The Armour Archive

Step 3. Clean up.

Each of the rivets now looks like this. The extra material needs to be trimmed away, and the surface needs to be polished. First, though, the rivets are washed. First, an agitated bath of isopropyl alcohol removes the excess rosin flux. The alcohol is removed with a water rinse and then I add baking soda to neutralize any of the acid flux. I then wash them in dish soap for good measure and rinse them well.



This next step is a bit tedious. Each of the caps is roughly trimmed with a shear. There is a bucket on the floor that catches most of the snips.



The result does not have to be round. Indeed, I'd rather that they had a bit of "character"



The corners are removed by chucking the rivet in an "eggbeater" drill and applying it to an 80gr disc... first the edge, then the underside.



While still in the drill, I run the edges over a scotchbrite wheel to remove the burr.



They look like this at this point.



Here, I have one chucked in a pinvise and am applying it to a sisal buff with black emery compound. This has to be done without overheating the rivet, or there occurs a most surprising disassembly and "mini shower" of solder.



Here I am applying the rivets to a cotton buff with red rouge. They have been washed again in dish soap to remove the black emery, so I don't contaminate my rouge wheel. We can see here that I have made myself a new tool to hold them. It's a 1" aluminum rod with a hole in it. This may well be a better tool than the pinvise for the previous operation, as it will help pull heat out of the work. I'll report on that after the next batch.



The downside of the aluminum holder is that is makes my fingers all smutzig.



Mac

Mac, couldn't you acid-etch the aluminum to reduce/eliminate the black fingers? Some sport aluminum maille is acid etched (turning the rings almost white) to keep the black stuff from appearing on the clothing.



Is your rivet set equally polished to keep from ruining your nice clean-up job on those rivet caps?

I use TIG welding gloves to hold stuff at the buffer. Thin enough so you can hold small parts.

Haven't been here for a long time but this is the perfect thread to come back to.

Thanks for sharing Mac.

Galileo wrote:Mac, couldn't you acid-etch the aluminum to reduce/eliminate the black fingers? Some sport aluminum maille is acid etched (turning the rings almost white) to keep the black stuff from appearing on the clothing.

In a perfect shop, I would put a bit of knurling on the end so that it looked nice and then anodize the thing a beautiful steel blue color. Neither of those are going to happen, though.

Galileo wrote: Is your rivet set equally polished to keep from ruining your nice clean-up job on those rivet caps?

I can definitely say that it is not. I never use rivet sets for bucking rivets. (yes, I said "never", and it's true) The last time I used one at all, it was to form smooth heads on tinner's rivets in tent frame ferules. They work just fine for that.

A bit of templating cardboard on top of the anvil is usually enough to keep rivet heads looking nice. If that proves to be insufficient, I will probably fall back to supporting them on a tin block. I used to use lead, but I'm trying to cut back.

Banish the rivet set to tinner's work. That's what they were made for.

Mac

Padrig wrote:I
Haven't been here for a long time but this is the perfect thread to come back to.

Thanks for sharing Mac.

Welcome back!

Mac

I took that aluminum tool back to the lathe and changed the business end a bit to increase the clearance as well as providing more mass under the rivet.



The result is certainly better than using the pinvise. It does not make it impossible to overheat the rivets, but it makes it a lot less likely.

Mac

Most of the parts are back and have been inspected and wiped down. They are currently occupying most of the available horizontal space in the shop.





There are 14 parts that did not take the black properly, and they have been stripped and repolished. I will take them back for another try tomorrow.

Mac

What a color!

That's crazy!! The day it will be shipped to his proud owner is near.. I think we share the same joy in the expectation to see it finished and assembled.. but at the same time, a little sadness, because this has been a great learning experience, and this is about to end too.

WOW! Those are beyond beautiful! I can't wait to see it finished though it will be rather melancholy...

Really spectacular color of black on this! Is this similar in the color to Toby's?

RandallMoffett wrote:Really spectacular color of black on this! Is this similar in the color to Toby's?

It's the same process, and the same guys doing it.

Mac

I started assembling things this afternoon. Some key parts are still out, so I am a bit limited in what I can do.

The first items were the sabatons.





I found that supporting the rivets on a bit of cardboard was not quite enough, so I switched over to a tin ingot. I'll just keep recasting this as it gets too pocked to use.



The bevor was the next thing up, but I'm holding off on riveting the neck lame on until I've sewn in the lining. It will just be easier that way.



