Dusting off the cobwebs

[Mac]

i"ll send you some gloves to try.

I used those gloves for the polishing, and was very impressed. They are pretty comfortable and have a surprising grip.

Thanks!
Mac

[Mac]

Now, only gilding, blackening, chainmaile for below, the fitting weapons (as seen in post 22: a sword and somd unidentified polearm), having it all blessed in the name of Saint Florian and finally parading it left? Your work is inspiring!

The mail is mostly under control, but I will be making some changes. The skirt was built with the idea of wearing on the body, but I am now going to modify it to be permanently attached to the fauld. Likewise, I have a different idea about the breyette, and that will need some modification. The sleeves are OK, but I need to make up the final garment to sew them to.

The weapons to accompany the armor are being made by Craig Johnson. If I'm not mistaken, there will be a sword and scabbard like the one on the statue as well as a suitable dagger and sheath. I think Craig is supplying the belt as well.

The "unidentified pplearm" is a lance, but there are no plans for one of those.

Mac

[Mac]

When gloves are too cumbersome I use laminate workers tape on my fingers. Especially when working too long with files or multiples of sharp metal fiddly bits. It's a loose weave fabric adhesive tape designed to be a wear layer on what ever body part you wrap. Not a lot of adhesive transfer to the work piece. Can still feel heat transfer through it.

http://woodworker.com/safety-tape-34-ro ... archmode=2


Can also be used to keep bandaids on!

This stuff is often just called friction tape. It's easy to find online, just search for finger friction tape. like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Treeline-BX2-3-F ... B0002IXVSS
When I worked in a metal tchotchke factory we went through bales of this stuff, but don't over buy it. I found some old rolls in a box from a few years ago, still sealed in plastic, and they had lost their clinginess and wouldn't stay wrapped around my fingers.

I will point out, though, that wrapping up your fingers with fresh tape for each bout at the sander is a lot more tedious than pulling gloves on and off. I bet you can't swipe your phone with it either, though I haven't tried.

I bought a couple of rolls of that stuff a few years back, but never really gave it a good trial. I'll see if it's still in usable condition.

Mac

I found that tape. It would no longer stick to itself, so I tossed it out. It sort of pisses me off, really. If I recall correctly I had to buy four rolls of the stuff in order to make some sort of minimum order.

Mac

[August Patron]

What Mac says about the weaponry is correct, of course. One of the items in the Arms & Armor range, which they call the 'English Longsword' is quite like the one on the statue, and I have asked Craig to make one - with a scabbard, etc. - which is as close to the one in the statue as possible, including the strap around the thigh. I also commissioned two items based on originals at the DHM in Berlin - a rondel dagger (the DHM suggest 14th c., but it is very similar to one depicted in a 15th c. brass in Poznan Cathedral) and a 'pole hammer' (if that is quite the right term for it - I'm never sure!). I'm afraid there is more to it than that, as I have bought other items from Craig in the past, but, as Mac says - no lance!

[Mac]

The visor pivots came out OK. I think they are going to look nice on the helmet.



Mac

[Kristoffer]

Now you're just showing off.




Please continue to do so!

[Sean M]

There was a Robert Macefer or Machefer, fourbisseur, who was engaged in repairing and ?polishing? armour in Artois in 1345 (pages 343 and 350 of this book). I think he would approve.

[Tom B.]

The visor pivots and the push button for the latch look great.

They make me want to ask what is the plan for the heads of the rivets that will be used to mount the besagues?

[Mac]

Thanks!

It looks like the ones on the statue are the usual sort of "jello mold" rivets that one sees on helmets. I have tooling for something like that already, but the plan is to make spiral ones for the helmet, so I might use those on the besagews as well.



Mac

[Tom B.]

Thanks!

It looks like the ones on the statue are the usual sort of "jello mold" rivets that one sees on helmets. I have tooling for something like that already, but the plan is to make spiral ones for the helmet, so I might use those on the besagews as well.

Mac

Edited to fix image links 2/2/17

Oh, I did not remember I had some good images of them.
That will look grand.

