The Armour Archive

I didnt make those plates, I hired a fellow to make the die and stamp them for me.
All I do is box them up and hand over a check for several thousand dollars.
I dont realy see Knuuts manufacturing as my buisness, but his hand I believe is in every piece even with his overseas help.
While aventails can be made buy just about anyone, welding them is not something that can be done by just anyone.
Spotwelding maile like that requires a near sterile enviorment.
I know because I have a spotwelder, and a big bag of flat wire stainless links and getting a decent weld in my dirty shop is beyond difficult.

I had a nice long reply but it got ate so I will post a simple reply.

I can teach a monkey to weld Mild, Stainless, or Aluminium. I do not know what it takes to weld Ti. I have found that clean metal welds the best and that if you put a lacquer soaked rag under your fellow workers as they weld something funny will happen...... ***Don'T try this at home***

I just hate to see his business run with little or no communication. Its a void waiting to be filled by somebody. I want a Stainless or Ti shirt from him myself but when I have the money I cant get a hold of him.

Thor.

I can weld alot of materials as well, but using a spot welder on stainless rings is a pain.
In order to get a decent weld I had to clean each ring individually with laquer thinner.
If Knuut had a shirt available, or time to make one you would have it.
I suppose his site should read like mine (I am not accepting comissions at this time)
You are correct though, if there is more need for maile than Knuut can supply then there is room for another maker, but there is the snag, there are other makers, Indian maile is everywhere, what people want is maile from Knuut so if someone wants a piece of his action they need to make as nice a product.
There is a wait list for a Bugatti as well
I have had people who wanted a helm from me and had the money only to find I am not taking comissions, they buy a helm elsewhere and then 5 weeks later I have a slot open up and they are irritated.
It sucks, and it happens in a cottage industy.
I could take everyones comissions and end up balls deep in a backlog and have to go into hiding like some have done.

You overlook the obvious.....Clone yourself

Thor.

P.S. the mention of you not making the plates was not an attack on you. I love my Lamella. Thank you.

Thorstenn wrote:You overlook the obvious.....Clone yourself

Thor.

P.S. the mention of you not making the plates was not an attack on you. I love my Lamella. Thank you.

I didnt think it was. I dont think I could handle a clone of me, id think i was a dick

This is a rant:

I try to stay out of Knut's business, simply because I don't get paid to be in his business. He is an artist who has forgotten more about mail than I could ever want to know, probably in a month. He is also a non tech guy who doesn't *get* that people expect immediate answers, and measures his responses in an entirely different measure than most of us. If it is in stock on his web site, he will ship it as soon as it gets ordered. What he won't do is walk you through the purchase and reassure you about it. When he does custom work, he is just as hard to get in contact with, and that can be very frustrating, but his hourly rate is obscenely low.

He works a hard job all day, making mail afterwards and trying to find family time. He is in his sixties, and has told me "I can make chainmail or I can answer email." He makes chainmail. If that bothers you alot, buy some riveted mail and thanks for looking. The fact is that his welded mail is the single best product for our sport. While he has workers overseas assemble parts of his stuff in a shop run by his wife's family, he invented the process, maintains the machines, and personally works on every single item he sells. It would drive me nuts in a day to do what he does, so I am willing to support him as well as I can, which includes selling his shirts at no profit to myself, and answering emails from people who know I can contact him.

As to the HUGE TI market, the facts of the matter are quite different. I have carried shirts around with us for years before finding buyers, the price tag IS substantial and it isn't something people buy on a whim. In addition, the capital investment is substantial in an exotic metal like titanium. He has to buy a certain grade of wire, in a certain size, for his process, so he can't hit the surplus yard to pick up his material, it has to be bought in huge quantities to get a price he can work with.

Everyone would like to own a TI shirt, but at Indian prices, of course. Knut's prices are awesome considering what goes into his shirts, and he has huge competition from any number of foreign makers of mail. I believe he does ALL the TI work himself, because the metal is too expensive for him to take chances of it disappearing. The fact that he can produce a shirt in an exotic metal that will pretty much NEVER fail for $2000 is astounding.

I like to see mail at events, but let's not lose sight of the fact that the only way it is affordable enough for us to wear a riveted shirt is having the labour done by people who are paid, literally, a few dollars a day.

If we paid what he was worth, he might have time to answer his email...

Amen !

Thanks for posting that Johannes. Definetely needed to be said.

I think the Master Knut thing is kind of a tangent that's distracting us from the main point of the discussion that's developed in this thread. Personally, I applaud Master Knut for at least making the effort to fill part of this niche. No one else seems to be.

But I see the real problem as being there is a Demand that outweighs the Supply. Obviously one guy alone can't meet the list, and there seems to be pretty much no one else out there even offering the option. I'd say we're rather spoiled, but in this day and age where we can usually go online, find what we want usually even where armor is concerned, put in our credit card and voila, the complete lack of availability leaves many people shaking their heads.

As far as the market question goes, no, you will never sell as many TI hauberks as you might sell cheaper SS or what have you. But that's kind of like comparing the sales of a Lamborghini or a Ferrari to those of a Ford Focus or Honda Accord. Sure, the numbers will be higher for the cheaper cars, but every year the prestige dealers crank out a new lot, and there are buyers who are waiting. Same thing for the TI maille. It's rather a rare item that not everyone will be interested in simply because of the prohibitive cost.