The lining will be sewn to the strips of white nubuck. I find that it holds stitches well. For the falling lame, I've used the rectangular washers that Danny Bartholomew stamped up for me quite a few years back. I like these better than round washers in places where I expect the lining strip to be pulled back at all. They provide a better bearing surface for the leather.



On the underlaping flange of the main plate, I have the lining strip riveted down with the big flat-heads. The shanks are peened up lightly into countersinks. It's all about clipping the rivets to just the right length. There should be just enough material that a dozen or so taps with a small hammer will leave the shank flush on the outside..... tight enough to hold, but not so tight that they can't be driven out some day.



Mac

Boy, that sucks! You call yourself an real armor maker? That's not correct armor at all, I mean, it has to be all pitted and beaten up lookin to be authentic!!!!
And where are the rolled edges, every idiot knows, ya gotta have rolled edges!

Chris Gilman wrote: And where are the rolled edges, every idiot knows, ya gotta have rolled edges!

You're right. How could I have been so careless?!

Mac

It's fine, the bevor lip is rolled... M'lord Blankenshield would approve!

Holy mother of armourers, that is pretty.

August Patron, could you please consider doing us all a huge favour?

A masterpiece like this deserves a proper, professional photo session. I am sure we would all love to see this harness in action.

Xtracted wrote:August Patron, could you please consider doing us all a huge favour?

A masterpiece like this deserves a proper, professional photo session. I am sure we would all love to see this harness in action.

Yes, please!!! And Mac, again, worlds of respect for teaching us some of the more subtle intricacies. I have next to no experience with anything past the metal pounding itself. The only strapping I've done, one piece was stolen out of my car in Wilkes-Barre Pa like 5 years ago and another is just fabric sewn right to the metal for some bauzabands. That black is so stunning...

Gerhard von Liebau wrote:It's fine, the bevor lip is rolled... M'lord Blankenshield would approve!

Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid I would be obliged to cold forge a sword out of a railroad track as penance.

Mac

C'mon guys, the one that must not be nominated is a long time memory... it seems is disappeared from the www.

Mac,

Why are you using round wahers instead of hand made washers? Do we have evidence of the use of round wahers in the 15th century?

Also, are the rivets you are using have been gilded or not at this time?

Olivier L-Beaulieu wrote:Mac,

Why are you using round wahers instead of hand made washers? Do we have evidence of the use of round wahers in the 15th century?

That's an interesting question. I don't think we have much evidence for round washers in the 15th C., but I have seen some on 16 C and later armor that seemed to be original.

I'm using round washers for two reasons. The first is flat out laziness. I have round washers that are the right size and thickness, and it very convenient to use them. The other reason is that I just don't like octagonal washers. The corners are sharp and catch on clothing and skin.

We all draw our lines of authenticity in different places, and what might be "authentic enough" for one project may not cut it for another. In general, though, I want armor to look right on the outside and function nicely on the inside. I'm not trying to fool anyone.

Even on those occasions where I am trying to make a "replica".... like a part to replace a missing one on an antique, I don't make much effort to make the insides "convincing". In my ideal universe, a replica fools the experts until they look inside, and then the game is over and everyone knows it's modern. This seems the most honorable and scholarly path.

Olivier L-Beaulieu wrote:Also, are the rivets you are using have been gilded or not at this time?

Are you asking whether I have gilt these rivets?.. I have.

Or, are you asking if it's an authentic practice in the 15th C to gild rivet?... I'm not really sure.

I suspect that the authentic thing is polished brass caps. I am gilding these so that they stay shiny and don't need as much maintenance.

Mac

Amazing stuff Mac. Thanks again for sharing all this with us mere mortals.

@Mac about the gilding according to the "Leibrüstkammer I" the A62 has gilded brass edges. Yellow rivets and partly original buckles made of gilded brass. The A60 on the other hand has "only" brass edges.
Since the brass edges on the A62 are gilded I guess that the rivets for mounting the edges on the plates were gilded as well. Otherwise you'd see a small difference, if you are a nitpicky emperor....

I always thought the A5 (Aragons armour) has gilded rivets on the tassets. But I can't find infos right now whether they are gilded or only brass caped.... Weren't there some finds of armour with gilded rivet heads.... I believe there are, I'll take a look into it.

