The Armour Archive

I am wondering if 16ga (~.063") mild steel plate is acceptable thickness for a breastplate, or if a plate in this gauge would easily dent in SCA type combat. If 16ga is not acceptable, what kind of gauge am I looking at instead?

I use 18 gauge stainless on mine, I've got a couple of dents from the 'big guys' in our Kingdom,(Middle). 16 mild should hold up fine as long as you properly raise/dish it. You may have to knock a few dents if you live in one of the harder hitting Kingdoms.

16ga seems to be the de facto standard for SCA breastplates. I prefer 14ga personally and I've got a few dents in my 14ga stainless breastplate.

Personally I think anything over 18 ga mild is a waste of time. That is if you properly dish and roll the edges, it holds up fairly well.

I am glad you asked.

I started on my first breast plate last night with some nice 18 ga. cold rolled.

Wow the finish on the raw steel is fantastic... No more hot rolled for me.

Hal

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Happy metal pounding

I'm using 18g mid carbon and only slightly heat treated. Then again, there are three layers so it ends up about 12 or 14g in the end...

Cold rolled is great,eh Hal?

No wierd hard and soft spots,creasing when you try and bend it,stubborn,time consuming, scale to clean off........

I refuse to use anything else for mild steel armour.

Gage depends on use and location.

Here in An Tir,they would trash 18 gage in a heart beat.

16 is better, 14 would hold up longest. (but you might not)

Tempered 14 seems to have been the standard medievally,but they forged to more than one thickness.

So a breastplate piece might have been 12 gage in the center front,and as little as 18 gage on the sides where it overlapped.

I don't think folks realize just how paper thin a lot of REAL war armour was,especially in the extremities.

Arm canons were around 20 gage,and gauntlets could be as little as 24.

But they weren't bashing on them with sticks continually,so lightness of wieght was a very big issue.

It had to protect you against what slipped by,your skill was your main defense.

Tournament armour was built like tanks,VERY heavy..

But,you didn't have to wear it all day either.

Regards,Sven

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examples of my work can be seen at : http://groups.msn.com/Helmschmied

Oh,and by the way,it's NOT 16 gage in this country anymore.

For some dicey and unexplained reason,the mills are rolling out more like,17 gage now.

(check it with a sheet metal gage if you don't believe me)

Which is why I dislike using it in helms, and was forced to go to heavier 14 gage.

It's just plain unsafe for that purpose.

Regards,Sven

Hmmmm.. I used 16gg mild for my breast plate. I raised it and planished cold. Did some flutting, then case hardened it at .003 then a temper at 650 degrees. It was a two piece german late 1500's style and held up great to SCA fighting and tournament jousting for cash. I'm gonna try 18gg this time around for the suit I'm building to match the gauntlet.