The Armour Archive

So, I have the opportunity to get a bunch of lamellar plates laser (?) cut thanks to one of my contacts. I have never ever done any research on lamellar since I mostly do 16th century stuff so I need to do some research.

1. Will the cutting anneal the plates or could I get hardened steel sheets?
2. I know I have access to 4130 alloy, mild and "standard" stainless. 1050 seems impossible to get here. Would pre-hardened 4130 be good or is there any other alloy I could look for?
3. What should be my target thickness of plates, lets say for 4130?
4. Should the plates be shaped in any way or just flat? I am thinking giving them a good whack with a mallet for a very slight dished shape.
5. Whats the sexiest type of plate to have done?

This is what I have for now. More questions will probably surface along the way.

How do you plan to mount them? Hardened plates tend to be hard to drill or punch.
The HAZ from laser is extremely narrow and should not be a problem.

Laser will make all the holes..

I know that full hard 301 stainless is often used for lamellar plates. It comes in prehardened sheets, but I don't know if it's available where you are.

I guess lacing the plates together?

I know that full hard 301 stainless is often used for lamellar plates. It comes in prehardened sheets, but I don't know if it's available where you are.

HAZ = Heat-Affected Zone, if that's mysterious. Most of the high-tech energy-cutting methods only affect very narrow areas. I don't know if that was sheer good luck, or the result of determined research effort -- it minimizes problems with the chosen material's properties changing in inconvenient ways.