Different metal gauges for armour. Five minute fix #6

[@Tarburz]

Love the Tobias Capwell easter egg you got there ;)

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

I thought long and hard about that .. actually my wife's been nagging me to put it away for a while but it's such a useful book. I utterly recommend it.

[@Tarburz]

Yeah picked mine up a few weeks ago. Worth every penny. The way the cuirass is designed is fascinating with the faulds being free-floating. Planning on giving that a go this summer.

[@astralchemistry8732]

Thank you very much for the information! This was incredibly helpful!

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

Astral Chemistry my pleasure

[@t030609]

Good video for beginners. My 2 cents. I've been using vambraces made of 1mm mild steel and they held up very well. Needed a bit of straightening every now and then, but nothing serious. So I would consider 16 ga for these pieces an overkill. Same for rerebraces, these hardly ever get hit. 18 ga should be more than enough. At the same time I would use 14 ga for poleyns. They do get hit a lot, especially when fighting with sword and shield, and straightening them if articulated construction is used can be quite tricky.

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

t030609 undoubtedly there's lots of different ways to skin this cat and I pretty much agree with everything you've said. One of the things I found when starting was that 18g moves differently to 16g and (early days) I struggled to keep it under control when compared to 16g. I think this video is a bit like the pirate code in Pirates of the Caribbean ... more of a guideline than a set of rules :)

[@t030609]

Of course there are many ways to do the same thing! And what works for you or me might not work for somebody else. I added this comment so that somebody who maybe doesn't have much 16ga steel left or wants to reduce weight would not be scared to try thinner steel.

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

I genuinely appreciate you taking the time; I hoped this would get some responses/comments due to varied the nature of the subject. :)

[@microchook]

What about for Full Contact armour ?

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

depends on what you are after and what sort of full contact. Blunt full contact like heavy sca can be harder on the armour than full contact metal hmb from what I have seen. Generally with high carbon steel you have a choice, make it from thinner material (normally but a guage, eg, 16g becomes 18g, 18g can become 20g) to reduce the load or keep it the same and make yourself relatively bullet proof. I've heard experienced, competent fighters make cases for both. I've heard some avoid carbon steel for helms, preferring instead, thicker but more malleable mild steel so their necks aren't baring all the trauma. I would suggest talking with any fighting groups nearby and seeing what they do. Hope this helps.

[@pauldavis1795]

aging very useful

[@hacheurdepoulet]

Why do people prefer mild steel helmets in your opinion?

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

I've not fought competitively, at least not in armour, but chatting with folk that do there appears to be a couple of different thoughts on it. Some people seem to like modern, high carbon steels that will stop a blow in it's tracks and not damage the helmet much. There are others though that disagree with this, preferring the helmet to deform a bit on impact, absorbing some of the force in the helm rather than taking it all in their necks. Also, mild steel helms don't require quite as much specialist help to get the dents out. But all of this is just based on talking with people, not my own experience.

[@hacheurdepoulet]

Thanks! I'll keep asking around before I take a decision :) Isn't hardened steel lighter as well ?

[@GreenleafWorkshop]

Sort of, but also not :) 30sq cm of 16g mild steel will weigh the same as 30sq cm of 16g high carbon steel. But the high carbon will be much stronger than the mild. This means that you can use 18g or even 20g high carbon (depending on the type) for an equivalent 16g mild steel for more or less similar strength, or even much more sometimes. So high carbon isn't lighter, but you can use thinner material for the same or greater strength.

[@hacheurdepoulet]

That's what I meant, Thanks for the clarification!