The Armour Archive

Kel Rekuta

Yep to all of that Kel. The windows at Barely Hall, fenestrals were oiled I believe, not nit picking just that linseed oil is cheaper than wax, and easier to apply. But if waxed would be ok as they ar not in proximity to fire, or at least shouldn't. But glad you brought it up as windows are interes...

Kel Rekuta

parchment was also used, oiled to give it translucency. But again, cautions re the type of oil are to be watched, I know a guy in the UK who has used them to good effect. If you don't oil the parchment it will cockle as it is hygroscopic. Parchment makes sense as panels on one pattern but most look...

Kel Rekuta

Tasha McG wrote:-Tasha
(Did someone just say they secretly loved me? )

Several of us, in a purely courtly and respectful manner.

Thanks for generously sharing your research. I'm sure that has helped a lot of us move forward in our portrayals.

Respectfully,

Kel Rekuta

Kel Rekuta

To be taken alive people must wrestle you down. Or club you into submission. Or trip you with poll hafts. Or drag you off the field before professional soldiers following their orders not to take prisoners find your wounded and isolated butt and kill you dead. Rich guys always have an out.

Kel Rekuta

Patrick Thaden lists them on his site.

Kel Rekuta

To understand shields you have to understand medieval panel-painting. There were many types of shields, and Peter Coss has written about how addicted military families were to military-style art being displayed in their homes, and in their parish churches. Limners made shields, wall-art and panels-...

Kel Rekuta

Youth hostiles are for the yutes. Also from painful experience. I have to have a real bed, peace and quiet and my own damn shower or it ain't worth getting on the plane. I'll second that! My wife is amused by my moaning over the price of accomodations. Without a night's sleep in a real bed I won't ...

Kel Rekuta

Vitus, I commend your process and the thought that developed it. Perhaps this will be worth exploring; The medieval process of creating parchment and of skiving leather both yield a great deal of thin parings and scrapings. Perhaps medieval artisans combined these with glue and gesso to create molde...

Kel Rekuta

On finding a place to stay: A lot of universities in London allow guests to stay in the dorms in the summer for a fairly reasonable rate. Don't know about other times of year though. If price is really a factor, there are always hostels. Yeah, last time I was in London I stayed at the Uof London Gr...

Kel Rekuta

I'll register once I find affordable accommodation. The flight's cheap enough but hotels are frighteningly expensive in London. I won't have any money left for drinks.....

Kel Rekuta

good luck. Let us know how it goes, I get to do a presentation later this year to my daughters 8th grade class. So any hints for me? brian Don't let the students sit too long while you talk. Get them up and involved every ten- fifteen minutes, at least a few of them. Otherwise, attention wanders qu...

Kel Rekuta

Ah, come on Doug. You really want to glue up a handful of thin boards and slather on hot hide glue before you stretch some soggy slimy rawhide over it. You're a hands-on guy. You'll have a blast... You will love the shield book. The German isn't too technical. (I had a local Prussian fellow translat...

Kel Rekuta

This appears to be a knock off the Leathercraft 1790 splitting machine. I have the Osborne Bench splitter which works on the same principle. A rigid frame secures a thick spined bevel blade near a hard roller in an adjustable height frame. The idea is to adjust the gap for the thickness required. De...

Kel Rekuta

Oh, that's good. Thanks!

I've often puzzled over the context of mail sleeves in Datini's inventories. Here's another data point.

Kel Rekuta

My Dendra Panoply weighs 53 lbs and the original weighs 40 lbs in its current condition. It is perfectly possible to move, jump, roll, play cricket, etc while wearing it. Please, please do some of those things and post photos. I'd love to see that! That harness is really different than what we norm...

Kel Rekuta

Could be fabric covered plate, too. Yeah, probably. But after staring at the Chalcis breastplate photos as much as I have lately, I wonder about areas with a lot of big rivets at logical suspension/articulation zones without a bazillion little bitty rivets around the perimeter to stabilize the fabr...

Kel Rekuta

Crazy! Is this splinted leather? http://www.associazioneviafrancigena.com/public/images/fosdinovo022_big.jpg Sometimes they put the metal splints on the inside instead of the outside of the leather....I assume with a padded backing as well. Hmm. Considering the presence of a stop rib near the top f...

Kel Rekuta

Seems green and blue give me the hardest time. Anyhow, one thing I've been trying is adding yellow to my green to lighten it instead of reducing it. Haven't quite got it where I want it yet, but that's mostly my impatience and not the product. Does the reducer work with oil dye? Albrecht Try a ligh...

