|
Written by Christopher Lehr
|
|
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 14:37 |
 Today was the day to give the furnace a try.
My initial concerns about using the furnace was where I was going to place it in such a manner that would be easily accessible with the rest of my tools and how I was going to vent it. My first inclination was to use it at the front of the warehouse that the studio is located it, but, because the concrete is sitting on a slope, as well as directly in the sun, I chose not to take that route. Instead, I thought that routing the fumes created by the furnace out through the existing ventilation system would probably be more than adequate. However, I really really did not want to be moving my forge around to use the hood that I have installed over my forge. What finally decided on was to use my first attempt at a forge hood. I had thought that using a side draft arrangement would work well with my forge and cut a 55 gallon drum to bolt to the side of the forge. Unfortunately (fortunately?) that arrangement did not work out and I had to set up something else. So, I had this drum that was already vented sitting off to the side to be taken to the scrap yard. Well, waste not right? I just nailed some 2x4's to it so it would sit upright and vented it into the forge hood. Worked pretty well I might add!
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by Christopher Lehr
|
|
Monday, 19 July 2010 09:27 |
 Now that my helmet is done, it is time to work my way lower... to that of the cuirass. This particular piece of armour comes from a pattern that I developed for leather. (Which you can now find with the Sable Manticore). Furthermore, the initial work that I accomplished was done prior to my entering SIUC as a metals student, so, generally there are a lot of mistakes that I am going to have to work around. However, I am not wanting to waste so much material and time, so I am certainly willing to accept this challenge. Besides, the mistakes are not so horrendous as to render the project uncompleteable.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by Christopher Lehr
|
|
Sunday, 18 July 2010 14:44 |
 ... Well, mostly. All of the metalwork is completed. All I need now to use the helmet is padding/suspension. As I need to collect up some new equipment for my reentry in to the Army, I figure a helmet suspension system that normally goes into an issue helmet would work best. It entails a head harness and chin strap... both items I need to wear this particular piece.
I learned a lot in the process of making this helmet.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by Christopher Lehr
|
|
Thursday, 15 July 2010 06:38 |
 I have decided to start work from the top down. Besides, out of all the armour pieces that I have already cut and assembled, the helmet is the closest to being completed. This helmet I believe I started about 2006 or so... it was at the end of a spring semester and I built the bulk of it during finals week. Anyway, I was never pleased with where the cheek guards were originally located on the helmet, there was too much space between the back of the guards and the back of the helmet as well as not enough space to see out the front... or more to the point it blocked my peripheral vision.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by Christopher Lehr
|
|
Tuesday, 13 July 2010 19:36 |
I have been working on a set of plate armour for about... well, it feels like forever. I am pretty sure I began the process in 2002, maybe even 2001. I just don't seem to get very far. Partially this delay was first due to my initial inability to work metal very well. I did finally get a degree and job so that is no excuse anymore. I think that now the time is right to finally just get it finished. While there is nothing historically accurate about this set, I kinda like it.
  
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 3 |
