The Armour Archive

Cap'n Atli

Further Notes on Blacksmiths: Yep some can be costly; however, some are pushovers for a good barter deal ("six pair of hinges for one really good tool chest"). As a carpenter or cabinet maker I'm a pretty good blacksmith. Others are in the same boat. You just have to find them, especially for a cust...

Cap'n Atli

(Cross-posted and edited from another board, but the opinion remains the same...) I've been involved in museum storage facilities, their construction, and the moving of the collections, for a number of years now. You try to avoid moves, and the hazards thereof, unless the current site is totally ina...

Cap'n Atli

Some of the sharpening stones found in the Jorvik (York, England) dig were slate. I've tried it, and it works pretty well. There are also Viking period whetstones of fine grain schist. I grew up with the stuff (a common metamorphic rock of the Piedmont Plateau in Maryland) but never tried it as a wh...

Cap'n Atli

Both my anvils and my leg vises are set at different heights, the larger ones are lower for heavier work, the lighter ones are higher for finer work. When it comes to vises, a good filing height is at elbow level, whereas a good height for hot work is considerably lower. Then again, as an armorer, I...

Cap'n Atli

This could be a good thing! Unlimited force (limited only by the capacities of the human body) requires unlimited armor (limited, once again, by the capacities of the human body). Let the anvils ring and the forges flame; surely this will lead to more work for the armorers, to the benefit of all her...

Cap'n Atli

We've got a bottom you could scrape, rigging that needs tending, and new mast block to carve, and lots of other work for you to do.

Cap'n Atli

Or, for something completely different and custom made, see you local blacksmith. (Not a shameless plug, since I'm not taking on anything new until after my wif gets her house built, and for a time thereafter. A fireplace crane, trammel, and other accoutrements are needed for new house, plus set-up ...

Cap'n Atli

No criticism of anybody, but it does give me the willies to burn "food" for fuel. I guess that's what comes from being raised by depression era parents (and aunts and uncles and godparents and neighbors... ). I do use corn cobs for kindling, however, to get my coal forge going. A couple or four dry ...

Cap'n Atli

Haha, ok, thanks for your observations, fellows. Where the hell I'm gonna find an ash is another issue, but I'll figure it out. Tool handles, broom handles, janitorial supply places, baseball bats... It's around. If it's not hickory (assuming a person is in the U.S.) it's probably ash. I just salva...

Cap'n Atli

At least in a migration-age Anglo-Saxon context, ash is nice if you could get it, but hazel, willow, and almost any available, straight wood was used as necessary. Coppicing was widely practiced and produces nice, straight shafts. It's interesting that as prevalent as the kennings are, ash for spear...

Cap'n Atli

Also, is this for reenactment or SCA-style combat? There would be a critical difference in construction.

Cap'n Atli

Very, um..., "manly."

Cap'n Atli

By the site, either this guy is top-of-the-line, first rate legit... ....or the stuff is too good to be true. Itâ€™s really hard to tell without first-hand examination. (Sometimes it's even hard to tell with first hand information.) Unless this site is the German equivalent of Sothebyâ€™s, I would b...

Cap'n Atli

>>>SNIP<<< You may be wearing a horse's tack around your waist. And our descendants may be drinking out of chamber pots and exclaiming what mighty drinkers we were. ("Oh, and look, the English ones have a picture of Napoleon at the bottom, so when the quaffed their ale, they honored their noble ene...

Cap'n Atli

Karen; you p.m. box is full. Send me a p.m. with your e-mail adress and I'll forward blacksmith and apron illustratin.

Cap'n Atli

No boats or ships?

I'll try to send another blacksmith in apron picture, tonight.

Cap'n Atli

And there lies the problem James. Asking others for it. Why don't they do it themselves? Put a little sweat equity into something like this and you would be amazed at how fast it can be built. You really don't need to build Buckingham Palace. A simply walled town and eventually a keep would do fine...

Cap'n Atli

A few comments I'm forwarding from Drey, one of our Horse Guild officers: I wrote: > A thread on the Armour Archive bulletin board. Doesn't ring any bells with > me, but maybe you've run across it as a training method. > > m Drey responded: "Bruce, Interesting thread: They are at least in the ballpa...

Cap'n Atli

That's right up there with: (pretentious voice-over) "Blacksmithing; it's a dying trade..."

Don't worry, when he's gone they'll discover or declare another.

Cap'n Atli

My prayers and thoughts go out to his soul and his family. Our world, indeed, is diminished.

Cap'n Atli

We've tended to hang mead horns, blowing horns, spouted water pots (the four-handled Jorvik style works well) and such from the beam end; purely practical but it does give the tent that "lived-in" look. Also a handy point for lashing spears.

Cap'n Atli

Actually the coating of rust happens over night. It is in operation even today. The floor is essentially dirt, with a mish-mash of bricks on top. Also it is right next to a creek that keeps everything full of moisture. Then, the building is over 125 years old so it does have some leaks and lets moi...

Cap'n Atli

It looks, by the consistant coat of light surface rust, like the place has been out of operation for a year or so.

Lots of cool stuff, but out of my traval range. Aaron will have to give us a report.

Cap'n Atli

Quick but critical questions, if you plan a second knife: How old is your daughter? Is this for looks, eating, utility or point defense? What is the period portrayed? All of these would have a bearing on the size, style and construction of the piece. "Give your children sharp things to play with, an...

Cap'n Atli

Vic: "...faster...", at least in my experience, means your gas forge is ready to use in about 10 minutes instead of the 15 to 30 minutes it takes to get a coal forge up to optimal. I have a little gas forge (Whisper Baby) for small and quick work, but I use my coal forge for larger and more serious ...

Cap'n Atli

So, just what did he have to say about the Longship Company? Probably nothing good. I remember reading his Trends of Change way-back-when. He had some good points, but you could hear the axes grinding. Some of it came off as predicted, but on the whole, the trends of change were external to Scadia. ...

Cap'n Atli

I thought this was a thread about how mail will suck the heat out of your body (at least without a gambeson or other appropriate heavy clothing) and leave you hypothermic in about a half hour.

Something we learned to keep in mind while reenacting the Battle of Ashdown one snowy January.

Cap'n Atli

And here's a bowl lamp that I forged. You fill the bowl with beeswax and use one or more moss wicks for a little light for a long time or more light for a shorter time:

Cap'n Atli

Here's a couple of more that I forged:

Cap'n Atli

Here's a few items I mentioned earlier:

Pricket candlesticks (13th - 15th c.):

Cap'n Atli

As promised; the Gokstad ship's tiller with traces of yellow (really yellow!) paint:

Cap'n Atli

Actually, small forks have been found in an Anglo-Saxon context. What they were doing with them (hair picks?) we're not too sure, but they do resemble eating forks. Larger cooking forks are known in the Viking Age; but would be a little awkward at table. Always beware of books that claim "the earlie...

Cap'n Atli

Knives, forks, spoons; there's usually good information on forming them in most modern blacksmithing beginners texts. I would add small bowls and candle sticks (either pricket or bowl-type). For the ambitious there's always cook pots, tripods, forks, ladles, spits and all the stuff you need to cook ...

Cap'n Atli

There's a lot of mention of the paint in Brogger and Shetelig (Brogger, Anton Wilhelm and Haakon Shetelig, 1951, The Viking Ships, Their Ancestry and Evolution, Dreyers Forlag, Oslo, Norway) but no color illustrations of it. I think there's a color picture of the tiller with some yellow on it in "Th...

Cap'n Atli

...but it will destroy the priceless patina, and ruin the value on the Antiques Roadshow!