The Armour Archive

Frank Anthony

Alex, great observation. They look exactly like palm fronds.

Nkante, a quick google image search showed these to be Igbo peoples. Is this correct? It seems there are many types of palm in the Nigeria area, many of which seem common enough that you could find them in the states.

Frank Anthony

It also looks like it could be 2 or 3 thin pieces of rattan covered by a wide strip of rawhide/leather and woven that way. So many possibilities that could work.

Frank Anthony

It kind of looks more like woven birch bark to me. Well...maybe not birch bark but you could probably use that as a local substitute. It's strong enough for canoes! I'm curious about what the back looks like. Any pictures of the backs. It does look like pretty simple construction from the front but ...

Frank Anthony

I had metal shop when I was in 7th grade. Our project was a tool box with a lock and a tray riveted together with a few welds with oxy-acetylene. The only thing that wasn't taught was dishing. If you do a great helm it should be quite simple enough for them to do in the time allowed. If you give the...

Frank Anthony

Do a search for latchet bow:

youtube.com/watch?v=tW4lYh8Yg38

I'm not sure of the exact time frame, and I know they are for less powerful bows for civil defense but the coolest integrated devise in my opinion.

Frank Anthony

These photos were on my phone so im not sure if the quality is so good but you should be able to google them. As a disclaimer, the drawings in my first post are not mine.

I don't seem to have a finished photo on my phone.

Edit because I can't upload the photo.

Frank Anthony

Here are some drawings that I based mine off of although I just used my own arm for measurements.

Frank Anthony

As far as artwork is concerned, are we including the Vendel helm plaques? Or are they too early? Dan did specify 9th to 11th century but they are the first thing I can think of as far as artwork goes.

Frank Anthony

My wife graduated Latin/ Antic Greek form Istanbul Universitisi, so I'll show her this. BTW her mom lives just next to Yenikapı. How cool!

Frank Anthony

When was the helmet purchased? Have you considered that the timing of this post plus a week or two correspondence between Matt and his customer means that it could have been a Halloween "rental. We haven't seen in this post when the helmet was shipped or when they had a said they had a problem with ...

Frank Anthony

Just started looking at your facebook page. You've got some great photos. Keep up the good work.

Frank Anthony

@ mathew ant. Thanks for the information. I know that the differences are in the details. I had just been curious.

Frank Anthony

One thing I've always wondered, but haven't heard brought up, is that while I've heard the helmet compared to the roman ridge helms, I've always thought it looked more like a much earlier imperial galic helmet with a face plate added and decorated. What is the reason I never heard this brought up? T...

Frank Anthony

Sallet is sold

Frank Anthony

The inside circumference is 25" max. You may want a padded coif or something for your head it was really too big for me but then so are most helms.

Frank Anthony

I'm editing this since it was brought to my attention that kultofathena has a very similar helmet at a similar price. I will take $95 for the sallet. I'll still cover the shipping.

Frank Anthony

Here are a few more pictures to show the lining and the closure method I'd mentioned.

Frank Anthony

Quite a bit of views but not even a 'I wouldn't pay half that for that cr@p' comment. I'd kind of like to get rid of these before my wife and I move to Oregon this weekend so if you would like to make a offer, I wouldn't mind entertaining it.

Frank Anthony

Here are a couple of photos of the bow.

Frank Anthony

Hi everyone. My wife and I have just moved back to the states and now we are moving up to Medford, OR. Since most of my interests are in the migration era, I would like to get rid of this helmet to make room for other stuff. I think it's 14g mild and has a maximum circumference of 25" and is 7.5" X ...

Frank Anthony

Im going to give some different advice. First is that your pattern lacks gussets under the arms. You realy need these for a fuul range of movement without wear and tear on the seam. Secondly for norse type personas the tunic shouldn't fit like a tent. It should be close on the upper body with tight ...

Frank Anthony

Here is a good description from Mac on the process used from this http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=164601&hilit=tailoring+mail thread. I found it very helpful along with the butted chainmail guide like has been said before. Re-tailoring a shirt takes a certain amount or res...

Frank Anthony

I mix mine to about the consistency of vaseline.

Frank Anthony

I use 50/50 bees wax and olive oil. I've heard some complaints about olive oil going bad after a year but honestly it hasn't been a problem for me. I mostly use mine on wood and steel.

Frank Anthony

Like you said most people here seem to recommend simple green. I can't find it where I am so I used paint thinner. It worked pretty well but I had to soak it a few times and scrub the crap out of it. I think I let it soak for about 10 minutes in paint thinner and then scrubbed and agitated it. The a...

Frank Anthony

Wouldn't poplar be a good choice too? Modern, Dutch wooden shoes are made from poplar.

Frank Anthony

Half hard would probably be easier to shape, and it will harden up some while being worked. Roundtop 301 is a beast! I think I got about 35-40 holes punched in 2mm with my D2 dies before they needed re tooling. Does anyone have oppinions on 304L? I never used it but it says it's easier on tools.

Frank Anthony

oddvikingr, access to a Beverly shear is great and will cut the stainless like butter. A roper Whitney punch would be better than drilling but stainless still pretty hard on the dies.

Sounds like you're off to a good start. I hope we'll get to see pictures as they're completed.

Frank Anthony

If I might make a suggestion? I hate to jump to conclusions with so little information but with the OP's question I have to ask; oddvikingr, what tools do you have and have you made any armour in the past? Mild steel is probably a much better choice. Stainless is really tough to work and very hard o...

Frank Anthony

Does your lady spin already on modern wheels or is she wanting to start? One thing you could easily make very easily would be a drop spindle. Just thought I'd post this in case it slipped your mind.

Frank Anthony

I sent a PM to Ice Falcon thanks. I am starting to realize that this is becoming much more complicated then I intended. I too live in an apartment and that's one of the reasons I thought I'd tailor a premade shirt. Just start doing it. It's not too bad once you start. I thought, from the sound of y...

Frank Anthony

When I started to tailor the shirt I got from Icefalcon I had the same problem. Mine were stainless BTW. To anneal them I put them in a small metal container with a lid and put them on the bbq. I kept it going for quite a while and then just left it overnight. I didn't get a full anneal but they sof...

Frank Anthony

If I were to do something like this I would use two different glues; one being something like plain, white glue or heavy starch to mold to the body and then a two-part epoxy. You really don't want to deal with having epoxy set on your skin. Once you have the first layer or two molded to the shape yo...

Frank Anthony

Absolutely beautiful work. I love woodworking myself and always find that the more crafts I branch out in, the better I get with all of them myself. Splitting your own lumber, that's cool as hell!

Frank Anthony

Wow! very cool.

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