The Armour Archive

schreiber

Dunno, just decent hammers I picked up at SCA events.... the middle one must have spent time in a bucket of water or something, and the mark on it is pretty indistinguishable.

schreiber

Note the big hammer in the photo. Its shape was pretty identical to the topmost one in your photo when I started using it. Ideally you're not hitting it with the side, but if I mess up and smack it wrong with this, I'm not going to have to hit it as many times to put it back to where I want it. I ca...

schreiber

http://tinyurl.com/7q6ws5k Well take a look at what's sold commercially. I'm pretty sure the one I use for a lot of steep curves is around 400gm (about 16oz). If you're working hot you don't need much, but if you're up in 14-12g territory then it helps to have some heft - for 12g the 16oz hammer is ...

schreiber

Yeap, that sort of stake storage will make my life easier. I didn't mention the other thing - about working two stakes at once. I don't have the luxury of enough space for two stake stations - my shop is a 10x20 carport that I put a door on. I thought it was going to suck but it has made me pay mor...

schreiber

My opinion is that you're overthinking. I get by just fine on a stake plate stand that's little more than a sawhorse. You're probably not going to be smithing on it, are you - like using swage stakes to make new hammers from scratch? If you're not wailing on it with a sledge, it doesn't need to be o...

schreiber

As such, it is intended for people with no background in historical armor research to quickly familiarize themselves with what they see on a practice field when they show up. I made a deliberate decision to show bar grills, because thats what a newbie will see. More advanced information will come l...

schreiber

A plastic barrel "suitable" for use as armor? I am aware of no such thing.....

schreiber

Period liners also work well. I wouldn't have put them in as an "oh yeah, there's this other option too". They work better, if done properly. You stay cooler. You don't have plastic plastered to your forehead. I swear I can hear better in a period liner, yet shots don't ring as badly. And if done p...

schreiber

New gauntlets? I think you did set some of the content!

schreiber

Andrea Ferrara wrote:is there a way to russet it in a more half stuck in the ground and not fully rusted over look?

You could always stick half of it in the ground....

...or, if he has time, he could just wait. It's gonna happen eventually.

schreiber

InsaneIrish wrote:Pee.

Seriously.

Beaten to it.
I remember reading something about how this is how the Japanese did their browning.

I also think that vinegar will do a similar job. Also muriatic acid.

schreiber

Definitely in again!
I'll bring the microscope again, and I'll try to get some better organized and labeled pics of things.

schreiber

When I hear "arc welder" I think "stick welder". Stick welders do one thing very well: stick things together with a minimum of equipment and/or fuss. I love my stick welder and use it pretty frequently - for things that don't need to look good. I put together my very first helm in 1995 using that st...

schreiber

I have a similar kit to the large torch, which came from HF, which I bought off craigslist for $60. I got it primarily because there was a rosebud in it - doesn't look like there's one in that kit. I have not used the regulators because on mine, the pressure fitting is too long and it won't attach t...

schreiber

Just one more bump before I let it die....

schreiber

Lol, that would be helpful, I'm looking for an anvil to do blacksmithing. Mabe 150lbs or more. And I'm located in gloucester va. It's about 2 hrs away in Louisa, but there's a blacksmithing event going on 26 Feb where I've heard there will be people tailgating sales... there will probably be anvils...

schreiber

One more bump... Bueller?

schreiber

I'm interested in pics of the stakes, the anvil, and the hammers.

schreiber

Bump in case anyone missed it - free stumps, people!
In six months you're going to wish you had one!

ETA: I'm not taking them anywhere... and I assume they're staying in the area.... they only weigh like 150 lbs each for the small ones.

schreiber

Bump - I'll entertain offers, too.

schreiber

Whoops, yeah, you'd want to know wouldn't you.

