Lemallera armour

Tarquin Bjornsson · Post by **Tarquin Bjornsson** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 5:57 pm

What gauges can i get away with? i see people making them out of 20 gauge don't they just dent to hell under SCA blows when they are that thin? also what is the best to use for lacing?

white mountain armoury · Wed Aug 28, 2002 6:11 pm

Mine are 20 ga and im quite happy with them, they overlap some so there is some added thickness there.
I have a friend who fights in a 16 ga globose breastplate and it looks like hell compared to my 20 ga ss lamellar

Tarquin Bjornsson · Post by **Tarquin Bjornsson** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 9:52 am

I would still luike to know a little more about it please

Effingham · Post by **Effingham** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 12:01 pm

It all depends entirely on what the metal you're using is, and the size of the scale, and the specific type of armour you're intending to make.

What are you wanting to make?

Effingham

Tarquin Bjornsson · Post by **Tarquin Bjornsson** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 2:03 pm

torso back and shoulders

pavlovsdog · Post by **pavlovsdog** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 5:37 pm

I would also like to know more about lamellar. A friend of mine wants to make some, being the only alternative to maille for dorm room construction.

Effingham · Post by **Effingham** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 7:17 pm

Ummm... I'm not talking about what you're trying to protect.

I'm asking what you're trying to make.

Byzantine? Norman? Chinese? Roman? Other? All those are different; different methods of construction, design, suspension, size, etc. There is no such thing as "generic armour" in all but the most slap-dash constructions.

Maybe it's just me, but I believe in research first to come up with a plan, and then working out the details.

Effingham

Christophe de Frisselle · Thu Aug 29, 2002 10:00 pm

Anyone have an pictures of completed suits?

I'd be interested in any Norman styles or references.

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Fri Aug 30, 2002 7:52 am

Yeah, dittos on needing to know what style (time period and location) you're interested in, and what material you plan to use.

I currently have 18ga aluminum plates in my lamellar that work well. They do bend on occasion, but the deflection is tolerable.

I plan on using spring steel sometime, in the next decade

Will use 22 ga for that.

Tarquin Bjornsson · Post by **Tarquin Bjornsson** » Fri Aug 30, 2002 8:37 am

some early period cletic or closest to it (maybe roman or norman?)

Bojei Temur · Post by **Bojei Temur** » Fri Aug 30, 2002 11:32 am

European lammelar research I can't help with - if you're interested in Byzantine & eastern styles go to Norman's silk road designs armoury or the red kaganate pages for online info.

For european, find someone with a copy of the (new) Wisby book and look at their information.

As previously said, gage on lammellar depends on the material (hot or cold rolled, stainless, spring, etc) and your construction methods. In lammelar using the Birka plates they're laced edge to edge so you have small, overlapping ridges. In many eastern styles the plates are overlapped vertically by as much as 50% (rows hang loosely rather than being bound edge to edge) so you can use a lot lighter gage.

I'm working on an eastern harness (50% overlap) using 18 & 20 gage plates. I've tested it and it's definately not bending with impact. With the overlap I probably could have dropped a couple of gages.

I'm going offline in about an hour and won't be back online until 9/16. Email me then if you have more questions.

BTW, you can make a coat of plates in your dorm room - I did

(I also dished my first set of knees in my dorm room - very understanding neigbors.)

I'll get pictures of the 9,764 hole project up when I get back - everythings together except the arms. Of, course, after the Pennsic archive gathering I've got armor envy .... I've started to research eastern metallurgy and technology to see if the plates might have been hardened somehow....

[This message has been edited by Bojei Temur (edited 08-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Bojei Temur (edited 08-30-2002).]