Shop update, legs, gauntlets
The open shop was productive this week. Maelgwyn got a couple projects done, Robert finished and fired some cops, and I made some progress on some gauntlets which have been lurking in the shop- even did some welding on one of the thumbs.
Maelgwyn looking ready to go on a crusade:
His helm is kind of small, so he stitched an avantail to the bottom of his helm liner to save a little space. Here's what the final package looks like:
Robert with his spring stainless cops ready to fire:
Maelgwyn again with some spiffy new legs he's making. He made the cops out of steel, the fabric is astoundingly inexpensive stuff he found at WalMart (I probably shouldn't have ratted him out, it really looks even nicer in person) and he has pockets in the cuisses for plates which he pounded out just this week.
Here are the gauntlets I'm tinkering with:
I need to get a shot of the thumb tip which I welded together. It's looking nice. These guys weight about half what my present mitts do, so while they were intended for someone else, I might just have to try them out. I'd really like to do an earlier period design for my kit. An hour glass gauntlet should be even lighter than these.
I've made some progress on the legs this week. I got the right leg ironed out about right, but wasn't happy with the way the demigreave was articulating, so I made a new pattern. It addresses some of the gapping issues I was having, though I should push it farther in the next version. The left leg went together pretty easily due to all that I learned on the right. Instead of doing all the difficult hot work, I just flared the end over my swedge block. It took WAY less time, and the results are much cleaner. So here they are:
They both still need final tweaking. I'll probably replace the demigreave on the left too, but I'm probably the only person who will notice. I'll have to iron out how the maile and brass will attach to them, fire them, clean them, and mount all the bling. Right now they fit like a glove.
In other news, I racked a dunkelweisen tonight. It's going to be raspberry, and so far it's yummy- a nice balance of hoppy tartness and malty sweetness. I'm looking forward to the fruit tones. What I'm not looking forward to? Scrubbing out the carboy.
Maelgwyn looking ready to go on a crusade:
His helm is kind of small, so he stitched an avantail to the bottom of his helm liner to save a little space. Here's what the final package looks like:
Robert with his spring stainless cops ready to fire:
Maelgwyn again with some spiffy new legs he's making. He made the cops out of steel, the fabric is astoundingly inexpensive stuff he found at WalMart (I probably shouldn't have ratted him out, it really looks even nicer in person) and he has pockets in the cuisses for plates which he pounded out just this week.
Here are the gauntlets I'm tinkering with:
I need to get a shot of the thumb tip which I welded together. It's looking nice. These guys weight about half what my present mitts do, so while they were intended for someone else, I might just have to try them out. I'd really like to do an earlier period design for my kit. An hour glass gauntlet should be even lighter than these.
I've made some progress on the legs this week. I got the right leg ironed out about right, but wasn't happy with the way the demigreave was articulating, so I made a new pattern. It addresses some of the gapping issues I was having, though I should push it farther in the next version. The left leg went together pretty easily due to all that I learned on the right. Instead of doing all the difficult hot work, I just flared the end over my swedge block. It took WAY less time, and the results are much cleaner. So here they are:
They both still need final tweaking. I'll probably replace the demigreave on the left too, but I'm probably the only person who will notice. I'll have to iron out how the maile and brass will attach to them, fire them, clean them, and mount all the bling. Right now they fit like a glove.
In other news, I racked a dunkelweisen tonight. It's going to be raspberry, and so far it's yummy- a nice balance of hoppy tartness and malty sweetness. I'm looking forward to the fruit tones. What I'm not looking forward to? Scrubbing out the carboy.
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