The Armour Archive

Dwarlock

You should do a quick google search for carbon arc torch, it is a device that was used for welding in the 40s and 50s. They are fairly cheap to find on eBay, and the carbon rods they use are super cheap (or free if you want to dig inside batteries). They hook to either your welder, or in some cases ...

Dwarlock

Not a historical perspective (other than personal history) my most used armour is a lined coat of plates, I much prefer it to the various unlined ones I've both made and worn. I used heat treated stainless steel for my plates both for strength and out of concern for rust. (Rivits however were low ca...

Dwarlock

Thanks, way back when it was rjleahy I ordered from, that and I got a huge pile of aircraft surplus rivets from the yard store in Wichita. For some reason I could not remember how to spell rjleahy and every attempt was far enough from correct that Google did me no good. (Either my brain does not wor...

Dwarlock

Ok, so way back in 1999-2000 I ordered a few hundred dollars of rivets from a major supplier, they shipped them all with minimal packing, and I received about 80lbs of mixed rivets and a lot of empty crumpled boxes. Today, I find that I am out of every rivet I need for any project.. I want to make a...

Dwarlock

very nice start, should be the beginning of a nice kit.

Dwarlock

I am interested, I was wondering do the plates have any overlap to them? or do they gap?

Dwarlock

Hmmm, I didn't see my arms up there, but yep, Dwarlock is still the best name to go by, and if you need to link an e-mail to it coatofplates@yahaoo.com works

If you want I know I have a number of patterns I got ready for submission nearly 10 years ago but never made it. I can do some looking.

Dwarlock

3-m super weatherstrip adhesive, sometimes also called gorilla snot.

very good adhesion, stays flexible, sticks to anything, and I've personaly used it on leather prior to stitching scores of times.

Dwarlock

I know my airstream trailer (mirror polish aluminum) was coated with some sort of clear lacquer.

however I don't know how well that would work on your application.

Dwarlock

very nice, good clean lines, well balanced. I like.

Dwarlock

I think losthelm is correct, what you need is a shim that can support the rivet. if you cut a slot in a piece of steel and place it around the rivet before peining it should help support the rivet, then you just pull it out after and pein a little more.

Dwarlock

perhaps your clipping work hardened the edge?

Dwarlock

the only armour commission I've had in the last 5 years was a leather covered hardened stainless brig, with a type 3a front opening spectra shield vest as it's underside. I asked what it was for, and I was told that the man I was making it for used black powder guns a lot, and wanted some extra prot...

Dwarlock

The real issue I am having is trying to get small compact shapes out of it. I am figuring the sizing is about right to try and get fingers out of it, strong enough for behind a shield. Using it for splints and things are easy enough to get it to bend, but trying to get knuckles out of it is a bit m...

Dwarlock

do you want it springy after you're done? or soft still?

If you torch it till it's red you should be good unless it's one of those air harden alloys. (don't know what they make banding out of)
But after shaping it will likely remain fairly mailable.

Dwarlock

back when I was first starting out I found it very useful to have a piece in front of me that was similar to what I was trying to make. I once won an award for the worst piece of armour I was willing to admit to making. It was made before I had a good example to go off of.

Dwarlock

Bringing my question from the other thread over here. Would a historical Madu be useful against maile? Would it be a fight stopper? and wouldn't a good stout sword blow to one of the horns pretty much destroy it making its blocking effectiveness short term useful? long long ago I did some destructi...

Dwarlock

Very nice sir,

Dwarlock

good looking stuff, ought to sell soon.

Dwarlock

in theory you ought to, It's been forever but I've done some small scale case hardening where you wrap the item in leathers and toast it forever, The actual amount of carbon transferred is very small, the soot on the surface ought to be enough. (from a guy who has never tried it that way, and who's ...

Dwarlock

if you're not wanting to heat your metal with the wax (btw this really does work well) I've always used a thin coating of cheap motor oil. I would avoid most gun oils though they are too thin in my opinion, and I've had to scrub rust off of things I've protected that way.

Dwarlock

I've shipped several times, I always bring a copy of the postal regs with me.

Also the gun is always in a sealed box, some postal workers may want to see the gun (although nothing in the regs says they need to.) but believe me you do not want to bring an unboxed gun into the post office.

Dwarlock

I'd be interested in both skins and furs. Price would be an issue.

Dwarlock

it it's not sold I'm interested

Dwarlock

The Drill Bits I have are branded as Handi Bits, unfortunately a web search has not yielded a supplier. I bought these at the state fair about 10 years ago. I had some fully hardened 440c stainless I needed to drill a 1/4 hole through and I melted about 15 drill bits with not even a divot. I remembe...

Dwarlock

I'm at work right now but I'll get you the name of the brand of bits you need. The problem you're having is that the steel you are drilling is almost as hard as your drill bits.

Dwarlock

If you really like the handle and don't want to replace it or go to a wood handle, you can re-epoxy, but hammer handle epoxy kits are expensive, and the general purpose epoxy normally will not hold up quite as well (however much cheaper) If you want to try a specially made hammer handle epoxy your b...

Dwarlock

a product called aircraft remover (should be at any automotive store) works great.

Beware in small print on the back it warns not to use on actual aircraft.

Dwarlock

I'm a little biased but would this work?

Fairly easy to make, not bad looking, and in your time period.

Dwarlock

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=4941 ... INUM_BLACK

Dwarlock

Thomas, thank you, I was misinformed about the HC RR spikes. I had been told quite a while back that they were higher carbon than that, and knew that the HC ones had hardened better than the normal ones, but I never bothered to doubt my source as to the carbon content. I will have to talk with a few...

Dwarlock

you know I'm sure my wife would not appreciate it but if you ever do decide to sell this piece I would be interested.

Dwarlock

It's a cheat, but buy/borrow a few pieces and try to replicate them, having a complete piece in front of you to refer to really helps. Even a bad piece to replicate can teach you, I once made a set of "armor store" type gauntlets in 1/2 hour by looking at a set. (god I can't believe I admitted to co...

Dwarlock

I've made them before, not really tough,

Hmmm, I typed out a long detailed post on how to do it, then I remembered this.....

He says it better than me.
http://www.arador.com/construction/forth2.html

Dwarlock

even though you already have some, tongs are always a good project (and if you work steel enough you'll find that you will be making project specific ones fairly often.) Also there is nothing wrong with trying some simple blades, blades are a good test of heat treating. A common early project is the...

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