Erin S's armour

Erin's armour. A three piece suit. Three pieces in the breast plate....(click on the image below to enlarge) the full size picture showing the nice work on the back.

three pieces in the faulds. (note they will be assembled in reverse order than is shown here.)

and three pieces in the breast plate.

and three pieces in the back plate.

This armour will be a bit of a project since it will be blued in the oven, then there will be some brass bits added on to make the lines pop. Should be an interesting project. Lots to see in the next few days as I get all those disparate bits to come together.

Graduation class, spring 09

Basic Chivalrous Sword Handling class grad pic. From left to right, Andrea, Elizabeth, Brendan, Katherine, Tod, Mark, AJ, Trevor, Holly

The advanced class is clearly trying to get even. Left to right, Lorne, Mike, Craig, Karen.

Prague Armour

These are Kim's pictures of armour in the Prague Castle. You will have to click on them to see them in full size. Although I personally believe all these helms to be replicas, (I use the term loosley...I personally suspect these helms date no farther back than the Gothic Revival of the late 19th and early 20th century, or alternatively, the activities of a teacher of history with a lot of time on his hands sometime since then) the collection is still pretty useful for anybody who likes to see nicely made armour outside of the confines of a book cover.

The above picture is of some barrel helms. They show off some nice variations on a standard barrel, clearly made from sheet steel, and they look fantastic. The cow horns are a nice touch.

above are a nice group of pole weapons. I have been told on uncertain authority that the pole weapons were stacked like this in racks on the battle field when the troops were eating or sleeping in order to provide a screen against cavalry. I imagine it also kept the clumsy things out of the mud, and out from under foot.

to the left is a pig faced bascinet. I hate that term since it doesn't look anything LIKE a pig..but it wasn't MY idea to give it that name. Both bascinets are built with flip up visors which look like they will protect pretty well.

Above is an archer's hat. Below are a couple of helms which would not be out of place in most any battle, either IN Bohemia or pretty much anywhere else.

The above is called a "bellows" visore'd helmet. The visor is in two parts, the forehead and face plate are hinged on the same point. The Ninja stars on the sides...now thats just cute.

I know how much work went into this...plenty! Hard to tell what gauge the steel is, however if this is a useable helm, we are likely looking at 16 gauge or heavier. A lovely bit of sculpture. The crown of copper is very telling...that is so clearly Art Nouveau....which gives an early date. But then, this is Prague, the home of Alphonse Mucha, and the hotbed of art nouveau, so it could have been made any time after he did his work in the early 1920's.

Above is a good shot of the helms from below. Dont usually get to see the inside of armour.

Oh...how demonic! Love it!

The helm at the top is really iconic...it is the helm most people think of when they think of a knight in shining armour. It is called a "close helm" since it fits so closely. The helm at the top right is kind of neat...the whole front, including a very functional looking gorget, flips up. On the second tier down is a morion....the usual helmet used all over during the renaissance.

Top left is a three bar lobster tail. I thought they were pretty much an English thing, but they could have been used elsewhere I suppose. The rest are variants of this ordinance grade helmet. Because they were made from spinnings, they tended to be very much bowl shaped, and in fact during the great revolution in England, the fight was between the "Cavaliers" (horse riding nicely armoured knights) and the "Round Heads", (soldiers in cheap round headed helmets and great thick leather buff coats.) Like the barrel helms in the top picture, this picture shows some of the variants of a basic design one could encounter on the battlefield.

The wings are a nice touch...

sexy armour...workpiece

click on these images to enlarge.

The workpiece was discoloured by melting lead into it. I figured it would not matter since it would all be sanded out later anyways. Bad idea...the other one had no such funky colours, and the wire brush played hell with the steel "look" I was trying to achieve. Well, live and learn.

The first step was to lay out the triangles, and then create a line with the blunt chisel. Below are the two cups, side by side, with some of the background "quilting" starting.

And here is what it looks like after about an hour of cursing the slippery steel and banging hammers off my thumbnail. Personally I like this look all by itself....but of course ideally it is supposed to be coloured black. I briefly toyed with the idea of cutting it all out and simply using a black sheepskin behind it, but as I saw how swiftly this was going, I figured, "heck, I can always cut it out later if it looks awful."

The eighteen gauge steel responded really well...the finished product has a really nice three dimentional effect.

Above is the completed bra cups for a nice sexy armour. The repousee took no more than four hours, the melting of lead, masking and painting took another 2 hours. Its not making the blessed things that was difficult, but rather, making them both the same, but mirror images. So, at first blush, these took me around 12 hours to make.

I think that the bra cups I made using this painting as an inspiration ended up looking pretty good. Its not "exactly" like the illustration. I wish I could say that was because I didn't want to slavishly copy a painting, but the reality is that I imperfectly remembered which triangles were "quilted" when I went to lay out the workpiece. Ah well. Next time.

Now to work on the tassels, chains, straps, bracelet and pendant. These are just as important as the cute little cups, and possibly even harder to make.

illustration courtesy of Clyde Caldwell and is used by permission. Please don't copy it. Copyright 2009. this is only a thumbnail, the full picture is here. http://clydecaldwell.com/large_images/leopard_serpent.html

more sexy armour...the tools

The first step of course was to make the bra cups to begin with. That's them in back. click on the images to enlarge. They are most assuredly NOT simply bowls....they have a very distinctive shape which I worked hard to beat into the metal. above is the result of melting the lead into the bowl. Below you can see the lead, and how I mounted a great big bolt into it to hold it into place. The wood in the above picture just gives the lead a little more support.

hmmm...possibly these three pictures should have been reversed. Oh well, its all good.

