The Armour Archive

Here are some photos of my 4 week suit of armour I am making as my final project (masterpiece) for my blacksmithing course, we are supposed to make our final pieces in 4 weeks of time, here are some pics of progress so far:

These are all one piece, no welds.

Here are some more pics, the last were in reverse order for some reason?

Shoulders:

Lawrence,

Wow. I have not seen any of your work I do not think till this point. Looks like you are very skilled. Very nice work. I cannot wait to see the progress of it! Those shoulders looks very detailed. Nice job!

RPM

This is the visor at 9 hours;

Lawrance,

Kudos!

I think you are still going to want to cut some more from the back of the basinet's neck. An inch perhaps, tapering off to nothing at the cheeks. Check it against your sources, and see if you don't agree.

The visor is looking good. I'm anxious to see it on the skull!

Looking forward to seeing more from you.

Mac

wow. great work.

Hi Mac, there is a picture of it on the skull above but the pic is quite small, don't know why

I am measuring it up against the Lyle piece from the Royal Armouries, though the front to back will be larger to accommodate my head


Thanks Randall and Baron, et al, much appreciated

That is awesome! Excellent work, thanks for sharing, and I hope to see more pics as the work progresses.

Looking sweet so far! If you get a suit done in 4 weeks you're probably good enough to make a living in armouring and that's a lot. How long days are you working?

You obviously think this is possible to do. You're either completely mental or very confident. (or both.?)

IF I could make a raised visored bascinet in 4 weeks, I'd be more than happy... Good luck with the project!

Hi Sepe,
I didn't say it was going to be easy or do-able, but I am going to try, it is one thing to ruff the pieces out and another to bring them all together and finish

The skull has 2-3 days raising in it which was really very hard work say 24 hours and the visor has 9 hours and there is much more to do yet.

Also I will more than likely have a black finish as refining the surface to machine polished perfection is time consuming and I think I want the piece to keep the edgy forged look.

I rarely get a full 8 hours in my workshop, so I am keeping a running total of hours.

But I have learned a lot on my course which has enabled me to significantly cut down on the time it used to take me to make pieces.

Very impressive work.

Man, i wish my school woulda had a class like that.

That's some good stuff. Especially raising it and all.

As far as getting it all done in 4 weeks, remember....not everyone wore cap-a-pie. You could always go with less.

But if you can do a cap-a-pie in 4 weeks.... wow.

Christopher

Hi RenJunkie'

The Course teaches blacksmithing, not armour, but if you learn how to work the metal you should be able to use the techniques in other areas.

I went on the course to get a better understanding of how they would do things in the past, as it is a traditional course that goes back over 80 years I think with the same curriculum, no modern techniques, if you do a weld it is a fire weld!

There was talk of an Armour course at a college in Leeds but I do not think it ever got of the ground?

Lawrence

Really nice work Lawrence, it will be a pleasure to see some fully raised work on the circuit.

Are you at Hereford and Worcester's blacksmithing course?

If so, you would be following in the footsteps of Dave Stirling Brown and Chris Cound, both very acccomplished metal workers and armour makers.

Will you be at Tewkesbury?

Yes I have done the 'Nets' at Hereford with Paul Allen as Tutor. I did my Degree at Central-St Martins in London.

Yes I met another armourer who had done the BA there, he is working out of a local castle estate.

Pity about the swords issue that is one of the reasons I went as well!

I don't think I will be at Tewkesbury.

Lawrence

(cuba) A graphic designer as well, same as me, but didn't go to CSM, did my poor degree at Middlesex, depending on when you were at Central, did you know Paul Cohen? circa 1993-1996. Ninya Mikhaila did her costumiers course at London college of Fashion, small world (back from Cuba)

Shame about Tewkesbury, would have been a good place to show it off to people who need to see what good armour looks like, the different era notwithstanding.

Well it was goldsmithing (3D designs with Hons) at Central the William Morris Arts and Crafts College, so again any technology from the last 200 years was looked down upon

I was there 89-92

Cuba?

