Scale Skirt project

Just a quick update.

I did not get the scale horsemans skirt done by Blackstone Raids. The cutting of the plates and the punching of the holes moves rather quickly once I get into the rythm but, hammering each plate to get the slight curve and to work harden the metal is a slow process.

I will continue to work on the skirt but I will bounce to other projects with more instant gradification. I will start on the curaiss this weekend. I will also work on the vembraces, too. there are also the sheaths for swords, belts, baldric and other things needed for the full armor.

I am excited about the whole project.

Chain Mail for Armor

So, this is the story.

I decided that I was not going to fight in chainmail armor because it adds no protection for SCA rattan fighting and it is heavy. Well chainmail is period and looks good. So, I have decided that I will add chainmail accents to my new armor. If I put a bit of chainmail here and there in just the right places it will look like I am wearing a chainmail shirt under my cuirass.

We all know that chainmail armor is made from flat rings that are riveted. So, I took the small anvil I use to make rivet heads and added a couple more holes and made a jig to flatten the rings and keep them rounded and a tapered hole all the way through the anvil that I could use to round the rings and cause the overlap for riveting. Well it worked great but it was is time consuming. I have abandoned the idea. Maybe another time.

I however did not decide to abandon the flat rings.

I used a regular smooth face hammer to flatten a few rings right on the anvil. This works great if you have good hammer technique. The only problem was how plain it looked.

Then I started looking at my hammers. I found one of my 3 pound had rings in the surface to prevent slipping when striking a spike. I decided to give this hammer a try and found it made a cool pattern on the rings. That was all it took for me to decide this was the hammer I would use to flatten out the rings.

Now I am doing the rings in the most simple fashion. I am laying the ring on the anvil and striking it flat with the hammer.

My chainmail accents on my armor will be bronze chainmail made of flattened rings butted instead of riveted. Maybe sometime in the future I will do riveted chainmail but not for this project.