Creating an armour

You may well be able to do so, but do not assume that they had less "technology" or at least less "technique."

In many cases the processes and procedures evolved over hundreds, possibly thousands, of years and were passed as guild/trade secrets from master to apprentice, and the "impurities" in the older less refined materials/processes may be critical.

The process to forge Damascus [not pattern welded] blades has only recently been rediscovered.

The process of gold granulation where items are decorated with thousands of tiny gold balls was recovered only by a lucky accident.

Many of the Chinese ceramic/porciline finishes still cannot be duplicated/replicated. Some of the processes were recorded in detail, but many of the steps were dismissed as "magic."

One example was the requirement that a particular ceramic finish could only be fired in a north wind. It turned out that a north wind in the area of China where these pieces had been produced blew in minute amounts of dust "contaminated" with a rare earth element required for the nucleation that was the basis for the finish. Modern researchers had both dismissed the "north wind only" claim as superstition, and had not fired their kilns during the north winds because of the "problem" of dust contamination.

The other problem, after looking at the graphics, is that these may have been preserved because they were the best examples of the finest royal armor from the best artificers. Thus not only extensive knowledge of the materials and techniques may be required, but also exceptional skill and talent.

This looks like a fun project. Let the group know how you are doing and what you discover.

Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

do a seach for "basic armouring" by paul blackwell, it's a free e-book on making armour and will get you started in the right direction, it's more in the medieval direction of things but the basics are all the same.

mike

ps theres also a huge hard copy book thru amazon/chapters can't remeber the title or isbn any more. costs $140 or so but it's a really cool book as well. buddy got it for x-mas one year.

Hi... I am 16 years old and i am intrested in becoming an blacksmith. I have introduced my self to an blacksmith in my vilage, and he says that he will teach me in becoming an blacksmith. I will get the equipment from my relatives, they had an blacksmith but he is dead, so... I will get his equipment.

Wish me luck...

A couple of comments. A look at the items you show suggests that they are probably bronze. That speaks against the blacksmith, an iron worker, doing the work. But thats a "specific-terminology" nitpick - hammers, stakes and anvils will still come in handy for bronze-work.

Even in steel armor, most of the work is somewhat different that blacksmithing - other than some of the sharp curves in helms, most of it is done cold, or at least the armorer I knew and observed the working habits of for something in excess of 12 years worked most everything cold. He started doing stuff for the Society of Creative Anachronism to play in, and moved on to museum-quality reproductions as his personal standards evolved along with his skills. When he got past the point where other people could teach him, he concentrated on looking at armor in museums, and museum books when he could not get to the museums that had the armor he wanted to look at, to see what had been done, and figure out how it was done.

He also just plain made a lot of armor, which improved his skills, and his ability to figure out how something must have been done, from experience with similar work.

Making armour is a lot harder than many people think. But its certainly doable, and lots of people do it. Sounds like you are not in the USA- but there is plenty of info on the web.

Here is a forum devoted to the subject, with some very knowledgable people on it-

And here is a very good list of links to modern armor makers, swordsmiths, and some good how to sites.

You certainly can -- people still do all the time.

The set-up can be pretty cheap, just a few hammers, some home-made stakes, maybe a propane or o/a torch, and whatever sheet metal you want to work. If you get fancy you can use welders, grinders, etc...

As far as learning how to do it, the best place to ask around would be your local Society for Creative Anachronism folks (http://

Also, try the local Renn Fairs. The SCA has a lot of armorers, although they generally do "working armor", for the SCA- style fighting, and not the fine-grade museum stuff.

Another good place to try is a local blacksmithing group. Start at the Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America (http://

You should be able to find a local group from there.

has armorers, too. Their email list, The Sandbox, is another good resource. There is a yahoo group, sca_armor, that is all about making armor.

Who knows, depending on where you live there might be someone local to you.

BTW, generally it wasn't the village blacksmith who made armor. Armor was a specialty, like locks or cutlery or guns, and had people who just did that.

Good luck!

S.