The Armour Archive

Cap'n Atli

Bjorn: You want to be an 11th century Dane? Then get with Halvgrim or me and put some time in on a longship! Do you think you're going to walk to England, Ireland or France, or points beyond? You need some time at the rowing bench and you'll forget all about lamellar. And if you did go with the Vara...

Cap'n Atli

...and I have more than I can shake a stick at- pecan, locust, cedar, oak and whatnot, but they're all in Southern Maryland. About how far are you from Charlottesville, Va, Cap'n? Me and my woman are going down there to look at some homes in a few weeks. Maybe we could swing by and pick up a stump ...

Cap'n Atli

Emeraldweapon7d wrote:i just wish i could get my hands on a stump...

...and I have more than I can shake a stick at- pecan, locust, cedar, oak and whatnot, but they're all in Southern Maryland.

Oakley Forge
By Appointment to the late Paw Paw Wilson, supplier of stumps.

Cap'n Atli

Just try finding â€œBowie Knifeâ€

Cap'n Atli

Heinrich H wrote:Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /bsforum on this server.

Try: http://www.forgemagic.com/bsforum.php

Or go through the "front door" at:

http://www.forgemagic.com/index.htm

If the pagbe is past the date, click on "long length".

Cap'n Atli

Good thread on lead- what to do and what not to do:

http://www.forgemagic.com/bsforum

Starts Sun, 28 Jan at 11:59:17 with comments by John Odom and Jeff Reinhardt, with further comments below.

Cap'n Atli

I come from a family of printers, but it's still a little hard to read upside-down.

Cap'n Atli

here's an illustration from a creaky old copy of Ashdown's European Arms & Armour that I got from my parents back in High School.

It certainly seems to meet the description.

Cap'n Atli

The dictionary definition is: "A light spear of javelin." I found my missing source last night, but it was devoted to the presidio period of the 18th and 19th centuries, so no further information there. Iâ€™ll try to get to the Departmental library today or tomorrow to check some of Harold...

Cap'n Atli

Nothing panned out as of yet, and I've checked several of my sources, but there's still one book I haven't found at home. I may also check at the Departmental library in the next couple of days if I get over there. Petersen may have some mention of them in his book on Colonial arms and armor. I did ...

Cap'n Atli

I didn't get a chance to check my sources last night; I'll try again tonight. (I was doing a Viking gig for the geneological society.)

Cap'n Atli

The Beverly's are marked for different capacities for stainless and mild steel. The B-1 cuts 14 ga. mild and 18 ga stainless, the B-2 cuts 10 ga. mild and 14 ga. stainless and the B-3 cuts 3/16" mild and 10 ga. stainless. I would guess that you would want the shear blades a little more "op...

Cap'n Atli

I believeI've seen this term in reference to smaller javelins. I'll try to check some of my sources on the Spanish in the New World tonight.

Cap'n Atli

The cape would probably be a little more "Anglo-Saxonish" with a saucer or a disc brooch. A-S did use penanular, but they weren't nearly as common.

Looks vey nice.

Cap'n Atli

I use a set of feeler gauges to set the blade. According to the inbstructions (yes, I actually ended up with the instructions for the apparently new B-3 that I came across at my late used tool dealer [I miss Rusty] ) the blade is set at about 10% of the thickness of the metal. I run the feeler guage...

Cap'n Atli

Thomas Powers wrote:Halberds---you grew up to become an armourer; Atli grew up to become a viking ship captain---clear evidence that the dangers of lead are highly under rated!

Thomas

"I got better!"

Cap'n Atli

Not to be too schoolmarmish, but... WASH YOUR HANDS! I've worked with it too; but you have to take care with it (and with yourself). Lead poisoning may explain some difficulties I experienced in elementary school back inthe '50s. (Either that, or I got really stupid for a bit, then got better.) Bull...

Cap'n Atli

That's the (in)famous "diamond" or "pineapple" twist, a (probably) recent development that evolved from the "thorn" twist. Probably not medieval, but it certainly lends itself to reptilian motifs. A demonstration is shown at the Anvilfire iForge page at: m Look for # 11, 28 July, 1999 with the late ...

Cap'n Atli

I'm looking for a source on the cross-sections of the Peel Castle spit; whether it's a blade shape, like the one from Lund; or if it's big and square and somewhat lumpish. I also need to check if they X-rayed it for details. It may take a bit of time to contact the right Manx friends. Oh, the apple ...

Cap'n Atli

Lund Spit: We split and drew. Pig Roast Spit: I forged one end round and left the handle end square so that I could easily rotate it by the quarters, catching the square inthe back spit-holder. The front spit holder was a little wider for rotation. Lift back (crank) end, rotate, lower, feed the fire...

Cap'n Atli

More, Mord! Tell us more!

(Actually, I'm rather enjoying it.

)

Cap'n Atli

...and just to put the icing on the cake, here's the Lund Spit. I've helped one of the Ostvik Viking Camp members forge one at my forge at Oakley. Size is 111 cm (43.7") in length. I can send more detailed (slightly more, anyway) pictures of the spits directly to you if you wish, but this may get yo...

Cap'n Atli

And now, a close-up of the spit...

Cap'n Atli

Let's see if I can get the scans to fit: Here is the gravesite drawing (by David Freke, a really nice guy!): The womanâ€™s height was given as 5'4" (1.6 M) and scaling off of that, the spit is approximately .887 M or 34.92" long. Of course, this is a very inexact measurement, but given hand forging,...

Cap'n Atli

I've found a picture of the spit in another book, and I have a height for the skeleton!

...but it's time to hit the rack.

Tomorrow...

Cap'n Atli

I've found the positional grave drawing for the Pagan Lady at the Peel Castle dig, which shows the spit, but has no scale. I'll try to scan it in tomorrow night, and check with some of my Manx friends for further information.

Cap'n Atli

In case Mord doesn't get to it: Swords of the Viking Age; Ian G. Peirce (c) 2002; Boydell Press, Suffolk UK & Rochester, NY; ISBN 0 85115 914 1 There's one with a preserved grip; the last (and latest). However, if you're interested in the construction and contrasts between the European and Asian tra...

Cap'n Atli

I'll have to check my Swords of the Viking Age tonight, but I think all of Pierce's examples are archeological. My comment, above, was not to be snide, just to point out that some of the conditions of survival that we're used to from later periods are not particularly applicable to later periods. Al...

Cap'n Atli

You mean like a Viking era sword that was passed down from father to son for for 50 generations or preserved in a royal armory in pristine condition, with all of the grip material, scabbard and mounts original and intact? Is that what you mean? (At least that is how it reads to me.) Such an artifact...

Cap'n Atli

The Viking Age "Pagan Princess" at Peel Castle on the Isle of Man was buried with a cooking spit. I can't find any illustrations on the web, but I'll try to check my books tonight when I get home. From memory, it was pretty straight forward, and about a little over a yard long, with a loop at the ha...

Cap'n Atli

Lovely!

Cap'n Atli

Given the extraordinary moving costs, and that the other artifacts that should be kept in context and are even more fragile, the money for the moves could best be applied to uprating the present museum and it's facilities. I'm used to pressure brought about by the "rich". I've seen an expansion quas...

Cap'n Atli

Heights: Me: 6'1" Anvils- 220# Russian (...predates the cheapies, made in USSR comrade!) 32 1/2" 130# Colonial (pre 1780) 33 1/2" 72# Mankel farrier's (for close work) 37 1/2" Leg Vises- 6" (100#) 40" 5 1/2" (65#) 41" 4 1/2" (~35#) 46" In my new forge I will be sinking a stump for my primary anvil, ...

Cap'n Atli

Barter. I've had a full set of clothes, over a year, done by barter. See what other people need and set up an exchange. Knife sheathes, water bottles, vambraces, turnshoes, lots-o'-belts... can be exchanged for tunics, nalbinded socks, woodwork and treenware, spearheads, and such. Plus gifts (althou...

Cap'n Atli

http://www.mediaevalmisc.com/pav-bldg.htm

Nice folks; they also do tents for longships.