Kel Rekuta

These things are often called "French purse locks" in various luggage findings catalogues. As Tim says, they're more of a 60's/70's hippie thing. If you are going to the trouble to make a nice leather purse at least use a closure finding appropriate to the period your costume represents. RennFaire "...

Kel Rekuta

some hourglass , some wisby , some stainless , some mild , some shiny , some "blued" , mostly medium size , 1 small , prices $200 [mild dark hourglass]-$350[polished stainless] pm me for pics and prices or trades AEMMA having a fire sale? Yeah, we've been wondering where he was the last couple mont...

Kel Rekuta

Ivo wrote:The Hirschstein armour is online already!

http://www.mesa-online.de/41294.html

Ivo

That is so awesome!!!!

I've always wondered how the chains attached to the plate. Wow.
Great stuff!!!!

Kel

Kel Rekuta

How do I progress in skill without deluging myself with objects I have no use for? I could give them away, but the idea of "here take this, I don't need it anyway" strikes me as kind of crass. Recreate an artifact from your focus period using the best approximation of materials and tools you can di...

Kel Rekuta

Looks like Doug Strong will be presenting a paper on similarities in surviving examples of 14th century armour. Exact title to come. Should be good. I will make sure to update here with any additional/changed info. The title is "Similarities in Surviving Transitional Armour" (pretty close Brian) It...

Kel Rekuta

Or, for something completely different and custom made, see you local blacksmith. (Not a shameless plug, since I'm not taking on anything new until after my wif gets her house built, and for a time thereafter. A fireplace crane, trammel, and other accoutrements are needed for new house, plus set-up...

Kel Rekuta

Can you suggest somewhere to buy those chest hinges? (other than Lee Valley)

Thanks!

Kel Rekuta

Ceddie wrote:um...
what does Performance Armour have to do with Infinity Steel?

Not a damned thing. My bad. Should have had a coffee before hitting the keyboard.

Kel Rekuta

deleted due to temporary insanity.

Kel Rekuta

Can anyone who has it post relevant excerpts or PM us with it...Id love to read that but the $25 is absurd....most of us arent docs making doc salaries. Here is the abstract: Head Protection in England Before the First World War Sounds like it is worth the $25.00, to me. It benefits us all to finan...

Kel Rekuta

ive recently decided to discard my one stump wich i have found to be rather over the hill, as it has been getting a rather large crack down the middle, and now i am looking for a new stump to make 3 forms in but i cannot decide on the wood, i live in ontario canada, and am trying to look for someth...

Kel Rekuta

Awwww your just anti fiore!!! See the guys on WMA yahoo group were right! It's German Bias!!! heheheh It is effortless to loath and revile what one does not understand. Hugh has come a long way in five years, he's entitled to believe whatever pleases him. To each his own. Really Sir Rhys has got a ...

Kel Rekuta

Merv, I know you love arms and armour as witnessed by your posts on several forae. I shared your dismay at the shipping cost when I ordered this book. However, I strongly advise you to swallow your mistrust and order it. Hans Prunner rightly intends to protect their product by shipping in the most r...

Kel Rekuta

I'm surprised no one has brought up hefe-weizen (wheat beers), which don't utilize hops.... Is that what you've heard? Bavarian weizen is made from wheat, some barley, water and hops. No other bitter herbs, just hops. Belgian wit (white - wheat bier) often has a variety of malted and unmalted cerea...

Kel Rekuta

Fraoch Heather Beer http://www.heatherale.co.uk/ might fit the bill, at least for a given locality (Scotland). I've had it and it's OK, but not what we're used to --no hops, see? The original batches had no hops but the brewery now adds some. The flavourings are heather tips, bog myrtle and bitteri...

Kel Rekuta

Medieval brews were liquid food. Modern tastes demand more alcohol by volume. Negative. This is often spread around, esp by evangelical christians, but the beers and ales of our fore fathers were very much alcoholic. Beer as a "liquid food" worked well in the egyptian period, but by the middle ages...

Kel Rekuta

The st Peter's beers here are all in coloured glass bottles, is it different for the US version? St. Peters Brewery products are all in dark green glass here in Canada and I suppose in the States too. We currently have the English Ale, Winter Ale and Strong Ale. I think there were other seasonals a...

Re: Crazy Splints

Re: pile of gauntlets FS/trade?

Re: stuck

Re: a Question regarding dishing stumps