I have been looking at all the diagrams or patterns for helms and the one thing the all have in common is that they do not have a supplie list.
I find this painfully agrivating. i have no way of figuring out how much steel to buy or how many rivets or anything.
any sugestions would be grand.
i am wanting to make a rounded great helm or simular.
Material
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Sean Powell
- Archive Member
- Posts: 9908
- Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2002 1:01 am
- Location: Holden MA
I know I can get 2 pembridge style great helms out of a 2x4 sheet. I'm not sure If I can get 1 out of a 2x2. The way pieces lay out and cutting scrap makes a difference. Plasma-cutters need very little extra room for turns. Bev-shears can require a lot. Jig-saws and angle grinders are dependent on user skill.
I strongly suggest transfering your patterns to card-board. Do a dry fit of the parts and make any changes to the patterns BEFORE you cut the steel. Then lay them on a table in the aproximate location you are going to cut them from. Take a tape measure to the space you have blocked out. This will get you how much steel you need.
As many of us work with salvaged metals (counter-tops, old-desks, car-panels, scrap ends from profesional shops) it isn't much use to tell people that a patern requires 24"x18" since they may be working from multiple smaller pieces.
Happy hammering
Sean
I strongly suggest transfering your patterns to card-board. Do a dry fit of the parts and make any changes to the patterns BEFORE you cut the steel. Then lay them on a table in the aproximate location you are going to cut them from. Take a tape measure to the space you have blocked out. This will get you how much steel you need.
As many of us work with salvaged metals (counter-tops, old-desks, car-panels, scrap ends from profesional shops) it isn't much use to tell people that a patern requires 24"x18" since they may be working from multiple smaller pieces.
Happy hammering
Sean
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neilhoward
- New Member
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2004 2:01 am
Look in the Yellowpages, under STEEL,
call them up and compare their prices, either per square foot or per pound, I have seen both. You want cold rolled mild steel. Pester them for cold rolled. Find the gauge you want, look up a conversion into milimeters or inches and ask for that number, they will slip you some bullshit unless you give exact numbers because gauges are basically bullshit.
Arange for a truck, some places will cut your sheet into smaller pieces for a fee and you can use your car, if not use a truck. You might want to bring a buddy to help you load/unload the thing.
While arranging for the truck save up 50 bucks.
Go get your sheet.
I would not recomend salvage, you never quite know what your getting and what shape it is in. As a beginer a nice blank canvas is a big help. Some folks can do amazing work with no space, shitty tools, and bizzare junk from the scrapyard (Artemis Green is the master in that regards) I can't, you might not be able to either, if you want to spend time finding out, its up to you.
call them up and compare their prices, either per square foot or per pound, I have seen both. You want cold rolled mild steel. Pester them for cold rolled. Find the gauge you want, look up a conversion into milimeters or inches and ask for that number, they will slip you some bullshit unless you give exact numbers because gauges are basically bullshit.
Arange for a truck, some places will cut your sheet into smaller pieces for a fee and you can use your car, if not use a truck. You might want to bring a buddy to help you load/unload the thing.
While arranging for the truck save up 50 bucks.
Go get your sheet.
I would not recomend salvage, you never quite know what your getting and what shape it is in. As a beginer a nice blank canvas is a big help. Some folks can do amazing work with no space, shitty tools, and bizzare junk from the scrapyard (Artemis Green is the master in that regards) I can't, you might not be able to either, if you want to spend time finding out, its up to you.
Draw out your pattern on paper/cardboard/anything and arrange it different ways to find out how much area you will need. A lot of people keep a stock of material on hand all the time and only buy more when they run out instead of buying small sheets for each project. Same with rivets; you could go to some hardware stores and buy exactly X number of rivets, or you can order a few pounds and not worry until the box gets low. To get the number beforehand, you'll have to lay out your pattern and count the number required. If you know you're going to continue doing projects like this, it will be easier to keep some of the basic materials on hand.
Good luck!
Jacob
User of "bizzare junk from the scrapyard"
Good luck!
Jacob
User of "bizzare junk from the scrapyard"
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Steve S.
- Archive Member
- Posts: 13327
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2000 1:01 am
- Location: Huntsville, AL
- Contact:
I feel your pain. When I first got into this hobby and started looking for patterns and/or tutorials on the 'net, I was looking for "cookie baking instructions". I was used to building plastic model kits and that was the sort of directions I was looking for.
Unfortunately, there aren't many internet armour tutorials like that. In fact, many of the "patterns" you find aren't patterns at all, they are more like "suggestions". I remember the first great helm pattern I downloaded. I printed it out, transfered it to posterboard and cut it out, and taped it together. It didn't look anything like it was supposed to - the pattern pieces were not "real" patterns - just suggestions.
Even if you find a pattern or tutorial to make a particular piece of armour on the web, a lot of it is going to be just trying it out and figuring out how to do it.
Likely the only way to find out the steel requirements is, as suggested, to cut your pieces out of posterboard and arrange them together to see how much you will need.
Steve
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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.
Unfortunately, there aren't many internet armour tutorials like that. In fact, many of the "patterns" you find aren't patterns at all, they are more like "suggestions". I remember the first great helm pattern I downloaded. I printed it out, transfered it to posterboard and cut it out, and taped it together. It didn't look anything like it was supposed to - the pattern pieces were not "real" patterns - just suggestions.
Even if you find a pattern or tutorial to make a particular piece of armour on the web, a lot of it is going to be just trying it out and figuring out how to do it.
Likely the only way to find out the steel requirements is, as suggested, to cut your pieces out of posterboard and arrange them together to see how much you will need.
Steve
------------------
Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.