Up Next: Hinges!

Last night I finally got my hands on some brass.  Tonight I'll be trying to make my first hinge.

Now that I'm working with brass, I'll have to add a few more tools to the pile.

• Set of Needle Files - Half round, full round, wedge, triangular, square, diamond... any profile you can think of, it's here.  These came from my grandfather and I look forward to using them again.
• Jeweller's Pliers (more specifically, round nose pliers) -- this is for holding or bending wire without leaving a mark on it - the jaws are completely round, like a pair of chopsticks.
• Wire Cutters - for rod stock
• Medium files - half round, round, and flat. 
• Sparker
• Propane Torch - (I will be doing my annealing out on the balcony)
• Hacksaw with floating blade
• (Not Pictured) A metal or glass can for quenching hot brass.  Anything watertight and not plastic will do.

Corbridge Style Shoulder Part 1

Note to apartment dwellers -- If you are working on carpet, make sure you lay down something to protect the floor.  You can flatten out paper bags like I have done here, or you can buy a sheet or something from a second-hand store.  

When I made the Newstead shoulder earlier, I actually cut out two upper shoulders.  When I decided that I wanted to experiment a bit more with shoulder types I revisited this piece and found that it could be cut down to match.  This allowed me to see the dramatic difference in size between upper shoulders of Corbridge A and Bishop's Newstead.  The picture below (not exactly to scale) illustrates the cutting.

The blue sections are just about the right size to become Lesser Shoulder plates (i.e. #3 or #4) in a future experiment.  The red section was going to be too small to be reused, so I added a nice Corbridge B  style peak on the center plate.

The rest of the plates were cut according to Legio XX's Corbridge A plans.  Actually, I marked the cuts on the metal by using my soapstone to trace around the cardboard patterns I made earlier.  Great reuse!

The smelly fruits of impatience

I went ahead and measured out a Newstead shoulder section, although I took some shortcuts along the way.  I broadened each lame a bit, and I made the upper shoulder as a single plate (since I didn't have any brass for hinges at that time).  I rushed through a number of steps in my excitement to see real metal plates draped over my shoulder.  There are a number of problems with the result, but fortunately I learned a few things along the way.

• Resist the urge to tweak measurements just to simplify your cutting.
• Do not bend the lames before planning the leathering and making the holes.
• Make sure you measure twice and cut once for the leather!  As you can see above, I have two straps which are too short to reach the breastplate.
• Adjust the amount of overlap in the lames so that the result fits on a human shoulder!

 I will be (at least) re-leathering this one to adjust overlap up to a more manageable size.  I may also cut some of the lames down a bit.  Or even cannibalize parts for a different shoulder...  we'll see.


 PS. The more observant will note that I am cheating by using belts to make my strappings.  This might not be acceptable in any of the reenactment groups I've read about, but it's certainly more convenient -- especially during the prototype phase.  I picked up a few belts for less than $5 each at a second hand store.  Just make sure you pick ones which are a single piece of plain leather.

Planning

Before I went out and bought some new tools and metal, I made a shoulder section out of cardboard.  This gave me a chance to appreciate the size of the task and decide if this was something I actually wanted to do.
As you can see, I laid out a Corbridge A, using the plans from Legio XX at right.  Underneath them you can sort of see a printout of a modified Bishop Newstead schematic.

Starting Tools

Here is what I started with.  As I get a bit further along in the prototyping and final construction stages I'll add a few more (ie hammers), but this is sort of the bare minimum to get things rolling.

From left to right :

• Leather punch
• Machine Screws & Nuts (4-40x 3/8")  - these are my "temporary rivets"
• Gloves (Optional, I'm not using them much at this stage)
• Center Punch - useful for marking hole locations
• Soapstone - (the thing that looks like a piece of chalk)  Use this to draw lines and scribble numbers on sheet metal
• Metal Punch Kit - You can substitute a drill, but this is a lot quieter and doesn't require a backstop.
• Right-Hand Metal Shears - Buying the cheapest ones you can find is probably a bad idea.
• Knife - If you don't know how to put a decent edge on one, learn now.
• Medium Files - Half Round/Triangle/Round - for hinges
• Hacksaw - for hinges
• Large File - for smoothing edges left by the metal shears
• Steel Ruler - I don't recommend using a cork-backed one, but I guess you could if you wanted.

Where are you doing this?

Most of the people who have posted segmentata instructions online seem to be the proud owners of a palatial (or at least well-equipped) workshop.  Alas, I am not yet so fortunate.

I live in an apartment.

No, really.  Yes, I'm serious about doing this project.  No, my neighbours aren't conveniently deaf, either.

I am already in the prototyping phase - I am testing out patterns and designs using 24-gauge steel (cold-rolled, of course).  This is pretty convenient stuff since you can easily cut it with hand-held shears, and you can bend it in your hands.  The edges aren't too bad and you can file them a bit if needed.  Since I'm just testing out designs at this phase, I am also using machine screws and nuts instead of rivets.  What all this means is that (in theory) I can make a full prototype segmentata without lifting a hammer or spinning up a bench grinder.  And so can you!

Of course, the time will come when I want to switch to a heavier gauge of metal to begin my work in earnest.  And eventually I'll need to rivet and bend those final pieces.  But those are really the very last steps of construction, and for a case of beer or something, you can probably convince a friend to lend you their garage for the weekend.

But the one thing you can't do without is TOOLS.


More on those next time.

Legio (ERROR, DIV BY ZERO)

One of the main battle cries of the segmentata builder is "Ancient manufacture was never exact!  Different makers would assemble the same armour in slightly different ways!  It doesn't have to be perfect!"

While this may sound like a lot of preemptive excuse-making, if you take the time to look at a few of the unearthed finds, you'll realize how true it really is.  In many cases, even the two halves of the same hinge don't match very closely.

However, I'm not being paid one goat for five segmentatas, nor do I have to produce them before the month is out.  I'm also not particularly planning to use this for reenactment purposes.  Therefore, I'm going to be trying to produce as attractive a final product as I can (without quitting my day job, that is).

I will, however, take advantage of the "historically imperfect" argument in one particular way -- I'm not planning to slavishly reconstruct an exact clone of a particular unearthed cuirass.  It will however, be generally of Newstead type.

 Plans for the final version will be made available once I have settled on my exact designs.


But here is where I'm starting:

• MC Bishop's schematics of the Newstead breastplates.  Although I suspect I will choose a different leathering point as suggested by Dr. L. Arik Greenberg here.

• Upper and Lesser Shoulder Plates - Experimenting with different sizes, shapes, and overlaps.  Trying several things here in the prototype phase.

• Girth Strip attachment to breastplate - Hooks, as per Newstead

• Girth Strip closures - Tab in Slot  (I think this was first proposed by MC Bishop?) I am curious about whether using tie-loops in the back might not make it a lot easier to don the armour alone...   I don't like the mix & match approach, though.  Hmmm...

• Unlike Bishop's plans for the Newstead cuirass, however, I plan to have 7-8 girth strips of mostly constant width.  I also plan to alter the length of the lower girth strips to gain a more tapered fit (ie to follow waist/hips instead of a straight tube).