The Armour Archive

gaukler

gaukler

I don’t think that there is any way to tell for sure what’s going on with that mount. The colour is typical Thames mud patina. The mount looks as if it needs another rivet, so the accidental punch-out makes sense. It’s odd that the roping doesn’t continue to the second sections, when the raised line...

gaukler

The ones I can measure look to be of a similar thickness to their mounts. I can't tell with the bagel washer. Using the off-cuts and scrap seems like a good idea. It's what I do. I, too, wind up with a few that have part of the edge missing, but my customers don't get those. The medieval craftsmen s...

gaukler

I have two that are bagels. They are both part of small, well made mounts. 7161 has a definite cutout from another washer, near the 7, and a probably cutout between the 6 and the 1. The latter is more obvious in the photo. 10523 still has some leather beneath the washer. Part of the washer seems to ...

gaukler

Some are a bit dished. This one seems to have bevelled edges.

gaukler

Most of them are flat.

gaukler

I don't have any armour washers in my collection, but I do have a few on belt hardware. Almost all of them are on sheet metal belt mounts. One is on a (probable) folding clasp part, one is on a buckle plate, and one is on a modified sheet metal belt mount.

gaukler

I don’t think you’ll need a last to repair the seam. The leather is already stretched to shape. You’ll just have to use the right stitch.

gaukler

Gold makes everything better:)

gaukler

What’s the weight of all of those rivets?

gaukler

That looks pretty close, especially in the picture that is a closer match to the angle of the black and white photo.

gaukler

The roping is obscured by the plain mount rim.
The hole is 6mm, and the central dome of the roped mount is 7mm, measured on the back.

gaukler

I think that 5934 is a waster. I don’t know if it is for two different mounts or one- the hole isn’t quite the same size as the domed section of the remaining mount.

gaukler

These might be of some interest. They are Thames finds, with a typical river patina. See also Dress Accessories 935 and 936. As usual, I can take more photos if they are needed.

gaukler

I misunderstood your post. I didn’t realize that you wanted research sources, rather than stuff sources:) I’d start with Gale Owen-Crocker’s “Dress in Anglo-Saxon England”. It references quite a bit of continental material. I think you’re going to have to look at a fair amount of dig reports. There ...

gaukler

Is this blingy enough? It’s a Merovingian garnet cloisonné disk brooch, made by my .5 apprentice equivalent, as her first piece of jewellery, based on ne in the British Museum. The garnets were heat-shattered (Arrhenius theory), and then ground and polished by hand using the methods suggested by Mav...

gaukler

Here are the round tabs.
The outside of the plain half appears to be coppery in the centre, with magnetic material surrounding it. The decorated outside is magnetic.
The insides of both rounded tabs are magnetic, but not very strong.

gaukler

More photos, and some re-examination. Now I'm more confused. Here is the outside and inside of the squared off tabs. The chiselled-off pin on the outside of the back is very coppery, and non-magnetic. The outside of the matching tab (decorated half) attracts a magnet. The inside of the decorated hal...

gaukler

There are remains of [alignment] pins on both sets of handles.

gaukler

I made a mould of a wax from this, so you can see what it made. Suggestions welcomed on dating.
It looks vaguely like an umbonate brooch, but much larger than any I've seen.

gaukler

I bought this years ago, sold to me as Roman, but I've always had my doubts on the dating. Mac's post above prompted me to get it out and photograph it. Note that the gripping handles are rounded on one side, and straight on the other. The mould seems to be designed to keep the wall thickness the sa...

gaukler

Roland’s Patreon link includes a painting of what the original might have looked like, based on photos and the ct scans.

gaukler

From Roland W’s fb page: Brand new documentary on the Roman body armour discovered at Kalkriese, the probable site of the Varus battle in 9 AD: https://youtu.be/Pagbmw0Ec50 The discovery was made during the 2018 excavation campaign. Even if you do not understand German, you will get great insights i...

gaukler

Wax is very unlikely as a medieval mould material. It was just too expensive. Wax masters seem to have been reserved for smaller, higher-status things. Theophilus talks about using tallow for lost [wax] casting of bells. Plaster or clay seem reasonable. For clay piece moulds, dung or cloth clippings...

gaukler

Many inventories were done room by room, so all of the tools will be together, all of the kitchen stuff together, etc..

gaukler

In book 7, chapter 9 of the Pirotechnia, Biringuccio discusses bronze and iron moulds for casting cannonballs.

gaukler

In the description of the matrix mould, Justine Bailey says: The important thing with casting metal in metal moulds is to ensure that there is no adhesion between the casting and the mould, and metal vapour from the melt could not be absorbed - as it can be in ceramic moulds. As I would expect, the ...

gaukler

Yes, I think it would work. The Bronze Age moulds are for axes, and most of the Roman ones are for fibulae. Both of these would have been copper alloy products.
The matrix mould looks to produce high quality seal matrices. All of those that I’ve seen are copper alloy, not pewter.

gaukler

I’m pretty sure that the mould was for copper alloy matrices. There are five lead alloy matrices in the database, and over two hundred copper alloy ones. The lead alloy ones are a different shape, too.

gaukler

https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/973539 https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/826910 https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/760336 https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/740485 https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/662163 Tinned?! https:...

gaukler

I’ve tried wax in a stone mould, too. Nope. That matrix mould looks like it makes a very typical 14C Copper alloy matrix. The database only has 23 coper alloy moulds. Most of them are Bronze Age and Roman. https://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/q/Mould/show/100/thumbnail/1/materialTerm/Copper+...

gaukler

There are a few copper alloy moulds in the PAS database, but none for spoons:(
https://finds.org.uk/database/search/re ... Type/MOULD

gaukler

And these are both worth reading:
https://www.librarything.com/work/1383082/book/24099735
The Restoration of the Monastery of Saint Martin of Tournai
It’s a lot more interesting than the title suggests.

History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours

The first is a bit late, and the second a bit early.

gaukler

Start with https://www.sfwa.org/2016/10/18/horses- ... y-fiction/ .

gaukler

Shipping is slow at the moment.
I’m sure you can figure out why.

Video about tools in the Met armour shop

Re: Washers, roves, and bagel washers

Re: Washers, roves, and bagel washers

Re: Washers, roves, and bagel washers

Re: Washers, roves, and bagel washers

Re: Washers, roves, and bagel washers

Washers, roves, and bagel washers

Re: Cobbling Time

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Mac's blog

Re: Looking for sources for Merovingian soft kit and bling

Re: Looking for sources for Merovingian soft kit and bling

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Lorica Segmentata find in Germany

Re: Lorica Segmentata find in Germany

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Pewter stuff...

Re: Question about horse "parking" in the early Middle Ages

Re: Question about horse "parking" in the early Middle Ages

Re: Which rivets do you use for armouring?