The Armour Archive

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Really? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/Destichado/12thCenturyDoubleBladedBattleAxe.png m Circa 12th century AD. An early type broad double-bitted battle axe, the round central socket with languet extensions to the shaft; one blade of wide form, the other narrow. Measurements: Iron, 1.3 kg, 3...

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A few years ago, one of our European members posted a black and white, (silent?) documentary on a Scandinavian Nail-smith still cranking out nails by hand out in the back country. And, no doubt by virtue of long practice, his work was AMAZING. The video was very similar to the "Steam Hammer&quo...

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Want to include Cnut and Edmond Ironsides?

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Really? How is a falling buffe functionally different than a more standard wrapper?

Also, the visor does extend well up onto the brow of the helmet. Look closely.

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That's not un-standard practice on helmets of this era. Rather, I'm more familiar with a visor, and then a visor reenforce on top of that, but the layering is reasonably standard.
And the outer layer is a falling buffe. ...which evolved from the bevor, but still. words.

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http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/3408/goruinuichi.c/0_2e7b4_1142afa6_XL http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/3414/goruinuichi.c/0_2e7b5_efb1dd9d_XL http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/3414/goruinuichi.c/0_2e7b6_f432eed1_XL Huh. wellIllbedamned /medieval trollface This is in the Hermitage, in St. Petersburg, btw...

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Good GOD.

To be honest, I've seen better helmtops and lobster tails. But that whole front arrangement blows me away. Fantastic work.

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We have plenty of other examples.

http://www.fineart-china.com/upload1/fi ... 633465.jpg

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WER THE RCHIVE, N WE R SMRT.

God, people. Sometimes... Fine. Hell with it, keep your heads up your butts, I don't care.

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No, they're still heavy as hell.

Balanced, to give him credit, and well fitted, but heavy as hell. Just look at those blades.

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Oh god, Angelsword? This guy is the Blankenshield of the sword world. He even had his RAT PACK ME! moment. The uncomfortable thing to remember about both of them is, even though everyone laughs at them -with good reason- and even though their work is grossly overpriced, and grossly overhyped... they...

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Are you sure about that? Because by the Byzantine calendar, I thought it was supposed to be 7,520. The numbers -and the nations- seem to be too close together for them to have been separately derived systems. The Avar Empire of Bulgaria was still pagan when they were on the Eastern Roman Empire's do...

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I'm going to bump this again with the addition that: This year is the 1432nd since the the first Hirja, Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina. I still haven't found any dating system used in Europe or western Asia prior to the adoption of Anno Domini that involves reference dates. I have, however,...

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This year is the 2,011th since the Birth of Christ. It is the 2,550th since the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great, conflated with the birth of the Prophet Zoroaster. It is the 2,764th since the Foundation of the City of Rome. It is the 5,771st since the Creation of the World by the reckoning of...

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See, you all say this, but my experiences over the past ten years on half a dozen anvils, half of them cast iron, are so uniformly dissimilar that I'm forced to think that time and predisposition color your recollection.

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I've done a heck of a lot of good work on bad anvils. Some on good ones. Even some on anvils I've made myself.
I'm yet to be convinced that cast iron anvils are even a third as bad as their reputation.

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You don't want to melt the wire! That's a surefire way to make a HELL of a mess. Look, here's what you do: If you don't have one, run down to a box store and buy a little MAPP torch. (actually it's not MAPP; that doesn't exist anymore as such, but it's the same thing) m They're pretty darn cheap, an...

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The stories are, at least.

Again, thanks for the find. I'm much obliged.

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Len, that first link was tremendously helpful. Between that and the contemporary Frankish myths surrounding Charlemagne, I think I'm in decent shape. Not great , I really would like to have more on The Hartungs/King Ortnit & Hardheri/Wolfdeitric (are they Russian, are they French? is the twin in...

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A recent project has me neck-deep in these Germanic folk tales, and it's pretty scary when WIKIPEDIA is my best and most detailed source. Wikipedia, in this case, is pretty much a reprint of a century-old Encyclopedia Brittanica -which does not make me happier! Is anyone out there who is a germanic ...

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Looks real nice, but there's not enough weight there for me.

I'm guessing they run between 30 and 40 lbs?

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Tin and Nickel.

Both will work admirably as white, food-safe metals. Best of luck finding them.

Do you realize it's actually easier to get sheet SILVER than it is to get "exotic" metals??? It's absurd, really.

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what is it, a seax?

Did you clay harden or edge quench? If you edge quenched, I know what you're seeing, and I'm pretty sure it's not technically hamon. I think. I have some old cutlery from the turn of the century that was made that way.

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Maybe because the methods of constructing a medieval knife will not form hamon in the first place.

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Thomas, you haul yourself all the way out to Quad State?

Maybe we Archivers ought to have a thread for that event, too.

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I wish there was a good, reliable way to adhere the copper to the steel core ala brazing or hard soldering but if there's a good way to braze something like this I certainly never learned it. I'm not entirely sure I understand what you're trying to do, but tinning the steel first should make solder...

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There seems to be a degree of confusion here among some posters. HARDFACING and CASE HARDENING are two very different things. Hard-Facing is using a welder, usually MIG, to deposit high-carbon weld-metal onto a surface that's either a) softer than the weld, or b) abraded away and needs to be built b...

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This was most of Christmas, this year. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/Destichado/santasworkshop1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/Destichado/santaspresents.jpg The copper wraps went surprisingly well, and I think I'll use it again on future projects. I wish there was a good, reliab...

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Whatever you do, *don't* let the guys talk you into the pickle-barrel hole-saw cutout-disk "lamellar."

Often the difference between something you can be proud of and something you need to hide is a little bit of planning at the outset.

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This fellow on the right. Slightly late for my period by twenty years or so, but similar examples can be found in late 15th C. art. If I'm fighting with a sword, then I'm fighting lightly armored opponents, and I have never come across a more vicious cutting sword. And if I'm fighting opponents in a...

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/cool-art/4 ... otostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cool-art/4496239227/

http://www.thehistorybluff.com/wp-conte ... 00x290.jpg

I have a few others, but I imagine everyone has the standard St. Maurice pictures.

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I've wanted one of these for AGES. Never had any luck finding one, though.

But in front of me I've got an offer for big Famco arbor press, cheap. Totally different operating principals, but you can do similar things with them... I'm wondering if I ought to snatch it up.

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Horse hair plumes were not uncommon in a multitude of periods and places. By this, I mean long hairs bound together to make a streamer, placed in one or more tubular holders on the helmet.

An entire horse's tail stuck on the helmet? That never happened. Ever. Stop that.

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Nooo! What is an armorer doing with a blacksmith's tool? I must come over there immediately and make sure it gets into the proper hands!

Lucky dog. They're awesome tools.

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I sometimes wonder if those belts were temporarily/semi-permanently sewn to their undergarment. It would be somewhat like the hosen that needed to be stitched up every use.

A 12th Century double-bladed battle axe? Really?

Scandinavian Nail Maker video

Re: shared rule Compleat Anachronist?

Re: Gjermundbu occulars on a 16th century close helm

Re: Gjermundbu occulars on a 16th century close helm

Gjermundbu occulars on a 16th century close helm

Re: New Ottoman Helm

Re: Late period elbow

Re: Weld wizard?

alternate reference dates

Dietrich Von Bern, Wolfdietrich & the Hartungs