It's believed that true hardening and tempering of plate armor by heating, quenching and re-heating started being done some time in the late 14th century. Prior to that, plate was as you say just hardened by hammering, which is called 'work hardening.'
Great video. Found it to be very informative and actually fully understood everything he was explaining. A good down to earth guy. Yes he fumbled and had awkward looking moments but I actually think that added to it not distracted. Thank you.
From what I understand most armorer's start working with mild steels because it's just easier to form, and you don't have to worry about ruining it with a bad quench and temper. As you probably know you can destroy a lot of work very quickly if it gets a bad heat treat. A good book to get you started is 'Techniques of Medieval Armor Reproduction' by Brian Price.
2. Intended use is hugely important both now and in period for armor thickness. Harnesses intended for foot combat are thinner than harness intended for tourney. Just like today, jousting harnesses are built considerably thicker than harnesses intended for light foot combat. All that being said, your 2mm steel is a commonly used and good starting point for a robust mild steel piece of armor. 2mm would be good for helms, but heavy and thick for limbs, and very much so for hands and feet.
This is absolutely wonderful. I've seen some of Wasson's completed harnesses, and I have to say his work is absolutely stunning. I can't tell you how excited I am to see a demonstration of his work so we can see the process before a finished piece.
Great glimpse of Medieval metallurgy. Currently, at the St. Louis Art Museum, we have part of the Higgins Armory Collection in a traveling exhibition entitled "Age of Armor." The collection is astounding. The craftsmanship is mind-blowing. Thanks, Met, for the great video!
1. That's a very complicated question. Firstly it depends on the type of steel you're using. Mild steel must be thicker for equivalent toughness of hardened and tempered 1050 spring that Jeff uses. I own several pieces by him, and as an example, the breastplate he's working on for me will be done in 18 gauge 1050. If he were to make this from mild steel, I would expect something closer to 14 gauge (~2mm) for similar resilience. Even then, mild will dent and take a set where spring won't.
Mick, it would also be thicker in different parts of the very same piece. Modern steel comes in sheets of uniform thickness. The plates that were forged in the middle ages were forged to differential thickness, partially because they didn't have big rollers to even it out, and partially because certain parts of the same piece should be thicker in certain places. For example, on a single breastplate, the front of the plate can and would be made thicker than the sides that wrap under the arms.
There's something I always found fascinating about blacksmithing, hammering metal with a hammer and making it in to something. I wish I could do something like this
It's really much easier to get the ball rolling than one might think. You can get the basic stuff you need to get started for dirt cheap, if not for free. Then you just need to find a space to do it in, which is probably the hardest part. First you make very simple little things, and you can very quickly build up from there if you can sell them. It's all about strength of will and determination :) Don't give up the dream!
Check out Greenleaf Armoury's TH-cam channel for some more detailed videos. :) He's an expert just like Wasson here who gears his video's for beginners. I've learned a lot from him, then if you want some more resources go to armourarchive.org and check out their resources page. Armouring can be a lot of fun, and it helps to learn from those before us.
I'm 30 now, and I got hooked to watching blacksmithing videos on YT when I was like 24.. By the time I found a school to study it (about 2 years of obsessively watching everything I could find), I'd already absorbed so much information, that I basically knew how to do everything they were teaching us at the school... the only thing to learn was training your hands to do what your head already knows how to. Keep at it dude! - TH-cam is a goldmine for blacksmithing related stuff, and it's been an absolutely invaluable source of information that has led to me finally having my own workshop and I'm now working towards building my business.
In another also well-made armor crafting video the heat-tempering processes are demonstrated. The armorer put a small mild steel remnant piece in a vice and showed how easily it would bend, and remain bent. He tempered other small steel pieces and showed how they were brittle and shattered like glass. I further tempered piece would spring back into place from being bent, just like steel used to make springs. Armorers could build suits where some areas thin, to save weight, but were strong due to tempering, fluting, curvature, folds, and rolled edges. A metal bread baking pan or mixing bowl started out as a sheet of metal that flexes and makes that "thunder" sound when you wave it. Add a bunch of folds and flattened-over edges and that former sheet of metal is now extremely rigid in strength. Hit that mixing bowl or baking pan hard with a hammer and it will take on some cosmetic damage with a dent, but that's about all.