After about four hours of repousse work, the surface of the lead button stake is pretty scarred up. I am not really worried about that though....it will be pretty easy to just melt it all over again into another bowl.

And above are the tools of this job. The bronze faced hammer which sticks to the punches without glancing off, the sharpies to do the lay out, and the blunt chisel to incise the lines. The orange punch is a drift which I sort of modified a little, to have a sharp edge. And the single stake on the right is for getting into the corners.

These tools, when properly employed, can be used to incise lines, and "quilt" the spaces in between. I have done a little of this in steel before, and a lot more in leather. I find that except for having to hit the tool a little harder, the same techniques which you use to tool leather work just fine to tool steel.

Okay, you have to hit it a LOT harder....to sink the workpiece into that lead!

Next week, I will try this same technique but I will use jeweler's pitch instead of the lead. I understand if you use pitch (which is essentially a form of tar) you can work the steel without it sliding all over the place. That alone should be worth the mess.

Oh, and I have been asked about using lead. I am a little funny about lead...I know it is dangerous, and the fumes are toxic and cumulative, but I DID use ventilation. Its not so much the lead which is dangerous but rather the lead oxide formed as the stuff rusts. I have a fair amount of lead around which I use from time to time and I always spray it with lacquer after it is formed into a bar, stake, or hammer head. Simple precaution...no oxide. The stake in the above picture has been sprayed with lacquer for instance...which doesn't seem to have affected its ability to back up a chisel any.

renfaire in canada

click on pictures to enlarge Jeff G. and Andrea G. putting kids into chain maille.

Lorne really does like kids. He has the heart of a small child. He keeps it in a jar. On his headboard.

They didn't tell you about this in teacher's college did they?

Her shirt weighs more than fifty pounds.

Andrea made that armour, and this young prince seems quite taken with it.

The crowds just keep on coming!

Yup....it got crowded. Of course, all those kids were excited, screaming at each other and generally haveing a helluva good time. Boy oh boy, were WE glad to see the end of the day. TG for a hot tub and a cold beer.

Sexy Armour

The first ten whacks of the hammer indicate how things are going to go. The second ten put those tell tale flutes and wrinkles into the metal.

Below you can see where I have "set" the edges of the wrinkles. After which the steel will simply oil can outwards under the push of a 16 ounce hammer.

Flattening the wrinkles doesn't really take all that long...but the hammer arm gets a good workout. The wrinkles are almost all gone on the edge closest to the camera, and I need to work on the far edge.
An examination of the profile. Not near enough by a long shot. Oh well, perhaps some more metal bashing is in order.

And another pass of the heavy hammer makes the profile look a bit nicer. It needs to be tighter at the right, and only a couple of passes with the hammer bring us a much nicer profile.

The below picture shows the semi-finished piece after yet another pass.

The piece is now ready for the wheel. Here, I use a two inch radius wheel.

It puts a nice shine on the metal too. This is about as tight a radius as it is possible to create. now, lets check it against the first one I made. Right...they have to be identical, but opposite.

a close up side view shows that the right hand cup needs more hammering still!

So I hammer it some more. This can be depressing when you are so close to being finished, and you discover that one more pass needs to be done. On the other hand, it is only after the piece has been wheeled that you really know.

So after another hard wheeling, I am happy that the pieces are identical. They are made a little large, about a half inch in all dimentions, to allow for trimming. Below you can see the application. I am using this as a wallpaper for my computer.

Of course NOW, I have to see about decorating them all, and creating all the "add on" bits.

comments are welcome.

(image used by permission, copyright Clyde Caldwell 2009. Check out "clydecaldwell.com", and "southtower.on.ca" )

Phone call

Got a phone call yesterday. Made me think. It went something like this.

Hello, how may I help you?
>Yeah, do you teach Japanese Sword fighting?
Well, yes.
>What style?
That would be Kyushu Ryu.
>silence...for a bit, then "Yeah, I want to take that course."
Well, that should be no problem. I teach it at Algonquin College.
>I don't have a car. Anyplace closer?
Well, Kenjuitsu is only taught at Algonquin College.
>How much would would it cost for private lessons?
forty dollars an hour plus room rental. Cheaper to take it at the college.
And it wouldnt be ME teaching it, it would be my co-instructor, Jean V________. He's good.
>How much does the college charge?
(I thought it was settled that the college was too far away. Hmmm...suddenly the college looks like an option...grin!) Um...they charge about a hundred and fifty for a full course.
>How do I pay for that?
Well, get on line and sign up for the course. We are starting a new one in the fall. Maybe sooner if there is any interest.
>Well, I got a black belt in Karate when I was with the US army in Okinawa.
Go on line and see what the college schedule is...the courses are offered, and if there is not enough sign ups, they get cancelled.
> So do you do private lessons?
Yes, but they are expensive.
>So what bus do I take to get to the college?
I guess that would depend on where in the city you are...the college is on Baseline Transit station. All busses go there.
>Okay then...that course in the fall sounds good. Bye.

A black belt in Okinawa. On a military posting.

Remarkable.