The Armour Archive

brookswift

that still sounds reasonable. thanks for the explaination. i was just thinking about the look. thanks for the links, ironmonger looks perfect (though the ONE broken image link on his page was the one i wanted to see of course, luckily i could find the image elsewhere). i actually bought my arms and ...

brookswift

so one day in my readings online, i read about the metallurgical properties of iron from the medieval period. due to the refining method used in turning ore into ingots which have about 10% sillicates, which, when turned into sheets and made into armor gives it some nice properties, like taking comp...

brookswift

so one day in my readings online, i read about the metallurgical properties of iron from the medieval period. due to the refining method used in turning ore into ingots which have about 10% sillicates, which, when turned into sheets and made into armor gives it some nice properties, like taking comp...

brookswift

yeah, cheapest one i saw like that was $325

brookswift

what is buttwelding? i was hunting around the web for bascinets and the construction notes i found seemed to indicate that they were hammered out of a single sheet.

brookswift

well, i was hoping for a cheaper one, but this is so nice that i'm thinking about just spending the extra money... i'll get back to you tomorrow.

brookswift

wow, now that you have a website up, i realize that i need to figure out some heraldry and get one of those mondo bondo awesome shields from you. again, woooooooow.

brookswift

i might be interested at $400 if no one else is. i don't get my paycheck until the end of the week though, so anyone else interested better hurry up

brookswift

This beautiful helmet is hand made, in America. It features stunning cardboard construction, fitted together with high quality packing tape. No metal at all is used in the materials of this fantastic helmet. This is truly a one of a kind piece of art. It is actor's scale and fully wearable, and onl...

brookswift

how about some body armor? like what that very attractive young lady is wearing on your store page. what's the price for something like that? breast plates are hard to find... and fitting the armor i made myself is proving to be less than fruitful (coat of plates kit). oh and, if we're going to talk...

brookswift

humm... i was hoping for a single piece one. do those tend to be more expensive? i seem to remember seeing a simple single piece bascinet somewhere for between $180 and $300 somewhere a while back...

brookswift

I'm looking for a medium priced bascinet that will fit my 23.5" skull, but not require some 3" of padding, as my A/B helm starter/hell helm does. I'm not looking for anything fancy, just what works. I have a budget of $300. preferably, I'd like to spend $200 or so. I don't need a detachable grill or...

brookswift

i think there's one other leftie at my local practice, which would make it maybe 10% or less lefty. the general population is 14% lefty. i'm actually pretty ambidextrous with sword fighting. i remember doing slow work with someone and he said "hey aren't you left handed?" because i was fighting righ...

brookswift

i really need to authrize too. no marshall who could authorize me showed up last week and no marshall was there today. my last chance is tomorrow. otherwise i have to authorize at estrella. i'm leaving for estrella on thursday.

brookswift

got mine, it's beatiful.

brookswift

okay, so i build my swords for the most part. the grips are really rough. i managed to find a friend with a belt sander. it didn't work perfectly, but it worked. i used a piece of sand paper to smooth it after that. it works, none of them have any particular shape, but i'm new at this. i still need ...

brookswift

see, that's what i thought about ashcraft baker, that'd i'd get a cheap, fugly helm quickly and reliably. i guess i got the fly in the bottle of guiness... the problem is, if it's your first bottle, you'll never trust guiness again. i got the cheap and fugly parts, but not the quickly or reliably. a...

brookswift

bump...

i still want to know how to pad my helmet so that it doesn't pivot left and right around my head while still being able to put my head in it.

brookswift

well, i just wen through my own terrible experience with ashcraft baker. i barely got my helmet in time for estrella next week and i ordered it months ago. asking about when the helmet would ship, i was moslty ignored. then i was told there were "mechanical difficulties" and it would be shipped in a...

brookswift

i've never used a rasp before, sandpaper yes, but rasp no. how long does it take to shape down a handlish shape? are we talking minutes? hours?

brookswift

okay, i have yet another question. I just padded my helmet with what i initially thought was 3/4 inch closed cell foam (which turns out to be 1/4 inch, but they insist on labelling it 3/4 inch). it's your standard blue foam. now, as i recall, you need 1/2 inch of closed cell foam padding. I'm wearin...

brookswift

108 inches of usable 1 1/2 inch rattan - $20 professional grade duct tape that turns out to be the wrong stuff to wrap your rattan with - another $20 1/2 yard of silk to hold on a thrusting tip with - $10 strapping tape purchased for you by a friend that turns out to be too skinny to use to wrap up ...

brookswift

yeah, but do you sell cursed helms?

brookswift

i'll be sure to thouroughly document my first event with pictures

. i noticed the double layer construction and it feels wonderful so far. it'll be going on over my moving pad padded jacket and legs. I can't wait to try it out

brookswift

so i'm thinking i just won't get one in time for estrella anyhow at this rate. no specialty carpentry stores i know of around here. nothing would ship off the web in proper time either

brookswift

would they carry one of these draw knives at ace hardware? or would i have to look elsewhere? there is a home depot nearby, but i'd have to get a ride out there, as i have no car. so i'm thinking the ovoid grips is what i'm going to go for. then add a tip, secure with tape and silk (damn, i didn't r...

brookswift

that customer would be me actually. i can't wait to see it and put it to good use at estrella

brookswift

no plans on using dull blades. hardly matters in cooking, because food doesn't require that sharp of a blade.

draw knife?

brookswift

sweet jeebus, that's one of the best backplates i've ever seen. you in the business to make more of them?

brookswift

sharp... yeah... no sharp items here. our kitchen knives are even pretty dull. besides, i don't know the first thing about whittling.

brookswift

okay, so, here's my new plan. 1) get strapping tape (just did that, but they only had 1 /2 inch wide stuff 2) go to the fabric store, buy some silk/nylon webbing to cross over the tip 3) tape it up that way i don't have any wood working tools, so i don't think i can do things like shave down the sid...

brookswift

where does one buy strapping tape?

brookswift

Ok, so I bought my rattan, it's 1.5" diameter (i think 1.25 is society minimum) and I've got 108" of usable rattan (which comes out to 2 38" and 1 32" sword or 3 36" swords) Next, i bought "professional grade" duct tape, which basically means that got more cloth strands per square inch and not so st...

brookswift

droooool

brookswift

a propane torch gets about 1800 degrees if i'm not mistaken (unless i'm confusing it with butane again). that should be enough to make working stuff easier to do. sure, a forge is better, but you can work with what you have.

charcoal wrought iron in armor?

charcoal wrought iron armor?

wanted - medium price bascinet

helmet padding?

SCA making rattan swords?