The Armour Archive

Erik Schmidt

I didn't know it was still around, MPP just vanished and I hadn't heard any further till now. I'll be sure to visit.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

Signo, you may want to ask an expert about the comparative softness of annealed high and low carbon steel. Someone on the AA may know, but if no-one replies, then maybe you should try asking someone in Italy who works with high carbon steel a lot, such as a specialist tool maker. Maybe you should do...

Erik Schmidt

Mine is done in the way I described from the extant german example above.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

I've thought of using spring steel, but thought it might be hard to anneal sufficiently. Did you have any difficulty getting it? I would love to know how well it anneals. From what I have read I thought that it may in fact harden by air quenching if it just heated then left to cool, due to the small...

Erik Schmidt

I don't think you could justify using cable, but we know wire and cord was used. Cable is generally made from multiple strands of very thin wire, which there is no evidence for. There are plenty of examples to show how the wire, or cord for that matter, are secured at the front near the brow. For co...

Erik Schmidt

I agree with Langdon that function is important in the shape of the bascinet, as well as aesthetic considerations, although I would add construction technique to this also. It is likely that bascinet's were raised from a single piece of sheet up until about 1380, when the very pointed bascinets make...

Erik Schmidt

There was a thread about them just recently.
If I recall correctly, the consensus was they came into use in the late 13th century and went out of fashion about 1350. It wasn't until the early 15th century that they reemerged.
When they stopped being used again I don't know.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

That sounds like Ffoulkes, "The armourer and his craft". I don't know if there is any evidence that this was actually done. It was probably just a suggestion for another way it could have been done. It is unlikely to have been done where the vervelles are widely spaced and certainly not where tube v...

Erik Schmidt

Hi Gawain, I found that the steel industry in Oz has become pretty anticompetative recently, and therefore has stopped manufacturing some low volume items. BHP does not make wire and it seems there are only two other groups, Smorgan and Onesteel, which I think are in eachother's pockets anyway. I co...

Erik Schmidt

Your assumption is perfectly valid for the representation of the splints on the effigy of von Steinberg and possibly also on those of von Schwarzburg, Cheyne and Stapleton, although I have never seen anything more than drawings for the last three and cannot therefore see which area is raised and whi...

Erik Schmidt

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Marshal: "Zinc-coated" and "galvanized" are the same thing. The fumes from zinc will indeed make you sick, but the poisoning is temporary and does not seem to have long-term...

Erik Schmidt

Good to hear you do metal weapons, Simon. Me too, when I actually do finish my armour that is. As for the missing rivet heads. Rivet heads can be, and where, sunk into the plate. That is, on the side on which the rivet needs to be invisible the hole is given a beveled edge, which can be easily done ...

Erik Schmidt

The only way to really tell if brass bands were used in alternation with iron would be in paintings of the period, where colour is used to show what material is represented. I have not as yet come across any painting or miniature depicting splint vanbraces, although there must be some around. There ...

Erik Schmidt

Menestrelik, I know that galvanizing gives off a poisonous gas, but I don't know if the zinc coating also does. So far I have only made a little bit of riveted mail using the zinc coated wire, to practrice technique, and am currently trying to find an Australian supplier of uncoated 1.2mm(18G) tie w...

Erik Schmidt

You may want to find out what gas Eric uses. I looked into using propane recently for annealing and found that propane is an oxidising gas, which means it will strip the carbon out of your steel. Probably not a great issue with a single anneal, but may not be good for repeated heatings such as you i...

Erik Schmidt

Here is a French site with loads of manuscript images from within your date range;
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/aaccueil.htm

Erik

Erik Schmidt

Wow, I'm impressed.
Looks like an ideal piece for early 14th century. What armour are you planning to go with it? Or is it for someone else?

Erik

Erik Schmidt

I have mailed you a pic.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

Llywelyn, I have e-mailed you a picture an effigy showing the lower leg splint. Sersem, some are on the web, most are not. The most of them can be found at this site; [url=http://www.bildindex.de/rx/apsisa.dll/init?sid={5596adbf-c8aa-4776-8455-705c5d450186}&cnt=2191]http://www.bildindex.de/rx/apsisa...

Erik Schmidt

You're welcome David. I have though of signing in under a pseudonym, but that would spoil the fun. Right?

Erik

Erik Schmidt

I thought that was what you might be interested in, given your name. The lower leg splint is external and made up of three wide splints which are held together by two straps passing around the inside upper and lower third of the splints. There is one splint at the the front of the shin (like a shynb...

Erik Schmidt

Thankyou JT. When it was first announced I figured I would register for space when I had some pictures I would like to put up. I will have to take the time to register and work out how it works. It's certainly a great idea. Erik PS, I forgot to add this very useful link on how to make riveted mail; ...

Erik Schmidt

Thanks all for your compliments. Yes, I am a bit on the silly side. Thankyou Gocin for hosting the pictures. I like the way you set them out on the page. You're certainly right about it being a fast server too. The two top pictures are of the first lot of mail I made, showing front and back, althoug...

Erik Schmidt

Thanks Gocin,
I'm mailing them to you now.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

Over the last month I have started trying to do a little riveted mail, and it seems to be working. It just looks, and feels, so much better than the butted stuff. Very light too. I have scanned the results so far, as well as some strength tests of the rings, but don't have a page to put the pics. Co...

Erik Schmidt

What area are you interested in?
The Germanic armour of around 1375 has a special kind of three lame splint for the lower leg.
The upper leg was usually internal splits.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

Well, I had written you a really informative reply with lots of links, but the computer swallowed it. *!@#*! So here is an abridged verison. The chest chains were most common in Germanic armour from around 1315 to 1380. The chains were attached to the coat of plates or chestplate, but most likely no...

Erik Schmidt

The earliest I can date them to is about 1320, English.
THey seem to have been somewhat popular, especially in England, at around 1320 to 1350, but then fell out of favour until sometime in the 15th century (as Kostantin said).

Erik

Erik Schmidt

What kind of helmet are you wanting to know about?
Greathelm, conical nasal, Cervelliere, bascinet, later Turkish styles etc.?

If you mean a 'helm', as in 'greathelm', then they had no aventail attached.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Ewan: OK then, What does the historical community consider good secondary sources? I've seen people mention things such as musters, rolls of arms etc. Other than the iconogr...

Erik Schmidt

French effigies of the 14th c tend to show the head without the helmet.
The hair on the ones I have seen is quite long and wavy.

Here's a german one with beard;
http://www.bildindex.de/fotos/mi/000/33/a/MI00033a13a.jpg

Erik

Erik Schmidt

Doug, the Pistoia figure certainly provides possible evidence. I would love to track down some more work of the same artists to see if they have produced similarly armoured figures elsewhere. It's certainly a good lead. I think there is so much yet to be discovered in the art works of northern Italy...

Erik Schmidt

You are absolutely right about the need to improve the quality. There'll always be a market for the cheap and unauthentic, especially in the SCA, but a lot could be done to lift the standard without lifting the price. If my research into 14th century German armour does result in a book, I will hopef...

Erik Schmidt

Magmaforge, maybe the other Erik will see the post, but as for myself, I am not the Erik of chain mail fame, or any other fame for that matter.

Erik

Erik Schmidt

It is indeed Thaddeus, and therein lies a little problem. It looks so good it's being copied, and often so without the person knowing how dubious the historical credantials are for a small part of the harness. First, it was the Met museum who displayed the erroneous corrazina reconstruction, and con...

My attempt at riveted mail, pics