first armor project, help me get started?

Leather, Chain and Plate

Moderators: Enderonimus, Belegarth: Forum Moderators

first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Victor Slade » Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:00 pm

Ok, so i was at hobby lobby last week and i picked up some scrap leather, it was pre cheap so i thought what the hell.

The thickness is 2/16 and in the book of war i found this rule

3.5. The minimum thickness for leather Armor is 3/16 inch. The minimum thickness requirement can be achieved by layering up to two pieces of thinner leather.

So heres my questions:

1.) So i figured if i dapped the leather together i could make legal belegarth armor, i was wondering if there was a better way to layer the armor? or is dapping fine?

2.) how do i shape the armor? i know ur spose to soak the armor but i was wondering if that would still apply with them dapped together? (if thats the way to layer them) if soaking is fine how do i do so?

3.) i dont have rivets, i only have leather lace, i didnt plan on making a flexible piece tho, just like gauntlets or greaves, is it ok to just use leather lace?

4.) what kind of paints/dyes do you use? i dont have any dye but i was wondering if i wanted to paint any designs on if i could just use regular acrylic paint? also, prolly a dumb question, but instead of dying could i possibly spray paint the leather??

any input and answers are GREATLY appreciated


:axes: Victor :axes:
*belegarth practice*
guy 1 "oww you hit me too hard"
guy 2 "do you need a spoon?"
guy 1 "why would i need a spoon?"
guy 2 "to dig the sand out of your *"
User avatar
Victor Slade
Toadie
Toadie
 
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue May 26, 2009 5:43 pm
Realm: Bael Turath
Favorite Fighting Styles: whatever works

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Sieglatan » Mon Oct 04, 2010 11:48 pm

1.- To be honest, I've never tried DAP-ing leather before... I could possibly see it working, as it is waterproof and somewhat flexible, but I could also see it fouling up. My humble reccommendation is to not DAP it, but to use the more traditional tools at your disposal- ie- your leather string. Depending on what you are making, you could lay the pieces on top of one another, line up the edges, punch correlating holes, and lace the two pieces together (which also looks good), among other methods...

2. Again, never DAP-ed leather, but after soaking, you set the oven to about 150 F, and place both layers in at the same time, and when you pull them out every 10 minutes or so, form them on top of each other.

3. Some great smiths swear by leather lace or sinew, and it looks like its pretty reliable, if done well. I use rivets made from 11 ga steel nails, and washers, cut to size with nips, held together with a flat-head against a hunk of steel, and then mushrooming the whole thing, but that's just me.

4. I've used normal acrylic paint, but I found that liquid gesso is really helpful- its liquid gypsum that artists use as a pre-coat on canvases to lend their work strength and flexibility without cracking the paint. Use plenty of water ( I mix my acrylics on a wet paper towel), and finish with a medium weight varnish if it needs to be waterproof. As for spray paint- I've never tried it~ sorry!

Hope that helps a little bit! I wish I could give you more, but I'm really only an amateur at this point-
User avatar
Sieglatan
Brute
Brute
 
Posts: 594
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:59 am
Location: Neverwhere
Realm: Andor
Unit: Not Applicable
Favorite Fighting Styles: Zweihänder

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Forkbeard » Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:35 am

Use the * search engine. This has already been discussed about a million times.
After you TRY to learn, ask questions.
FB
Warlord of the Western Uruk-Hai

Don't call it a comeback
I been here for years
Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear
User avatar
Forkbeard
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 5604
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2003 5:46 pm
Location: Kung Foo Island
Started Fighting: 15 Jun 2000
Realm: Aquilonia
Unit: Western Uruk Hai
Favorite Fighting Styles: Just the Tip

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Richard le Gris » Tue Oct 05, 2010 9:52 am

From a "damned search engine" I found this in the top 5 hits

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?80144-Laminating-Leather

DAP Weldwood is a contact cement. Have fun. Post pics of work in progress and finished.
Faute d'argent, en acier! ~ "For want of silver, steel!"
User avatar
Richard le Gris
Monkey
Monkey
 
Posts: 163
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 4:44 pm
Location: SoIL
Started Fighting: 0-11-2007
Realm: Byzantium
Unit: Legion of House Manticore
Favorite Fighting Styles: Sword and Board, Archery

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Derian » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:28 am

You bought a bag of scrap leather from Hobby Lobby, yes? If so, you won't be able to harden it. You can only harden (well, within reason) vegetable tanned leather, which that scrap is not.

