The Armour Archive

Hi All,

For a while I've mentioned that I'm in the process of having my upper torso harness replaced. Here are some "baby pictures" of it underway, courtesy of Jeff Hedgecock.



It is a close copy of Lucern HM11, an associated breast and backplate atributed to have been captured at Morat in 1476. The primary difference being the original has a more severe wasp-waist. I'm not a stout man, at 5'8" and 173 lbs, but I am not stick-boy as the original owner seems to have been. At least it has a waist.



There will be a fauld of 4 lames, tassets, side tassets, and a cutlet plate, staples and lance rest. It is being paired with copies of curtatone B2. from the Madonna della Grazzi, slightly modified stylisticaly to match the fashion for the export market - namely some restrained fluting on the couters and gard braces, and guard of the vambrace - matching Franco/Flemish art of the 1460's & 70's.

By the time it is finished, I will have a thoroughly Burgundian harness.



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Bob R.

That's some spiffy armour, Bob. I can't wait to see it when it's completed. I hope Tom Justus posts some pics of the 15th cent. Italian cuirass he's doing for me soon....

Very nice! I like it.

Myself, I prefer Reisling or May Wine armor.

Tee Hee Alcyoneus!

The pics are very much baby pictures, and don't convey what it will fully look like. What looks like a large club at the point of the plackart is actually a large fleur, when that is cut out, there will appear points from amother slight cusp just below, and there are a seires of three flutes on the upper backplate paralleling the arm opening that haven't been laid in yet. The faulds themselves have a series of little points that go up along the upper edge of each fauld, rather than being straight cut. You can only see a hint of what will be a prominent raised line dead center in the plackart, that follows onto the front faulds.

I'm not as long in the torso as the person the original was made for, so it will look a little more compact. I should be getting more "baby pics" come Christmas eve, so I can update the progress of it.

I hope you can get some pics from Tom Joaquin, it would be cool to see another in progress.

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Bob R.

That looks absolutely sweet Chef. Even at this baby stage. I can't wait to see the pics of the whole finished harness.

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Gentleman Chris
Squire to Earl John Tribiger, Journeyman artisan and Clerk
Editor of the KnightHaven newsletter

Things like that make me wish I had an armourer in my area so I could learn more.

Very nice work, can't wait to see it finished.

Hi All,

here are some further pics of progress on my harness. You can see the depth of the raising done on the breastplate, the development of the fleur finial of the plackart (Jeff has nailed the shape of the original fleur on this breastplate to a "T"), and the development of my cannons of the vambrace and guard of the vambrace.







I am delighted with what Jeff has accomplished.

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Bob R.

Is the flute on the breastplate hot worked, or am I looking at a welded flute? Just curious, I ain't prejudiced or nothing.

What guage are the pieces?

"You can see the depth of the raising done on the breastplate, the development of the fleur finial of the plackart"

I think it, too, is raised. But I could be wrong. I suppose I'd let it slide if it were welded. Not that I'm prejudiced either.

Idëval

Hi All,

Nope, the flute is not a weld, it is raised with a chisel, and it isn't finished yet. No welding on the cuirasse at all.

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Bob R.

Chrissakses, Chef, that's gorgeous.

Okay, you have me hooked. I've decided that I'm going to make my own armour for now, and save my pennies towards an authentic harness -one piece at a time.

Tell me -how long have you been accumulating pieces?

Hi Destichado,

I will have been collecting armour for 5 years in July. My first piece was a Valentine barbute, got in July '97, now in the collection of Jeff Fulton (aka Bascot). It took me, say 2 1/2 years to complete my current harness, and this torso/arm replacement (due to a fit problem - Mac pinned it down to the backplate. The pauldrons had always been problematic) has been in the works a couple of years, but has just been underway for a couple of months.

The biggest problem is the wait in line. Once an armourer actually has something underway, it's usually only a couple of months wait. I find that once you put the 50% deposit down, there is usually a comfortable lapse of time before the harness is finished and the remainder due. I think it is the coolest thing to have a near identical copy of an original, that I can wear and use.

I don't have a huge collection, just 1 full harness, this half harness to replace my old one 4 hats with a 5th and a bevor on the way, and a brigandine underway that I'm making myself.

Once this harness is done, and I can tinker about with the old one (I use the harness at least once a month), I'll have a set of fillets riveted into my Milanese (a historical solution to a fit problem of that sort), and the old girl will soldier on indefinately as my spare harness, or a loaner for company members. If I'm in new digs by then, I'll put her on a stand to look pretty when not in use. My harness is normally oiled and cuboarded away.

Go for it, it is well worth the investmentif you love armour.



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Bob R.

"Is the flute on the breastplate hot worked, or am I looking at a welded flute?"

As Bob mentioned, the central ridge on the plackard is not welded. I have annealed the center line, then laid the plackard over a fluting stake (a chisel/hatchet-shape on a post), then hammered on either side to bring up the ridge. I use a cross pein then planish with a flat faced hammer.

Considering the finish work needed for a weld, it would probably be more work to make the thing with a seam down the center.

"What guage are the pieces? "

The breast and plackard are 16 CRS, the back is 18. Heavily shaped arm elements are 16, since they'll need a touch more grinding, the balance of the pieces are 18. Anything heavier would be overkill and quite unbearable to wear for any length of time. If I were to make the pieces of spring steel, I'd go up one gauge increment; 16 ga pieces would be 18, etc. This would require a finer planish, but would be stronger and more dent resistant overall.

Shaping all the plates really makes a big difference in strength with the mild steel, though a good portion of the toughness comes from a certain amount of cold work in the final shaping stages. Putting compound shape into the lower cannons, for instance, dramatically increases their rigidity even in cold rolled, as does rolling the hems.

Glad you like it.


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Cheers,

Jeffrey Hedgecock,
Armourer
Historic Enterprises
http://www.historicenterprises.com

Would you be willing to post the pattern on the archive?

Very fine work there Jeffery. I'm anxious to see the finished product. I especially enjoy the backplate articulation. Those concentric sweeping lines had to be a bit of a bear getting right.

And Chef, well, I just continue to hate you for your wonderful toys. I'm not sure if these pictures would help or hurt me if I got em. Sort of a "here's what you can't have" type of affair. Good luck on the remainder of your wait. Oh, and thanks for sharing.

J