The Armour Archive

Mac

Vitus,

Are you tall enough?

Your post slipped in while I was editing mine, so I 'm sure you hadn't gotten a chance to read it. It really is a helmet for someone with a long neck.

Mac

Mac

Alcyoneus, The thing about this basinet is that, if it is real, (there is some doubt) it is unusually long from the brow to the lower edge. You would have to trim about an inch and a half of the bottom edge to bring it in line with typical proportions. That is to say, it must have been made for a ta...

Mac

It is the same helmet. Chris D. did some restoration work for the late Mr. Gwynn. He must have taken this picture while he had access to the armor.

The picture is from an angle I have not seen before. It is very revealing about the true shape of the facial.

Mac

Mac

Aaron, When you say "back point" basinet, I assume you are thinking of one like the # 13 at Churburg. If you were to take a tape measure and go from the point to the neck edge in back, and then, from the point to the brow, you would come up with about the same measurement. In the particula...

Mac

Graham, This sort of thing shows up pretty commonly in art. I'm inclined to believe it does reflect reality. The question is, what is really being represented? It seems to me, that the most likely possibilities are, copper alloy, gilt copper alloy, and gilt iron alloy. At first blush, copper alloys ...

Mac

Kilkenny wrote:
Konstantin the Red wrote:We shall await this revelation with worms in our mouths...

Who you mean we ?

Oh, c'm on Gavin! I'm waiting! and if Konstantin is waiting too....well.... that makes it "we". And besides, he's probably been dying to use that line about the worms. I know I'd be!

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Clarmont, Thanks! The "star" on the besagew is the radially symmetrical take on the "palmet" motif I used as the main decorative element on this garniture. Here, as everywhere else it appears, it is embossed. That is to say, it is worked up out of the same metal. The gold is elec...

Mac

Konstantin,

Its the "5mm thick" that I'm interested in, I've never found any thicker than about 3mm.

I agree with you about the tin snips. That's what I use if I can't get the damned thing to lie down on the band saw.

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Mac

jdr, You're not the only person to think that something is odd about this piece. Not only is it's construction like a backplate, but it has other back-like qualities. The waist line swings up in the center, rather than dipping down. The shape of the armholes is more like a back that a breast. The cr...

Mac

Nim,

You can see a couple of places on the back of the besagew where the lining strip is somewhat wrinkled or buckled from having been forced into a circle. These show as bumps in the lining. Perhaps I should have notched the strip on the compressed side.

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Mac

Nim, Your first theory is basically correct. This is a pretty standard way to attach linings and paddings to armor. It is very important and you should endeavor to understand it thoroughly. It will serve you well. The leather which is riveted to the inside of the armor is what is modernly termed a &...

Mac

Shade,

That 5mm bull hide would be perfect for binding in crossbow stirrups. Do you know of a way to get small, but long pieces? About a meter and a half of 8 or 10 mm strip would about be right for one bow.

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Enrico, Feel free. Especially that harness. Although we built it some years ago, I'm still quite pleased with it. I say "we" because my wife did the etching. I have a picture of in my wallet, where most people have a pic. of their family. It's what I show to people who ask what I do. I hop...

Mac

William, I think that there are two basic sources of armor noise (excluding tassets). The first is the joints and articulations themselves. The second is the interaction of the components with one another. Let me take the knees as an example, because they are the single greatest source of noise. Fir...

Mac

It's like the difference between chivalry and shivaree.

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Mord wrote:I don't mean to be critical here, but why would you be concerned that your plate armor is so noisy?

Mord.

Because some people's armors sound like a junk yard, and they are (quite reasonable) embarrassed.

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Josh, I wish I could say that it was true, but alas I must admit, my tassets clank. But, I hasten to add, that the rest of my armor is pretty quiet! Archie Z is right about the leather linings. Many later armors have lining strips around the tassets. There are armors in Graz which retain their linin...

Mac

I'm thinking where would I start looking for your "glue-paint" if you'll pardon the expression. Part of me wants to look in the literature for museum conservation--something like the "art and archaeology abstracts." The other part of me would want to know what sort of elements w...

Mac

The medievals had water-resistant hide glue. Check Theophilus. It was also a guild secret of the crossbow-makers. Russ, I'm having trouble finding that in Theophilus. I've got the Hawthorn and Smith translation (Dover) the index is sometimes not all you would hope for. Can you help me find it? than...

Mac

Here is the next piece in the puzzle. At first it might not appear to be the same puzzle, but I think it is. The late Olaf Goubitz in his last book "Purses in Pieces" discusses cases as well as purses. Most of these are sewn together, but some are glued together. He says on page 97. "...

Mac

Here's one of the things which has got me going. Below, you will find pictures of rare item. It is a scabbard for a cinquadea for Cesare Borgia. The scabbard is in the Victoria and Albert m101.1869. The pictures are from L.G. Boccia and E.T. Coelho's "Armi Bianche Italiane" The remarcable ...

Mac

Roland,

Thank you for the scans! They would not open properly on my machine, so my wife is printing them out for me at her office. I am looking forward to reading them this evening!

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Schrieber, The thing that strikes me about the color of medieval leather goods is that it is uniformly brown. It is true , as you say, that handling will darken leather; but the effect is limited to the places which actually come into contact with the hands. As far as dies are concerned, I have neve...

Mac

Andrew,

The Doctor uses a diamond wheel. If you treat it kindly, and with little pressure, it will last a long time. If not, replacement wheels are available.

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Mac

I've just renamed this thread in accordance with conventional orthography.

JT kindly explained to me how to do it. (Thank you JT)

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Mac

Thank you Roland!

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Gavin,

Yes it is, and not at all a bad one either. I think they can be had at your local "Home Despot". I believe mine came from Lowes.

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Mac

what about steaming? I don't think that steaming would work on a 25-30 mm thick board. Tom Enrico, It can certainly be done. The trick is to use a sort of fixture which does not allow the convex side to "see" tension. The "Fine Woodworking" booklet on bending wood will show you ...

Mac

A couple of years ago, my folks bought me a "Drill Doctor" for Christmas. It works pretty well and is fast enough for all practical purposes. I can recommend it.

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Roland, Splendid! That's certainly the sort of thing I want to hear about. I'm pleased to here that it turned the leather "nut brown", because so much of surviving leather goods IS nut brown. The color must come from somewhere, and if a stiffening and waterproofing process also gives the c...

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Andrew,

What did you thin the pitch with? Did the hide accept it readily? And at room temperature? How long did it take to dry? Did it alter the color of the hide much? Have you tried it on leather?

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Freiman,

I've moved that question to another thread.

Sorry,
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I'm moving this over from a different thread, so as not to hijack it. Resin impregnated leather is not hardened leather. It's leather filled with hard plastic. It doesn't go limp in the sun like wax... but... it's plastic. Why not just get a barel? Has any one tried impregnating leather with a medie...

Mac

At the risk of derailing or sidetracking this thread... Resin impregnated leather is not hardened leather. It's leather filled with hard plastic. It doesn't go limp in the sun like wax... but... it's plastic. Why not just get a barel? Has any one tried impregnating leather with a medievally availabl...

Impregnating leather with medievally available resins.