How to make lamellar armor with your own hands

Lamellar armor is considered one of the most effective types of ancient armor. The first mention of him refers to biblical times. It is known that this armor surpassed the armor in its effectiveness. She took second place after the chain mail, which gradually began to take their positions. In the 13-14 centuries lamellar armor replaced it completely and became widely used by nomads, Byzantine soldiers, Chukchi, Koryaks and Germanic tribes.

Title History

The name "lamellar" armor has received due to the original design consisting of set of metal plates (Latin lamella - "plate", "scaly"). These steel elements are connected together by a cord. Lamellar armor in each state had its own distinctive features. But the principle of connecting the plates with a cord was common to the arrangement of all ancient armor.

Bronze armor

In Palestine, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, bronze was used to make lamellars. The metal was widely used in the east and in the center of Asia. Here, with armor of lamellar armor, the soldiers were equipped until the nineteenth century.

What was the armor in Ancient Russia?

Until the middle of the twentieth century, among scientists who studied the ancient weapons, there was an opinion that our ancestors used only chain mail. This statement remained unchanged for a long time, despite the fact that lamellar armor was depicted on frescoes, icons, stone carvings and miniatures. The wooden armor was considered conditional, and any mention of it was ignored.

Archaeological works of 1948-1958

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet archeologists on the territory of Novgorod found more than 500 burned lamellar plates. The find gives grounds to assert that the Old Russian people also widely used lamellar armor.

Russia. Years of the Mongol invasion

As a result of archaeological excavations in the territory of Gomel, scientists discovered the largest workshop for making armor. It was burnt by the Mongols in 1239. Under the debris, archaeologists have discovered swords, sabers and over twenty kinds of already lamellar plates. In a separate room defective scaly products and blanks were found: they had no holes and bends, and the edges of the plates contained burrs. The fact of finding a long awl, file, spiral drill, grindstone and grinding wheels first pushed scientists to the idea that it was here that the lamellar armor was made, assembled and customized. The manufacture of armor, meanwhile, is only possible if there is a forge horn. But this equipment was not found either in the workshop or nearby. Researchers came to the conclusion that an ancient weapons storehouse was discovered in Gomel, while the manufacturing process for making armor was carried out elsewhere.

What is lamellar armor?

By connecting small metal plates with the help of laces, bands are assembled, of which lamellar armor consists. The photo below represents the features of the combination of steel scales in the product.

Work on the assembly should take place in such a way that each plate with its own edge overlaps the adjacent one. After carrying out researches of the reconstructed armor of different countries, scientists came to the conclusion that the plates of which the Byzantine lamel armor consisted did not overlap, but fit tightly to each other and were attached to the skin. The tapes were connected first horizontally, and then vertically. Forging metal plates was a laborious task. The very process of assembling armor did not represent a special complexity.

Description

The weight of armor made of plates 1.5 mm thick was from 14 to 16 kg. Lamellar armor with overlapping plates in efficiency has surpassed chain mail. The Breastplate, created on a lamellar pattern, is able to reliably protect against stabbing weapons and arrows. The weight of this product does not exceed five kilograms. The force of the opponent's weapon strikes the surface of the armor without causing any harm to the soldier clad in armor.

Ways of fastening

In order to prevent damage to the armor plates in it were connected by two special cords so that their length from the rear side was insignificant. If one cord was torn, the steel elements in the armor were held second. This allowed the soldier to replace damaged plates himself if necessary. This method of attachment was the main, but not the only one. It was also possible to use metal wire or rivets. Such structures were characterized by high strength. The disadvantage of the second method is the low mobility of the armor.

First, belts were used to connect the steel plates. Over time, this practice was discontinued. This was due to the fact that lamellar armor was often damaged during slashing blows of the sword. Armor, which used rivets and wire, was able to withstand the attacks of various types of weapons.

