The Armour Archive

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A friend who was a professional weldor says it's the sickest he's ever been and once had to have a 14 year old nephew drive him home from a job in his work truck so he could toss his cookies out the window. Oddly enough, this sounds a lot like "flu-like symptoms". I don't really enjoy whe...

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Mild steel is not expensive. If you're just starting out a 4x8 should last you quite a while. I dunno what current prices are but the last one I bought was under $70. It's a hobby, and hobbies cost money. That $70 is about 10 lunches out. This is one of the cheaper hobbies out there (once you get th...

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I have an old Stanley unishear which I use to chop up 4x8's when I get them. I only store 2x4' sections, which work on the Beverly pretty well. I would like to get a Makita or Bosch, but I only use it irregularly. I like the beverly because it has a flat side. If you cut with the piece you're saving...

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That shirt will shed links like a tree in an autumn wind every time it's hit. Emphasis on the word every . I made some 12g Al at one point. I hit it once, not a good hit, and I'm not a big guy, and it exploded links. Mail in general, and butted mail in particular, shines in two places in a harness:...

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Now I have Thunderhorse by Dethklok playing in my head.
Outstanding job!

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Sure looks like a space saver though. ..... So, how does the different heights work for you? Space is the main reason I did it. What you can't tell is that this pic is that the plywood is bolted to the back of the storage shelves where I keep hand tools. It works out pretty well. I originally place...

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It's pretty cool, but really impractical. The motor is a DC brushless motor (probably 12 pole) and therefore probably higher torque than a comparable brushed motor, but it requires a microcontroller (which these days is probably a whole tiny computer) just to get it running. Plus, there's also a mic...

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Support the head properly. I like using a block of pewter in a vise. Aluminum works but doesn't hold the head in place as well. Support the shank properly. This means cutting down the rivet to the correct length. If you're using a washer (you should be if it's leather) then hammer it down with a riv...

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Russ Mitchell wrote:Thanks, Norman.
I think I understand what you mean, but if you get time, a picture would be helpful.

I'm interested too. Did you put the seam 90 degrees offset from the usual bazuband seam location, like on the mural?

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You mean, like C-3P0?
What does "directly connecting" mean?
I'd be interested in seeing what the originals look like.

Here's a good question, though: If you can have a 7/8" gap in front of your eyes and nose, why can't you have a 7/8" gap on your elbow?

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Wade, I've been on and off but definitely looking out for this post! I'm there, and I'm probably parking Jacob's wife and 1-month old with my wife and kids and dragging him down too. I will make up some CDs of the pics I took last year and if possible I'll put my pics from the RA on it as well (they...

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It's the breadth. If it goes a good 180 or more about the front of your knee joint, you've got what you need to put real articulation rivets in and improve upon the originator's work. True. But depth is of vital importance, too. A lot of the front-mounted articulations I've seen are on poleyns that...

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Need pics. Long rivets are a pretty common solution for not knowing what you're doing. The problem may be solveable by some more shaping and punching new holes. Or it could be a problem with the pattern itself. Whatever the problem is, long rivets aren't the solution. Mainly because they are dangero...

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Spring stainless can also be gotten, but such helms and armor are rare indeed. I've been playing with 410 and can tell you why: spring stainless doesn't seem to behave the same way as medium carbon spring steel. The 410 alloy in particular forms chromium carbides when it's quenched, which from my e...

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I would love to know what kind of power hammer he used in this episode...I SOOOO want one after watching it... It's a helve hammer, and if you want one you can come get mine. If you're planning on doing serious production work they are very handy. If you only get 3-4 hours a week to work, and you e...

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I think that Konstantin's point about sewing needs to be restated.
If you're looking for economy armor, you need a sewing machine.
It can take care of everything but gorget, helm, and cops - and it will get you garb, too.

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I am a little fighter. Not tiny, not short, just not a lot of mass going on here. 5'10", 180 lbs. I make armor. I have no problem at all putting big controlled dents in 16g mild with a 14" long soft mallet swinging from my elbow. What do you think I could do with a 30" long hard stick...

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Hot raise a couple elbows using the ball stake.
It won't be magnetic by the time you're done.