Thanks for your reply. I can easily get sheets of 1045 and 1020 in 2mm. I should also be able to get others but that would be me ordering sheets for myself through work. Is it worth the effort looking for higher carbon sheet? I forge knives and other random things and have had a few goes at bodkins (both from coil springs). I think it's time that i expanded my efforts to plate but for me it's got to be authentic (read functional, as i don't really follow specific styles very much) or not at all.
I've been doing a lot of research lately. It seams that a lot of stuff isade out of 16 to 20 mattering on the type of steel and the location on the body. I've been making a suit out of stainless steel, more for show I guess. I've been using 20 and 22 gaudge. Any tips on material and techniques would be helpful. I unfortunately don't have a setup to heat the metal, so i've been making smaller sections, welding them, and grinding the weld clean.
It hard to find decent information on the real thicknesses of medieval armour. Do you have suggested thicknesses for parts (I figure it would change depending on the piece I.e. chest plate would be made thicker than say gauntlets)
neosonic66, I understand that. What I am chasing is generalised thicknesses so that I can start with sheet that is close and work from there. For me 2mm sheet is easy to get (scrap from work) so I figure that is good to work a breastplate from (the sides would be thinned during shaping). I'm chasing info on how much thinner the lighter parts of armour were so I can work out if it's easy enough to thin them from 2mm as I work them.
My first thoughts were digital body scanner into a CAD system and a plasma cutter up to the pattern point. Obviously not an authentic method but I can't see why that wouldn't work well. After the patterns are cut from the steel then it would be back to the historical methods.
Damn, I replied this message, but it has gone. Thanks for your answer, I didn´t knew that. Is there any particular evidence, like a martensitic armor? And I have another question, if I may ask: A blacksmith told me once that the plate should never be hammered when it is red-hot. I thought that this was true because of the loss of stress, so the materias becomes softer, and the lack of dimensional control. The first reasons is pointless if the plate is going to be tempered.
It looks to me like the plate he is using is around 1,2 - 1,5 millimeters thick, which is the upper end of armour thickness historically. It's most commonly around 0,8 - 1 mil. All that hammering "work hardens" the steel, making it much tougher. Then when it gets heat treated properly, it'll be even stronger. The round surfaces, ridges and all that is what gives it even more stiffness and resilience due to how it disperses and redirects the force from impact. With a sword you'll have absolutely no chance getting through that. If a blade is your only option, you'll need to go for gaps in the armour/helmet, which even then might not be enough, as often they'll be wearing chain mail or a gambeson underneath. You could puncture it a bit with a spear, if you hit the right spot just the right way, but that's about it. That's why when plate armour like this became a thing, battlefield combat changed a lot more into grappling techniques, so that you could get in close and use your dagger to go for the gaps in the armour. Also blunt force weapons like warhammers or maces became much more popular, because even if you can't get through the armour, you can at least dent it in in some spots, maybe breaking a few bones and making it very difficult/painful to keep moving around with the armour pushing in against you. You can break their skull/knock them out/kill them with a solid bash to the helmet - and the absolute best way (still difficult, though) to actually penetrate the armour, is a solid spike on the end of a heavy mace/warhammer. In the end, very few people actually got to wear armour like that. Basically only the very best trained knights who could afford it would have that - making them an extremely expensive walking tank of doom, that is extremely hard to stop.
+kristian jacbson A German company called Picard makes all the hammers you need. ( picard-hammer.de ) Their hammers are pretty expensive, but they are German quality, and not Chinese crap...
Hello. My knowledge about this is very limited and I have never heard about quenching and tempering the plate armors. Did they used to be tempered? I thought they were just hardened by ¿cold hammering?. I am sorry about my english, I am not sure how to translate adequately some procedures. Thank you
You can tell he is really good just look at the hammer marks they are so even and look at his hand thats holding the metal notice no energy from his hammering is shaking that hand. When you start out deep marks and having to really grip the metal is normal but his are even and he seems to barely hold the metal.
yes the armour tends to be anything between 1 mm to 1.6 maybe even 2 mm, it all depends on where the armour is on the body, how strong it needs to be. keep in mind it would probably be tempered as well, which makes a world of difference.
