Tools for the starting armourer

[Scott Martin]

A write-up outlining many of the tools that I actually use, and how I would outfit an armoury for under $500 (and possibly as low as $100 with good scrounging / garage sale victories)

As always, this took vastly more time than I anticipated: please provide comments / feedback / smack me upside the head with a fish for stuff I forgot to mention.

http://blog.borealissteel.com/construct ... -armourer/

The first paragraph of the introduction - it seems a bit silly to post more when I can only include the first 3 pics (at low res)
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This article was prompted by the many folks who have told me that they would have started making armour if they had only known that they didn’t need to spend a fortune buying tools – and were generally surprised that tools like an Anvil were fairly far down on the suggested list of armour tools. In point of fact, as of this writing (March 2013) I don’t have an anvil in my shop, although I’m currently looking for one for tool-making. My guesstimate for the cost to “equip” a minimal armoury is under $500 if you are buying completely new tools, and you can probably do it for under $200 (and possibly under $100) using the stuff you have lying around the house and going garage sale crawling. Some of the most expensive stuff in my “must have” tools are things like blocks of lead and bars of steel, both of which can be picked up at scrap yards for not a lot of cash.
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Scott Martin

[Halberds]

A good write-up I like it, thanks.
I saw my favorite the RR spike in there.

[Zetheros]

It's amazing what you can make with so little tools. I once dished stainless steel with a ball-peen directly on the grass of my backyard when I was 16, once.

[Hrolfr]

Well written, Scott!

[Halberds]

It's amazing what you can make with so little tools. I once dished stainless steel with a ball-peen directly on the grass of my backyard when I was 16, once.

LOL... My first dishing was done on the grass also.
My wife wanted to know what happened to the back yard.
Uhhhh... gophers?

[Scott Martin]

Full disclosure: I have a Beverly shear and many other tools that aren't on this list - but I CAN build the 1480's gauntlets with JUST what is on the list, it would just take a bit more time. I could (and have) built

For gauntlets such a small fraction of the time is cutting that I might not notice it The big time eater would likely be not having my RW Punch (drilling holes for 7 dozen rivets instead of punching) and I would also notice the lack of my autobody sander, since it takes my gauld plates from "close" to "Shiny" in about 3 minutes vs hours for hand sanding, and is a big factor in making the flush cuntersunk rivets "flush".

The addition of those two tools is about a $350 price tag, although you can get a RW knock-off for $40.

For a follow-up article, what tools would folks add NEXT based on bang-for-buck? I think a RW knock-off is a no-brainer, but I don't know if the autobody sander ($170 plus another $80 in pads and abrasives) is more useful than a second-hand gas welder ($500 or so with full, albeit small tanks)

Scott Martin

[Galileo]

More people can figure out sanding than welding.

[Konstantin the Red]

LOL... My first dishing was done on the grass also.
My wife wanted to know what happened to the back yard.
Uhhhh... gophers?

Er... midget artillery? Wind erosion? Alien landings -- hard ones? -- with alien swearwords?? You know, like how crop circles are youthful aliens in saucers doing doughnuts in the fields?

Everything I've heard about R-W No. 5 Jr. copies from anyone says buy the originals instead, on eBay for disounts if you truly must -- there's no telling if you'll get one in good shape or one that's been abused until its frame is just a little bit out of spec. Full price is, what, 70-odd bucks. Amortize it over the likely service life. Long as you're not trying to punch 12 gauge... that's for the more monstrous models of RW punches.

[schreiber]

I especially like how you put the dividers in there. I don't know why they aren't more mentioned, but I use them just about every time I'm in the shop. Not so much the B2.

Everything I've heard about R-W No. 5 Jr. copies from anyone says buy the originals instead, on eBay for disounts if you truly must -- there's no telling if you'll get one in good shape or one that's been abused until its frame is just a little bit out of spec. Full price is, what, 70-odd bucks. Amortize it over the likely service life. Long as you're not trying to punch 12 gauge... that's for the more monstrous models of RW punches.

I'll back this up. I have two 5jrs, one #6 (it's actually a 5jr clone made by either roper or whitney individually, don't remember which one), and a HF knockoff. If the knockoff had the same size tooling it WOULD be a no-brainer, but the threads are metric. The punches are even more crap than the frame and go dull fairly quickly - meaning as soon as it does the tool gets useless for that size.
I keep a 3/32" bit in my knockoff for those rare occasions that I want to stitch something to metal. I use the RW's for everything. And I've paid as little as $25 for them (unless you count the 6, which was a gift).

For a follow-up article, what tools would folks add NEXT based on bang-for-buck?

I would actually argue that the budding armorer should look for a RW #2 or #7 or #8 as a follow-up tool. They go in a 4" vise quite well, and I use them regularly. First, if it's a hole bigger than 3/16 I don't even bother to try with the little guys, and even if it's a small hole I get a little more throat and a lot better feeling hands punching holes in 14g or thicker with the big guys.

Plus I find the big ones indispensable for cutting. Take poleyn fans - I punch a 3/8" hole in the corner and cut up to it, and then file it if I want more detail.

New armorers will get sticker-shocked on ebay, but I bought two #2's, which have interchangeable tooling with my #8, for $35 each at an engineering club yard sale.

The other thing I'd bring up is the HF throatless shear. It'll do 14g mild. It's not the greatest tool, but it is the greatest for the money. You can make an awful lot of functional armor with it. Or you can do what I do: use that to cut up your test pieces that you're doing in 18-22g, and reserve all that jigsaw work for your real effort.

I'd probably throw in the follow-up that the intermediate armorer should start collecting stakes and some system of holding them.

[Greylond]

Thank you for this.