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What's going over it? If it's steel, then you can get away with a little more padding than you would if it was leather or something fabric-backed like a CoP or scale. Is it intended to pad your body, or just prevent chafing? My wife makes my gambesons with 1/2" of cotton batting quilted between...

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Step one I'd look into electrolysis de-rusting. Supposedly it can be done with a battery charger, a salt bath and the right electrode (cathode?). That will reverse the rust process rather then removing rust (and removing iron in the process) Yep, I got to see a civil war treasure hunter's setup las...

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Maeryk wrote:Because they were hunted to the edge of extinction? That's why.

We haven't even established what species of bird it is, so how do you know this?

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Meantime - assuming I get past the legal crap how to disinfect and preserve?? If it was me, I'd re-contact the county and ask them if they will intervene if you get in federal trouble. If I found it, I'd likely pull all the feathers I wanted, cut off the feet and salt them until I figured something...

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Clams are pelecypods. Phylum mollusca, class bivalvia. They have only two moving parts. Their shells (valves) are roughly mirror images of one another, and the axis of symmetry is the parting line. I am having trouble seeing the resemblance to even the most barbarously conceived gauntlets. Ya' gott...

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I don't want to come off as overly critical, but really this shouldn't be a problem for you if you do it right. You shouldn't be moving on to the buffing stage until you've already sanded out the deeper scratches with finer and finer grits of sandpaper. When it's smooth enough, then after you buff ...

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I just found recently that WD40 and a worn out sock takes off emery compound like a champ.
It'd probably work for whatever compound you used too.

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also what other sorts of things are people looking for in Coats of Plates? How many have you made before? If you can do it for 250 you'll get interest. The question is, can you? I think for 250 you don't need to troll around here for interest - it'll come to you, locally, from people you can dialog...

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I can't look at the google images right now, but if this is intended for SCA combat, given the apparent latitude you have in how wide the center band is, I'd be real tempted to leave it closer to what you have now. Reason being, whenever I do spangens I try to have an overlap in the sweet spots, as ...

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I'm not so sure now. It was fair mellow when we listened to Flogging Molly. It started getting pissy when I listened to Iron Maiden, Iced Earth and Hammerfall. Today was Jethro Tull and it seemed to like that, mostly cooperated except where I knew it wouldn't. Maybe it's just REALLY picky about mus...

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First, you mean 90 degrees, not 180 Edit... on second thought, actually I did mean 180. If you're standing and you touch your rump with one heel, that heel travels 180 degrees. I'm very demanding with my articulations. Second, it's a serious fallacy to apply logic to a question such as this, becaus...

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Thick cuisses are probably an SCA-ism. I usually walk funny in mine (15oz or so). That alone would be a reason not to use them in period. We all put on our armor, and the farthest anyone ever walks in it is from the far side of the lake at Pennsic up to the battlefield. Also, having a thick cuisse m...

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Elizabethe_Spool wrote:As the point of this thread I was more concerned with sizing issues, not historical issues.

Well, to prevent future misunderstandings: a significant percentage of the peanut gallery here will always unapologetically do this.

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I have a set of really badass Bosch Titanium bits... ...which I have literally opened twice in the last year, both times for wood projects. I also have three roper-whitney #5jr punches and one Harbor Freight knock-off. The three #5jr punches have 1/8", 5/32", and 3/16" punches in them...

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Man, I love the hammered finish, and I really like the way the spangens come to a point at the top. But... I give up, I gotta know two things. First, what's holding it together? Are you pop-riveting it in place until you get it together, so the Al is easier to drill out? Second, how the heck did you...

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I'm 5'9" and 165lbs. I wouldn't quite say chicken legs, but I did place a borrowed elbow cop from a friend and placed on my knee and it dar near fit perfectly. You are not alone. I was 5'10", 150lbs when I started fighting. I have lots of similarly sized friends. People of our stature are...

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I'm 5'9" and 165lbs. I wouldn't quite say chicken legs, but I did place a borrowed elbow cop from a friend and placed on my knee and it dar near fit perfectly. You are not alone. I was 5'10", 150lbs when I started fighting. I have lots of similarly sized friends. People of our stature are...

Re: Galvanized sheet metal?

Re: Galvanized sheet metal?

Re: Shear Alternative...

Re: SCA and safety of aluminum mail

Re: Fantasy Helm

Re:

Re: Gauging interest (CoP)