Categories
FAQs
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FAQs
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| How many vervelles do I need for my helmet? |
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Measure around the bottom edge
of the helm, up the two sides of the facial opening, as far as you want the
aventail to extend, and add all three together. Divide that number by the
desired distance between vervelles, I suggest between 1.5” and 3”. That will
give you the amount of vervelles to attach your aventail.
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| How do I attach the cast vervelles to my helmet? |
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Measure up about one inch from the bottom edge of the helm
and at least one inch from the facial opening. Often the vertical line of
vervelles around the facial opening angle back from the temple. This will give
you the line on which the vervelle holes fall. On that line, determine the
spacing and mark where to drill. Using a 3/16 drill bit or punch, make
those holes. Now is the best time to make the leather strap that will be
impaled on the vervelles and that the chainmail is sewn to. After marking the vervelle locations on the leather strap continue with installation. Your
vervelles will come with a longer shank than is needed, clip them to the correct
length with end nippers or bolt cutters. To prevent the vervelle from deforming
during peening insert an old drill bit into the hole. The cutting
flutes will allow you to unthread the bit even if the hole is slightly
deformed. Insert the vervelle into the helmet and place onto a block of lead or
a piece of hard grained wood. If you have to use an anvil, face it with heavy
leather to protect the top of the vervelle. Align the drill bit to where the
hole is parallel with your helms’ bottom edge. Some help at this stage will save a lot of frustration. Once the vervelle is peened sufficiently try to remove the drill bit. If it is stuck do not try to pry it loose. Place the vervelle on the edge of an anvil with the bit running parallel to the anvil edge. Gentle tap with a smooth faced hammer to release the tension, the drill bit will then unthread. If the alignment of the vervelle has moved use a wrench to rotate it back to true.
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| What should the leather strap for attaching my aventail be like? |
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Use a piece of heavy leather that will hold up over
time. Punch ____ sized holes in it for the vervelles to pass. Be sure that
there is at least a quarter inch of leather between the hole and the edge of the
leather. Pass a thin leather strip through the top row of rings of your
aventail. Stitch the thong to the strap trapping the aventail in place. Drive
the holes in the leather over the vervelles with a rubber mallet and pass a
retaining cord through the vervelles and tie it off.
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| How should I attach basket hilts to my rattan sword? |
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Determine the location of the rings and tabs on the rattan
blank. Carve your handle. Wrap the area’s of the rattan that fall
under the rings and tabs with either duct tape or leather. This will
provide a snug fit and help the attachment to will last longer. Slide
the basket into place and attach it with several layers of fiberglass
tape. Follow that with automotive hose clamps and hide with duct tape.
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| How do I attach the cast sword quillions? |
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Carve your grip to the way you like it. If the rattan is
larger than the opening of the quillion it must be trimmed down until it will
pass up from the butt of the sword to the area above the grip. If the rattan is
thinner you will have to build up the area that it is to rest. I have used
automotive body putty with good results.
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| How do I mount my rubber axe head? |
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Cut your rattan at a 45 degree angle about 3 inches longer
than you want the weapon to be when finished. Begin to wedge the eye of the axe
onto the rattan by hand. Once you get it started and can let go with one hand,
finish by tapping it down with a hammer. Trim off the 45 degree excess. If you
want to make a halberd and desire the head to be down a foot or two from the end
try using a lubricant like hair spray or WD-40. It will help the rubber slide
on and then be soaked up by the rattan. No other attachment is needed to meet SCA
rules.
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| Is the I-33 buckler ready to use? |
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The I-33 Buckler comes with a rolled edge and handle, so it's
ready to use out of the box. If you're going to use it in the SCA check with
your kingdom rules to see if additional edging is required.
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| How do I paint my shield blank? |
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The method that works the best, and lasts the longest is the
following: Drill all the edging holes and hardware holes. Rough up the surface
of the shield with a wire wheel or sandpaper. Apply a layer of heavy canvas with
Barge's cement or other sturdy glue. Fold it over the edge of the shield, this
will assure that it will stay on and lengthen the life of your hose edging.
Attach your handle and strapping hardware. IT will be tempting to cover the bolt
or rivet heads with the canvas, resist the urge. If you ever need to remove or
repair the hardware you will have to cut off all of your hard work. Gesso, and
paint. Apply your shield edge.
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| How many holes does my shield need? |
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When you order an MTO shield, simply fill in
the blank for edging holes with your preferred spacing. Small shields may
require closer spacing, and lacing an edge using 2" holes on a gigantic shield
sounds very tedious. We let you decide and put the holes as evenly spaced
to your request as we can manage.
