Minor Happenings in the land of Otto's Armoury

[Otto]

Just a few minor ramblings about armour related things from somewhat disjointed mind of Otto.

I fixed the main problem with my half-guantlets. When flexed too far forward, you could force them to gap. By curving the upper and lower edge of the wrist plate upward slighlty and curving the corresponding edges of the cuff and metacarpal plates downward (just a little) you make a lock point so the articulation can't over-rotate and gap... I was happy with this... I still want to re-do my half-guant design, but this is OK for now and I have added them back to my site.

On another topic... I found, today, that I had to re-calibrate (change some settings) on my mig welder to deal with the colder weather (I'm in Michigan). I had to up the wire speed and the heat level some... but suprisingly, the weld quality seemed better than what I normally get during summer. I really should find a way to get proper training in welding.

I'd swear there was a third subject I was going to ramble about... but it seems to have slipped from my feeble mind.

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Otto's Armoury
(home of one HIGHLY overworked armourer!) http://www.members.tripod.com/SBvast

[Pheylin Quinn]

Otto:

Most community colleges, in my area anyway, have decent and cheap welding courses. Pretty much any type of welding you need to learn, also.

Some even go so far as to offer certifications.

Might be an option.

[Otto]

I don't need certification... just want to improve my basic skills with my mig welder. Right now, I will only do basic basket hilt/shield basket welding. I've done a couple of helms with welding... they were sturdy, but I was not impressed with the quality... also, I don't weld bar-grills on helms due to appearance reasons.

I'd like to rectify that.

[Pheylin Quinn]

The classes I have taken in the past focussed on familiarity with the equipment, advanced techniques and, most importantly, weld quality. You can get it all in a 2 month course.

Of course, there is the old trial and error method (over and over and over).

Certification was an OPTION invloving a seperate exam by a certification board indepedent of the school.

[Otto]

Trial and error huh? Does the fact that I've been an active armourer since about 1985 but never had any training qualify?

[Otto]

Now Pheylin... are you going to annoy me by trying to regularly sell armour at events in my local area? I've had the Michigan area pretty much to myself for the past decade (give or take)...

In all seriousness, someone else selling would be a welcome addition since my armour tends to be pretty basic stuff.