The Armour Archive

Matthew Amt

Zowie, Tim, that's terrific! Thanks for the kind words, and I'm always happy to inspire, but that's better than my own shoes! LOVE that curled-up toe, in particular. Here are my Mycenaean shoes, in case anyone is wondering: m I just adapted a Roman pattern for them, since I am intimately familiar wi...

Matthew Amt

The whole Saxon Fyrd system (like most other militias of that general era) was designed to make sure that anyone fighting had at least the basic equipment needed, well ahead of time. There simply was never any need to throw stuff together, or round up beggars to fight with sticks. If you didn't have...

Matthew Amt

According the Assize of Arms, standard equipment in England for commoners was gambeson, helmet, and spear. Apparently a shield was not required, but I don't think anyone would have objected to that and/or a sidearm of some sort. Helmets were generally iron, kettle hats being popular at that time. I ...

Matthew Amt

as far as copperalloy bands the BM has about half a dozen of them from greece. Ah, lovely! Those are Italian, not Greek, if I'm not mistaken, exactly the manhood belts I mentioned. Probably Samnite. And probably very similar to what Homer was talking about. Unless they ARE from Greece, in which cas...

Matthew Amt

Ha, you can't slap him while he has a shield, Dan! Hee hee hee hee.... I'd love to see the scale armor, too, Todd, but that shield looks WONDERFUL! Your attention to detail is a lesson to us all.

Reshwet n'ek (real Egyptian!),

Matthew

Matthew Amt

Homer's war belts seem to be bronze, or at least plated with bronze. Possibly a strip of fairly thin sheet bronze with a leather or fabric backing, similar to those used in the Near East or Italy, but Homer does mention joints at least once. I believe he also describes one as being woven, though I'm...

Matthew Amt

Well, since the organic parts rarely survive, we don't know what the full range of woods might have been. Beech is known from England or Western Europe, and I know hazel was popular for scabbards. Other materials include ivory, bone, horn, and antler. It's likely that most any reasonable hardwood or...

Matthew Amt

The Romans did believe that they got mail from the Gauls, but that doesn't prove that the Gauls invented it or were the first to use it. However, I think the oldest remaining fragments of mail are much older than the oldest representation of it, and I think they're from a Celtic area--Romania, maybe...

Matthew Amt

Oh, you mean why they advertise stuff that the vendors never seem to be able to have in stock? Yeah, that's always a frustration! Part of it is apparently that some vendors don't want to stock some new expensive item if they don't know that it's going to sell. Deepeeka won't make and ship just 2 or ...

Matthew Amt

Well, mail was only worn by the wealthiest, so before it was introduced they probably used some form of the muscled cuirass. The sources just say "cuirass" without being specific. Most men wore a pectoral (with helmet, shield, and single greave). Connolly is definitely THE book to have! Bu...

Matthew Amt

[quote="Cap'n Atli"]Just try finding â€œBowie Knifeâ€

Matthew Amt

Anyone used them? Any comments on them. I am wondering, I dont have a place for a shop so anything that can be easily packed up and stored in the house is great. Kinda like these:: m A friend of mine came over yesterday to work on his Roman lorica, and he had just picked up this exact shear from Ha...

Matthew Amt

If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest posting on the Roman Army Talk board: m Several folks there have the book. I borrowed it from a friend, briefly, a few months ago, and don't recall the answers you need. But my guess is that the holes for the stitching would be closer together and closer t...

Matthew Amt

I think that if you check "bronze age foundry" (A company in Britain) through Matt's Bronze age site they offer a dagger that looks alot like that one. Their pictures might be helpful as guides through your journey. Doh! That's a good idea! Didn't that "halberd" originate as the smaller Bronze dagg...

Matthew Amt

I haven't done nearly enough research on that type of dagger, but I'll give you my impressions. The overall dimensions sound fine, and if you mean the total thickness through the midrib is 1/4", that's excellent. I think the shape isn't bad, but it should probably curve to a point a little, not just...

Matthew Amt

Try this site; m They have a few helms that might be worthy of use, and the group may be able to direct you to a good supplier of other items... That's George Metz's site. His gladiator gear is made by Deepeeka in India--some of it is actually reasonably accurate (as far as I know!), but I doubt it...

Matthew Amt

Easy-peasy. The only 2 people shown using clubs on the Bayeux Tapestry are Odo and Duke William! There is an odd clubbish missile in the air which could be a rock tied to a stick (early experiment in "potato-masher" style grenade, obviously!), thrown from the Saxon line. But the clubs are clearly a ...

Matthew Amt

Romans crawling through the streets. That's "swaggering". Even the English have a hard time beating the Romans for arrogance! And after a little swaggering, the Romans will proceed to repave those streets, and add a better drainage system. All seriousness aside, there is NOTHING like strolling down...

