The Scale Skirt - Part 1

Well, it has been a while since this blog started. I went silent but now I am back. I moved and the work space is just getting set up. So, the first thing I need to make is leg protection. And this is why, courtesy of Arundoor. (photo taken six days after the attack)


So, I started the scale skirt. It is based off a find in Denmark that is listed as a Roman scale and dated to around 360 to 400 CE. It is not connected to fabric but is connected scale to scale with "staples". There are sever finds across Europe of this style scale armor.


My scales are 1.5 x 2 inch red brass. I spent a couple hours on Thursday evening cutting out the squares from 6 x 12 inch sheets of 20 gauge brass.

This is the setup. I used my small Central Forge throatless shears. I picked this up from Harbor Freight a few years back for under $100 and I love it. I have a Beverly B3 throatless shear that can be seen behind the area but it sucks for soft low gauge metal.

So after the squares where cut I had to mark them for the curve at the bottom. This took a good part of the evening on Friday as we sat having bad movie night, consisting of Idiocracy, and Evil Aliens. (movie review: Idiocracy is so stupid that it is not even worth watching from a free loaned video. The kid wanted to see the whole thing so we watched it. Evil Aliens is a bad, sick and twisted British movie that is also funny. If you have a warped mind you should see this film, but send the kids away.) Now back to the metal.

After two evenings I now have a bunch of squares that need to be rounded on the ends. So, I am now off to the garage to get to work.

More on this project to come.