Click on first two images to load larger versions:

[Rene K.]

After i have seen mac`s domed rivets i was motivated to try this out with twisted caps, and it worked very well using the same technique.

[Mac]

This morning I went and talked to the guys at the place that blackened Toby C's armor. They are ready when I am.

It will take a couple of days to prepare all the parts. I need to put everything across a cotton buff to homogenize the polish a bit, and pack it all in boxes. Unfortunately, I am coming down with the cold that my wife is just beginning to get over. This may keep me out of the shop for a bit. Between that and the pinched nerve in my neck that's sending pain down my arm, I feel a bit unenthusiastic.

Mac

[Mac]

After i have seen mac`s domed rivets i was motivated to try this out with twisted caps, and it worked very well using the same technique.

Those look very nice, Rene!

Mac

[Rene K.]

thanks, this ones are made from steel, punched in hot and gilded after soldering in the nails.
I made them for a burgundian sallet i made in this period.

http://www.eysenkleider.com/unsere-arbe ... ken/helme/

[Mac]

I'm punching out for a bit. This cold (?) has really got me... coughing, runny nose, sore throat, chills, and more coughing. I'm pretty sure I have a fever because I've been reading an armor catalog in French for several hours and I think my comprehension is over 50%. That's so much better than usual that I cant tell if I'm in a flow state or delusional. In any case, I'll be back when the fever breaks.

Mac

[Mac]

I feel somewhat better this morning, so I've turned up the heat in the shop. If I still feel OK when It's warm enough to work in there, the task will be to run all of the armor parts over a cotton buff to homogenize the finish a bit and get them packed in plastic totes so that I can take them to the blackening guys. This is my last chance to make any changes to anything. I expect this to take a couple of days.

Mac

[RandallMoffett]

Mac,

So sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I wish you a quick recovery. The armour can wait as can all of us to see this beaut off.

RPM

[Sean M]

Get well soon Mac! If you have to wait a few days to make sure that you don't forget something, I am sure your August Patron can wait.

[August Patron]

Well, I suppose so...

(Just joking, of course!)

[bartholomew]

Mac: One question about the plating process. What exactly are they doing? Black Zinc, Black Cadmium, Black Oxide? Toby's seems so deep black. Also who is doing the gilding process? Are you doing it, or is it going to be gold plating? Hope you're feeling better.

[Mac]

I'm still not really well, but I'm plugging away at getting the armor ready for the blacking.

Most of it is broken down and wrapped up as individual plates in these four plastic boxes.



The breast and back are the only things I have not yet dealt with. The parts will be too big to fit in the same size boxes as the rest of the armor, but I think I've got something that will work. If not, the Home Despot surely does.



Barring anything unexpected, I will hand the armor over to the guys at Metlab http://www.metlabheattreat.com/index.html tomorrow, and it should be black within a week.

Mac

[Mac]

Mac: One question about the plating process. What exactly are they doing? Black Zinc, Black Cadmium, Black Oxide? Toby's seems so deep black. Also who is doing the gilding process? Are you doing it, or is it going to be gold plating? Hope you're feeling better.

Danny,

It's a black oxide. http://www.metlabheattreat.com/black-ox ... tment.html

I'm still not sure if I will be doing the plating in my shop or if I will send some or all of it out. I have a plater in mind, but I don't feel as though I can initiate a discussion of the project with him till I have all the parts ready. That is going to include a couple hundred brass headed rivets which I have not even begun to make.

I'm sure that you find the juggling of processes and subcontracting to be the routine stuff of your business, but I find it daunting.

Mac

[Mac]

It's all packed in 6 totes, and the armor stand looks naked.



I have made a guess about how many of those brass capped rivets I need based on how many screws I have in my container after disassembling the armor. It's something a bit under 275. That's about 75 more than I thought. I'd better get cracking.

Mac

[Johann ColdIron]

It's all packed in 6 totes, and the armor stand looks naked.



I have made a guess about how many of those brass capped rivets I need based on how many screws I have in my container after disassembling the armor. It's something a bit under 275. That's about 75 more than I thought. I'd better get cracking.

