question about steel

Whitetre · Post by **Whitetre** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:02 pm

I ended up with a 5x5 sheet of 14g hot rolled steel... is 14g generally considered too heavy for most pieces of SCA armor? should i reserve this stuff for any particular parts? cops? breastplate? helmet?

any thoughts on the general composition/weight of a 15th century harness would be appreciated!

As always, thanks.

-j

losthelm · Post by **losthelm** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:08 pm

14 guage is the standard for most helms. .125 is the minimum standard at about 16 guage but the metal will thin a bit when working and finishing the helm.
usualy the rest of is a little bit lighter depending on local calibration and how much strain/abuse the armour goes through.
Knee cops are often 14 or 16 guage due to knee walking and fighting from the knees.

lordeduffy · Post by **lordeduffy** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:11 pm

the only thing i could venture for 14g steel would be a helmet (but then i haven't made any armor yet (my helm is bought :12g top 14 sides)if it is 5x5 feet then i would guess you could make a helm or two
(purely guesstimations tho)

but i would guess it is much heavier than really needed for just about anything else..
(again ^^^the above^^^ is pure educated guesstimation)

just figured i would post to see if i could help you

Chris G. · Post by **Chris G.** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:37 pm

losthelm wrote:14 guage is the standard for most helms. .125 is the minimum standard at about 16 guage but the metal will thin a bit when working and finishing the helm.
usualy the rest of is a little bit lighter depending on local calibration and how much strain/abuse the armour goes through.
Knee cops are often 14 or 16 guage due to knee walking and fighting from the knees.

Not quite, the standard is 0.0625 (i.e. nothing thinner than), which is 1/16th of an inch. This used to be what 16 ga came in, but due to a variety of reasons, you can be guaranteed it will be thinner, especially once you form it. I believe the nominal thickness for new 16ga is 0.0598.

0.125 would be an 1/8 of an inch, very hefty stuff.

You have 14ga hot rolled, so it probably has a good coating of mill scale. I've had good luck with my 16 ga knee cops I made several years ago from some cold rolled. After you shape them, starting from 14ga would give you a good bit of material that you could sand away to give yourself a good finish and still be plenty thick for SCA use.

You could also use it for making helms, but for that purpose, I would recommend removing as little as possible to achieve your finish. But that will depend on what techniques you use to form it to. If you were to raise it, chances are you would have plenty of metal there for more sanding. Let your micrometers be your guide.