The Armour Archive

Patrick

Check the pattern archive for Clang's gauntlet patterns. As I recall, there were pics of finished gauntlets there. Also, check any commercial armorer's website. 90% of them offer some form of mitten or clamshell gauntlet. Go to your local SCA fighter practice and ask if anyone there has gauntlets. P...

Patrick

Also, look at www.ashcraftbaker.com

They have a basic set of gauntlets for the same price as the plastic. Only metal.

-Patrick

Patrick

Well, the brigandine is essentially a CoP with small plates. And most of those seem to be on cloth, not leather. In Bengt Thordeman's book _Armour from the Battle of Wisby_, the reconstructed Type I is on a cloth backing. I am not sure if there was evidence from the site at the time to dictate that....

Patrick

http://www.charlesfleming-sca.com/camping/camping.htm Also, look at http://www.dnaco.net/~arundel/oakley.html Lots of fun stuff that would be great to see at SCA events and such. The first one uses plywood a lot. That's fine. Just paint it. The second has some more complicated furniture, but is mos...

Patrick

I have outfitted several fighters and gotten lots of different comments. For one thing, I don't weld. No local SCA folks do. So, all helms are of riveted construction. For another thing, I don't do plastic and I am really frugal with leather. Most of the stuff that was made in my shop was steel. And...

Patrick

My wife and I have made one antler comb out of moose antler (it is what we had at the time). We were aiming to copy a Viking comb in the book _Viking Artefacts_ (yes, that's how it was spelled). It came out pretty well, I thought. We ended up giving it to one of the local ladies who was about to lea...

Patrick

I once ordered 3 SCA schlager rapiers from a company that had the cheapest prices. I waited for about 4 months and then called them. I had the impression from when I ordered that it was an in-stock item. When I called, I was told that the armorer would be finishing mine in a batch he would have done...

Patrick

Well, instead of telling your friend all of the technical reasons, how about concentrating on historical? There is no way to deny that folks who used these weapons as state-of-the-art instruments of warfare would have insisted on the best swords for their money. Lives depended on it. (Yes, some medi...

Patrick

A coat of plates is another good starter project. I'd personally use a cavas coat instead of leather (I'm cheap). It is a big piece that gives a feeling of accomplishment and helps build armoring skills, but isn't going to be screwed up if you just follow the directions. I prefer types other than th...

Patrick

Some folks make basic broadhead arrows out of the stuff. Seems to work pretty well. I would guess that you could make a decent armor out of it, unless you need the mass for protection. I'm not really into Japanese stuff, but I bet it'd work fine. Sadly, everybody in my area seems to use a plastic ba...

Patrick

Hey, Master Cad! I was just wondering how well your Wisby gauntlets (pattern in the AA pattern library) work for SCA combat. In West, we have to have bridge-over contact in the finger plates of finger gauntlets, but I guess I could figure that out. What I was really wondering is how well these guys ...

Patrick

At one time, there was an article online about making a set of mail mittens that will actually protect your hands in the SCA. Essentially, the mail was to hide the hockey gloves. I have heard of hockey gloves painted to look like human hands. I have also heard of steel gauntlets painted brown to mim...

Patrick

For the "shtuff" part of making the SCA look better, one of my favorite project sites is here: http://www.dnaco.net/~arundel/oakley.html I wish more folks in the SCA would make things like this. Still, I'd be happy if more folks would just cover up the things that don't fit in. If they at least put ...

Patrick

At a fighter practice, I got legged and landed wrong. Back then I was wearing floating knees. I tore my meniscus and eventually had to get surgery. The result was that I was out of action for nearly a year. Part of that was making a much safer leg harness, modeled on the one Sir Hilary of Serendip m...

Patrick

You know, I would personally prefer to see someone like Owen with mail and a generally appropriate appearance than a lot of SCA fighters we have all seen. The point I was getting at when I started this thread is that sometimes it is a lot better to get someone halfway to the goal of real authenticit...

Patrick

For a little more, try this link: http://www.imac.ca/technofocus/imac%20internal%20lingo.htm and scroll doen to QT 360 I don't see why it wouldn't work, if it really is at Rc 50. But grind it with bare hands and dip in water often. Sure 5160 would be better. But then you have to find heat-treater to...

Patrick

Even accepting the 2-sword precedent in oral tradition, that's a very small minority of the fighting men in Europe who ever fought that way. The SCA should be looking at replicating the norm, not the exceptions. I like the idea of the king enforcing certain standards of appearance and behavior. I li...

Patrick

If you want to put some rules in place, just have your local officers agree to enforce the usual SCA requirement that everyone wear some reasonable attempt at pre-1600 gear. Extend that to the marshals and tell them that although the visible plastic is acceptable in practices, it is not acceptable o...

