What gauge for greaves?

[Ironic]

I'm going to give it a go on greaves and was wondering what gauge should I go for. Note, I'm probably not going to use this for any combat.
It also doesn't have to be historical; just thick enough so it won't be to thin.

[Baron Alcyoneus]

Assuming that you are doing SCA...

It depends on how long you expect them to look good. 18g mild steel should be plenty good enough to protect you, since you aren't supposed to be getting hit there (20g stainless is about equivalent). But if you pile armor on top of it, drop it repeatedly, etc... you might think about 16g.

[Gaston de Clermont]

When you start getting much thinner than 18ga greaves start to get trickier. They'll crinkle like tin foil under all the blows you need to get them shaped to match all the curves of your calf. That said, I tend to make mine out of 22 or 24ga spring.

[Gryffinclaw]

Assuming that you are doing SCA...

It depends on how long you expect them to look good. 18g mild steel should be plenty good enough to protect you, since you aren't supposed to be getting hit there (20g stainless is about equivalent). But if you pile armor on top of it, drop it repeatedly, etc... you might think about 16g.

I agree. I am building a 18g set right now and the thinness of the material makes it difficult to keep from creasing.

[Gryffinclaw]

When you start getting much thinner than 18ga greaves start to get trickier. They'll crinkle like tin foil under all the blows you need to get them shaped to match all the curves of your calf. That said, I tend to make mine out of 22 or 24ga spring.

Gaston, when you are raising the ankles using 20-22g do you make more passes and raise slower to keep it from crinkling?

[Ironic]

Well it sounds like the metal I have is plenty thick enough, I'm guessing its 16gauge or 18gauge. Also note that I'm not going to harden it or temper it.
So will it still be tough enough?

[armsandarmor]

16~18 ga should be imo. The set im attempting to make is 16, and i gave up on it for a bit thinking it was too thick but now that i have one shaped out i like it. 18 ga would be fine for sca foot combat, however im taking a liking to reenactments using steel/aluminum weapons and possibly some mounted combat, so for that reason i decided 16 ga would be better for me.

edit: i did a 22 ga test greave to get the pattern right for my harness, if anyone wants pics.

[Gaston de Clermont]

Gaston, when you are raising the ankles using 20-22g do you make more passes and raise slower to keep it from crinkling?

With it being so thin you have to be precise in your hammer blows. It works quickly, but you have to be mindful of any little wrinkle, and unevenly work hardening the piece since it makes it harder to get the shape you want out of them. I can anneal them in the forge, but every heat looses you a little thickness, and they're only thick enough to have two sides to begin with. Then there's the challenge of heat treating them without warping. When the steel is super thin and red hot it's about as stiff as card stock, so it can deform under its own weight, or from the force of the water as it enters the quench bath.

Ironic- "Tough enough" is subjective. 16ga (note that ferrous gauge and non-ferrous are different) steel is pretty standard for most SCA combat, which consists of big guys wailing on each other with modified lawn furniture. It's thick enough that the level of maintenance is reasonable for most folks vs. the difficulty of manufacture and the weight. You'll have to pound out the occasional dent, but it wears pretty well. If you're fighting with metal weapons and hitting with force the work involved in keeping your greaves looking new will be higher.

[wcallen]

Since you aren't planning on getting it hit a lot, yes 16 or 18g mild will be fine. I have done sets from 18g. before without a problem. Even for combat, 18g should be fine. For the SCA they SHOULD never get hit (well, that is the rule.. it doesn't work out that way). For other forms you probably aren't getting hit all that hard that low, change the range and you will minimize the impact anyway.

I am currently working on a pair of simple boring fronts from 18g. They will only really be used so I don't have a gap below the knees (looks better that way). Mine happen to be stainless, but the previous 2 sets were untempered 18g spring and they seem fine too.

Have fun, they take more shaping than you think before you start.

Wade

[Ironic]

All right it sounds like I have thick enough metal than. I'm already ...maybe thinking of doing some thing different with my metal than making greaves. Mmmmmm...... what should I make that doesn't take leather other than the strapes?

[wcallen]

Almost anything?


Lots of armour requires very little leather. Just lots of work. Breastplates, backplates, arms, legs, greaves, sabatons, even a frog-mouthed jousting helm requires very little leather.



More seriously, what do you need? And what period are you interested in?

Wade

[Ironic]

Almost anything?


Lots of armour requires very little leather. Just lots of work. Breastplates, backplates, arms, legs, greaves, sabatons, even a frog-mouthed jousting helm requires very little leather.



More seriously, what do you need? And what period are you interested in?

Wade

The funny thing is, I like making armour, but I'm more interrested in the earlier time period when there was much less plate armour. The Dark Ages. The more and more the suits of armour got more modern the less I like them. But I sure don't mind making them