28" circumference, ID side-side is 8 3/8", front-back ID is 9 1/2".
My head is about 23.75/24", and it fits on me with 1/2-5/8" padding.

schreiber

Yeah, I don't ship.

schreiber

Oh, yeah, PM if interested.

schreiber

Adding a pic of the chinstrap hardware.

schreiber

New, built by me. No particular pattern. Skull is in 8 pieces. 14g sheet and 1/4" bars. Also, it has built-in chinstrap hardware that you can attach webbing or leather to. It has been oil blackened but I didn't go crazy with the oil. It'll resist rust but will probably need an annual waxing. I'm ask...

schreiber

I have quite a few hickory stumps. Some club oak as well but the oak was rotting on the inside so there isn't as much to choose from. Some of these are huge, over 2' diameter, so axe-chuckers take note. These were cut down in October. They're not splitting bad yet but if you want to set an anvil or ...

schreiber

I've been playing around with the idea, and what I discovered is that most people doing it professionally or as a serious hobby have powered engravers and specialty chucks for holding the work. Luckily I have a 20 year friendship with a guy who is a professional jeweler and a jewelry laurel... What ...

schreiber

No, no! Stakes MUST be vertical, even if you have to perch precariously upon a stool to use them. Folks MUST suffer for art! Well, I'll take this and run with it for a bit of constructive criticism... nothing in the shop pisses me off more than having to do this. My stakes are all different heights...

schreiber

Temples and earlobes. I would do countersunk flush rivets. Drill a hole the exact diameter of rivet shank. Countersink the hole on the outside with a large diameter drill bit (1/4" or bigger). Don't drill out too much. Set the rivet by smashing it with a flat hammer. Grind/sand flush. Roofing n...

schreiber

Um.... McMaster has 410. m I occasionally play with .04 these days, when I'm not working mild. 410 is much more rust resistant than 4130. I have gotten 410 to rust with heat, but it doesn't get worse when the heat is removed. When it is heat treated it takes a bluish-gray color which I find really p...

schreiber

Never got around to making arms for my gambeson (well, I made the first one, but it sucked, so I just scrapped the idea of arms on that particular gamb). My whole armor situation is kind of a mess, on account of me being new and a grad student and therefore just trying to get into fighting kit, qui...

schreiber

I'm being sarcastic, sure. Troll? Not really. As far as the middle east: I'm basing on the fact that during the first crusade, soldiers heading to the holy land started shedding their armor when it got hot. Muslim warriors in the area wore maille, so I'm putting two and two together. Was it the only...

schreiber

Firstly, there is nothing to suggest that mail was always worn over a padded defense. To claim that the gambseon provided most of the piercing protection means that you first have to explain why gambesons were not always worn with mail. I didn't make that claim: I linked to someone else who did tes...

schreiber

Historical mail is very good against piercing. Modern reconstructions are not so good. You should ask yourself why mail saw continuous use for nearly two thousand years when the most likely threat was from spears and arrrows. Well, I've seen some alternate theories as to what prevents piercing. As ...

schreiber

The "Dark Ages" is a myth invented by people who glorify empire. It's the only time where people claim that humanity went backward technologically, and that's not really demonstrable. People aren't likely to forget things they know. Unless they didn't know them to begin with. And we have t...

Re: Raising hammer question.

Re: Raising hammer question.

Re: Raising hammer question.

Re: Stake plate table plans - opinions needed.

Re: Stake plate table plans - opinions needed.

Re: Work in progress- basic SCA helm types ID sheet for newb

Re: Where to get plastic?

Re: What type of padding to use for helmet?

Re: May? 2012 armour study session - North Carolina, USA

Re: friend wants to rust arms purposely

Re: friend wants to rust arms purposely

Re: May? 2012 armour study session - North Carolina, USA

Re: Mild Steel Helm rehab tips, please

Re: Acetylene torch and other tool (wood) questions

Re: Spangenhelm for sale

Re: tired of my aso, and looking to upgrade

Re: Spangenhelm for sale

Re: Lots of tools for sale. Also guns.

Re: Lots of hickory stumps in N. Virginia

Re: Spangenhelm for sale

Re: Spangenhelm for sale

Re: Lots of hickory stumps in N. Virginia

Re: Spangenhelm for sale

Re: Spangenhelm for sale

Spangenhelm for sale

Lots of hickory stumps in N. Virginia

Re: Engraving Help

Re: New tool: Horizontal/Vertical Raising Stake

Re: How do i attach a 4 point chinstrap?

Re: 1050/1065 vs 410 vs 4130...

Re: Favorite elbow pads to rivet cops to?

Re: Thick mail rings

Re: Thick mail rings

Re: Thick mail rings

Re: Thick mail rings