Mac

Wow, ready to go. What a milestone! Congrats.

I look forward to seeing your process for capping the rivets. On my gorget project I found them tremendously fiddly and I only needed 30 or so.

[Mac]

I delivered up the armor to the black oxide guys this morning, and they hope to have it ready for me by Friday.

Mac

[Mac]

Wow, ready to go. What a milestone! Congrats.

I look forward to seeing your process for capping the rivets. On my gorget project I found them tremendously fiddly and I only needed 30 or so.

Thanks!

It's been a while since I did a run of capped rivets, and I will have to reinvent the process. I'll be starting in on that this afternoon.

Mac

[Jason Grimes]

I look forward to seeing your process for capping the rivets. On my gorget project I found them tremendously fiddly and I only needed 30 or so.

Count me on this too, my last attempt was less than satisfactory.

[Chris Gilman]

I delivered up the armor to the black oxide guys this morning, and they hope to have it ready for me by Friday.

Mac

Black Friday?

[Mac]

I just went back and reread the couple of pages where we discussed capped rivets vis a vis the helmet, back in '15. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=169445&hilit=mac+br ... start=1120 I am glad I posted my experimental results, because I had more or less forgotten them!

I'll get back to the shop now and see if I can put some of this into practice.

Mac

[Tom B.]

Mac,

There also was a bit of discussion of soldering brass caps on rivets in this thread

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=100180

Your process write up from that thread (June 2009):

Here is the short version of the procedure I use to make brass capped rivets. There are probably as many ways to do this as there are armorers, but this will give you a start upon which you can experiment.

-Start with a convenient piece of brass shim stock. I usually use .012" (.3mm). It comes in 6" wide (150mm) rolls.

-Cut off a convenient length. I usually take about 6 or 8 inches (150-170mm)

-Anneal the brass.

-Remove the oxide from one surface, so that your solder will adhere. I usually use an 80grit greaseless compound on a sewn cotton buff. This will require a backing board to keep the, now soft, brass flat while you clean it. Take care not to catch the edges in your buffing wheel!

-Cut the brass into strips about 5/8" (15mm) wide. I use a scissors.

-Cut the strips into squares.

-Using a punch and a tin block; stamp a dome in each square of brass. Be sure that the clean surface will be the inside of the dome.

-Take 1/16" (.158mm) rosin core electrical solder, and wrap it around a 3/32" (2.5mm) rod.

-cut the solder into rings.

Note this gives a measured amount of solder which is right for my caps. You may need more or less solder.

-Remove the oxide from the heads of your rivets. I use an 80grit greaseless compound on a sewn cotton buff. I hold the rivets by their shanks with a big pin vice.

-Wipe a little zinc chloride soldering flux over each of the rivet heads. This step is optional.

-Pick up a brass dome by one of its corners, using a needle nosed pliers for which you care little.

-Put a solder ring into the dome.

-Put a rivet (head down, of course) into the dome. You will now see why I make rings of the solder!

-Hold the assembly carefully over a gentle torch flame.

-Heat until the solder appears around the rivet head. Capillary action will probably pull the rivet into an upright position. If not, gently poke at the rivet with a bit of wire until it is straight.

-As soon as the solder is melted, gently remove the assembly from the flame.

-Carefully set the assembly down to cool.

-Repeat until all your rivets are soldered.

-Take each rivet ( now with a cap) and trim the excess brass away.

-Polish the brass caps by whatever method you will.

-Electro-gild if required

I will be pleased to answer any questions about this.

Mac

[Mac]

Thanks, Tom!

I will write up something to supersede that protocol as soon as I have it under control. The important thing will probably be to substitute a sal-ammoniac bearing liquid flux for the zinc chloride paste flux.

Mac

[Ckanite]

Mac, I know that you can add brass coloring to steel by heating it up and then brushing it with a brass brush. Would something similar work? I was thinking having maybe a small torch in a vice and a brass wire wheel. Just grab the rivet by the shank with vicegrips, run the head through the flame till it's the right temperature and then run the head through the brass wheel. It would make the whole operation a hell of a lot faster.