Mac wrote:

Olivier L-Beaulieu wrote:Mac,

Why are you using round wahers instead of hand made washers? Do we have evidence of the use of round wahers in the 15th century?

That's an interesting question. I don't think we have much evidence for round washers in the 15th C., but I have seen some on 16 C and later armor that seemed to be original.

I'm using round washers for two reasons. The first is flat out laziness. I have round washers that are the right size and thickness, and it very convenient to use them. The other reason is that I just don't like octagonal washers. The corners are sharp and catch on clothing and skin.

We all draw our lines of authenticity in different places, and what might be "authentic enough" for one project may not cut it for another. In general, though, I want armor to look right on the outside and function nicely on the inside. I'm not trying to fool anyone.

Even on those occasions where I am trying to make a "replica".... like a part to replace a missing one on an antique, I don't make much effort to make the insides "convincing". In my ideal universe, a replica fools the experts until they look inside, and then the game is over and everyone knows it's modern. This seems the most honorable and scholarly path.

Mac

Some of us applaud you for the line you draw.

Thanks.

Making the inside of pieces "look more like the old ones" is definitely sliding down a slippery slope.

Recreation of pieces can be a great way to study, learn and have a lot of fun.
Restoration, if done well, helps conserve, protect, and improve displays.
Faking... doesn't do any of us any good. I may be more affected by it than many here, but even if you don't plan to buy things, it pollutes the pool of learning examples.

The teeny bits of restoration I do are definitely kept far away from the faking line, and everything I have seen from you does the same.

Wade

I wondered about the gilt rivets on the Ferdinand of Aragon armour! I had not heard of this process for making rivets with iron shafts and brass heads before. Piotr just had a manufacturer make some larger-than-usual mushroom-headed brass rivets for my harness.

Signo wrote:C'mon guys, the one that must not be nominated is a long time memory... it seems is disappeared from the www.

In jokes are fun ...

He Who Shall Not be Named was before my time, but it seems to me that he claimed to have been armouring since the 1960s. Since his site is down, he may have gone to join the majority.

Sean M wrote:I wondered about the gilt rivets on the Ferdinand of Aragon armour! I had not heard of this process for making rivets with iron shafts and brass heads before. Piotr just had a manufacturer make some larger-than-usual mushroom-headed brass rivets for my harness.

Capped iron rivets is definitely the authentic way to go. I took a few pictures of some of my old ones:

http://www.allenantiques.com/rivets.html

Those aren't the top of the art form.. .but they seem pretty typical. I should re-shoot with better lighting and camera someday.

Wade

Mac wrote:

Olivier L-Beaulieu wrote:Mac,

Why are you using round wahers instead of hand made washers? Do we have evidence of the use of round wahers in the 15th century?

That's an interesting question. I don't think we have much evidence for round washers in the 15th C., but I have seen some on 16 C and later armor that seemed to be original.

I'm using round washers for two reasons. The first is flat out laziness. I have round washers that are the right size and thickness, and it very convenient to use them. The other reason is that I just don't like octagonal washers. The corners are sharp and catch on clothing and skin.

We all draw our lines of authenticity in different places, and what might be "authentic enough" for one project may not cut it for another. In general, though, I want armor to look right on the outside and function nicely on the inside. I'm not trying to fool anyone.

Even on those occasions where I am trying to make a "replica".... like a part to replace a missing one on an antique, I don't make much effort to make the insides "convincing". In my ideal universe, a replica fools the experts until they look inside, and then the game is over and everyone knows it's modern. This seems the most honorable and scholarly path.

Olivier L-Beaulieu wrote:Also, are the rivets you are using have been gilded or not at this time?

Are you asking whether I have gilt these rivets?.. I have.

Or, are you asking if it's an authentic practice in the 15th C to gild rivet?... I'm not really sure.

I suspect that the authentic thing is polished brass caps. I am gilding these so that they stay shiny and don't need as much maintenance.

Mac

Thanks for your explanation. We have two different views and I am able to understand your view. To make it short, all armour I made have hand made washers (to look like the real ones). But, my armour is not authentic on many ways. Like you said, we draw our line of authenticity at different places.

How did you gilt the rivets on this armour? Maybe I missed a point.

Olivier L-Beaulieu wrote:


How did you gilt the rivets on this armour? Maybe I missed a point.

I may not have mentioned it. It's the least authentic method possible.... electroplating with a felt-tip pen.

Mac

Peter Spätling wrote:@Mac about the gilding according to the "Leibrüstkammer I" the A62 has gilded brass edges. Yellow rivets and partly original buckles made of gilded brass. The A60 on the other hand has "only" brass edges.
Since the brass edges on the A62 are gilded I guess that the rivets for mounting the edges on the plates were gilded as well. Otherwise you'd see a small difference, if you are a nitpicky emperor....

I always thought the A5 (Aragons armour) has gilded rivets on the tassets. But I can't find infos right now whether they are gilded or only brass caped.... Weren't there some finds of armour with gilded rivet heads.... I believe there are, I'll take a look into it.

Thanks for this information, Peter!

Mac

While I'm waiting for the guys at Metlab to tell me my parts are ready, I have started in on the lining for the bevor.

This is my first third attempt at a paper template. It does not include any of the allowances for seams or hems.



Here is what that looks like with the allowances added. Note that I am going to arrange for the neck to be on the bias so that I can stretch the fabric around the flange.



The pattern is pinned down to two layers of fabric. There will need to be two of these, for a total of four panels.



The two center seams are sewn up and the two layers are sewn together and ready to be turned and test fitted.



The upper edge ended up about 5/8" too long on each side, so I will make some changes. All in all, its better that it be a bit too big than a bit too small.



Here are the changes that I made to the template and to the lining.



All the new edges are trimmed and clipped and ready to be turned right side in and pressed.



I like this a lot better. It's still probably too long in the neck, but I can trim that as needed later.



The next step will be to put in a layer of cotton batting and quilt it in place. That's always trickier than it has any right to be. I wish I had a clever idea about getting my batting in place that did not involve any extra bulk. In the past, I have tried catching the batting up in a seam befofe turning the assembly, but that makes the seam too thick.

Mac

Regarding photos...

I agreed with Mac right back in 2007 that when the armour was finished, I would return to Philadelphia to collect it in person, not least so that he could take some photos. We are tentatively thinking this might happen in May, but, many reading this will have greater appreciation than I that there is still a lot to be done, even now, so nothing definite has been arranged yet.

Despite this, I have booked a remote, largely 13th c. holiday cottage in Suffolk (this is in the rural east of England, some way to the north east of London, for those not well acquainted with English geography. The nearest town is Bury St. Edmunds) for the end of June. Quite simply, if I hadn't booked it months in advance, I wouldn't have got it (fortunately, I like going there anyway!), and the plan is to take some photos there, this time accompanied by the weaponry that Craig Johnson of Arms & Armor has been making to complement what Mac has been doing. I have put some thought into this, and I am a half decent photographer - some of my pictures have appeared in national newspapers and on calendars. However, I would be the first to accept that I am not a professional. In fact, to be quite honest, the question of employing a professional photographer had just never occurred to me! Perhaps that might be necessary if my own efforts fall short - however, the context is important, I think, and the mediaeval atmosphere of this place will not easily be found elsewhere.

I wasn't entirely sure what you had in mind about 'seeing it in action' - but I will do what I can within reason to satisfy any requests!

By the way, I'm pretty impressed too at the way it is turning out - especially now that it has been blackened - as I have told Mac in a recent phone call we had to settle some minor questions (mainly the colour of the straps).

A.P.

Mac wrote:The next step will be to put in a layer of cotton batting and quilt it in place. That's always trickier than it has any right to be. I wish I had a clever idea about getting my batting in place that did not involve any extra bulk. In the past, I have tried catching the batting up in a seam befofe turning the assembly, but that makes the seam too thick.

Mac

I noticed too that cutting the batting and placing the different shapes and layers is a bother. When I made my blue doublet I placed the batting atop the lining, pinned it, basted it in place, removed the pins, placed the interlining and the facing, pinned all the layers, and quilted. Then I sewed the different units together and finished the seams. Someone who was really keen could try historical methods with raw cotton ... Jessica Finley has been experimenting with them, and with tools to speed up the work.

Bowing Cotton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2bRwwymKPA
Quilt frame to hold the work (stuffed with batting) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy3WuNr ... e=youtu.be

Album of the quilting with raw cotton: warning, facebook! https://www.facebook.com/fuhlendesigns/ ... 0597162417

Oh... the question is: do you want to handquilt or Machine quilt? Because you could totally just stuff it... and then use a heavy duty sewing machine to stomp over it to do the quilting.