Seeing as he is mostly working with cold steel, flying sparks isn't much of a concern. Never a bad idea to wear eye protection, but not terribly necessary here.
It's ironic how one comes across the most interesting video when least expecting it.
It's believed that true hardening and tempering of plate armor by heating, quenching and re-heating started being done some time in the late 14th century. Prior to that, plate was as you say just hardened by hammering, which is called 'work hardening.'
Great video. Found it to be very informative and actually fully understood everything he was explaining. A good down to earth guy. Yes he fumbled and had awkward looking moments but I actually think that added to it not distracted. Thank you.
From what I understand most armorer's start working with mild steels because it's just easier to form, and you don't have to worry about ruining it with a bad quench and temper. As you probably know you can destroy a lot of work very quickly if it gets a bad heat treat. A good book to get you started is 'Techniques of Medieval Armor Reproduction' by Brian Price.
2. Intended use is hugely important both now and in period for armor thickness. Harnesses intended for foot combat are thinner than harness intended for tourney. Just like today, jousting harnesses are built considerably thicker than harnesses intended for light foot combat. All that being said, your 2mm steel is a commonly used and good starting point for a robust mild steel piece of armor. 2mm would be good for helms, but heavy and thick for limbs, and very much so for hands and feet.
This is absolutely wonderful. I've seen some of Wasson's completed harnesses, and I have to say his work is absolutely stunning. I can't tell you how excited I am to see a demonstration of his work so we can see the process before a finished piece.
If I'm not mistaken, the name on the pattern at 1:35 is Ian Laspina, the same one who runs the Knyght Errant armory channel on TH-cam!
I don't think he's awkward at all, he's just showing us how he does his work, is he supposed to balance ladders on his nose while he's doing it?
Exactly, you're watching a very skilled man explain his craft, that's interesting enough without him being an amazing showman.
Exactly
+FortWarren he's actually pretty decent at explaining too, it's not too boring or anything
True. He's an artist, not a politician.
He is just a genious making armour, explain to novises is a hard thing !
Great glimpse of Medieval metallurgy. Currently, at the St. Louis Art Museum, we have part of the Higgins Armory Collection in a traveling exhibition entitled "Age of Armor." The collection is astounding. The craftsmanship is mind-blowing. Thanks, Met, for the great video!
1. That's a very complicated question. Firstly it depends on the type of steel you're using. Mild steel must be thicker for equivalent toughness of hardened and tempered 1050 spring that Jeff uses. I own several pieces by him, and as an example, the breastplate he's working on for me will be done in 18 gauge 1050. If he were to make this from mild steel, I would expect something closer to 14 gauge (~2mm) for similar resilience. Even then, mild will dent and take a set where spring won't.
This is so awesome!! thank you so much for the upload. It has helped shed light on some of the armoring methods I had been wondering about.
Kylo_Ren_Makes_Armor.wav
Absolutely fantastic video. I admire the people who can make stuff like this, and this guy obviously knows his stuff.
Now, 5 years later ( 10/4/17, Jeff appears on a PBS Nova special on discovering some of the lost art of making armor.
Mick, it would also be thicker in different parts of the very same piece. Modern steel comes in sheets of uniform thickness. The plates that were forged in the middle ages were forged to differential thickness, partially because they didn't have big rollers to even it out, and partially because certain parts of the same piece should be thicker in certain places. For example, on a single breastplate, the front of the plate can and would be made thicker than the sides that wrap under the arms.
Knyght Errant true. Thickness is a very important part of strong armor.
There's something I always found fascinating about blacksmithing, hammering metal with a hammer and making it in to something. I wish I could do something like this
It's really much easier to get the ball rolling than one might think. You can get the basic stuff you need to get started for dirt cheap, if not for free. Then you just need to find a space to do it in, which is probably the hardest part. First you make very simple little things, and you can very quickly build up from there if you can sell them.
It's all about strength of will and determination :) Don't give up the dream!
im 14 now and i want to be a blacksmith to make medievel stuff like weapons and armour
its awesome what you can learn from only one video
i'm also 14 and i just want to say that armoring is actually very easy once you get started.
