New Gorget

[Eldorado]

What do you all think? It has fleece lining over ths shoulders and at the base of the neck. It attaches using two brass button-rivets and a neck strap.

It is designed to match the Tudor Rose Peascod armor I made last winter. Which can be found at: http://tudorroseleather.com/armor-wearable/tudor-rose-armor/

[mendedbowl]

Very nice work.

ken

[hivemind]

That is nice. You're using Sam Browne studs on the lower part, and a buckle on the collar? How do you attach the collar to the lower part?

[Eldorado]

That is nice. You're using Sam Browne studs on the lower part, and a buckle on the collar? How do you attach the collar to the lower part?

Thanks.

They are 3/8" button studs from Tandy. The button holes go in two different directions because the pull at the top of the base piece is opposite from the direction of pull of the bottom. Doing this forces the gorget into a bit of a conical shape. I've made one of these before using buckles for the base, but this needs to fit under the collar of my previously made peascod armor. A buckle at the shoulder would have torn up the inside of the armor. BTW, I used a sandle buckle from Tandy for the collar. They seem to be closest to an unassuming medieval look that I can find easily.

The collar is in two pieces. The outer tooled piece is saddleskirting and is just a simple 1 3/4" strip cut with my strap cutter. The inner piece is 3-4oz vegtan which was cut about 3.5" wide (again with the strap cutter. I ran a swivel knife cut down the inner peice at the 1 3/4" point and then cut slices. It folds under, along the knife cut, and splays out. Where you see the rivets in the collarbone protection piece, they are matching one of the underfolds. I think this is a classic hatband approach, but I just prototyped it for my purposes. I did go ahead and stitch a thin strip of 2oz black deertan to the inside of the inner band before I glued and riveted the outer to the inner. It ends up being sandwiched between the two pieces and extends just a bit past the fold. That was an attempt to present a finished look in the event that there was a gap between the collar and the base.

May sound confusing but I can add more if you'd like.

[hivemind]

I think I understand, but if you'd show us a picture of the underside, I'd be eternally grateful.

[Eldorado]

I think I understand, but if you'd show us a picture of the underside, I'd be eternally grateful.

Will do. Should be able to take the shot and post it in the next couple days.

[Eldorado]

I think I understand, but if you'd show us a picture of the underside, I'd be eternally grateful.

How's this?

[hivemind]

Ahh, not what I had envisioned. I was thinking more like a floating joint around the neck hole connecting the two pieces.

Thanks for posting that. It's nice work.

[Eldorado]

Ahh, not what I had envisioned. I was thinking more like a floating joint around the neck hole connecting the two pieces.

Thanks for posting that. It's nice work.

You know, I thought of doing two different kinds of floating joints here. The first was to use the sandwiched deertan to connect to the base -- not altogether different than what I did do but with a more flexible leather. I didnt do this because I wanted this design to be acceptable for actual combat. A floating joint might not be protective enough.

The second was to add a second lame to the collar piece, not unlike what is often seen in the 16th century paintings of "great men". I didnt for two reasons. One was simply heat. Though this piece is for sale (as is a custom decorated one off the same pattern), if I wear it, that will probably happen in the Colorado or Kansas summer. I was fearful of not having enough air flow. The other was a concerned about chafing. An additional lame would bring the neck up fairly high and could be uncomfortable.

If I had followed through on this, I would have used 4 or 5 strips of 3-4 oz veg tan to support the extra lame in a way that would allow it to flex. Something similar was done by the Greenwich armorers at the time. It would be interesting to see if deertan cowhide would work even better.

[BenjaminT]

Awesome. I plan on making a gorget similar to this, do you have a template?