[Mac]

This pic shows the 7/16" drill rod that will become the punch to make the rivet caps. I have not hardened it yet, and it has been in and out of the lathe several times.



What I'm up to it this.... I make my best guess about the shape of the end of the punch, and then use the punch to strike up a few cap blanks. After soldering them onto rivets, I test for soundness. If I think the shape is faulty, I put the punch back in the lathe and return the end to try my next idea.

The first iteration made caps that were nearly the same shape on the inside as the rivet heads. This seemed like a good idea, but it isn't. Adding even a small thickness of solder between the rivet and the cap creates a situation where cap no longer fits "perfectly". The solder tends to get thick in the middle and thin around the edges. This leads to an inability for gas to escape during the soldering process. The result is one of more voids in the middle of the assembly. These will collapse when the rivet is peened and the results are unsightly.

The "winning" shape makes a cap which allows for a solder line that gets progressively wider as it approaches the edges of the rivet head. This seems to let the gas out better and produces sounder results.

The difference between the worst and best cap shape is only a few thousandths of an inch. That sounds pretty fussy, but I suspect that as long as one errs on the side of having the cap fit loosely around the edges rather than precisely, there is probably a broad range of acceptable shapes.

Today, I will harden the punch and start working on some other aspects of the process. I will also order some more .012" shim stock, because I only have enough for a hundred rivets or so.

Mac

[Mac]

Here is the procedure for making brass capped rivets.

I'm using .012" half hard brass shim stock. It comes in 6" widths, and I have cut a 6" length of that.



The stock needs to be annealed.



The side of the stock that will be soldered must be cleaned of its oxide. I am using a medium scotchbrite flapwheel. In the past I have used greaseless compound on a cotton buff. It's all the same, as long as the result is clean and not greasy. I'm supporting the work with a piece of 1x6 pine. Anything flat will do.



The stock gets cut into 100 squares.



Each square gets dapped up with a punch and a pewter block.



This is what the outside looks like. It's important to remember that we want the clean side against the rivet so that it will solder. The outside gets cleaned up later after it's attached to the rivet.



Incidentally, that pewter block made in an ingot mold. I've ground off the manufacturer's name in one cavity to make a nice smooth surface.



This is 100 cap blanks in the traditional container. My containers have personae. Each of them pretends that she is an early 15th C bentwood box.



The next thing we need is 100 rivets with clean heads. Each one is twisted against the surface of that scotchbrite flapwheel to remove oxide and oil.



Mac

[Mac]

Part 2. The soldering.

Here is what the soldering station looks like. I have the torch set up with a small flame and several "bentwood boxes" containing the caps, the rivets, and short snips of 1/16" rosin core electrical solder. Each of the snips is between 3/16" and 1/4". All things considered, 1/4" is probably better. The little plastic cup contains a few drops of my favorite soldering flux, and the Q-tip propped up on one of its fellows will be the applicator. The band iron "fork" is for holding the work over the flame, and the tweezers is for handling the solder.



A cap is anointed with flux, and a rivet head is likewise moistened. I try to keep the flux in the place where I really want the solder to go and avoid getting it everywhere.



The three parts, cap, rivet and solder, are assembled onto the fork. Note, how I have set the solder along the edge of the rivet. It should be in contact with the brass, but should not overlap it too much. If it does not touch the brass, it does not melt in a timely fashion. If it sits on the brass, too much of the solder will wet to the sheet and too little will find its way into the joint.



The work is held over the flame for a couple of seconds. If all goes well, the solder melts and flows between the rivet and the brass. A solder line will appear all the way around the head, and the surface tension of the solder will pull the rivet upright in the cap.



Here's the operator's eye view of that. Note how the rivet magically came upright. This is a great delight. If it does not happen, it usually means that the joint is starved of solder and adding another snippet almost always fixes the problem.



Each assembly is set aside to cool. The opening in the fork tool lets me slide it out from under the work. This is 100 of them ready for the next step.



Mac