Dishing!

Syrus Leigh · Post by **Syrus Leigh** » Wed Jul 10, 2002 11:07 am

Well, I went ahead and made a dishing stump the other day. I don't know if its a very good one, I just sort of grabbed a big chunk of wood that was laying around in my barn. I don't have much for tools, so I burned little fire on the middle and then pounded down with my ball peen, and repeated as neccesary. Within an hour, I had a bowl with about a four inch diameter.
So now I had a dishing stump . . . so I went and found a piece of stainless steel, and decided to try some dishing. Mind you, this was my first time ever dealing with any sort of plate.
So, I dished and dished and dished. And you know what? It worked!
So I found a big steel ball and planished my dish all out semi-smooth.
Now, I need steel. That was my only piece. But I'm excited. I'm going to make my own kit, and start fighting in the fall.

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Aye, lads & lasses.

Ideval · Post by **Ideval** » Wed Jul 10, 2002 12:38 pm

Excellent!
Welcome aboard.

That is exactly how I got started...
A huge soft-wood stump, a bit of WD-40 (in controlled environment), a book of matches, and a modified claw hammer.

I had a scrap of rusted 16g hot rolled, which actually turned into my first shield boss - and, which I now use as a steel lining in that old dishing stump.

Similarly, the claw hammer has been modified again - and significantly polished - and now serves as a bouging hammer.
Good luck, keep an eye open for cheap hammers, chunks of useable metal, et cetera.

IdÃ«val
p.s. Keep an eye open for armouring books, as well. In the past three months, or so, I've acquired B. Price's Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction, Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight, and yesterday a friend's father pulled out The Best of the Hammer that he no longer has use for.

Syrus Leigh · Post by **Syrus Leigh** » Wed Jul 10, 2002 5:41 pm

Thanks! Consider those books you mentioned ordered from the library (mainly because they are). I've already constructed a maille hauberk, so I believe I'm going to make some pauldrons, greaves, vambraces, a gorget, and lastly a helm. But before that, I'm set on producing a decent coat of plates.

I'm not quite certain on my helm design yet, but I was thinking of making several different types for practise before the final product.

Steel is going to be a problem, though, but I'll pick some up as I go along. I'm also re-working a few other hammers in my forge, so I doubt I'll have any shortage of those.

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Aye, lads & lasses.

RalphS · Post by **RalphS** » Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:46 am

Steel should be easy. It's among the most common construction materials. I buy my steel in the tiny industrial area nearby. Check your yellow pages and make some phonecalls!

Mad Matt · Post by **Mad Matt** » Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:31 am

Yup steel is generally easy to find and cheap if you're going with mild.

I pay about $35-50 CDN for a full 4'x8' sheet of cold rolled mild. A 4x8 is basically enough to make 2 full suits for an average size person.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory