What I've been working on recently

[es02]

greaves! and sabs and stuff.

Apologies for the crappy picture quality these were taken on my phone as my main camera is out of action.

[img]http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs093.snc1/4951_87136734289_756549289_2084746_2538403_n.jpg[/img]

[img]http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs053.ash1/4951_87136739289_756549289_2084747_6635352_n.jpg[/img]

[img]http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs053.ash1/4951_87136749289_756549289_2084748_710880_n.jpg[/img]

As you can see I havent quite got the depth in the ankle section but otherwise they fit like a glove

Speaking of gloves my new gauntlets are almost finished.



[img]http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs008.snc1/4441_79916829289_756549289_1980901_4080500_n.jpg[/img]

Need to trim the cuff a little as its too wide.

[Sean Powell]

It's a good start. Greaves seem like a simple project but are very hard to do well. I have never succeded in doing them well so take my advice with a grain of salt:

The gap between greave and sabaton would be Dangerous in a real sword fight. It needs to have a anticlastic 'swoop' out over the foot. It would also help if the plate of the sabaton below that swoop had some matching anticlastic curvatures as well.

Halberds makes some great 'Y' shaped stakes but lacking that even a straight pipe should work and some heat will make it easier. Clamp in a spacer to keep the greave from opening and use a straight-peen to pinch the metal above the foot. A 'hammer on air' technique with the greave only slightly off the pipe or anvil horn will combine forward stretching with sideway pinching to pull the lip forward. Don't just work the very center, you need to bring metal from the sides up towards the top to gain enough to make a good lip.

Once you can get that shape in well you will be on your way to making better greaves... and better armor for a lot of other locations as well.

Good luck!
Sean

[es02]

Thanks Sean, you cant see very well in those photos but there is a bit of a lip there I just didnt take it out as far as I needed to.

It also doesnt help that the top plate of the sab sits too far forward which would otherwise close that gap up quite a bit.

I'll definately agree with greaves being damn hard to do I think with more heat I'd be able to do alot better my lil propane torch just isnt getting it hot enough. Hopefully I'll be able to switch to Oxy/Propane soon which should speed things up immensly.