The SCA, Fighting and Me, Page 15
January 7, 2003.
Yahoo! Yippie! Yes, I'm in a very good mood while writing this entry. Last night was very productive. With help I got new body armour cut out! And new legs cut out! Not to mention most of the ringing is gone from my helm.
As I'm currently not able to make the wednesday armour making nights at Sir Edward's home, he kindly made arrangments for me to come over and work on armour last nite. After spending about a month deciding on what to make for body armour I went with a modified verison of the Wisby Cote of Plates. We got all the plates cut out, and all the edges smoothed, and corners rounded. All that's left is to drill the holes, and heat and shape the plates. Wanting to get as much done as possible we then cut out new legs. (Now to clean up the old knees I'd been given. They're a bit rusty).
I think the worst part was working on the "new" helm I bought at Pennsic XXX. First we had to figure out where the ringing was coming from. Then how to kill the ringing. I've got a stainless steel bassine (sp?). It's got a lifting grill, and it seems that the back of the helm and the grill are where most of the ringing was. We wrapped leather around the bottom two bars on the grill. That helped. Then we driled a few holes at the back to make a guide for a leather strap to sit in (to keep the lifting grill in place). This also helped with the ringing. We had already drilled holes in the sides for the chin strap. We then got out contact cement (really good glue), and glued leather under the grill on the sides where the hinges are. It still rings a bit, but not nearly as loud, high pitched, or long as it first did.
After getting all that work done it was time to head home. Thankfully I'm only about a 30 minute drive from Sir Edwards home. But at night, when the roads are wet, it's better not to be driving home when tired. After getting home I took the contact cement and glued a few stips of leather into the inside of the helm. Tonight I plan on finishing with the leater on the inside of the helm. Then I can add the chin strap and repad the helm. And with any luck, I'll at least have that ready for fight practice on the 16th.
If I'm really really lucky I'll have the body armour done too!
If all goes well, maybe I'll finally get my scout helm done this summer to and be able to do some scouting at summer events and not just fighting.
