The Armour Archive

Baron Conal

Another test would be to heat the end of one up till a magnet is not attracted to it anymore---a red heat---and quench it in water till cool. Then wearing face shield, leather apron, gloves, etc bridge the quenched end on the step of the anvil and give it a sound tap with the hammer---if it shatter...

Baron Conal

Thanks for that link....

I'm gonna call it Medium Carbon Steel then.....

Medium Carbon Steel
almost no leaf, some forking great variety of streak length,
sparking nearer the wheel

Good for what I want or not?

Baron Conal

sha-ul wrote:Mr Powers was mentioning the other day that many cheaper files are case hardened, that could be the case with the one you have.

edit to add, lots of flowering sparks should be a good thing

Is case hardening good or bad?

Baron Conal

I get a nice big shower of yellow sparks. I think I'm getting the re-sparking kind of sparks also..... But I am getting a LOT of sparks with just a little bit of pressure against the grinding wheel. I'm not pushing them into the wheel very hard to get that shower of sparks I was talking about.. Is t...

Baron Conal

Matthew Fedele wrote:I've only been able to make strikers from file steel. Leaf spring was not enough.

These might be the same steel.... that is why I'm asking....

And Maeryk-

I'll see what my handy-dandy grinder makes in the
sparks department....

Baron Conal

Those crappy cheap combination rasps that never last very long... http://images.drillspot.com/pimages/313/31336_300.jpg The ones that are rounded on one side and flat on the other.... Is the steel in one probably good enough for a striker for a flint and steel fire starter? I've got a couple in the ...

Baron Conal

sneak...sneak...sneak....

Baron Conal

It's a fairly narrow boat.....around 24 inches wide.... You have to pay attention to it while you are in it or you are gonna be swimming. Anyone have some informed guesses about how much more stability you would get for how much added width? ( Yes, I know that is a some what subjective and imprecise...

Baron Conal

Interesting leeboard mount. http://www.enter.net/~skimmer/building/diagram-c.gif got the leeboard mount idea from here... m ya gonna use thumbcleats right? huh? I used a threaded eye bolt to give a place to tie stuff to and a little more leverage when tightening it by hand. The bolts thread into t-...

Baron Conal

More work has been done.... after some fiberglassing and some painting http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2603.jpg and a test run today!! Edward and Lilly ( his daughter ) http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2597.jpg http://i147.phot...

Baron Conal

I hate when someone makes me feel like a complete slacker....

Time to reassess my project list....

Baron Conal

what'r the screw eyes for? not sure if the mast support is going to be quite what you want it to be there. Most sailing dingys have what amounts to a board with a hole in the center to drop the mast through. That is where McTavish wanted the mast..... The eye bolts go into a t-nut on the bottom of ...

Baron Conal

More photos.... re-painting the inside of the boat soon... http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2565.jpg http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2563.jpg http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2562.jpg http://...

Baron Conal

Query (with no slight intended to the quality of your workmanship): would these support a 6'4" 230 lb jouster wearing maille and a Churburg breastplate? a mere 230lbs plus armor? That's all...? If I thought it wouldn't hold over 300lbs plus armor I'd have redesigned it. That should not be a pr...

Baron Conal

Thanks for the glowing review Finnacan. My wife has been wanting a set of these very chair for us. How do I get in contact with Baron Conal and how much are these chairs going for? You do not contact Baron Conal. He contacts you . But only if he feels you are worthy of his efforts. I've sent you a P...

Baron Conal

I'm gonna have to agree with those suggesting paint.

the multiple kinds of wood are not going to take stain the same way
and you will get different colors.

Bare wood or paint is much more appropriate anyway.

Baron Conal

Good work man! These are ridiculously easy to make and I can never figure out why folks pay $50+ for them when they could make one for pennies:) I have one somewhere that I made that had a nice fancy peacock on it:) Takes a bunch of pennies it may take a bunch of pennies the first time Not so much ...

Baron Conal

Finnvarthr Finnbogason wrote:Why brewers pitch after beeswax? Isn't that redundant?

Brewers pitch has a higher melting point and
can handle liquids that can soften or dissolve the
wax.

High octane spirits are a little strong for the pitch
but it can handle almost anything else.

Baron Conal

Consider lining the inside with brewer's pitch after waxing the bottle

I get it from Jas. Townsend

http://jas-townsend.com/index.php

Baron Conal

I spent the day helping McTavish repair his piroque It had broken apart in the middle while he was in it http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2560.jpg http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Boatbuilding/DSCF2559.jpg http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295...

Baron Conal

These are ridiculously easy to make. and yet still more than a little addictive. and I'll second the tooling holds up great comment. http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/DSCF2117.jpg http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/DSCF2124.jpg http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...

Baron Conal

I actually have the eagle view pattern and it turned out quite nicely. I admit there patterns aren't the best but with a few minor ajustments they can be rather good. I would make a mock up out of cheap material first though. What minor adjustments? This would be the first hunting frock my wife wil...

Baron Conal

I've been told that the Eagle View (?) pattern is not the best.

Anyone know of another pattern source?
Free would be nice, but I'm willing to pay for a
good pattern.

Baron Conal

Got your PM.... I'll be posting a new thread here once I know when I will be starting them.... This was just a heads up. I this time I'm not going to promise delivery dates but it is not likely that I will have them done before Simple day. Still possible.... but I do not want to make promises at thi...

Baron Conal

How many De Re type manuscripts/books are there?

I'm gonna look, but if someone else already knows it would
save me some time

thanks in advance!

Baron Conal

chaosclyve wrote:So for 40.00 do you just get the base or does it come with the head/shoulder/leg blocks too?? If not how much for the base plus armor stand pieces (minus center pole)? Thanks.

$40.00 is just for the base.

Head, shoulder and hip blocks $40.00 more
per set.

Baron Conal

I might be starting another batch of banner stands soon
anyone else interested in one ( or two

) while I am
making them?

Baron Conal

looks great....

the little inner 'pouchlets' or extra decorative elements
would be the next level up on the 'fancy' scale....

Baron Conal

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Hrolfs%20Viking%20tent/DSCF2550.jpg http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r295/ConalOhAirt/Hrolfs%20Viking%20tent/ I helped a friend rebuild his frame for his Panther Viking style tent! Still have a couple issues to tweak.... the ridge beam sags and ...

Baron Conal

Well.... apparently air mattresses are 'period'

at least in 1537

Baron Conal

<why> I believe that you fix the straps so that the buckles end up on top of the plate. This keeps the buckles from getting smashed into flesh. When I made them for someone I deleted the solitary plate. I also did some modification of the pattern to ensure that the fit was good . When I made a set ...

Baron Conal

Roy Underhill mentions a 14th Century Encyclopedia....

I'll have to find the correct book and see exactly what
he says about it, but I do recall its not much..... Any
guesses about what he is talking about?

( more later.... )

Baron Conal

I'm gonna be helping a friend rebuild the frame for a
Panther Viking style A frame tent.

I've got their directions....

Anyone do it any differently? Why?

and

What would be the correct way to do it?

I'm not sure what approach to take....

thanks in advance

Baron Conal

Ben Franklin was very historical, and thought beer more than correct: "Beer is a sign God loves us, and wants us to be happy." And beer is not the only sign. There is also guacamole. Which, unlike old Ben, is late-period anyway. At least whenever limes and other citrus made it to the New ...

Baron Conal

Greetings All- I guess I have finally made it. In addition to a recent flood of copious amounts of spam hitting my administrator email linked to my site, I now see that fake "reset your pass word" and "confirm your password" emails have been sent out from "support@zweihamme...

Steel in those crappy combo rasps? ( UPDATED )

Another OOP project - Boat repair/rebuild ( 2nd UPDATE )

18th century fringed hunting frock pattern?

De Re Militari... De Re Metallica..... De Re?

What I did yesterday

German ingenuity

Frame for a Panther Viking tent?

Re: Fake password requests from Zweihammer.com