Brigandine Nails Question

Pietro da San Tebaldo · Thu Jan 16, 2003 9:12 am

I'm starting to experiment with the brig nails I bought from Sinric, and I'm having trouble getting a good tight clinch or peen with them. The head of the nail tends to roll onto its edge while I'm trying to clinch the shaft over, and the resulting "fastener" will slip out of the plate at the first opportunity.

I'm backing the nail on a lead block to peen it, and my holes are 3/32". Does anyone have suggestions on how to get a good tight fit? Also, to avoid tearing up the arming coat, should I clip the points off the nails?

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"Or, a pall inverted surmounted by an orle Azure counterchanged"
mka: Sam Pearce

[This message has been edited by Pietro da San Tebaldo (edited 01-16-2003).]

Cassius the Rabbit · Post by **Cassius the Rabbit** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 5:26 pm

if the head of the nails are rounded you may have to drill or punch a small divet into your lead block to set the heads into. I also got the impression from folks here that you would leave the nails pointed while sticking them through and then cut them off with about half the diameter of the hole in length before peening them onto the plates. If you are using metal plates then you shouldn't have to use a washer under the rivets either.

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Sir Alrek Kanin
or just plain 'ol Rabbit

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 9:09 am

Hi Pietro,

Having peened close to a thousand of those specificaly, I can tell you this much. The shafts need to be clipped and peened over - they are that long to allow them to be worked through the fabric of the cover and foundation and plate.

They are thicker in the shaft than original nails, and so cannot easily be clenched as many originals were. The reason they are thicker is the machine they were made on has the size of the head an absolute function of the thickness of the shaft - to get a head the correct size, we needed a thicker shaft for the nail than originally. We chose a correct head size and overall look, over a thinner shaft of the correct size with too small a head.

They clip and peen easily. Washers were no used historicaly in the manufacture of brigandines, nor are they needed for making them now, if all the material used are of good quality and reasonable approxomations to original material. None of the brigandines we have reconstructed/are reconstructing (we have 4 underway or nearly complete) use or need washers.

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Bob R.

Jeffrey Hedgecock · Post by **Jeffrey Hedgecock** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 12:35 pm

I want to suggest also, that you use a steel backing block. Lead isn't really necessary, as the amount of peening you need on this isn't that much, so the steel block doesn't deform the head any appreciable amount.

Where the plates' hole size is concerned...
use as small a hole as you can get away with. The closer the hole fits over the rivet shank, the more it will hold the rivet upright, allowing for more easy peening.

You might also try making a set/die for the final stage of peening. This is a thing like a center punch, but with a concave depression which when struck over the peened shank will help push the plate down more onto the shank and round the surfaces of the peening, reducing roughness. Of course you should peen the rivet then use the set. I like to peen rivets with a small cross-pein.

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Cheers,

Jeffrey Hedgecock,
Armourer, Historic Arms & Armour
http://www.historicenterprises.com
Maitre of The Red Company-1471
http://www.theredcompany-1471.org

[This message has been edited by Jeffrey Hedgecock (edited 01-18-2003).]

Pietro da San Tebaldo · Sat Jan 18, 2003 4:57 pm

Thanks all. Actually, on the plates themselves, there won't be a need for washers - they're being used as I rivet the leather straps to the brig-shell.

Today's project is to make a rivet set out of a narrow flat-faced punch.

Again, thanks.

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"Or, a pall inverted surmounted by an orle Azure counterchanged"
mka: Sam Pearce