The Armour Archive

schreiber

Actually, I would have offered these as the next steps: Play with the pattern. Change some things you don't like, or try to fit it more precisely to a couple different people with different body types. Try to roll the edges instead of flaring them, just to get some technique down. Try to get some no...

schreiber

The woman helps more than anything... ...I've known too many women during my life who would see me come in grimy, stinking, mosquito bitten, and cussing 'cause it didn't work out, and proceed to TELL me to quit because I stink and I'm putting her in a bad mood. I married the one who sees this happen...

schreiber

Just one man's opinion, but I'd have done it sans food so I don't end up wearing burger grease later. If this is something you're going to do en masse, you may want to look into building a small forge. I know what you're thinking already, but with an appropriate, small, gas powered forge, the only w...

schreiber

Shop around. You should be able to find something for under $200 that is being sold by someone who actually makes SCA armor. Have you worn helmets before? Done any fighting in the SCA? Do a lot of both before you drop cash. This bucket looks like it's painted red inside for a reason - when you get s...

schreiber

A very wise fellow comic book collector once told me that you don't get into comic books to make money. You get into comics because you like reading comics. If you get into it to make money, you're going to lose. Maybe this is a stretch, but I think the same logic applies here. Why are you armoring?...

schreiber

I took a pretty close look at his stuff last Pennsic. What are you buying?

Other than that, no offense but this is the 78th or 79th time von Sussen has come up - try a search of "sussen" and see what you come up with.

schreiber

Also locally smelted iron can have different "shades" to it due to the local impurities in the alloy. I think this is key - places like Toledo & Solingen gained notoriety for a reason. The local ore was of better quality and could be more easily turned into a quality product. The Japanese didn't ju...

schreiber

11 years ago, without doing a whole lot of research, I bought a 220v Harry-Homeowner Lincoln stick welder from Home Depot. I don't have any experience with wire feed, but I can tell you one thing I've learned: 220v makes a big difference. If you're just playing around with different stuff, and you c...

schreiber

I'd go with a circular saw and a fiber blade as well. But you may be some kind of oxy-torch genius. All my oxy cuts end up being jagged. Definitely save the rest - if nothing else, take it to the scrapyard. Generally they'll let you walk away with something if you bring something. Cylinders from oxy...

schreiber

So, how are you going to forge with WVO? How are you building your burner? I've heard of it being used for foundry work, but I'm a little confused as to how it would work for forging. Does it burn cleanly enough so that it doesn't sputter oil on whatever is getting hot? I kind of assumed that for fo...

schreiber

From what I've recently heard, Dagorhir counts all armor the same (one extra hit) and this is a bone of contention with some people, as leather recently got OK'ed.

However, I'm pretty sure there are no head-shots in Dagorhir except for missle weapons.

schreiber

A cross-pien is going to have a tiny radius and is going to leave unneccessary marks all over your work. Get a raising hammer that has more like a 1/2" radius. Remember that if you work hot, you're going to lose metal from scale. You can also hit the metal at a different angle to achieve different r...

schreiber

I can't edit a jpeg here, but this is what I'd do, assuming I'm starting from flat. First, a light dishing pass in the following order: 1) all the way across the brow, front to back. This would take me past the darts that were cut out of the skull. 2) front "piece", going from edges in 3) back "piec...

schreiber

It sounds like you are trying to finish a project someone else started. Even though the cost of steel is through the roof these days, I still wouldn't try to do something with it. It looks pretty advanced. Here's what I can tell about it: Most helms have 2 piece skulls welded together. The problem w...

schreiber

Real charcoal is getting pretty available, to the point of being in supermarkets. Look for "Lump Charcoal" next to the briquettes. Most of it is obviously going to be oak flooring scraps, but I'm pretty sure they only use the unfinished stuff.... I don't think many people would be willing to cook wi...

schreiber

Whoops, my bad, I was expecting to see them under the different material types, not as a separate page.

Although it's the opposite of what you said: they have mild, but don't have stainless.

Thanks for the heads up!

schreiber

Nope, they don't have solid links. At least not on their website.

schreiber

I helped a fellow AA member re-tailor a welded stainless mail shirt recently, and it's occuring to me that I could make mail as well... ...except I really want to find a source for solid SS mail links first. Mail is not my first love, and I think it would be nice to have most of the work done for me...

schreiber

Just one man's opinion here... Mail being mail, it's going to lose whatever finish you put on it as it rubs up against itself. I'd keep in mind how long the finish will last, and also how hard it's going to be to redo it if necessary. Regarding motor oil: it's pretty durable. I did some tests a whil...

schreiber

I have never seen a marshall look inside of a helm.

You could have pea gravel and thumbtacks for padding and get away with it. The question is, are you being safe?

Personally, I'd go with a D ring or something with a round cross-section, just in case it ends up getting driven into my skull.

schreiber

I'm not familiar with maritime pine, but there are "softwoods" out there that are a lot tougher than poplar... The distinction of hard/softwood is a matter of whether it's coniferous or dicotyledonous. Who cares - the bottom line is that maritime pine could be harder than hell. Is this the sort of t...

schreiber

Hey, thanks for the thumbs-up!

schreiber

I'm pretty sure it's not a speed issue. I'm pretty sure it's a "hey, this is my vacation and if I can stand around for an hour past start time in 95 degree heat waiting for everyone to get their butts in gear so we can fight with 20 fewer pounds on my body, then I'm going to do it" kind of thing. No...

schreiber

Just out of curiosity, have you thought about replacing the manual hydraulics with something motor driven?

schreiber

If you are going to be a purist,go the full route-or stuff a sock in it about "superiority". You're the first person to bring up "superiority". We're talking about "authenticity". I lost about two days in patterning work that I didn't get paid for, developing this set. OK, fair enough.... And it wa...

schreiber

They look exactly like the ones that are/were in the Known World Handbook (back in the pre-internet days, when SCA folk had to put their knowledge on paper...)

schreiber

Well, a lot of us are doing something other than trying to beat other people with sticks. I could do that wearing a motorcycle helmet, but I don't. Everyone draws a line somewhere. You've drawn one too, or else you'd be making plastic armor. That's cool, it takes all sorts... but you don't really ha...

schreiber

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying... it sounds like you're planning on making another 90 degree bend. The ironmonger doglegs I have are all just bent 90 degrees, and the ball is welded right to the horizontal. It doesn't make another 90 degree bend.

schreiber

It depends what you're doing with it and what it's anchored in. I have both, and I'm never buying straight stakes again. Of course, I have them in a proper stake plate, and I'm not doing something insane like trying to cold-raise 12g stainless or anything, so it largely doesn't matter, provided the ...

schreiber

Hi Thorkil.pl (anyone else keep thinking he's a PERL script?) -

You should check this pdf file:
http://www.sca.org/officers/marshal/com ... ndards.pdf

The SCA is the biggest combat group in the US. There are others but many of them use similar requirements.

schreiber

A buddy bought his burgonet last Pennsic, and it was a good deal. I remember looking at his hounskull bascinets, and not being impressed, but the klapvisor looks a lot better. The long and short is this: he's a real armorer, you're going to get SCA legal list equipment, it's going to be inexpensive,...

schreiber

Sweet, thanks for that link...
...it's more reasonable than mcmaster anyway.

Now I can fix the piece of crap I got on ebay...

schreiber

US Standard gauge is one of the less smart things we do over here. It is not even based on steel, but iron. It also is not based on other measurements of length like MM is. Yes, we don't use steel weapons in the SCA. We do go full contact, though. Every injury I've seen is lower leg stuff. Say a fig...

schreiber

I'm in the process of trying to make bottom dies for my #8, it is indeed 7/8" and 14 TPI. It's also turned down to 3/4" below the threading so you can screw it up farther than where the threads end. I was actually really surprised that I could mail order W1 drill rod in that diameter from mcmaster f...

schreiber

Hew wrote:Three feet on me reaches half-way between my knee and hip

Just a minor nitpick...

According to the proportions of the human body that I learned in art class, this would make you somewhere around seven and a half or eight feet tall, and therefore a special case.

Where could I get SS solid mail links?