This is related to Nathan Robinson's recent post on "black sallets".

I ran accross an article making historical claims about "whitesmiths" guilds and production of armour with no exposure to heating. Blakenshield armoury / livesteelarmour.com currently has the aritcle here.
http://www.livesteelarmor.com/how/cas.html

The interesting claim is that the armour made for functional use was often left with clear dimples showing that planishing (hammering and cold working of the surface) was preferred for quality in a functional and light weight plate. Grinding type polishing and excessive burnishing of finishes actually do remove the hardened cold forged surface created by plannishing.

There were a variety of methods that did create "blackened" surfaces such as forming the armour over pitch forms, etc.

I am curious how many others have a similar interpretation of "whyte armour" not actually being brightly polished.

IIRC members of the "whitesmith" guild were men who worked with tin and its alloys. Just as a "redsmith" works with copper alloys. A "blacksmith" works with iron.

Hi Jared

Dan is correct, though there were iron workers as well referred to as whitesmiths.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Whitesmith \White"smith`\, n.
1. One who works in tinned or galvanized iron, or white iron;
a tinsmith.

2. A worker in iron who finishes or polishes the work, in
distinction from one who forges it.

There are examples of armor being tinned in period as a corrosion resistance measure and decorative technique.

I read through the information on the site you linked and wile agree with some statements I would be leery of others. The unsourced nature of the writing does not give any way to verify information and claims made by the writer that seem to challenge modern research and discoveries cannot be assessed for their value other than opinion.

The constructional comments are the same and there are several instances where I disagree. Al's commentary based on unknown sources that have "special" information are always a flag for one who is interested in finding good information.

Here are a couple of good sources to check on the issue.
Some Aspects of the Metallurgy and Production of European Armor

Williams, Dr. Alan R., & Anthony de Reuck, The Royal Armoury at Greenwich 1515-1649, A history of its Technology, Royal Armouries, Monograph 4, 1995, London.

Pfaffenbiehler, Mathias, Medieval Craftsmen, Armourers, 1992, Toronto.

And the best and of course the most expensive

The Knight and the Blast Furnace: A History of the Metallurgy of Armour in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Periods
by Williams, Dr. Alan R

Hope this helps
Craig

Above post edited for the most miss spelled words I have done in quite a while

The stuff the fellow at Blakenshield had written is mocked all over the place. He makes some strange claims. For instance that all edges on armor were rolled edges and that they are cut off before display; trust nothing you read there.

Thanks for the feedback. I had tried to search and corroborate some of the information and was pretty unsucessful at confirming the claimed content of specific statutes, and incidents that supposedly led to exclusion of blacksmiths (per the article's claim) from the armoring process.

It is my understanding that many modern armourers utilize high quality modern sheet metal (does not need carburizing) and cold forming as a primary construction method. I am working towards the purchase of a welder (electrical circuit must come first) and don't know of any functional objections to welding some seams if it enables the hobbiest to make do with fewer tools and sizes of metal sheet that can be found at the local hardware store.

The plannishing process does seem like something beneficial, and I figure one would not want to cause excessive thinning of the metal or unnecessary grinding/ polishing removal of work hardened surfaces. An elderly friend of mine who does metal working (and former pattern welding) said his German grandfather had taught him to dish metal sheet against a depression in a wood tree stump, but to lay a sand filled leather bag on the wood depression to avoid unnecessary marring of the metals' surface. He viewed the benefit of the technique strictly as a smart manner of economy so as to complete the work with a minimum of labor (less grinding and polishing), tools, and material waste.

Hi Jared

There are a couple of things to do for the modern hobbyist armorer that will help a lot.

One check out the Pfaffenbiehler book mentioned above. Most libraries should have it. It is not that big but has some good descriptions of the period production of armour.

A copy of Brian Prices book and the book put out by Rob Valentine are also good lead ins to approaching the subject.

I would also cruise the Armour Archive and Arador Armour Library. Both good sources for constructional advise on armour.

Best
Craig