The Armour Archive

What are folks doing for finials? I have a new tent and need 24. A bit pricey for curtain parts. Fence stuff is a little less but still adds up. I have access to a lathe but no duplicator. Might not be the medieval aesthetic bit I want them to match, just anal that way. Thanks in advance.

Jon

Jon wrote:What are folks doing for finials? I have a new tent and need 24. A bit pricey for curtain parts. Fence stuff is a little less but still adds up. I have access to a lathe but no duplicator. Might not be the medieval aesthetic bit I want them to match, just anal that way. Thanks in advance.

Jon

I cut mine from the top of the head and foot board of a bed that had been thrown out.

I don't put finials on wall polls just the top.

http://www.craftparts.com/spindles-fini ... 9_161.html
http://www.bearwood.com/FINIALS.HTML

I have not done business with either of these vendors. I just searched for CRAFT WOODEN FINIALS.

Are your poles already constructed? If not, could you extend the length of the metal rod at the top of the pole to accept a pennant? If you have poles constructed already, perhaps you could do the same with a pennant on a dowel rod that has a hole drilled in the end to accept the metal spike at the top of the pole.

I have no idea of the historical accuracy of such a setup.

Jon wrote:What are folks doing for finials? I have a new tent and need 24. A bit pricey for curtain parts. Fence stuff is a little less but still adds up. I have access to a lathe but no duplicator. Might not be the medieval aesthetic bit I want them to match, just anal that way. Thanks in advance.

Jon

LOL. You don't need a duplicator. You need practice.

Make up a story stick (as simple as a piece of cardboard) that has 1/2 of your finished finial on it (like it's bisected directly down the middle).

Mark out your transitions and dimensions. Turn something round, transfer the lines, part to depths, and finish turn it.

The first, like, three will be a pain in the ass. After that, they'll get uniform, and besides, you really won't notice unless they are WILDLY different anyway.

Went to Menards (like Home Depot) and picked up a couple of their wooden fence tops (I got the round ones, but an thinking of changing to the Acorn shaped ones) - took out the screw, drilled it a bit deeper, painted them gold and they work like a charm.

Lloyd wrote:Went to Menards (like Home Depot) and picked up a couple of their wooden fence tops (I got the round ones, but an thinking of changing to the Acorn shaped ones) - took out the screw, drilled it a bit deeper, painted them gold and they work like a charm.

I did the same thing. Works great, costs nothing.

My husband did some research about finials and even did some statistics. There really are very few styles they used, 90% are variations on orbs: orb right at top - no flag pole, orb on cone, orb on top of flag, orb below flag. Sometimes the orb is a bit flattened (squished looking), sometimes has a horizontal ring, sometimes has leaf carvings.

http://home.adelphi.edu/sbloch/sca/tents/pictures/
http://www.currentmiddleages.org/tents/

Some are just plain roof caps with a flagpole:
http://www.greydragon.org/pavilions/basel.html

http://www.premierwood.com/wooden-ball.asp
http://www.craftparts.com/balls-ball-kn ... 7_279.html

A studded leather cap with one of these balls attached and a dowel for a flag would look pretty good.

A friend picked up a bunch for dirt cheap on eBay.

I got some when I ordered my tent from Panther. They were tiny and look ridiculous on my pavilion.

Now I just use rubber washers under the ropes and it keeps dripping out.

Still looking into getting some bigger ones as it would make it a little nicer.