I’ve been looking over several of the armor vs weapon threads and it always shows the ideal conditions, Which is how a good test should be done to maintain any re-creatable and credible results but I keep wondering how much does this represent historical conditions; where armor has been damaged and repaired since it was first used.

- For mail do we have any idea how often the links were replaced? Was it when they appeared damaged or bent or did the owner wait till a link was broken to get it repaired?
- For plate how were dents and punctures repaired, and how did the repair effect the shapes ability to deflect attacks and effect the overall durability of the armor? (did the repair leave a weak spot)
- How was cloth armor repaired? And did the repair leave a weak point or repair it good as new?

The simple answer to your question is 'as needed'. Armour was expensive, and so were the repairs. If it didn't need fixing, they wouldn't bother. If a hole got put into it, then first, does it affect its defensive value? A small hole in mail isn't a big deal unless it's in a stress area such as the shoulders; several small holes, on the other hand, could create the potential for a larger tear. A small hole in, say, a vambrace (forearm armour in a suit) isn't a big deal, although I'm sure the person wearing it at the time minded. A hole in the breastplate, on the other hand, would affect structural strength.

There was something that did occur on occasion (though I can't think of any current examples off the top of my head)-- a suit of armour would sometimes be modified to be more in line with period styles. Usually this was merely by adding a new piece-- replacing a helmet, for example, or incorporating an older back-and-breast with newer arms and legs, or whatever.

A suitable comparison would be to an automobile-- you can get a few dents and dings here and there, but you don't usually worry about it too much unless the fender is falling off or the axle is broken. Then it definitely needs fixing.

It was fairly common for plate harness to have their internal leather supports to be replaced, they were an inherent weakness in constant need of careful attention.

That's a good question. When you read about the logistics of the time, you can notice that blacksmiths were brought along with their instruments, hearths and anvils with almost any army. So I guess fixing armour and weapons was an essential part of war and logistics.

But what I'm interested in is how you fix heat-treated armour. Let's say I got a good hole in my breastplate, it saved my life, but I want this hole gone. Considering that the breastplate was heat-treated, I guess there would be additional troubles because of that?

I have owned a couple old 17th century helmets that had repairs -- a pikeman's pot and a burgonet with a barred visor.

The pot had had a cracked dent or hole repaired by having the dent pounded out from inside and then a metal patch brazed or welded over the spot on the inside of the helmet to reinforce it while leaving the outside surface smooth and free of areas that might provide a "catch" for a blow. It would also have hidden most obvious signs of a repaired weak spot from an enemy. The technique looked much like that used by a mender to fix a tear or hole in a pair of pants -- put a reinforcing patch of the same coloured cloth over the hole on the inside of the pants and then stitch it to the tear so the outside is left free of visible mends.

The burgonet had had a couple bars on the visor broken at some point, possibly by a cut. The bars were repaired by having the ends rejoined with metal reinforcing strips riveted across the breaks on the inside of the bars and a bit of extra metal then hammerwelded over the joins on the outside. Not what I would call elegant, but definitely a sturdy repair and again the most obvious signs of it were on the inside where an enemy couldn't see them.

Vasilly T wrote:

That's a good question. When you read about the logistics of the time, you can notice that blacksmiths were brought along with their instruments, hearths and anvils with almost any army. So I guess fixing armour and weapons was an essential part of war and logistics. But what I'm interested in is how you fix heat-treated armour. Let's say I got a good hole in my breastplate, it saved my life, but I want this hole gone. Considering that the breastplate was heat-treated, I guess there would be additional troubles because of that?

I understand these nuances, but if you haven't noticed I was asking about heat-treated armour, because all of the procedures described by you, would totally ruin the tempering of the metal.

Francesco Datini was known to buy up armor after wars had concluded, and some of it likely needed repair. Earlier in the 14th century, we have evidence that such repairs were not always ethically performed, or needed repairs were sometimes hidden beneath a layer of fabric, leather, or paint. These guys would make fine realtors.

Quote:

Regulations made by the Armourers of London. 15 Edward 11. A.D. 1322. Letter-Book E. fol. cxxxiii. (Norman French.) Also, seeing that as well lord as man have found theirs to be old bacinets, battered and vamped-up, but recently covered by persons who know nothing of the trade; such bacinets being then put away in some secret place, and carried into the country, away from the City, to sell; and that in the City of such men no cognizance can be taken, whether the same be good or bad; a thing from which great peril might ensue to the King and to his people, and disgraceful scandal to the armourers aforesaid, and to all the City; it is ordained and assented to, that no smith, or other man who makes the irons for bacinets, shall from henceforth himself cause any bacinet to be covered for sale; but he is to sell the same out of his hands entirely, and not fitted up, in manner as used to be done heretofore; and the bacinets so sold are to remain so uncompleted, until they have been viewed by the four persons who shall have been sworn thereto, or by two of them, as to whether they are proper to be fitted up or not. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?...y=armourer

No no, not realtors -- used car salesmen. Selling bascinets that were only worn by a little old gentleman on Sundays...

Mart Shearer wrote:

Francesco Datini was known to buy up armor after wars had concluded, and some of it likely needed repair. Earlier in the 14th century, we have evidence that such repairs were not always ethically performed, or needed repairs were sometimes hidden beneath a layer of fabric, leather, or paint. These guys would make fine realtors. Quote: Regulations made by the Armourers of London. 15 Edward 11. A.D. 1322. Letter-Book E. fol. cxxxiii. (Norman French.) Also, seeing that as well lord as man have found theirs to be old bacinets, battered and vamped-up, but recently covered by persons who know nothing of the trade; such bacinets being then put away in some secret place, and carried into the country, away from the City, to sell; and that in the City of such men no cognizance can be taken, whether the same be good or bad; a thing from which great peril might ensue to the King and to his people, and disgraceful scandal to the armourers aforesaid, and to all the City; it is ordained and assented to, that no smith, or other man who makes the irons for bacinets, shall from henceforth himself cause any bacinet to be covered for sale; but he is to sell the same out of his hands entirely, and not fitted up, in manner as used to be done heretofore; and the bacinets so sold are to remain so uncompleted, until they have been viewed by the four persons who shall have been sworn thereto, or by two of them, as to whether they are proper to be fitted up or not. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?...y=armourer

A personal anecdote

I had the armorer who made my breastplate, robert of stokewood, do some fine tuning after using the harness a few times and it took him about 5 minutes to get every nick and dent out of the piece with a planishing hammer and ball stake. simple, non puncture repairs were probably very easy to repair.

I occasionally come across copper brazed repairs. Yes, they do mess up the heat treat in that area, and yes, you either have to redo the heat treat or live with the weak spot. There are also modern repairs to old stuff that was damaged, never repaired, yet never thrown out, which are not relevant to this discussion. Oh, and sometimes the metal was cracked during forging and had to be patched, which shows up a lot in Brunswick armour. I don't know what their problem was. :\

One of the most interesting things to come out of Dr. Alan Williams' research (The Knight and the Blast Furnace) was that the Italians abandoned martensite forming heat treating not long into the 16th century. Some of us believe this is because a medium carbon steel that has the right pearlitic microstructure is, when it comes to ballistic resistance, more reliable than a fully heat treated product, which can have hard spots (seen 'em). It also makes manufacture a lot easier and cheaper, needless to say.

Oh, and I've seen munition armour that has a sort of soft look, its lines a bit 'blurred', by what appears to be dents in the same area being repeatedly beaten out.

IIRC, mail recovered from Mary Rose included some "links" that are just twisted bits of wire--like bread bag ties, but thicker. It's hard to believe those were professional repairs, but it does suggest that somebody found this an acceptable way to keep mail in service. It's not as if Mary Rose had been on some long journey away from port. She could, in theory, have sailed into the Solent in perfect condition in all her arms if commanders had desired it.

In Hastings MS. [f.122b] "How a man schall be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on foote" http://www.eduref.net/kct/armour/armyd1/, the list of "What an Appellant shall bring to the field" includes

"Also a smale nayles a dosen" which translates to "Also a dozen arming nails (rivets)" as well as "Also a hammer and pincers and a bichorn".

While the manuscript suggests a judicial duel, the list probably also applies to foot tournaments, it appears to indicate a need for a means to repair armor. I wonder how often late-medieval rivets needed replacing ?

I have this 16th century breast plate with what I believe to be a working live repair to the pierced lower center point...

At least the rivets heads on the inside have the same level of pitting as the rest of the plate.

-Kirk