That said, it's not the end of the world because hardening isn't required for armor. I've seen an entire lamellar torso piece made out of that exact leather. He basically cut twice as many pieces as were necessary, then double layered each lame before lacing it together.

This is probably a good way to go as it won't require glue or rivets or buckles or anything else. All you need is a few bags of the scrap leather, a sharpie, a utility knife and some lacing. Here's a good starting point: http://www.armourarchive.org/patterns/l ... emplarbob/
- Derian -

"An octopus has eight arms, three hearts, five *, two Super Bowl rings, a beak, and the power to solve crimes."
User avatar
Derian
Become One With the Wind
 
Posts: 5969
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2003 4:20 pm
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Started Fighting: 01 Apr 2001
Realm: Nan Belegorn
Unit: Hellhammer
Favorite Fighting Styles: Sword & Board
Pronouns: He / Him

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Victor Slade » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:37 am

thank you guys for the information and advice. it is appreciated veryy much. Ill post pics of progress and completed work
*belegarth practice*
guy 1 "oww you hit me too hard"
guy 2 "do you need a spoon?"
guy 1 "why would i need a spoon?"
guy 2 "to dig the sand out of your *"
User avatar
Victor Slade
Toadie
Toadie
 
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue May 26, 2009 5:43 pm
Realm: Bael Turath
Favorite Fighting Styles: whatever works

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Victor Slade » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:43 am

btw derian, thank you for that link, i think its perfect for my leather situation
*belegarth practice*
guy 1 "oww you hit me too hard"
guy 2 "do you need a spoon?"
guy 1 "why would i need a spoon?"
guy 2 "to dig the sand out of your *"
User avatar
Victor Slade
Toadie
Toadie
 
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue May 26, 2009 5:43 pm
Realm: Bael Turath
Favorite Fighting Styles: whatever works

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Forkbeard » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:47 am

That link, the one Derian put up, is to the Armour Archive. It is the main link you would have found if you would have used the **** seach device yourself. It is the site we reference whenever some one asks where to get info.
Use the search before you ask more questions.
FB
Warlord of the Western Uruk-Hai

Don't call it a comeback
I been here for years
Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear
User avatar
Forkbeard
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 5604
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2003 5:46 pm
Location: Kung Foo Island
Started Fighting: 15 Jun 2000
Realm: Aquilonia
Unit: Western Uruk Hai
Favorite Fighting Styles: Just the Tip

Re: first armor project, help me get started?

Postby Thorondor » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:43 pm

Forkbeard wrote:That link, the one Derian put up, is to the Armour Archive. It is the main link you would have found if you would have used the **** seach device yourself. It is the site we reference whenever some one asks where to get info.
Use the search before you ask more questions.
FB


Armor archive? What's that FB?? Sounds like a good place to get weapon patterns though...
Uruk-Hai Serpent Breed and proud
Victory though intensity, tactics and glorious death!

Daemarth: <On the topic of some people just can't get along> it's like sticking me and Kegg in a room... and I keep punching him in the f'n face, and someone looking into the room just keeps telling him that he just needs to get along with me...
User avatar
Thorondor
Grizzled Veteran
Grizzled Veteran
 
Posts: 2340
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2003 3:07 pm
Location: Austin, TX
Started Fighting: 31 Mar 2001
Realm: Grim Sword
Unit: Uruk-Hai
Favorite Fighting Styles: Short Recurve Bow


Return to The Armory

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests