The Armour Archive

I have been told that metal lamellar with leather strips between the rows is both very accurate for Russian kit and that it helps quite a bit with deadening the blows. So I'm making two of these. One of these will be in aluminum plates for my fiances first kit and the other will be spring stainless for my SCA/ACL kit.
So went went to our local Tandy the other day to pick up leather and such and realized I have no idea what I should be looking for for weight. I think I want veg tanned so it will take dye well and I know I want undyed as we are going with different colors but I am clueless as to what weight of leather I should be looking for.
Any guidance is most appreciated.
Also, while I have laced many lamellar vests together, I have not done this before and am flying blind here. Any suggestions in the preparation and construction is also most appreciated
Thanks in advance!

3-4oz. leather. It does not need to be very thick. It is more for aesthetics than anything else. IF you get to thick, it throws off the lacing and will actually make the armour look weird and not fit to your body well.

Here is a shot of a buddy of mine, in his:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9446918@N0 ... /lightbox/

IIRC he used thick suede.

For lacing it laced up the same way. Lace rows together horizontally, then lace those rows together vertically.
He said the PITA was getting the holes in the leather strips to line up with the holes in the plates during the vertical lacing sessions.

I think he ended up punching each hole in leather as he went along instead of trying to punch all the holes in one strip of leather at once.
He found that as he laced the leather would stretch or contract, so if he punched all the holes at once, by the time he got to the end of a row, they would not line up.

I'd say even lighter. 2-3oz if it is between layers and you are using vegetanned.

Suede is always pre-dyed and can be slightly thicker (eg; 5oz suede typically operates like 3oz vegetan, but even softer).

Leather can stretch and pull. The thinner the leather, the more it will do so. Also when you apply it against the curve of a body.