Matthew Amt

What they said! Especially the part about the Bronze Age center. I'm not sure if Jeroen's done much with gunmetal, but he's the Casting Man so he'll probably have good answers for you. You want to make socketed spearheads, by the way. Speeeeeeaaaaarrrr heeeeaaadsssss....... Matthew

Matthew Amt

Ave! Great stuff, thanks! Yes, I always assumed the Dacians were different tribes, like most of Europe at that point, but never knew it was quite that complex. Interesting! If you haven't already, you'll want to go to the Roman Army Talk board, m It has a whole section on "Enemies and Allies of Rome...

Matthew Amt

zoikes.....wait till Matt Ampt chimes in....he is the worlds leading purveyor of door kick plates....in bronze. Hey, don't tell them, they'll buzzing around my ears like flies! And it ain't "purveyor", it's "miser"! Besides, there's only one left, even it is is a good 3 feet square, and it's really...

Matthew Amt

That's interesting, thanks for posting it! It would be nice if a LOT more studies like this were done. There are thousands of artifacts that are blithely labeled as "brass" or "bronze" without any analysis whatsoever, particularly in older books or museum displays. Finding out what's actually in the...

Matthew Amt

There's at least a little bit online: m m You might find one or two others by Googling "Medinet Habu relief" or something like that. (Note that a lot of what is said about the "Sea Peoples" on that first site is now known to be bogus, but that won't matter if you're just looking at the hardware!) My...

Matthew Amt

I've personally handled cast bronze helmets in Macedonia (5th-4th CEN BC), the casting technique is similar to hollow casting sculpture. The bowls were cast with riveted bronze side pieces. Here is another example: m I'm betting that helmet was hammered, not cast, in spite of the description. Curat...

Matthew Amt

I also think its more than plausible to concieve of some helmets having been cast...than annealed....than worked, embossed etc. Some are definately much heavier than others. And its equally plausible some were ground to lighten them or make them more workable. I did a paper in college on the subjec...

Matthew Amt

Hey, very nice!! Yeah, most of my tools took less than an hour each, too. The first pair of tweezers I made turned out to be the best ones in the house--I got really lucky on the precision of the jaws. We still use them for getting splinters out of fingers and such! Now all you need is a nice strigi...

Matthew Amt

Khairete! We were talking about bronze not long ago: m Also over on the Bronze Age Center, m Ancient bronze for armor probably ran about 5 percent tin (give or take a few percent) and 95 percent copper, and the closest modern equivalent is phosphor bronze. Unfortunately, that only seems to be made i...

Matthew Amt

nice work matthew. Thanks! Many of the real ones are even more intricate, and generally very good workmanship. I can only approximate them by grinding rod and barstock, since I don't have casting capabilities. Out of pure interest as it relates to somethign I am having made next year, how are tubes...

Matthew Amt

There was indeed a special tool used for extracting sling bullets, though I don't think it was a speculum of this level of intricacy. Might have been a simpler lever-type speculum, or simply a specially-shaped probe/scoopy thing. I'm not sure if the experts are agreed. I've also heard that this spif...

Matthew Amt

The longest cuirasses may have been a bit restrictive, but I'm not sure. Most are quite small in appearance, since they only go down to the lower ribs, not to the hips. You can bend freely in them. They are also narrow across the front so that you can stick your arms straight forward easily. My own ...

Matthew Amt

...As the pictures display, there seems to be either a rolled edge or a turned piece kind of resembling the start of a hoop skirt. Which is more accurate? Or were both used at times? And at the bottom of the breastplate, does a musculatta always dip down at the belly? Was this just for looks or was...

Matthew Amt

Actually I meant what do we really know? Oh, simply--we don't know crap! I find the immediate conclusion that raising was the defacto method to be a jump to conclusion in many cases given far easier and time efficient processes that were well within the technology of the age.....but Im not saying i...

Matthew Amt

Actually, if you go back to the era of the Myrmidons, i.e., the Trojan War, yes, the typical shield is apparently round with a center grip. Most seem to have been wood and/or leather/hide with one or more bosses, though some had thin bronze facings overall or might have been slightly heavier bronze ...

Matthew Amt

I always loved the fact that (at least according to Osprey) honking big plate gorgets were very popular in that area in Dracula's time. "What, vampires? Around here? No, no, there aren't any vampires around here!" Too funny!

Matthew

Matthew Amt

You mean, Were they raised as opposed to dished? That's a very good question, along the lines of what we were talking about last week. Raising makes it thicker at the edges, dishing makes it thinner in the middle, so unless we know what they started with, hard to tell, eh? I don't know of any studie...

Re: Electric Shears??