The Armour Archive

Well My dreams have come true. My neighbor, who was very angry that I was building a shop has now offered to bring his English Wheel over and let me use it! He does not have the orig Distructions with it so I am looking for some advise. Until yesterday I had no idea what they even looked like much less how one is to be used. Help! I have no idea how to even start.

Yis
Marcellus

This guy seems to be the guru.
http://www.tinmantech.com/englishwheel/english-wheel.html

Be sure to tell us all about it.

Hal


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Happy metal pounding

i was always under the impression that an english wheel was no good for making armour.

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OPEN NOW.
HAYMAN ARMOURY.
just knives for now but just wait. e-mail me at thomas_hayman@hotmail.com for more information.

English wheels can be used to good effect on armour - It is likely they were developed expressly for that purpose, centuries ago.

A lively discussion of Ewheel techniques and construction can be found on MetalMeet.com

Centuries ago? I understood the wheel to be either a very late 19th century or early 20th century invention.

As for whether they're any good for metal from 16 to 12 gauge, the last time this got discussed at this forum, they pinpointed that the critical factor was the strength of the C frame -- that too thick a metal between the rollers caused the frame to flex rather than the metal to form.

Theoretically, two answers to this are either a small, stubby C frame of immense rigidity, or do without the frame altogether and weld the upper roller carrier and stanchion to an I-beam in the ceiling of your basement, daring the metal being worked there to lift the weight of your entire house!

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Well here you go. This wheeling machine is held together by 8" I beam in a "k" configuration. With the rollers held in place by cast steel mounts. The machine has little or no flex in it at all. I was able to plennish a helm half in twenty min! And it is as smooth as a babys but! The only diffuculty I had was moving the steel through. A bit of an effort once the tension was increased, but other then that a real treat to use. Normally to achieve the effect of such a smooth bowl I would have to say it would have taken at least 4 hours over my plenishing stake with a nylon hammer. Very Happy!!
Also I have done a bit of research on when the "wheeling Machine" was invented and it seems to be quite period. It was in fact invented in the 12th century in France by a jewler and depending on where the machine is used is where it gets its name. Somtimes called an irish wheel and so forth.

Yours in Service
Marcellus De Damacian

I'd like to see the documentation. Could you email it to me at my profile addy? I always like new info.