The Armour Archive

Matthew Amt

Would these be felt caps? https://open.conted.ox.ac.uk/sites/open.conted.ox.ac.uk/files/styles/full_size/public/resources/DSC_0659.JPG?itok=0FhJerip and https://open.conted.ox.ac.uk/sites/open.conted.ox.ac.uk/files/styles/full_size/public/resources/DSC_0657a.JPG?itok=hDh4nQct I'm only seeing helmet...

Matthew Amt

I'm doubtful. The image is just too small, and I would never expect realism from a depiction on an oil lamp. Considering there are other much more reliable suggestions of wearing a tunic *over* armor (such as mail), seeing actual pteruges sticking out at the shoulders of a tunic doesn't surprise me....

Matthew Amt

I generally cut out the outer outline *before* I start hollowing out the cavity. After the pieces are glued together I rasp and sand off the outside to thin and round it. There is a little chance of going through the wood to the cavity, but the 2 pieces support each other at that point, and it's usu...

Matthew Amt

I rout out scabbard slabs with the little router ball on my drill. I just go at it aggressively and eyeball until it seems to be close, both halves, then clamp them together and try the blade. Keep hitting the high spots until the blade fits freely, even a tad loose. I always find that once I glue t...

Matthew Amt

Since none of the many discussions of leather armor seem to mention this list, which should be pretty well known, I'm wondering if there is a translation problem. What are the actual words in the original language? Ditto for "leather hoods". "Broad axe"? "Light axe"? Hmmm...

Matthew

Matthew Amt

I should have realized that you are way ahead of me, as usual, ha! I will be watching closely. Yeah, it's the usual thing--the craftsmen back then had done this so often they didn't even consider it a problem, just a procedure. We still have a problem with just paying attention to what little they d...

Matthew Amt

I am only one of several (or many) people who have stretched wet rawhide over a planked shield and gotten a warped shield at best, or a splintered disaster at worst. I would say "BE CAREFUL", but I'm not even sure what the best course of action *is* for "being careful". Rawhide has tremendous streng...

Matthew Amt

...But quite a few traditional wood-core shields were domed. There are a few modern guesses as to how to make those, such as building a giant piece of wood and hollowing it with an adze or a lathe, or building up a 'layer cake' or 'corbel dome' of rings https://www.larp.com/hoplite/hoplon.html ... ...

Matthew Amt

I actually never used lasts when making medieval shoes. So probably their shape was a bit off, but no one ever complained about the fit or function. So if you can turn it inside out, maybe after some soaking in water, easy enough to fix because the seam will be exposed. Blown seams like that never s...

Matthew Amt

This is what I always use: https://www.michaels.com/white-waxed-linen-cord-by-bead-landing/10268123.html It also comes in black, brown, and dark red (maybe more?), but natural is best for any historical stuff. Though by the 18th century cordwainers and cobblers were using pitched-base wax to coat th...

Matthew Amt

Right, what Ernst said. The first sample looks like "locking scale", basically lamellar but instead of cords, the scales are fixed to each other with wire staples. Pretty much all Roman scale had the scales wired to each other in rows. The difference between regular scale armor and locking scale was...

Matthew Amt

"Haute pieces", if I am not mistaken.

Matthew

Matthew Amt

Oh, how wonderful!! Really excellent presentation. In all my years, I'd never even heard that the creatures at the brow had TEETH! The bit about the foil behind the garnets was fascinating, too. Thank you for posting that!

Matthew

Matthew Amt

Pliny, Historia Naturalis 8.73 / 8.192 (1st century CE summarizing everything a Roman senator with no life could read in Greek or Latin) lanae et per se coactae vestem faciunt et, si addatur acetum, etiam ferro resistunt "And from wool rubbed against itself they make a garment and, if vinegar is ad...

Matthew Amt

I've always just used either regular wood glue or liquid hide glue for gluing linen or leather (or felt, etc.) to wood. I tend to glue leather to leather only to hold it in place for stitching, and for that I usually use Tacky Glue since it bonds quickly. Ancient Greek-era linen armor was either qui...

Matthew Amt

One thing is for sure, the lorica laminata (segmentata, whatever) was cheaper to produce than chain shirts! Probably, but in a slave economy, how much did that matter? Plus the fact that soldiers were still paying for their own armor via payroll deductions, and we know that MANY of them wore mail r...

Matthew Amt

*shoulder demon* There is mi-parti in the First Continuation of Chrétien de Troyes from the 1190s or so ... I've wondered about that! May have to look it up. Do you have any idea where the 14th century clothing people hang out these days? The Age of the Cotehardie FB group is mostly newbies with ba...

Matthew Amt

I enjoy all your sewing projects! Even if I don't try to track all the details too closely--it's just not my strong era. Cool stuff, though, and too often neglected by us hardware junkies, ha! On the bottom hems with linings, I believe it was pretty common in the 18th century to not sew the lining a...

Matthew Amt

Mostly for the benefit of those who don't see me cheering on Facebook, I am cheering! And drooling. Not that I'm a *cavalry* guy, but it's still great stuff.

Matthew

Matthew Amt

I've got their blog bookmarked, comes up just fine. But they don't seem to have done the free ebook thing since "Week 4". Am I missing something?

