for making armor? They look to be made of 16 or 18-gauge galvanized steel. I saw these at Menards in two different sizes, one about 7"x3.5" and the other about 3.5"x3.5". They sell for $.69 a piece. I was thinking of using them in a C.O.P. or brigandine, possibly with an overlap at the bottom holes or riveting them to a backing material with decorative rivets in each of the holes. Another option I was considering was lacing the plates together.
Johann Lederer wrote:I have a friend that made his first CoP out of those and suede leather. In our area there are two thicknesses...he got the heavier (16ga)...
Did he sandwich the plates between two layers of suede or did he do an open-faced/open-inside construction?
He rivetted them to the inside of a vest type coat, and painted the side toward the body with black paint. All you saw was the rivets on the outside. There was on overlap, which, I feel was it's major downfall...
If they were overlapped I agree that they may work in a brig.
I used to make brigandines out of those plates, paper fasteners, and vinyl upholstery fabric when I was a kid...
"When a land rejects her legends, Sees but falsehoods in the past;
And its people view their Sires in the light of fools and liars,
'Tis a sign of its decline and its glories cannot last."
