...

Kel Rekuta

One of my customers makes his living as a scrimshaw artist. He uses regular aniline leather dyes. His work is utterly stunning in part because of his sparing use of dye to highlight detail. Also I second the hand buffing with wood ash paste. Mechanical buffing makes no better a finish. Old flannel, ...

Kel Rekuta

I bought a pair of the 6mm chausses. They were a little heavier than I expected but even caked in packing grease, they look pretty damned cool. They seem to be full chausses not just strips that cover part of the leg. Once I've gotten 'round to cleaning them, I'll line them and post a photo or two.

Kel Rekuta

Sorry Alvar, I don't believe so. So many things to see, so little time.

Kel Rekuta

Yeah, I visited there in July. I think much of the harness is Victorian, there is something not quite right about a lot of it. That and the fact that there are no barriers to touching most of it, except for the really valuable stuff like the crossbow. Awesome views from just about every inch of the ...

Kel Rekuta

Iâ€™m going to weigh in on this one as it's a pet peeve of mine. Cet is right with the 3/4 weight, but what does that mean? A gauntlet is, say 2lb., so 3/4 of that is 1-1/2lb. Thatâ€™s a savings of 8oz. Can you feel the difference of 8oz., and is it worth the price? Yes, with a two pound sword. Wit...

Kel Rekuta

Per Lillelund Jensen

http://www.olofsgillet.org/per/

Very pleasant fellow to talk to as well. A real gentleman.

Kel Rekuta

I just missed one for $125 CAD recently. $600 is waaay too much.

Kel Rekuta

I agree - this is really good stuff especially at the sale price! I have to clean my chausses and standard yet - it is so nasty filthy I don't want to handle it... but it moves so well.

Kel Rekuta

Like Kenwrec, I am quite fascinated with the design and construction of that piece. I thought this collection was more useful to study.

http://www.svjiri.wz.cz/

Kel Rekuta

Thanks Duco!

Kel Rekuta

I agree that this topic would probably be better in the combat forum, but the conversation could be historical in nature if you consider, as I pondered, what maille medieval nobles wore in combats with wasters. In other words, in some period did they wear maille in medieval mock combat with no edge...

Kel Rekuta

Sure many of us do. I'm sure Bernie Bachrach is a great prof but I prefer to read Andrew Ayton, Ann Hyland or RHC Davis for medieval equestrian studies. The important parts of the article you seek are discussed at length in Kelly Devries, "Medieval Military Technology" which is relatively ...

Kel Rekuta

A question about the "washing the hands" - does this mean washing your hands as you would with normal soap and water? It seems this process would saturate the gloves with water, is that the idea? The idea is to get as much glycerine soap or oils into the leather as the process will allow ...

Kel Rekuta

I like the Sawzall. http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/153387_lg.jpg I really like mine, for home renos. Way over kill for cutting leather. Also you have to use clamps unless you can find some gullible apprentice to hold down the bend while you blast through it with the beastie.

Kel Rekuta

A jigsaw is probably the most convenient thing for you. Use a large toothed wood blade as fine blades jam up with fibre and burn. There used to be a straight edged linoleum cutting blade available for jigsaws but I haven't looked for one for a long time. New vinyl flooring is so soft any sharp blade...

Kel Rekuta

This is my business - a shoe finder - we sell the findings that comprise a new shoe or repair an old one. Look in your Yellow Pages for Shoe Findings or Shoe Supplies. I will warn you to expect to be turned away. Wholesale shoes supplies are not typically available to consumers, especially ones that...

Kel Rekuta

Aventail, haubergone.... Got em... Besides, good mail doesnt alter how you move at all. In fact, good armour barely restricts you and neither of those are arguable points ;) Perhaps you do wear that haubergeon all the time now with your plate. I would also point out that your haubergorn isn't the '...

Kel Rekuta

I don't think they would last in reenactment use, if the use is the sort seen in the WoR federation. What works in a salle, studying blossfechten, or even the study of armoured combat, will not neccessarily work in the field. I agree with both observations. AL wasters are for unarmoured training an...

Kel Rekuta

Does anyone know what type of aluminum Valentine used? Tempered AL as used in the aircraft industry. However, he decided to use 3/16" instead of 1/4" so his blades were light and flexible as longswords. They wobble around a bit but not as badly as the feders everyone loves so much. The mo...

Kel Rekuta

Gabe,

Nicolas Facundo is an artist in T.O. that has made some nice signets for a number of people I know. Personal acquaintance, working on a project together, yadda yadda. Please feel free to drop my name. He's a bit chatty but does dyn-o-mite work for a fair price.

http://www.nicolasfacundo.com/

Cheers,

Kel

Kel Rekuta

Buy some felt winter insoles and cut them up.

Kel Rekuta

To elaborate a little in what I wrote to you earlier, Aluminum swords have a tendancy to stress out quickly in use (as I mentioned privately, ones that are SLO's chip up in a hurry), and have been known to break in use, in a potentially dangerous fashion. Bob, Either the AL wasters you've seen were...

Kel Rekuta

I was in the Real Armerias last week. You should see all the tourists annoyed with numerous empty displays and mannequins after paying 8 Euros to get in. The collection also has about half as many guards on duty because most of the really valuable stuff is on tour. Get over to D.C. and see that stuf...

Kel Rekuta

I'm in desperate need of a good leather conditioner. I fight SCA rapier, and sweat profusely in my gloves (I'm pretty sure they are these ones , in black, from Darkwood Armory, made from cow leather). As a result, after practice they dry out and get VERY stiff. I don't want to use anything that'll ...

Kel Rekuta

Sure looks like they are.

http://www.medievaldesign.com/

Re: I want to hear thoughts on this person's rant

Re: Leather Conditioner

Re: Leather Conditioner