The Armour Archive

Since I was very low in funds to commission a truly matching klapvisier from Anshelm to match my bascinet, I was lucky enough to get one from Murdock who had them in stock and ready to ship, and quite inexpensively....

http://revival.us/klappvisorwhingeandse ... eslot.aspx
http://revival.us/ProductImages/product ... pvisor.jpg

He was kind to ground off the slots to make it more SCA friendly, and upon removing the hinge, the loop fit very well the original counterpart from Anshelm. So the top attachment issue is solved.
The eye slot is very well matched so I can see (as much as one CAN see through these...) So eye alignment is solved. Not bad at all so far.

But the face plate is too long. It rests and pressures on my chest (about 4 fingers width from my sternum), and it does not close fully to boot. I need to do something to correct this.

I thought about cutting the bottom a bit and doing it in such a fashion so as to create the little curl again, but I am no armorer, i.e. I have not the tools or skill to do this... I also thought about using my grinder with a cutting wheel and simply cutting it short. But I am not sure I can do this cleanly, and make it look right.

Can anyone suggest a solution?

Thanks!!

Glaukos

http://www.allegromedical.com/pain-mana ... 4AodI0HXWg





Seriously, though, I'll try and think of a better solution.

Cleaning up after a rough grind is what files and sanding discs are for.

To get it symmetrical with hand tools, you'll need a pattern. Maybe several tries at a pattern, and a mockup of manila board taped onto your hat and nod-checked. Fold the manila in the middle and cut the desired pleasing curved profile with scissors. Unfold and trace pattern outline upon the bottom of the visor, not forgetting the curl you like, which you will bend out by hammering over a pipe or an anvil horn. Soft face hammer of some kind, such as a deadblow. If necessary, cover your pipe with something tough too, or form the curl entirely over a wooden fence post to make the bend and surface nice and smooth and not chewed up with hammer dings.

Grind and cut to within about a sixteenth of an inch or a bit less to that profile outline you marked tracing off the pattern. Go the rest of the way with a big mill file and half-round file or maybe the sanding disc. Using strictly hand tools like files will mean any mistakes will be small and happen slowly so you can spot them and fix them before they're real problems.

We, the Archive collectively, can't bless you into being "sure I can do this cleanly." You get there by picking that angle grinder up and undertaking the project, cultivating a light touch so if you make a booboo on the way, it's small. We can only tell you "go for it." Needs doing; git 'er done.

Grinding and filing will be much easier using a bench vise -- got vise? -- to hold the visor in place while you maneuver your tools. If the jaws don't bear well on such a curvy object, ductape some blocks of scrapwood fitted to the curves inside and outside the visor with flat surfaces toward the jaw faces to give the vise jaws something appropriate to squeeze -- a firm grip that does not mar the metal.

Gloukos,

Lat us see some pictures of what it all looks like on you. I think that the short answer is going to be "hack and slash, grind and polish", but it is best to see it all together before writing a prescription. The part where you say that it does not close fully suggests further issues.

Mac

Mac's right. When the visor does not fully close, where does it hit something that stops it? Your chest? Or do the top corners run into the uppermost vervelles? That kind of thing.

No,

It does not close fully when I am wearing it because the plate, being overly long, hits my chest before it can reach the end of the downward arch.

With the helmet off my head it closes fine... (I have not added the strap yet, but it closes fine.)

I'll take a pic tonight and post it. The issue is that since the hinge fits and the height alignment of the eye slot is fine, it would be a crime not to use this. It
needs extra holes under the occularia anyway (suggested by Murdock and visible in other period Klaps) but otherwise it looks and feels good. Just the little triangle with the curved up tail extend too long. maybe the mask is simply a tad big.

Of all the issues I thought could be a problem, this one never crossed my mind.

Right then. Got vise? Can get at vise?

Konstantin the Red wrote:Right then. Got vise? Can get at vise?

Got a small crappy one, indoors where I cannot use the grinder....

Glaukos the Athenian wrote:

Konstantin the Red wrote:Right then. Got vise? Can get at vise?

Got a small crappy one, indoors where I cannot use the grinder....

Coming down for Tournament of Friends?

Bring your head, helmet and visor and we can get it sorted out after the event. My place would be on the way home in Fuquay.

Johann ColdIron wrote:

Glaukos the Athenian wrote:

Konstantin the Red wrote:Right then. Got vise? Can get at vise?

Got a small crappy one, indoors where I cannot use the grinder....

Coming down for Tournament of Friends?

Bring your head, helmet and visor and we can get it sorted out after the event. My place would be on the way home in Fuquay.

Ah Sir Johann, nothing would please me more at many levels... but Life has a way of preempting many of the events I'd like to attend..... I'll be with the family visiting Harry Potter for Spring Break...

Glaukos the Athenian wrote:

Konstantin the Red wrote:Right then. Got vise? Can get at vise?

Got a small crappy one, indoors where I cannot use the grinder....

Somebody a tad more local than Johann? Or should the vise get unbolted and spend an afternoon outside/in the garage/howsomever where grinding is possible and allowable by the lady of the house etc.?

Or it's a big-enough C clamp or else a pinch Vise-Grip such as welders use, and cut a cradle out of a 2x4 to rest the visor in conveniently, and clamp visor and cradle to a picnic table or other immovable object.

Glaukos the Athenian wrote:No,

It does not close fully when I am wearing it because the plate, being overly long, hits my chest before it can reach the end of the downward arch.

Then you will probably have to move (hammer), or remove (grind) until it closes to the point where you are happy, then worry about the shape.

Glaukos the Athenian wrote:Ah Sir Johann, nothing would please me more at many levels... but Life has a way of preempting many of the events I'd like to attend..... I'll be with the family visiting Harry Potter for Spring Break...

Life with a capital L, I know that all to well! May the trip bring great pleasure to your family.

What the Baron said is likely the best course of action. If you can't get someone local to help I will be willing to do it long distance. I hear my Squire brother Sir Roland has a very capable shop in Maryland.

Sorry all, I was dead tired yesterday with the time change. I'll try to post the pics today...