Check out Greenleaf Armoury's TH-cam channel for some more detailed videos. :) He's an expert just like Wasson here who gears his video's for beginners. I've learned a lot from him, then if you want some more resources go to armourarchive.org and check out their resources page. Armouring can be a lot of fun, and it helps to learn from those before us.
I'm 30 now, and I got hooked to watching blacksmithing videos on YT when I was like 24.. By the time I found a school to study it (about 2 years of obsessively watching everything I could find), I'd already absorbed so much information, that I basically knew how to do everything they were teaching us at the school... the only thing to learn was training your hands to do what your head already knows how to.
Keep at it dude! - TH-cam is a goldmine for blacksmithing related stuff, and it's been an absolutely invaluable source of information that has led to me finally having my own workshop and I'm now working towards building my business.
Just medieval things? Blacksmithing is not limited to the medieval, it has been used for thousands of years
Great work! This is actually the first time i see someone who is not just bending the Rerebrace, but hammering it. Very helpfull!
In another also well-made armor crafting video the heat-tempering processes are demonstrated. The armorer put a small mild steel remnant piece in a vice and showed how easily it would bend, and remain bent. He tempered other small steel pieces and showed how they were brittle and shattered like glass. I further tempered piece would spring back into place from being bent, just like steel used to make springs. Armorers could build suits where some areas thin, to save weight, but were strong due to tempering, fluting, curvature, folds, and rolled edges.
A metal bread baking pan or mixing bowl started out as a sheet of metal that flexes and makes that "thunder" sound when you wave it. Add a bunch of folds and flattened-over edges and that former sheet of metal is now extremely rigid in strength. Hit that mixing bowl or baking pan hard with a hammer and it will take on some cosmetic damage with a dent, but that's about all.
Man I wish I had armour
Thank you, I really liked that.
Jolly well done.
Yep, i bought that book a few months back when i started thinking about making plate armour. Pretty good book.
did anyone see ian laspina name? 1:39
That's a nice coincidence!
Very informative demonstration, and dead interesting too.
Nicely done, you don't see hot work armouring very often.
Brilliant. Nice one Jeff
My most humble opinion is that the metal seems to thin, but he is so good with the hammers.
Thanks for your reply.
I can easily get sheets of 1045 and 1020 in 2mm. I should also be able to get others but that would be me ordering sheets for myself through work. Is it worth the effort looking for higher carbon sheet? I forge knives and other random things and have had a few goes at bodkins (both from coil springs). I think it's time that i expanded my efforts to plate but for me it's got to be authentic (read functional, as i don't really follow specific styles very much) or not at all.
Camera operator didn't do this video any favours
I've been doing a lot of research lately. It seams that a lot of stuff isade out of 16 to 20 mattering on the type of steel and the location on the body. I've been making a suit out of stainless steel, more for show I guess. I've been using 20 and 22 gaudge. Any tips on material and techniques would be helpful. I unfortunately don't have a setup to heat the metal, so i've been making smaller sections, welding them, and grinding the weld clean.
It hard to find decent information on the real thicknesses of medieval armour. Do you have suggested thicknesses for parts (I figure it would change depending on the piece I.e. chest plate would be made thicker than say gauntlets)
Excelente tutorial para fabricar placas de armaduras... Genial
really good video
neosonic66, I understand that. What I am chasing is generalised thicknesses so that I can start with sheet that is close and work from there. For me 2mm sheet is easy to get (scrap from work) so I figure that is good to work a breastplate from (the sides would be thinned during shaping). I'm chasing info on how much thinner the lighter parts of armour were so I can work out if it's easy enough to thin them from 2mm as I work them.
My first thoughts were digital body scanner into a CAD system and a plasma cutter up to the pattern point. Obviously not an authentic method but I can't see why that wouldn't work well. After the patterns are cut from the steel then it would be back to the historical methods.
Where is the previous part to this?
What is that block made out of? How quick does the propane burn out? And I didn't think you should ever leave a torch on that long?
looks like firebrick.
Thanks MrP
Damn, I replied this message, but it has gone. Thanks for your answer, I didn´t knew that. Is there any particular evidence, like a martensitic armor?
