The Armour Archive

Steve S.

Medieval sheet metal was made from wrought iron blooms. I would imagine it was hammered to the desired thickness, possibly with water powered trip hammers.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

Very cool looking indeed - I love the scales. The only thing that struck me when I saw it was the very first scale, over the eyes. I was struck that it would have looked very cool to make the first scale a dragon head/face, with the 2 rivets as eyes! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif Steve

Steve S.

Involving the SCA in a private business transaction might goad the armourer to action, but it might not. The fact is the SCA can't legally intervene. Without knowing the "gory details" it's hard to give any good advice, but I can say that with most plate armourers it seems that 1 month overdue is no...

Steve S.

The new products are not quite ready to show yet. I have them, but I need to clean them up a bit and I don't have the time - we're leaving tonight for Kingdom A&S. Stay Tuned for the Secret New Products! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif Steve ------------------ Forth Armoury Highly authent...

Steve S.

Our shipments are <u>in</u>!!! We have shirts, coifs, aventails, loose rings, loose rivets, and more in stock now! Rings, rivets, aventails, and starter kits sell out fast, so get yours while you can! See our product pages here: http://www.forth-armoury.com/Product_Catalog/products.htm Steve -------...

Steve S.

Once you have your maille down to bare metal, you need to dry it immediately or it will rust on you immediately.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

"This person posted that he was looking for some alternatives to maille and everyone but me seems to be cramming maille down his throat!" I wouldn't say anyone was "cramming it down his throat". It's just as Egfroth said - you need to decide whether it is your goal to portray the documentably commo...

Steve S.

Harbor Freight cast anvils are usually referred to as "ASOs" - Anvil Shaped Objects.

They are not suitable for any of the tasks that you would need a real anvil for.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

2 shipments are in air transit. I have been given tracking numbers. I expect to take delivery next week. We'll have a new product to show off! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif Keep watching! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif Steve ------------------ Forth Armoury Highly authentic,...

Steve S.

As was said, you will have a hard time indeed playing a Western European during the time of the 3rd Crusade. Maille was not even in it's prime at that time, but it was getting there. A noble knight could be counted on having a hauberk with full long sleeves, and probably an integral coif. Possibly i...

Steve S.

See:

http://www.arador.com/articles/galv.html

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

They are getting harder to find, but there are special washers used to hold mirrors to walls when screws pass through the glass itself. Often nowadays these washers are starburst patterns made of plastic. But they used to be made of metal. You can sometimes find them in hardware stores - look in the...

Steve S.

I bought my solid rings from http://www.washersusa.com.

Update: Our shipments are in transit and we expect them this week! Watch our web page for new products!

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

http://www.handgonnes.com

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

"Is that a lefty ring? Or is the photo reversed?" It's a lefty-ring. Good eye! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif When I had my spring manufacturer wind and cut my rings, I neglected to specify direction, and got "lefties". Our current riveted maille products have the more common right-hand...

Steve S.

I was playing around with a gif animator tonight and made the following animation of a riveted maille ring:

[img]http://www.forth-armoury.com/Product_Catalog/maille_styles/1.gif[/img]

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

Here is a tip:

Remember that you do not want the maille stretched tight when you stitch it in place to the leather strip that attaches to the helm.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

I don't know about sagging under the nose, but I was a little disappointed how baggy the ventail seemed to be under the chin . I could not figure out a good way to make it conform to the head. All the illustrations I've seen show this nice - head shaped maille-encased head, but I could not see a way...

Steve S.

I have finished the custom hauberk that I was for which I was commissioned! You can see a full set of pictures here: http://www.forth-armoury.com/Commissions/full_hauberk/full_hauberk.htm I'm very pleased with the way this turned out. My only disappointment (other than having to send it away! http:/...

Steve S.

Here's a quesion: Has any SCA knight ever been stripped of the title?

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

This is a good deal, guys - especially with the 5/16" ID.

Steve

Steve S.

Mmmmmmmm....looks like he's going to need some <u>maille</u> to go with that harness! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif Steve ------------------ Forth Armoury Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

Or you can just buy washers - they are punched as well.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

We sell riveted maille starter kits - they come with 5000 ready-to-rivet rings and wedge rivets, and rivet setting tongs. That's enough rings to make a good coif. We are expecting another shipment of materials this week. Steve ------------------ Forth Armoury Highly authentic, affordable riveted mai...

Steve S.

Price Check:
http://www.kingslayer.com/ironmonger/tools/tools.htm

Templar Bob: Have you received my email concerning the shipping for those raw rings?

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

There are several companies producing riveted maille, all imported from India. Among these are Museum Replicas, Von Sussen Enterprises, and Historic Enterprises, to name a few. Most, if not all of these companies are producing riveted maille that looks very much like this: [img]http://www.forth-armo...

Steve S.

I bid $30

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

Wow - all this time there was a "pexto.com". I thought pexto was no longer in business! http://www.armourarchive.org/ubb/smile.gif I see they have all their metal forming stakes and stake holders - does anyone know a retail site that sells these things? It doesn't look like Roper Whitney sells direc...

Steve S.

Dryers are great maille - tumblers, but I would never use one that was used for clothing. All that metallic dust in a dryer with active heating elements could make for dangerous conditions. I use an old gas dryer that is not hooked up to gas. Works great. Any mechanical agitation makes maille shiny ...

Steve S.

In the end, you need to get paid. Sometimes it sucks that we are slaves chasing a dollar, but most of the time that's just the way it is. I look at it this way. Sometimes you get to be a historical armourer, and sometimes you get to be a modern one. Do good, quality work, and satisfy the customer. A...

Steve S.

As an aside, I suggest, when peening vervelles, to do as Master Cad's page shows and stick a tapering punch, like a nail set, into the vervelle while peening, otherwise it will collapse.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Steve S.

Well, Clay, our starter kits are just the thing! You get enough rings and rivets to make a coif, plus the rivet setting/clinching tongs to put them together! <img border="2" src="http://www.forth-armoury.com/Product_Catalog/starter_kit_small.jpg" alt="Get started making riveted maille today!" width=...

Steve S.

"Hungarian mail, does, however, and Steve, if you're lurking, this is why we haven't gone more seriously into an order from you, retain most of the characteristics of "eastern mail"" When we first looking at producing this maille some of the test swatches were actually done with round rivets, but s...

Steve S.

Well, I finally installed my liner in my basinet. http://www.forth-armoury.com/photo_gallery/helm_liner/helm_liner_finish2.jpg You can see the whole progress here: http://www.forth-armoury.com/photo_gallery/helm_liner/helm_liner.htm I have to say this was really an easy job. It's easier than glueing...

Steve S.

Many folks have been asking when we would get another shipment of goods in - well we have word that they should arrive 5/10 or so. Check our site often so you don't miss out! We'll be getting a batch of coifs, aventails, ready-to-rivet rings and rivets, and shirts! These sell fast, so when you see t...

A neat animation of a riveted ring...

Full riveted hauberk is complete!

Update: Next shipment due in 5/10...