The Armour Archive

I am looking at commissioning a full set of 16C arms in the near future and so far the only armourer I've found who makes that style only works in mild. However he is open to working in 4130 should I supply it. so at this juncture I am either looking for someone who could make me a set of arms, or who could heat treat some for me.

What style?

And why on Earth is he telling you to supply him with 4130?? I'm not following this anonymous armourer's thinking one bit.

4130 steel yields good heat treatment results, it just needs different parameters than 1050. Your merchant just may not want to be bothered to pay for the materials himself for experimental work for just one customer. Max Engel of Northstar Armoury was cranking out some decent 4130 product for a while (we've collaborated on some spaulders), but he got his stuff done by piggybacking on big kiln loads at an industrial facility. I don't know what his business is like these days.

You might also talk to Cet at Vulcan's Forge / RFTH, or Jeff Wasson.

Klaus

Konstantin the Red wrote:What style?

And why on Earth is he telling you to supply him with 4130?? I'm not following this anonymous armourer's thinking one bit.

just to clarify, I already have some .040& .050 sheet 4130, the armourer normally only works in mild. so my intention was to supply spring stock& have them heat treated.

I work in 1050 and can treat and temper, but my queue is full til mid-fall.

If you have someone do them for you in the spring of your choice, though they cant temper, I could offer my services there, if needed.

Out of curiousity, what style 16th C?

May I suggest AREMAC heat treaters in City of Industry CA. (http://www.aremac.com/)
They have done very well on my projects. Bolt your pieces together completely finished. (Polished finish) They will salt quench them and you will get back a "blued" version of what you send them. (No scale)
If you rivet pieces together, they will oil quench. Also no scale, but a greater chance of warpage.
They have a batch charge that is $150-$200 I think. A batch being one alloy and whatever the kiln will handle. (example: 3-4 helmets).

Kenwrec Wulfe wrote:I work in 1050 and can treat and temper, but my queue is full til mid-fall.

If you have someone do them for you in the spring of your choice, though they cant temper, I could offer my services there, if needed.

Out of curiousity, what style 16th C?

here is what the armourer makes.


here is a different style fan [img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/AMizener/Armour/Plate87-Black-and-WhiteThree-Quarte.png[/img]

this style is pretty common for late period armour there may slight variation, but it remains pretty consistant





this is one of Wade Allens



they even come in different sizes


that being said this is another type of arm defense I have thought about.




all these images& about 700 more here
http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s294/russell_smith93/historical%20armour/

I've been doing a lot of Max's heat treating for him over the last year or two. I'm not as fancy as the place Chris recommended, though I imagine I'd also be cheaper. My process does leave you with scale to clean up.

Clermont wrote:I've been doing a lot of Max's heat treating for him over the last year or two. I'm not as fancy as the place Chris recommended, though I imagine I'd also be cheaper. My process does leave you with scale to clean up.

what all can you do? what else can you do?

The biggest pieces I can do are breast plates and cuisses. With the thicknesses of the pieces you're suggesting there's not a lot of chance of warping, but you might prefer to brace them just in case. Unless you're jousting or doing very high contact fighting you could probably get away with thinner material. I use .032 4130 for my vambraces and haven't had them dent yet.

Clermont wrote:The biggest pieces I can do are breast plates and cuisses. With the thicknesses of the pieces you're suggesting there's not a lot of chance of warping, but you might prefer to brace them just in case. Unless you're jousting or doing very high contact fighting you could probably get away with thinner material. I use .032 4130 for my vambraces and haven't had them dent yet.

so what you are saying is that 040 4130 should survive reasonably well in calontir (great weapon central)?

I've been fighting pole most of the time for the last year or so and had no problems with 0.032. The stuff will dent occasionally, though less so than the 16 gauge stainless I used to use. The exact temper makes a difference too. I can make it anywhere along the spectrum from quite soft or very hard. The harder it gets the more prone to cracking it might be, but it can be very dent resistant, like glass or a razor blade. The softer it is, the tougher it is- like a pick axe.

I'd say .04 4130 should survive well in any of the harder hitting kingdoms fighting in any style.