Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > Three projects to condivide Reply to topic
This is a standard topic  
Author Message
Gabriele A. Pini




Location: Olgiate Comasco, Como
Joined: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 239

PostPosted: Sat 03 Oct, 2009 8:55 am    Post subject: Three projects to condivide         Reply with quote

I would like to display the three projects I'm currently pursuing, in the hope to have some input from you.

The first are my mail gauntlets, based on a pair of crust gloves buy on ebay by a English vendor, the mail is 1,5mm galvanized steel, the links are 8mm of ID. I used a nylon-cotton wire (the one used normally for the salami) to bind them: it is very similar to a wool wire and much more resistant to the steel-corrosion.


The second is my long awaited one-handed mace: 95 cm of iron bits, cruelty and cherry wood... I know, I know, it's not the best wood for a similar work, but it took me two days to fell down that b...d tree: this mace is my way to repay it. With the interests. The photos isn't perfect: the head is much bigger but unfortunately I took it in section (and yes, the foot is mine)


The last work is the one I'm more troubled by: my short falchion that I decide to redo, at least the grip. At the same time I would like to rub away the shininess of the stainless steel (I bought it for 30€ at a local store, I cannot pretend much): someone has an idea that don't include galvanisation, electrolysis or expensive enamels?


All comments, even the more corrosive, are accepted, and thanks for all!
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Nathan Gilleland





Joined: 25 Apr 2008

Posts: 199

PostPosted: Sat 03 Oct, 2009 12:51 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

As for removing the shininess of the stainless, try using a rough grit sandpaper and then increasing the grit until you get the finish that you want. Be sure to sand only in one direction. Cross hatched marks from sandpaper are really tough to get rid of. As to a new grip, there are lots of tutorials that can run you through that better than I can. just search for knife making or sword grip tutorials.

Hope I helped. Happy

Seek Honor before Wealth,
Truth before Honor,
God Before all
View user's profile Send private message
Nathan Gilleland





Joined: 25 Apr 2008

Posts: 199

PostPosted: Sat 03 Oct, 2009 12:53 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

You could also check out the instant antique article on myArmoury by Sean Flynt: http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_antique.html
Seek Honor before Wealth,
Truth before Honor,
God Before all
View user's profile Send private message
Eric W. Norenberg





Joined: 18 Jul 2008

Posts: 271

PostPosted: Sat 03 Oct, 2009 12:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Three projects to condivide         Reply with quote

Gabriele A. Pini wrote:
I would like to rub away the shininess of the stainless steel (I bought it for 30€ at a local store, I cannot pretend much): someone has an idea that don't include galvanisation, electrolysis or expensive enamels?


Hello, Gabriele,

It shouldn't be too much trouble to give that stainless blade a little more character, but you'll have to be satisfied with a limited range of results. I'd use some kind of mild abrasive - scotchbrite pads (I like the blue ones, actually), maybe medium -grit sade paper, followed by finer grit, to get rid of that one-dimensional, overly-perfect shine that usually accompanies stainless. If that does not give you a satisfactory result, have a look at the various threads here on artificially aging/ "instant antiquing". Your results may vary, depending on how much chromium is in that blade, it is much harder to get oxidation to take hold on stainless. I recently left a butter knife, very high stain resistance, covered in regular old yellow mustard over the weekend. It looked pretty bad after I rinsed the mustard off, lots of reddish-brown staining. I cleaned the staining off with a steel wool pad and there was a point at which it looked as "campaign-worn" as you can imagine a butter knife to be. Since my family eats with the thing, I kept cleaning until it didn't look that different from the other seven knives in the drawer - my point being, that if you do attempt to oxidize or stain the blade, you can over-clean it pretty easily.

If you are thinking about using cherry wood for your grip, let us know how that goes - in my limited experience, cherry takes shape (& detail) very well with some effort, but can really crack a lot if it dries too quickly, and takes a long time to dry properly. Might be a good excuse for some iron bands on your mace...

-Eric

(edit - three projects, three similar responses, almost simultaneously - is this a good sign or a bad sign... -e)
View user's profile Send private message
Gabriele A. Pini




Location: Olgiate Comasco, Como
Joined: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 239

PostPosted: Sat 03 Oct, 2009 11:00 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

For the cherry wood I used for the mace: as soon as I had remove the bark it began splitting, but a good dose of vinavil and sawdust blocked the process, giving it a good durability. I tested it against the concrete of the floor without any damage to the mace. Now I decided to give to the other piece of wood (the grip of the falchion, a saw-table and the components for a wood mallet) the time to dry before removing the bark.

I will try the mustard for the stainless steel when I can give it some time (the preparation of the gauntlets require a good part of my free time).
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Gabriele A. Pini




Location: Olgiate Comasco, Como
Joined: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 239

PostPosted: Tue 13 Oct, 2009 2:39 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I applied a generous amount of vinegar and salt over the blade of my falchion and exposed it for a week. This are the results:

And after a brief scratch with fine sandpaper:



I was hoping for a more pronunced degrading, but this reduced well in the acceptable the shyness without compromising the strength of the blade.

Now I'm working on the grip: I'm thinking of use a black-enameled copper wire (0,5mm) that I have lying somewhere under a rough cord like in the Diaper Pattern displayed by Oakeshott... For now I can confirm that cherrywood take a lot to dry.
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
Joined: 08 Dec 2004

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 3,636

PostPosted: Tue 13 Oct, 2009 5:04 am    Post subject: Re: Three projects to condivide         Reply with quote

Gabriele A. Pini wrote:
I would like to display the three projects I'm currently pursuing, in the hope to have some input from you.

The first are my mail gauntlets, based on a pair of crust gloves buy on ebay by a English vendor, the mail is 1,5mm galvanized steel, the links are 8mm of ID.


If you rotated the weave of the mail, the fingers would bend far more easily.



 Attachment: 67.31 KB
MailDuellingGLove004.jpg

View user's profile Send private message
Gabriele A. Pini




Location: Olgiate Comasco, Como
Joined: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 239

PostPosted: Tue 13 Oct, 2009 7:13 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Beautiful gloves! What size of rings do you use?
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
Joined: 08 Dec 2004

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 3,636

PostPosted: Tue 13 Oct, 2009 1:46 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Gabriele A. Pini wrote:
Beautiful gloves! What size of rings do you use?

Not mine. Duelling gloves from the MET. IIRC the links have an ID of around 4mm.
View user's profile Send private message
Gabriele A. Pini




Location: Olgiate Comasco, Como
Joined: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 239

PostPosted: Thu 15 Oct, 2009 9:22 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I worked the cherrywood grip, and really the wood is very simple to work with, even for a newbie like me, but the final result don't convince me. I would like some inputs...
Maybe it would be better with a simple leather grip.



And for the wood? maybe a semi-transparent protective color?
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Gabriele A. Pini




Location: Olgiate Comasco, Como
Joined: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 239

PostPosted: Sun 28 Feb, 2010 12:27 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

At the end I completed the sword with a piece of leather over the wood. When I can take some photographs I will post them.

I had some success with a bluing project for the company: they buyed some kgs of all-iron rings some years ago, and they rusted very quickly. So I took them, sanded them with the dremel and then blued them in the closed fireplace of my home. The final effect it's good, even if its a very difficult process. One batch of mail overcooked and greyed Laughing Out Loud .

I will post how they fare against rust during the next summer...



 Attachment: 200.68 KB
100_6271b.JPG
Blued mail
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > Three projects to condivide
Page 1 of 1 Reply to topic
All times are GMT - 8 Hours

View previous topic :: View next topic
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum






All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum