The Armour Archive

Cap'n Atli

1. Dump it in a wooden barrel with your mail and roll around the yard to clean. (Much milder than sand.) DO NOT leave in with the sawdust due to possible tannic acid content. all my mail is stainless... 2. Fill, and pack tightly in, an air-tight container, put in fire-proof corner of forge, use as ...

Cap'n Atli

Maria: thanks, I'll take a copy. You can send it to: Bruce Blackistone Grey Havens 38825 Burch Road Avenue, MD 20609 So, anybody else showing up as a participant beside Mord? I have to give them numbers for lunch. So far five of us are showing up from the "sunny south" along with the faeri...

Cap'n Atli

You can find some references to magic practices through several cultures scattered through my Anvilfire article at: m I keep some Palm Sunday palms on hand for tinder for when I do church work at the forge. Helps to set the tone. These are tradionally used, at least in the Anglican tradition, to pro...

Cap'n Atli

1. Dump it in a wooden barrel with your mail and roll around the yard to clean. (Much milder than sand.) DO NOT leave in with the sawdust due to possible tannic acid content. 2. Fill, and pack tightly in, an air-tight container, put in fire-proof corner of forge, use as annealing box. Sawdust will s...

Cap'n Atli

Coming to the Folger Shakespear Library in Washington, D.C. Now Thrive the Armorers: Arms and Armor in Shakespeare m Looks pretty cool and a nice excuse for me to drop a couple of hours of leave in pursuit of knowledge. Anybody else in the Washington area interested in a lunchtime lightning raid?

Cap'n Atli

Longship Company Reenactor Reserve As an officer of the Longship Company, Ltd,, please allow me to kick-around an idea here from the LSCo annual meeting and some further discussion with the board of trustees. I decided to post to see what sort of interest there would be in this among the reenactment...

Cap'n Atli

Not much by Armour Archive standards, but I forged a new boat hook for the longship and mounted it on an eight foot ash shaft. This is the old style like I remember from my youth (and follows medieval patterns too). Not like those wimpy modern ones with their ball ends and cushion tips. One of our f...

Cap'n Atli

We will be at the American Swedish Museumâ€™s â€œViking Dayâ€

Cap'n Atli

I think that is a good idea. I have one under my work bench but I have not had the courage to try. If you do it so will I. Hal Ps: Do the bumps go on the top of the helm or does the little valve thingy go on top? Bumps go topside Either way works; four bumps up gives you a lower profile while valve...

Cap'n Atli

Halvgrimr:

Please check your private messages!

Cap'n Atli

Just for fun, I thought I'd throw in some historic examples. (Please ignore the proscetic arm).

These are from Decorative Antique Ironwork by Henry Rene' D'Allemagne (c) 1968, Dover Publications; ISBN 0-486-22082-6; LoC 67-20193

Cap'n Atli

SNIP This is the lil hub type forge that I see on a lot of sites. Looks like this one is hooked up to propane? Does anyone have the instructions for hooking up a hub like this up to gas? Or is this not worth it? Is coal better? http://a878.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/127/l_ad77c2a929714490b59...

Cap'n Atli

We've used them in Markland for years. I especially remember the "fish-scale" bruises through my mail from the late Thorhall Halftroll's kitty litter loaded morning star. The one major change was to limit the cord to 12" after "entanglement" problems (and that was sometime b...

Cap'n Atli

What do you intend to do with the forge? Heat sheet steel for forming? Anneal sheet steel for cold work? Make tools and weapons? Make horse bitts, spurs, stirrups and harness? Forge anchors? Reconstruct civilization? What sort of forge you use, and how much time and money you expend, depends upon th...

Cap'n Atli

Faering boat, Y1K forge, camp gear, war gear, setting up Friday for a fun Saturday, and the weather predictions have even gotten better!

http://www.cssm.org/index.php?festival

Come hear the bagpipes, and understand just what drove the Scots to attack so fiercely (you would too, to escape a couple of hundred massed bagpipes)!

Cap'n Atli

Oakley Forge Method: Heat iron headache ball, giant ball bearing or solid shot (DO NOT USE THAT OLD CIVIL WAR SHELL FROM GRANDPA!) in fire or forge to black heat or no more than a nice dull red. HA! Here is the raising stake from hell. Sacred excrement! You must really want to "deep dish"...

Cap'n Atli

Now there's a 40% chance of thunderstorms for the Celtic Festival of Southern Maryland. I'll be there, but it may "dampen" my Viking blacksmithing demonstration!

http://cssm.org/festival

Cap'n Atli

Oakley Forge Method: Heat iron headache ball, giant ball bearing or solid shot (DO NOT USE THAT OLD CIVIL WAR SHELL FROM GRANDPA!) in fire or forge to black heat or no more than a nice dull red. Apply to stump(s) where needed., let burn 1/2 to 3/4 to goal. Do not overdo it. It doesn't have to be tha...

Cap'n Atli

THE BOAT GOT WET!!! Generally, if it's just occasional scattered light showers, the show will go on; but when they say that the weather is goin' ta he11; it's best to ere on the conservative side. Certainly a good call this year. One of my favorite sailor's maxims: "The time to reef the sails i...

Cap'n Atli

Marching Through Time at Marrietta House Museum is canceled for Sunday due to a 100% chance of heavy rains and thunderstorms.

Cap'n Atli

I read The Longships about 40 years ago, but I still recall some scenes from it; including the capture of the (iron) church bell, and the under-the-turf fertility(?) ceremony. (Hey, itâ€™s been 40 years!) Oh, and the portage mead, and the chipped swordâ€¦ Anyway, very enjoyable, but limited by the s...

Cap'n Atli

The Longship Company will be there; I dropped the faering boat, Gyrfalcon by today. I won't be there except to pick it up Sunday afternoon; a family celebration this weekend, and I have to save-up "honey-do" credit for the Celtic Festival of Southern Maryland next weekend. I hope everybody...

Cap'n Atli

I like it, especially the display that you did.

Cap'n Atli

UPDATES on MTT 4/19-20; and Celtic Fest of So MD 4/26 April 19-20, 11 am-5 pm Marching Through Time Crews and volunteers are needed to display our faering boat, Gyrfalcon, and explain how the vessels of the Viking Age influenced history. (And what fun they are to go sailing in!) I will be dropping o...

Cap'n Atli

"Absence of proof is not proof of absence. A whole lot of absence of proof sure drops a strong hint, though!" (David Tristan the Elder) Pretty much sums it up for me. As for attitudes, I agree with Balderdash: â€œSome people take their vacations in Ocean City; we take ours in the 10th cent...

Cap'n Atli

April 19-20, 11 am-5 pm

Marching Through Time
Crews and volunteers are needed to display our faering boat, Gyrfalcon, and explain how the vessels pf the Viking Age influenced history. (And what fun they are to go sailing in!)

Marching Through Time (Marietta Historic House blurb)
â€

Cap'n Atli

April 19-20, 11 am-5 pm Marching Through Time Crews and volunteers are needed to display our faering boat, Gyrfalcon, and explain how the vessels pf the Viking Age influenced history. (And what fun they are to go sailing in!) Marching Through Time Blurb from Marrietta House Museum: "Spend the d...

Cap'n Atli

The Longship Company plans to be there with the Gyrfalcon, and we can always use an extra hand. I'll try to provide more information tonight.

Cap'n Atli

Interesting, those are iron tent stakes, too. You couldn't drive a bentwood stake with a maul like that.

Cap'n Atli

Is the boss blued?

Cap'n Atli

The Gyrfalcon is packed and squared away. Adrian, Scott and John will be there for the Longship Company. I'll be getting things ready for a familial graduation party, planting trees for the wif, dropping by supplies for the SÃ¦ Hrafn, and working on the new forge building.

Wish I was there.

Cap'n Atli

Since I work in Washington, D.C., and I am surrounded by pseudo-classical architecture much of the time (and majored in Medieval and Colonial history) I constantly observe that ever since our ancestors managed to wreck the Roman Empire, we've been trying to reinvent it... only better! The writing of...

Cap'n Atli

Hammerheads you say?

ARRRRR; you harpoon 'em and gaff 'em and haul 'em aboard. Then watch the crew with an eight foot shark thrashin' about on the rowin' benches!

What fun!

Cap'n Atli

I can't be there due to familial obligations, but the Longship Company is sending our ship's boat, the faering Gyrfalcon and a couple or three of our newer reenactors. If I can persuade a ship's officer to get there, they will be able to take her out, but we'll probably just set her up on dry land f...

Cap'n Atli

Nice work, and a lot better than my first attempt: m (from the Anvilfire Armoury m ) Ah yes, I'll never forget the friendly pig-pile from all of the nice denizens here, freely exchanging opinions. But that was several Armour Archive database crashes ago, and water under the drawbridge. As an armorer...

Now Thrive the Armorers: Arms and Armor in Shakespeare

Longship Company Reenactor Reserve

Longship Company Reenactment Event in Philadelphia 5/31

Packing Up for Southern Maryland Celtic Festival this Sat

MTT Canceled for Sunday!

Upcoming Longship Company Events for Reenactors