new to the armoury and was wondering if any one could tell me how to make a 15th c. german gothic sallet

Thats a very broad based question similar to saying " I thought i'd build a car how do you make one ". Do you have any expirience making armour? If so what have you built? What tools do you have?

Making something of armor is something - like boat making - that you're never going to learn by thinking, reading, or talking about it.

So I like questions such as yours. It simply begs for the following response:

GO GET SOME SHEET METAL, AND A HAMMER, AND START WHACKING.

It's almost guaranteed, if you know where you want to end up (i.e., owning a sallet that you made yourself), that the task will teach you what you need to learn next.

Enjoy the adventure! Now get to it.

However, some basic instructions can really help in that boat-building ;)
This site has a wealth of information.
http://www.arador.com/articles/index.html
Hope this helps,
Dan

My first boat was designed to travel a maximum of twenty feet before sinking irretrievably to the bottom of the pond. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I think it had something to do with the cardboard hull. Since then, of course, I have become even more accomplished... :p

My first boat never got finished. Neither did my second. :p

I ended up buying one as I discovered that not only was making armour easier for me, but it was a lot quicker than making a boat that I'd be proud of. Tools can greatly increase the cost of a project unless you already have them or are extremely resourceful, and the quality of your end result will depend on practice and your selection of tools. As Allan alluded to, the best answer to your question can only be given with a bit of knowledge about your experience, and the equipment at your disposal.

Basically though, cut out two pieces of steel in approximately the right shape (only experience, intuition or someone else's patterns can tell you what the right shape is) then hammer them into a dish in the top of a stump. Tweak them a bit until you're happy with the shape then weld them together. File/grind until smooth, then polish. Then start again, or perhaps decide to make a boat instead.

If possible, find someone local to show you how to do it. This will save a lot of time.

Darren.

Good stuff here:

http://www.ageofarmour.com/education/index.html

And this video offers still images showing the various stages of raising a 15th c. sallet from a single sheet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ENarewl8IE&am...p;index=26