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| Can you ship to Timbuktu? |
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We can ship to where ever you are, providing you're willing
to foot the bill. I'll work with you to find the best shipper with the best
prices. I'm currently using the US Postal system and have had very good luck for
the last two years with them.
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| How do you suggest I attach my new pommel? |
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Carve or sand the butt of your handle down to fit inside the
pommel. Drill the pilot hole in the rattan for the 1/4" lag bolt, remember to
use a drill bit smaller than 1/4". If your carving skills are like mine and the
rattan is loose in the pommel, place some wood putty in the pommel then put it
on the rattan. The putty will harden filling all the space and prevent the
pommel from vibrating and breaking the lag bolt. Squirt some wood glue into the
pilot hole and thread in your lag bolt. Be careful not to strip out the
rattan. You can file on the head of the lag bolt prior to this to reduce it's
mundane appearance.
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| What's the advantage to the taping fork? |
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Some of my customers have had poor luck with their lag bolts
stripping out of the rattan or breaking. If the fork is
bolted/riveted into the pommel it can then be taped onto the rattan with
fiberglass tape and them covered with leather or grip tape.
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| My bottle opener isn't working. |
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If the opener isn't working for you or your friends then it's
probably not user error. The brass could be worn out and needs to be sharpened
with a file. If it's only you that can't use it, you need to practice. Come
see me and we'll work on our technique together.
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| How do the belt findings attach? |
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Mounts have different attaching methods. In the case of rivet backed mounts, put them through a hole in the belt, then gently pein over the back using a washer. A piece of leather or block of lead or soft wood will keep from marring the face of the mount. On mounts with dual pins, place your holes on the belt, then push the mount tabs through and bend them over, shorten them before folding if they need to clear a central eyelet hole. Mounts that use separate rivets are sized to take #18 or #16 Rivets (we usually use upholstery tacks called escutcheon pins you can get from most hardware stores). You can push the rivet in from the back and pein it on the front, or push it in from the front and use a small washer to pein it on the back.
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| What period are your Dragon Spurs? |
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Ah, ok I don't get asked this question much, but sometimes I
wake up at night.......
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| What is your return policy? |
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Customer Satisfaction is Guaranteed. If upon receipt of
your order you are unsatisfied for any reason we will issue a refund, or replace
the offending article, cheerfully. If you've used it or altered it then we'll have
to take that into consideration.
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| Your order form doesn't allow me to ________ |
| If you have any questions or additions to an order just fill
out the form as best as possible and call or send me a e-mail with the details.
Our business is not very automated, all orders still go through a
person before they leave our hands.
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| What do you mean by "aircraft aluminum"? |
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Windrose Armoury uses 6061-T6 aluminum in its shields. Material Specifications: 6061-T6: Tensile strength of 42,000 psi and yield strength of 37,000 psi.
Aluminum Alloys Aluminum is known for its light weight and corrosion resistance. Its density is about 1/3 that of steel, however, in its pure state aluminum is very soft. So, it is alloyed with copper, magnesium, manganese silicon, and zinc for strength. Small additions of chromium, iron, nickel, and titanium are sometimes added to obtain desired properties. The aluminum industry uses a four-digit index system for the designation of its wrought aluminum alloys. There are seven basic classifications of aluminum ranging from the 1000 series which is almost pure aluminum and very soft, to 7075 which is the strongest. The following information was gleaned from the Aircraft Spruce Catalog, edited, and is reprinted without permission. 6061 This is the most versatile of the heat-treatable aluminum alloys. It has most of the good qualities of aluminum. It offers a range of good mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance. It can be fabricated by most of the commonly used techniques. In the annealed condition it has good workability. It is welded by all methods and can be furnace brazed. Applications: This grade is used for a wide variety of products and applications from truck bodies and frames to screw machine parts and structural components. 6061 is used where appearance and better corrosion resistance with good strength are required. 7075 This is one of the highest strength aluminum alloys available. Its strength-to weight ratio is excellent and it is ideally used for highly stressed parts. It may be formed in the annealed condition and subsequently heat treated. Spot or flash welding can be used, although arc and gas welding are not recommended. Applications: Used where highest strength is needed. ALUMINUM TEMPER DESIGNATIONS Temper: The state of or condition of a metal as to its hardness or toughness produced by either thermal treatment or heat treatment and quench or cold working or a combination of same in order to bring the metal to its specified consistency. (www.metal-mart.com) Temper can be achieved in a number of ways. The method is then identified in the name of the material. The letter “T” indicates a heat treatable alloy (“H” would indicate a non-heat treatable alloy). The letter is then followed by one or more digits. These digits indicate the method used to produce the stable tempers, as follows:
-T3
Solution heat treated, then cold worked.
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