The Armour Archive

Alrite, im on the quest of retrieving several pieces of railroad track today. I asked the construction worker near my college if i could just go take some, and he replied "I dont see why not, just do it later tonight when we are gone." Now keep in mind this area is right in the middle of the city at a big intersection. And in my mind, i would think it would look quite suspicious to go lurking in a construction zone stealing railroad track.

My question is, if a cop came by, what would be a good excuse?

And if you all dont think this is a good idea, where is another place i could acquire the railroad track?

Also there is a huge pile of The joints that connect the railroad track section together, are they useful in any way?

-Cyrus-

Your not going to be able to come up with anything if you are approached at a construction site.

Find another lenght of tracks where there is no work happening and just walk along looking for discarded track scraps.

The other way is to go to the worker(s) and offer him 10 or 20 bucks for foot or so long length of scrap.

Remember, if it sounds like you are offering cash for trash, someone will jump at the chance.

B

If you can find the super on the site ask him. or offer a 12 pack

Under about 4 feet and it's not worth pieceing together for a larger section of track. I'm sure if you go in daylight and offer cash for a scrap like piece, they won't mind. So long as they aren't just working nearby and taking money for the rail companys track!

yea i guess ill just go down their and offer em like 10 dollars for it

thanks for all the feedback

peace
cyrus

Metal scrapyard may let you wander around. The proprietor may even know if he has any rails on hand, and might even cut it for you. My dad once got a piece of rail from a junkyard, and gave me a chunk when I went to college and needed a portable anvil to set rivets. He cut it up with a hacksaw; don't do that, it took him several hours per cut.

dude, i wish you lived in wisconsin. i was just at an auction and baught a 2 foot peice of rail and about a foot and a half piece of I beam for like 3 bucks. id give ya some of it, but the shipping would be killer. right now ive got the top of the I beam polished off and im working on machining holes into it that i plan to fit my dishing forms, stakes and mandrals into. the I beam might actually be better and im pretty sure easier to come by in a scrap yard or construction site.

patric

son of a.... what kind of auction was it? Well hopefully after this holiday ill still be able to barter with the construction guys. Or ill go down to the scrapyard later this week. But i really wana work on something other then my hauberk thats almost done!!!

Thats the one thing i hate about armouring, i want to do everything RIGHT NOW, but i guess ill have to learn patience.


peace
-cyrus-

I know what you mean; I felt the same way back in my U of A days, though the armouring was more a means to an SCA end than an end in itself -- I fought in fugly carpet and the strangest Boba Fett army pot conversion ever seen. The carpet, however, all matched: scraps from the new U of A libary just being completed.

However, since you come with only the normal number of heads and hands, it won't be all at once, but in series, not parallel, and there's the learning time anyway. You'll learn patience; it comes with experience.

I would be wary of I-beams if you don't have proper hearing protection. Their shape makes them ring much more than a solid chunk of railroad tie or a real anvil.

Of course, if you've got good hearing protection, it's not much of a big deal to you, but then you have to deal with neighbors/people who live with ya.

If you want to take down on the ringtone, eith put a magnet on the side or loosely duct tape a piece of metal to the beam, tie, anvil. This will take most of the ring out.

i was thinking of filling the sides with something like cement or maybe some lumber... i have thaught about it, but im not quite sure yet.

patric

CyrusArdain wrote:Also there is a huge pile of The joints that connect the railroad track section together, are they useful in any way?

Well, I scavenged some of the nuts and bolts that hold those plates together, and turned one of them into a medium-small mushroom stake. (Bigger than the heads on the spikes.)