Newcomer Questions About Basic Tips For Armor Pieces

[NightWarp]

Greetings all!

As mention on the title im a new comer to the world of leathercraft, always had an interest but never the means to give it a shot until recently.

Ive purchased the deluxe starter kit from Tandy which is a good start and intro for it, While great for more utilitarian objects, my main interest however resides into armor making for SCA/Combat.

I was wondering, what would be the recommended weight of leather to get for my first piece? Im looking for something that will offer some decent protection as im not a big guy.

I've seen Tandy offering on their site some leather marked for armor in the 15oz range. I dont know if thats just right or too heavy so im appealing to you guys experience.

Space is kind of an issue due to a small apartment due to that im thinking of doing a maybe 3 piece chest and a set of bracer to start.

Seen some amazing examples of what can be done already on this site and its stunning what some folks do, tho im years away from such accomplishment myself!

To the armor makers out there.. any tips of accumulated wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

[David8386]

Welcome to the forum. I am not into armor, but 15 oz sounds on the heavy side. For bracers or cuffs I would think 10 to 12 oz would be plenty. One tip I would make is when trying to make patterns use heavy felt to mock it up until you get exactly what you want before cutting leather. Felt is a lot cheaper and you can bend it to shape or tack stitch etc..

Good luck, David

[NightWarp]

Aye it does felt pretty tick, i was considering using a thinner.. 8 or 9 maybe and simply having overlap where necessary as it would be more easily workable. Felt sounds like a good substitute I was thinking cardboard myself to test but that works too, the thickness would make for a more true fit.

[Alamo]

Something that might be of interest to you

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=44443&hl=+leather%20+baking#entry278631

[Ryan Roth Bartel]

Welcome here, I make some SCA armour mostly for Rapier, I like to use heavy corrugated cardboard for the patterns (and you can use the same patterns from the armorarchive.org). Also check with your combat handbook, it will have SCA legal requirements and advice. And remember if you don't like pain, over build the armour, leather may soften over time especially when someone s hitting you with a big stick.

[NightWarp]

Aye! I probably should use cardboard vs the flimsy one ive been using for patterns. Ive sent tried boiled leather but had various degrees of sucess, mainly with too much shrinkage to make it really useful. ive found that with some neoprene underneath it absorbs hits quite well.

[Dwight]

My alter ego is as the Centurion of Capernaum and I had to make armor for "him".

I used 12 oz vegetable tanned leather from Tandy's for the breast plate, back plate, cuffs, skirt, and shin guards.

Vegetable tanned leather can be wetted and formed to just about any shape you would like (within reason) and armor works out real well with it.

I first made a full sized replica of my upper body, . . . using a 6 foot 2 x 4 on a stand, . . . several pieces of 2 x 12 for the chest pieces, . . . took a smaller tee shirt, put it on the frame, . . . stuffed it full of old rags to get the "body shape" needed to make my armor fit me.

You will need to be careful with the temperature, but in holster making, . . . you can make the leather "hard" by force drying it under heat. BUT, . . . remember that the MAXIMUM temperature is 130 degrees farenheight.

An old fashioned trick that also works is to dip it in liquid parrafin or beeswax. Tricky, . . . but again it makes it very hard.

I was fortunate when I was doing my armor to have a pretty good coach, . . . be sure to "round out" the neck and arm holes like the lip on a bowl, . . . it seriously prevents chafing, . . . and make sure the holes are big enough.

Personally, . . . I go to Jo Ann's fabric and buy their naugahyde for patterns like this. Works really good I think.

May God bless,

Dwight

[NightWarp]

Thankyou Dwight! Very informative post! I had the misfortune of finding out the "chaffing" part for myself.. ouch, I made many mistake when i originally made the armour back in May. Ive since learned a little more about the wet, cold or boiled forming/hardening. The beewax/parafin option is a no go in my case due to the small appt and lack of hardware. I need to do and work on it again someday. Hearing all the tips/tricks coming in is wonderful !

[79Briggs]

I use usually between 9 to 12 oz.. just make sure any rivets you are using are for armor or they can pull out. As far as chaffing goes I usually get the ruff draft of it done and invite a buddy or two over to play before doing any reall finish work. That way you haven't done anymajor edge work decore just to find out you need to cut into it to make more room here and there.

Hope this is helpful

LB