I discovered some things I had forgotten

[freiman the minstrel]

(caveat, I am not an armorer, just a long time SCA fighter who has a space in which to do the work to keep his gear in order)

The worst part of having newbies over to work on armor in your shop is the ones who know better than you about what they want to do, like the guy who really, really wants a sheet of 1/8th inch stainless on the face of his sheild.

The second worst part is what your shop looks like after four or five guys have been banging away on their gear for a few hours.

The best part is sitting around in the shop when you are all done, drinking a beer and telling lies, and looking at what you did that day.

Been way too long...

f

[Rannulf from York]

Try talking someone out of ordering a lochhaber axe head out of 3/8 plate with minimal grinding on it. (And he wants it so he can carry it around. )I've still got it in my garage, and he was very happy with the one that I made put of 1/4 plate and reduced the weight on. ( He still paid for both though.) I miss having serrious people over to do armor. I keep getting a lot of posers, who you know will never were the armor past the first fight practice.

[Kilkenny]

The worst part of having newbies over to work on armor in your shop is the ones who know better than you about what they want to do, like the guy who really, really wants a sheet of 1/8th inch stainless on the face of his sheild.
f

Making an eight inch diameter buckler, is he ?

Or he could be a mutant like my knight. Aelfwine used to fight with a round we would all swear began life as a manhole cover

Ok, I exaggerate - but a 24 inch round that weighs over 15 pounds ? It was a monster shield, and at least ten percent of his body mass.

Gavin

[Dierick]

ah, I miss the days when I was an uninformed noob and never had to do research because I already knew everything... :p

[freiman the minstrel]

No, no, no. I expressed myself badly again.

I am now on my second day of getting folk in gear, and I am still having a good time. I do need to push a broom around in my shop for a while, and make sure that the punches and drill bits get back where they need to be, but I am having a great time.

Tomorrow is the last day that I will have the two folks who are staying here with me, but I am pretty sure that there will be one completely suited up new fighter leaving, and one vastly improved rig going away. The trick, as somebody told me earlier this month, is to teach them to fish, so to speak. Give them good instructions, hand them the tools, spend a second thinking about the way that they might break you tool, and caution them against it, and then leave them alone until they need help again. Takes too much energy otherwise.

Saturday, I have two more coming back who did work this past weekend. I will be fencing, and if I have gotten the work done that I think I will have, heavy training of two brand spanking new fighters and one slightly used one. Of course, two of them are moving to Ft Rucker, but still....

It's really wierd. For six months, nobody has given me a peep, now, my shop is full, almost constantly.

And I am having a good time, which is a little surprising.

The best part is sitting around after working, drinking beer, and telling stories that start with the usual phrase.

f