armor

[Peter Ellis]

This piece was done on commission for a pretty big fellow (54 inch waist, the whole piece is 60 inches long, not counting straps). The carving is inspired by Norse mythology. At the front are Hugin and Munin, the ravens who fly around the world and report back to Odin. On the back are mirrored images of Odin riding his eight legged horse, Sleippnir.

The ravens are interpreted from a pair of earrings from about the 6th century, and the image of Odin from a stone carving, age uncertain.

[Beaverslayer]

Real good looking work there Peter. I'm wondering what the smaller straps are for.

Ken

[Peter Ellis]

The smaller straps are suspenders... yep, it's the classic belt and suspenders combo :biggrin:

[Michael Sheldon]

Nicely done, I like the designs.

One thing you can do to get a more "finished look" on your strap attachments is to slightly "nick off" the corners. You can cut them back aggressively to make visible 45 degree angles, or you can just barely nick the corners off so that nobody will notice without looking. It keeps the sharp corners from getting caught, mangled, mushed, etc. I pretty much do this on all pieces that have sharp corners now.

[Peter Ellis]

Thanks Michael. You've a point about the straps.. I have found that when I do that, I don't get them even..then they look worse than if I did nothing, so I try again...

I should take the time to make myself a guide/pattern/jig to correct that.

[Michael Sheldon]

I know what you mean, when I started I had the same problem. All it takes is practice. But until then, the secret is to only nick off a tiny bit, about 1-2mm. With such small cuts, any difference between corners is not noticeable.