And I have another question, if I may ask: A blacksmith told me once that the plate should never be hammered when it is red-hot. I thought that this was true because of the loss of stress, so the materias becomes softer, and the lack of dimensional control. The first reasons is pointless if the plate is going to be tempered.
That amor is able to hold a strikr?
It looks to me like the plate he is using is around 1,2 - 1,5 millimeters thick, which is the upper end of armour thickness historically. It's most commonly around 0,8 - 1 mil.
All that hammering "work hardens" the steel, making it much tougher. Then when it gets heat treated properly, it'll be even stronger. The round surfaces, ridges and all that is what gives it even more stiffness and resilience due to how it disperses and redirects the force from impact.
With a sword you'll have absolutely no chance getting through that. If a blade is your only option, you'll need to go for gaps in the armour/helmet, which even then might not be enough, as often they'll be wearing chain mail or a gambeson underneath. You could puncture it a bit with a spear, if you hit the right spot just the right way, but that's about it. That's why when plate armour like this became a thing, battlefield combat changed a lot more into grappling techniques, so that you could get in close and use your dagger to go for the gaps in the armour. Also blunt force weapons like warhammers or maces became much more popular, because even if you can't get through the armour, you can at least dent it in in some spots, maybe breaking a few bones and making it very difficult/painful to keep moving around with the armour pushing in against you. You can break their skull/knock them out/kill them with a solid bash to the helmet - and the absolute best way (still difficult, though) to actually penetrate the armour, is a solid spike on the end of a heavy mace/warhammer.
In the end, very few people actually got to wear armour like that. Basically only the very best trained knights who could afford it would have that - making them an extremely expensive walking tank of doom, that is extremely hard to stop.
His "Uh" count hasn't beat mine! I'm at 40 per minute
i was wondering where could i get the tools to shape the stuff? really interested in making this please get back at me
+kristian jacbson A German company called Picard makes all the hammers you need. ( picard-hammer.de ) Their hammers are pretty expensive, but they are German quality, and not Chinese crap...
Hello. My knowledge about this is very limited and I have never heard about quenching and tempering the plate armors. Did they used to be tempered? I thought they were just hardened by ¿cold hammering?.
I am sorry about my english, I am not sure how to translate adequately some procedures.
Thank you
You can tell he is really good just look at the hammer marks they are so even and look at his hand thats holding the metal notice no energy from his hammering is shaking that hand. When you start out deep marks and having to really grip the metal is normal but his are even and he seems to barely hold the metal.
He Is like kylo ten with actu@l dedication
Perfect.
What about the second reason?
Again, excuse my english, I am not used to write in english. thank you
how thick is his starting steel it looks like it is under 1 mm
yes the armour tends to be anything between 1 mm to 1.6 maybe even 2 mm, it all depends on where the armour is on the body, how strong it needs to be.
keep in mind it would probably be tempered as well, which makes a world of difference.
fascinating
very impressive hammer skills. .most would have had jello arms after about 3 or 4 minutes of hammering like that..lol
I do a little bit of smithing in my free time, why wouldn't you bend it when it's hot into shape?
mason kahl I’m not sure, I think because it’s unessecary The metal can be bent without using heat.
Isn't it about the work-hardening?
would like to see a guy being encased in the Henry VIII armour that is all encasing, head to toe.
What gauge is that steel?
Looks like 1,2-1,5 mil to me., so at the very upper ends of historical measures.
Why isn't he wearing eye protection?!?!?!?
Because if you're in 'murica you need to wear eye protection or get sued.
David Lee Roth This is true.
Seeing as he is mostly working with cold steel, flying sparks isn't much of a concern. Never a bad idea to wear eye protection, but not terribly necessary here.
I wonder how many times hes smashed his thumb when he started? Black fingers are days of the past now
Gary Galt C D E F
I bet medieval armorers would kill for a sheet metal power hammer.
where is your safety glasses i give a F for safety
The American company Filson makes "Double Tin Pants", which can be ordered online. Just sayin'.
he's good but he's awkward while presenting lol but he's a blacksmith not an entertainer thumbs up
Uh um.
That is one sorry looking anvil. nice video though
He seems nervous and very dull when talking. Few explanations of what he is doing and very vague demos or historical examples or lessons