But on the other hand, I count at least 14 posters who piped up in this thread saying they were looking for TI maille, and that's not including the OP's statement in the original post about "knowing others who were also interested" or something to that effect.

I have nothing of substance to add to this thread - but I would like to say that I have nothing but respect for Knuut and his work. It's his business, and he can run it how he pleases.

I have a Ti aventail from him, and it arrived on time via an order from his website. It merely disconcerting to get no email response, but in the end, product arrived in a very reasonable time.

Holeeeee .. put a simple request for some gear and start of a firestorm ... sheesh.

Suppose I should weigh in a tad on this. Don't get me wrong I love the good Master's work. I have a pair of his SS aventails (both mounted on my helms, back point bascinet and italio-normal punched visor). I've also got a Ti long and widened aventail (that will most likely replace the SS on the bascinet to match the habergeon).

Yes I do feel there is a market for this, look at the # of people that would love these along with the batch that placed the initial orders two years ago and are waiting along with me. But then again it is the 'high end' SCA armour and not everyone will need it (i.e. leather demi-gauntlets or cuisses). There is a different type of market for these. Yeah you wouldn't be selling thousands of them, but there is a good steady request for them and as the Society ages and some of us find we have much less time to produce things ourselves but more funds to support others doing the research, investment and labour to produce these.

Could I do this, yeah it's not beyond me. But then again I'm paid to know how to set up, configure and maintain Cisco routers and switches and a very very large voip system. My time is spent learning more and more on it and getting better and better at fixing and expanding it versus learning welding, metallurgy and researching what styles and patterns crossed the years. One of the great things my first mentors in the Society had me do is work on making most of my first harness. Through the years I've made more of it and it give me all the more appreciation for the work that goes into these from the research to the forming and the fitting.

But .. there is always the 'but' ... this is something I wanted for my particular harness and to build upon it. I have so much time in my life to spend, some of it is claimed for my career and income, some for my family and raising our lil' one, and some of it for my personal development and hobbies that I put into this.

I suppose I could put the funds into tweaking my computer (already running with a MacPro) or with a finer house (but enjoying where we are at and just got done remodeling the heating/cooling system and bathroom) or maybe even a finer car (but really do enjoy my 13 yo full sized GMC truck with new engine and it's sheer hauling/muddin' ability); but these are funds I have left over after filling out my 401k ... my wife is a tenured professor and department chair at the local college ... and this is my 2nd career. We are a different type of client and I believe Sir Logan touched on some of this. There is a client base out here. It will buy up these and continue to buy more and trade/barter between us and our newcomers for what's already out there. Some want the heat treaded spring and the stainless spring along with the Ti gear, especially the ones that are done up all the closer to historically correct. My first addiction was holding the heat treated spring face visor that Krieger delivered to me at Pennsic that he and Patrick Thaden made ... I still feel the price they charged for it was to low for the piece of art they produced and fitted to my helm. It's one of my most beloved pieces of armour. Then there are the fitted sabeton that Halberds made for me. They are every bit as loved as the pattern welded sword that we have from Salamander armoury.

None of this happened overnight. I started out with sport gear hidden under a muslin fighting tunic I made, a kilt and wool leg wraps to hide my catcher shin guards. Over time I tweaked things hear and there .. now I'm tweaking it again.

As for competition to the good Master K .. well yeah, I'm sure someone could but they'd have to do it full time to fill the orders and would most likely need a good investment to get 'into the game' of Ti welding on a steady scale for flattened rings. If someone wants to step up to the bat, I'm sure there is a market, but it would be like someone stepping into the muscle car market in Detroit ... do-able but plan on some pretty finicky customers with cash and demands.

Well it arrived. Fits nicely over my larger gambeson and every better over my Klaus 'Charles du Blois' arming coat. Shipping weight was 12#. Will most likely put a leather edge along the collar but the welded copper dagging on the sleeves and hem are a nice touch. This along with Murdock's harness being built should help with the 'look' for the CotT. Now to get off my but and get the order in for a proper banner and a proper period heralic surcoat.

I don't know anything about this merchant cause I'm a broke college student but I found a "fetish" chainmail site that lists welded stainless shirts and in the item description it had titanium as an option.
Might be worth checking out.

http://www.apocalypsecreations.ca/chainmail/fetish.html#shirts

They are using the same ring size I use, but instead of seaming the sheets of mesh (it comesin 14" wide strips) with welded rings they use butted rings, which will fall apart over time or when significant stress is applied (usually at the seams), and are charging a few $100 higher than I would.

-Ben

Iain,

Would love to see some pics, and if you've had the experience of fighting steel chain before, would also love to hear a comparison between the two.

Will try to get some from this upcoming weekends event (Baronial Border War (Midrealm, Livonia, MI) will need to start getting used to the 12 # add'l weight of harness. If possible will try to put up a shade, table, benches and drink/shade for others in transitional/full harness that would like to step out and do some longsword/poleaxe challenges ...

apocaylpse creations will not weld a Ti shirt.
None of the other vendors of Ti rings or fabric (even WELDED fabric) will make a 5/16" ID shirt (or any other shirt for that matter).

One of them mentioned that you have to weld Ti in a non-nitrogen atmosphere... In a plex. box with waldos?