Legs done
I still have a little work to do with the new belt I'm making for these legs, but I hope to have that done tonight. To keep track of how I'm progressing as an armourer I'll compare my new legs with the set I've been wearing for a couple years. Here are the buckles on the new ones, and a close up of the cuisses:
The wrapped over steel strapping is how the medieval buckles in my collection all work, and it makes for a very durable design. The straps are dyed with a mixture I made myself. I did the folded pieces of steel, and cheated a bit with a commercial buckle.
How I strapped my present legs. There's some extra weight and complication in the straps which seems unnecessary. Okham's razor shouldn't just apply to philosophy. I made the buckle myself, and they haven't failed me, but the pin has been a pain. I used commercial dye, two piece rivets (which I've seen used in surviving knives, but never on leather) and a folded-over-the buckle approach on the strap which isn't super durable (it's held for years, but it's a weak point in the design), and it's bulkier.
My existing legs, in all their rusty glory. I don't like the cop shape at all, and the demi-greave is too wide. There are about a dozen things I don't like about them really, but the pity party would be embarrassing.
The new design is shiny, sleek, trimmed in brass, and has attached maile cuisses which will have the right look for the St. George statue I'm copying and help keep me alive in The Deed of Arms at Gulf war.
The wrapped over steel strapping is how the medieval buckles in my collection all work, and it makes for a very durable design. The straps are dyed with a mixture I made myself. I did the folded pieces of steel, and cheated a bit with a commercial buckle.
How I strapped my present legs. There's some extra weight and complication in the straps which seems unnecessary. Okham's razor shouldn't just apply to philosophy. I made the buckle myself, and they haven't failed me, but the pin has been a pain. I used commercial dye, two piece rivets (which I've seen used in surviving knives, but never on leather) and a folded-over-the buckle approach on the strap which isn't super durable (it's held for years, but it's a weak point in the design), and it's bulkier.
My existing legs, in all their rusty glory. I don't like the cop shape at all, and the demi-greave is too wide. There are about a dozen things I don't like about them really, but the pity party would be embarrassing. 
The new design is shiny, sleek, trimmed in brass, and has attached maile cuisses which will have the right look for the St. George statue I'm copying and help keep me alive in The Deed of Arms at Gulf war.
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