Patrick

This is a spin off from Current Middle Ages or SCA Guidelines. I think that one got too far into grumping about the SCA "swords." I'd like to see this conversation lean more toward the whole concept of improving the SCA as a historical organization (but let's avoid the "Living History" argument, for...

Patrick

For those of us who are not really up on the way it all goes together, how many rings will it take to make a square foot of mail? I just want an idea of how many one would have to buy to make any given project.

-Patrick

Patrick

Back when I was a fighter, I was being trained by a man who was very serious about making every fight a "good" fight. I once saw him refuse to accept the outcome of a fight HE won, saying he felt that the blow was not really good. That was in a Cornet tourney. Anyway, he had a perspective on this th...

Patrick

I make 25K a year. I live in Alaska. Yeah, DC is higher, but we have some expenses up here that most folks are not familiar with, many are weather-related. I have a wife, two children, and I'm paying back student loans for both the adults. I don't think of myself as poor because I can make all ends ...

Patrick

I started out with a round shield and seldom had trouble with wraps. Nobody bothers wrapping the leg when a snap will do it without having to close. So I got decent with puch blocks. If you are catching the sword before it goes more than a few inches, the same block works for any shot. Incidentally,...

Patrick

Let's see, you still need a way to cut the metal and a way to put holes in it. If you have a hand drill, you can do the holes. I like a jigsaw for a cheap way to cut. Us the metal-cutting blades. I see no reason a 14-year-old can't make armor. The youngest Mastersmith in the American Bladesmith Soci...

Patrick

Well, I have never used bottled hide glue, but I have put a backing on a bow with the granulated hide glue. And that stuff has to take a certain amount of flex fairly often. It does it, too. On its own, it may be too brittle, but I suspect that the flexibility of the materials to which it is bonded ...

Patrick

Actually, your helm is visible in one shot (under your arm). Your kit looks like what I wish other SCA kits would aim for. There are probably places where anyone could pick nits, but you look the part. Thank you for doing that. Honestly. It is kind of fun to look at good pictures like this because y...

Patrick

When starting out in steel, use the patterns other people have come up with. You don't have to slavishly copy them, but use them as a starting point. This I have found to be especially helpful with a really good articulated knee pattern I was given. Now, I don't even modify it. I can make a knee wit...

Patrick

Thread on this topic on the Custom Knife Directory under Neo-Tribal. Here's the link: http://pub42.ezboard.com/fcustomknifedirectoryforumfrm23.showMessage?topicID=1067.topic The guy who makes them comes on to essentially say that there is something very special about the steel but he isn't saying wh...

Patrick

Well, if the stones are fairly durable and well-mounted, I don't see how they'd do any more damage to my rattan than a spangenhelm. Seriously, if you want your sword to last longer, hit your opponent in the body. Avoid targetting the head at all. Lots of folks will appreciate fighting you! Rattan do...

Patrick

For the pitch (if you are going to make your own) check www.jastown.com

These guys also have flints & steels, cone sugar, pewter ware, and horn spoons. They are mainly a supplier for re-enactors outside the SCA period, but some of the stuff really fits nicely.

-Patrick

Patrick

Erik- Don't forget the later munition armors! An early 16th century armor in Edge & Paddock's book shows the floating elbow setup, too. I made my armor based on that particular photo. I left out the tassets because when I have worn tassets in SCA combat, I can't feel a hip shot. At all. So, I prefer...

Patrick

Okay, if it is for a Scout camp sort of thing, go for it. I misunderstood. To clear up some other points: I was not meaning to imply that he was in the SCA, its just that several people I have met who are in the SCA seem to think that their tablecloth "great kilts" belong at a highland games. The Sc...

Patrick

AAAAUGH! Brigadoonery! Help! If you are talking about going to an actual highland games (bagpipe competitions, caber tossing, etc.), please don't do this. Resist the urge. Dress however you want at an SCA event, but please have some respect for the national dress of small but proud country. The kilt...

Patrick

For some more fun ones, try www.ancestral.co.uk and drool over those bagpipes! If you really want a hurdy-gurdy, try building one! Here's one method: http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/hurdy.htm I wish there were more folks playing music at SCA events. (I think the most disgusting snub that's happe...

Patrick

Hey, Krag, I also love that walnut handled one. How do you fit the tang to the wood block? Is it just the photo perspective or are your fits really that close? I tend to have some ugly gaps when I fit a tang into a wood handle. A metal guard will hide the epoxy fill, but a close fit would be better....

Improving the look of the SCA