The form

The components of the armor are rectangular steel products with evenly spaced pairs of holes throughout the surface. Some plates in it contain bulges. They are necessary in order to better reflect or weaken the blows of arrows, spears and other weapons.

Where does lamellar armor meet?

In the reproduction of historical events of the Middle Ages in feature films, heroes often use lamellar armor. "Skyrim" is one of the most popular computer games, where a lot of attention is also paid to the topic of plate armor. According to the conditions, these armor are worn by mercenaries, looters and bandits' leaders. On the game, this heavy armor becomes available after passing through the eighteenth level, when the hero needs a more serious level of protection. It is capable of providing an advanced steel plate armor, which by its characteristics significantly exceeds the usual set of steel.

How to make lamellar armor?

You can become the owner of this heavy armor in two ways:

• Use the services of workshops that manufacture such armor.
• Get the necessary drawings, diagrams and materials, and then start making lamellar armor with your own hands. The work can be done with reference to some historical event. Or just make a plate armor according to the drawing you like.

What will it take to work?

• Steel plates. They are the most important element in the armor and must necessarily have an appropriate assembly pattern. The thickness of the plates that have been quenched should not exceed 1 mm. Lamellar armor of convex plates will look much more effective, which, unlike flat ones, are expensive. Given the size of the human body, we can assume that the armor will need at least 350-400 plates with a size of 3x9 mm.
• Leather belts. They are necessary for bonding between metal plates. The optimum thickness of the belts should be 2 mm. Experienced users recommend not to buy ready-made belts. It is better to get skin sheets of the required thickness, and cut the belts yourself. This will correctly calculate the required length of cords. It is recommended to cut belts with a width of 0.5 cm. They are ideal for holes with a diameter of 0.3 cm. To work, you need 80 m of cord. You can use rawhide leather or a silk cord to make belts. Strips should be cut along such that they can hardly pass through the holes in the plates.

How does the process occur?

• Prepared steel plates must have paired holes. They are carried out by a drill. Each hole is sewn with nylon threads. Before proceeding to the firmware, each plate should be ground, after which the thickness of it can be somewhat reduced. Despite the fact that the reduction in thickness is not particularly noticeable, since the plates lie overlapping to each other, their thickness is initially recommended to be at least 1 mm. When testing lamellar armor with plates of 1 mm, four arrows, released from a distance of 20 m when the onions were weighed in weight of 25 kg, did not cause serious damage to the armor.

• Chipping plates. The procedure is necessary to form convexes on products. This work is done on a wooden basis with a three-hammer hammer with a rounded striker.

• Painting plates. You can use vegetable oil to burn the product. The product must be thermally exposed before use. The surfaces of the plates are processed from two sides. It is recommended to cover the inside with a special varnish for metal, and the outer - just to polish, and if necessary, prolubit and cover with gilding.
• Processing of belts. Before passing the cord through the holes in the plates, the pieces of leather from which it is made must be processed. For this, the cord is several times carried over a piece of solid wax. If the belt is linen, then it is subject to waxing procedure. From time to time, it is recommended to clean the belts with a cloth soaked in vegetable oil. This will protect them from possible drying out. Steel plates are also recommended to be oiled. For edging, only a leather strap is recommended.
• It is recommended to use belts made of leather for work. They are better than products made of silk thread, because they are able to stretch. This quality is especially important when creating lamellar armor, since armor, skirting the body, must initially be very tight, stretch after some time.
• At the ends of the plates, passages are passed through the paired holes, which are subsequently bound together. It is necessary to ensure that the binding takes place freely. This will give the steel plates the ability to move one above the other like a segmental armor.
• To prevent rust from forming on the plates, they must be treated with orthophosphoric acid. Dull metallic - this color acquires lamellar armor after treatment with acid.
• To make homemade lamellar armor, you can use plates of soft galvanized sheet metal.

Crafted armor made at home is mainly intended for beauty, not for protection. Basically it is used as a souvenir.