Matthew

Matthew Amt

He bought it! If he was wealthy enough, it would be custom-made and top of the line. I have heard of men sending a suit of clothes for a distant armorer to use as a fitting model, not sure if that's documented or not. Otherwise he could go to the local market and pick out what he liked from the armo...

Matthew Amt

Well, that's a real good question, and I don't have a good answer. I'd have to go back and study the images I've got of original tangs, but too many of them are just line drawings. My guess would be that rivet holes in the tangs were punched/drifted, rather than drilled. They probably did that first...

Matthew Amt

In my most recent spate of sword-making, it was very frustrating to make a perfectly-fitting set of hilt scales, and then have something shift during drilling. Finally it occurred to me to epoxy the parts to the tang, THEN drill the holes. All remained perfect! Mind you, that still doesn't guarantee...

Matthew Amt

That doesn't quite look like Indian-made mail to me, though I only have one piece of my own to compare to. The blue layer on the jupon looks like a nice tightly-woven wool.

What Dan said about scary.

Matthew

Matthew Amt

Geez, carbon 14 dates to late 6th/early 7th century. O. M. G....

Matthew Amt

LINEN trousers?!? I'll certainly read the article, but I had only heard of wool, to this point. I'm blown away! Linen sounds more like they are braies, and I'd assume they were medieval rather than "late antiquity". BUT I haven't read it, yet!

THANK YOU!

Matthew

Matthew Amt

Wow, if that were an ancient helmet, I'd scream "FAKE!" Or Victorian repro. That's still my first instinct, but it's not my era, really.

Matthew

Matthew Amt

I understood "frog" to be the leather piece mounted on/hung from a belt or baldric, through which the scabbard passes. The fitting on the scabbard throat which goes through a slot on the frog to keep the scabbard from slipping through is (at least sometimes!) called a locket. Which certainly has imp...

Matthew Amt

Oh, that's one of my favorite movies! I always loved Sir Ranulf's armor, too. Normally I warn strongly against using movies as inspiration, but there *are* clear depictions of men-at-arms in scale armor from the 13th century, so definitely go for it. I've also seen photos of a wonderful reconstructi...

Matthew Amt

Putting any kind of ridge in the scale will absolutely make it stiffer and more rigid, allowing you to use thinner metal. Agreed that thinner is vastly better for weight, but I have no idea what sorts of standards or experience there is for SCA-legal scale armor. For *historical* armor I wouldn't go...

Matthew Amt

I mean "short" as in thigh to mid-thigh lenght, because hauberks seem to be almost knee-length. Ah, gotcha. Though, to me, "mid-thigh length" and "almost knee-length" sound about the same! :wink: Just sayin'. So the Romans also used mail with long sleeves in the 2nd century? I thought that started ...

Matthew Amt

I'm not even sure that a *short* sleeveless mailshirt was used by the Romans, not often at least. The usual hamata was mid-thigh length. We do see shorter ones on centurions, sometimes, but generally with the curved lower edge to mimic a muscled cuirass. And yes, all of those with shoulder flaps. Wh...

Matthew Amt

Aha! Well, that certainly *implies* that they were a grave find, and if that's true then consider my doubts swept away! (Assuming I remember...

) Of course, if they were only found *in the ground* together, we've still got nothing. There has to be more that is known about these things!

Matthew

Matthew Amt

Well, I'm leery of a few things. The whole concept of Migration Era/Early Medieval helmets of some type being "cheap and easy to make" seems to run counter to everything we know about helmets, e.g. that they were uncommon and not cheap. (Though not quite rare and expensive like armor!) That first ex...

Matthew Amt

Well, nothing can help if the helmet is too *small*, in any dimension. Unless you can "squash" it a bit? That's not going to be possible with most types, probably. It's also probably too easy for a craftsman to make a helmet that is too small front-to-back if he just has your head circumference as h...

Re: Felt Armour

Re: Felt Armour

Re: Woodworking Project Diary

Re: Woodworking Project Diary

Re: Viking Arms and Armor, Again

Re: Woodworking Project Diary

Re: Woodworking Project Diary

Re: Woodworking Project Diary

Re: Cobbling Time

Re: Cobbling Time

Re: lorica squamata

Re: what are these things

Re: Sutton Hoo helmet

Re: Felt Armour

Re: Glue for leather, linen, etc

Re: Lorica Segmentata find in Germany

Re: A Short Round Cloak with Embroidered Collar

Re: A Short Round Cloak with Embroidered Collar

Re: Ancient Greek/Scythian Equipment.

Re: free e-book: Samurai 1550-1600 by Anthony J Bryant

Re: How did a man at arms acquire his armour?

Re: Theophilius, Hilting Knives, and Modern Heat Treatments

Re: Theophilius, Hilting Knives, and Modern Heat Treatments

Re: Tod and Co's Arrows vs. Armour Test

Re: The Pattern Cutting of Linen Trousers in Late Antiquity

Re: The Pattern Cutting of Linen Trousers in Late Antiquity

Re: "Chalcis" style bascinet

Re: Names for Scabbard Parts

Re: Scale Hauberk questions

Re: Scale Hauberk questions

Re: Short, sleeveless mail and when it was used in Europe

Re: Short, sleeveless mail and when it was used in Europe

Re: Broadband helmets (Bandhelme) = Spangenhelme?

Re: Broadband helmets (Bandhelme) = Spangenhelme?

Re: How to get a helmet that fits well?