I will have a look at Tewksbury

Ah, forgot Central did more than graphic design.

The lions are nice work and I am sure your goldsmithing comes in more than handy.

I learned woodblock and other relief printing in order to improve my portfolio for application to my foundation course, I then was undertaking some medieval applied arts projects and had the same reaction from my peers and tutors as you seem to have had.

Cuba - we use this term on another forum to denote a thread hijack, ie "take this plane to Cuba"

Tewkesbury is a festival that had a battle display added to it, ostensibly based on the battle of the same name, but where it loses major points for historical kit (bucket helms rather than sallets was the norm) it more than makes up for it in terms of fun and a great social and is its 25th anniversary.

If you were thinking of going commercial you might make some useful contacts.

Lawrence Parramore wrote:Well it was goldsmithing (3D designs with Hons) at Central the William Morris Arts and Crafts College, so again any technology from the last 200 years was looked down upon

I was there 89-92

i'd only just left primary school then.

Is it you that came over to my place at eastnor a few months back?

Matt

I can't wait to see those lion shoulders!

Hi Matt,

Yes it was I,

Nice work you were doing there too

Primary school, oh now that was a long time ago, now let me think,,,,,,,,

Lawrence

Hi MJBlazek,

How would you like them to look?

Gilt, black, bronze, silver or a mixture?

Lawrence

Lawrence Parramore wrote:Hi MJBlazek,

How would you like them to look?

Gilt, black, bronze, silver or a mixture?

Lawrence

Wow... gee.... um... Well if I were doing it, which I couldn't 'cause i am in no way that talented, I would do a black with gilt highlights over the muzzle and mane...

Most excellent!

Well MJBlazek,

That is actually what I was already thinking myself so we think alike on that, keeping a bit of rough texture to show it is hand made.

I think I will use gold leaf, hmm, silver it, apply the gold, black it and give it a little rub, should give it a nice look

Why not try it, at the very least you will learn to appreciate the different qualities and also you may surprise yourself?

Lawrence

Ooh, I like those progress pics! Judging by the lion shoulders you have a serious sculpting talent - and are able to get it out through your hammers. Did you use the technique which Mac brought up in the Kastenbrüst-thread during any part of the forming - the "hammering air" technique where you heat the metal and hammer it without using a stake?

Hi Daniel,

I didn't, but I will look that up, if Mac uses it it must be worth having a go at.

I have seen some hanging sheet work with a torch where the sheet is weighted or 'Held' somehow and beaten free form while hot.

These were done cold and frequently annealed.

I'll have to post some more photos soon, I've made the heads wider as they sit on the shoulder better that way I think.

Lawrence

Lawrence,

You've probably already used this technique on the visor. If not there, then surely you will use it when you put the crest lines on the basinet.

Mac

Hi Mac,

I have read that piece now, well yes I have done hammering on air hot and cold, it is unavoidable and also necessary at times, it was the specifics of the question that had me thinking what Daniel was meaning.

The Visor was done using hot sinking and raising, not dishing. I used a large dome shaped hammer for truing up the snout from the inside at times but not to form the piece as this thins the metal too much for my liking.

I have done the air method in the past to do these crest lines as if the stake is too sharp you can cut through inadvertently but here and on the knees etc I have forms to hammer over to form the line.

The lions are done over forms and even into the palm of my hand at times or onto wood depending on how I feel

Lawrence

Ah, thanks for clarifying some of your techniques. And yes, keep those progress pics coming

Well, been busy paying bills, so progress is a bit lacking!

Here are the gauntlets so far, again one piece no welds, they are still quite open in this photo.

Been thinking about the brass trims

Lawrence

A few more hours and I have begun the legs;

Damn Lawrence, Your goood, and fast!

Damn, I wish I could follow a class like this, sadly it appears that in Italy traditional jobs are almost gone, and not many people have interest in reviving them.