Until a couple of years ago, I never used to bother with yard sales. A waste of
time rooting through other people's overpriced junk, right? But ever since I
got interested in armouring, I've started checking out second-hand stores and
garage sales. There are several reasons why it's worth keeping these sources in
mind when you're trying to acquire armour-making tools.
1) Good tools can cost a lot of money. It can be difficult to find
reasonably-priced items that aren't going to go to pieces on you. My favourite
example is the el cheapo tubular hacksaw stocked by a lot of discount stores.
After breaking several of these, I finally realized that what Terry Pratchett
said was true -- I wasted thirty dollars when I could have bought a more
expensive but sturdier type that would be good for at least ten years of heavy
use. Many tools put up for sale are flimsy, but if you look carefully, you can
often find good stuff at decent prices.
2) I still have qualms about grinding a brand-new tool into different shape, or
sawing off part of the handle. Even though I could get a cheap hammer made in
China or Pakistan for only six or seven bucks, which is not much of a saving
over a $3 model from the 1950s, I have fewer regrets about filing the face of
the $3 hammer into a dome. Besides, it's so beat-up that some of the work's
already been done for me. And if I make a mistake, I haven't thrown away quite
as much money.
3) By re-using old tools you're not only recycling, but you're also learning a
lot about fixing things. From now on, if I chip the edge of a chisel or break a
hammer handle, I'll have it back in working order in a few hours. There are
still places where running out and buying a replacement isn't an option -- basic
tool repair skills can be very useful.
Rust-removing chemicals. The people who share your dwelling will appreciate it
if the tools you bring into the house are clean and dry. If you are concerned
about environmental contamination, you can get a lot of muck off using dish
soap, vinegar, and old scrubbing brushes (toothbrushes etc.). If you're going
to remove the wooden parts anyway, immersion in warm water is not a problem.
Getting water out of complicated inner workings (e.g. crank drills) is no
problem if you zap them with a hair dryer, or put them in the oven on LOW heat.
Various grades of sandpaper. You can put a surprisingly high polish on metal
just using 400-grade.
Files and rasps (and a wire brush to clean them). An all-purpose half-round
file can be used on flat or curved surfaces, and a round "rat-tail" file about 6
to 8 inches long (around 15-20 cm) is perfect for getting into the crannies.
Heavy mineral oil. This is non-toxic, less prone to staining, and available at
most drugstores. Especially if you're dealing with high-carbon steel, coat the
metal with it to prevent rust from setting in. It also brings out the shine on
wooden handles.
Hacksaw. Useful for trimming handles (or sawing them off altogether if they
need replacement).
Hammer and steel punch. With this combination you can push the old handle stub
out of the tool eye. Punches of the right size can be improvised from 8"-12"
nails (cut the point off with a hacksaw).
Sharpening stone. Good for reshaping chisels and other edged tools.
Vise. Useful for holding onto your work, but if you haven't got one, a bunch of
different-sized wooden blocks will do.
A Few Common Hand Tools
Hammers and mallets:
There are two main types of striking tools for armour-making -- soft-faced
(wood, rawhide, lead) and hard hammers. Usually the second-hand wooden mallets
are scuffed-up and grungy, and they may not be a good bargain -- check to make
sure they're free of cracks. I saw a homemade lead mallet, but decided not to
get it because I don't really want that much toxic metal sitting around my
house. The hard hammers most useful for armouring are around 0.5 to 3 lbs (8 to
48 oz., or ~0.2 to 1.5 kg): several armourers have told me that they get the
most use out of the 16-32 oz. range.
The most common repair to hammers is replacing a loose or cracked wooden handle.
Saw the remaining wood off nearly flush with the head. Resist the temptation to
burn it out with a blowtorch (ruins the temper). Instead, pop it into the oven,
on LOW heat (less than 250 deg. F). Leave it there for about half an hour,
until the metal expands. Wearing oven mitts, take the head out, put it
upside-down in a vise or on wooden blocks, and hammer a flat-ended punch into
the bottom of the eye. The handle end should pop out of the top. (Save it,
because it's a useful guide.) When fitting the new handle, if you warm the head
up before tapping in the wooden wedge, the shrinkage should assure a snug fit.
Saw the wood off smoothly across the top of the eye, then hammer in the metal
wedge(s) to anchor it.
Here are some common steel hammer types: 1) Claw hammer (<0.5 to 2 lbs.) -- the > 1 lb. types are often framing hammers
with a milled or "waffled" face 2) Engineer's ball-peen (0.5 to 2.5 lbs., in 0.25 lb. increments) 3) Tack hammer (0.25 to 0.5 lbs.) 4) Club hammer or mallet (2.5 to 4 lbs.) -- a short-handled mini-sledge 5) Brick hammer (1 to 1.5 lbs) -- flat-faced square head with a long
chisel-like cross-peen 6) Sledge hammer (2.5 lbs. up) -- longer handle and more elongated head than a
club hammer
Keep a lookout for blacksmithing hammers, too. All of the hammer types listed
above can be used for pounding sheet metal, or riveting. Various folks have
suggested modifications, such as grinding hammer faces (especially if they are
2" or wider) into domes. One armourer suggests that a hammer can be
modified for close-quarter work (e.g. inside a helm) by taking a hacksaw to the
back part. So a beat-up hammer (even the claw type) can be turned into a
useful tool -- a flat or dome-face half-hammer that gives a longer swing under
cramped conditions.
And the others:
Punch. Used for making indentations or even holes in sheet metal or leather.
The tip may be chipped and the striking end may be burled over. The steel
(especially on older ones) can be very good, requiring only some reshaping with
a file, and rust removal. They are often on sale for $1 or less.
Hacksaw. The most common types are shaped like a bow, or have a pistol grip.
Check to make sure the blade is securely mounted, and can be replaced by
store-bought replacements. (You probably know this already, but saw blades
designed to cut wood shouldn't be used to cut metal because they aren't good at
it, and may cause you injury.)
Chisel (metal/masonry). The "cold" type of chisel is made entirely of steel,
and is much sturdier than the kind used for woodworking. Cold chisels are meant
to be struck with a hammer or mallet, and are used for cutting or grooving
metal. Any ones up for sale may be in rough shape, needing to be reground on
both sides, coming to an edge of around 60 degrees.
Chisel (wood). Why even mention wood chisels when theyÕre not meant to be used
on metal? Chisels are one way to carve a dishing form into a tree stump.
Because it's end-grain wood, this automatically rules out all but the biggest,
sturdiest tools of this type. Wood chisels are more delicate than cold chisels
-- often the cutting edge will chip, or the internal tang will crack through the
wooden handle if they are hammered. Many of the wood chisels put up for sale
have been ruined this way. The "firmer" and "mortise" types are made with thick
blades and can be tapped with a SOFT mallet (wood, rawhide, or rubber). As a
general rule, heavy-duty chisels with impact-resistant plastic handles are
probably okay with steel hammers, as long as you use ones under 1 lb. (16 oz.)
and tap GENTLY. Don't use ANY kind of hammer if the chisel tang is long and
pointed, or if you can't see the tang through the handle, or if the handle is
cracked or damaged in any way. All-steel chisels are okay to hit with steel hammers, but ALWAYS wear eye protection regardless.
Axes and Hatchets. Speaking of carving depressions in stumps, a hatchet or
shortened axe would do the job too. Before doing anything, take the precaution
of making a cardboard blade-guard and swathing that part of the head in duct
tape. (Usually secondhand axes are blunt, but I recently found one that was as
sharp as a butcher knife. Ow.) Handles can be replaced the same way as for
hammers, described below. Sometimes a drywall/lathing hatchet will turn up
(half-hatchet, half-hammer). An interesting tool, but it might be better to
trade with a drywall contractor for something that doesn't look quite as lethal.
Pliers. These are usually plentiful at garage sales. Both the needlenose and
short-jawed varieties are useful for holding work, rolling or flanging edges,
and other tasks. Often the handle casings have come off -- this doesn't affect
the performance of the pliers, but it can be hard on the hands if you are
knitting chainmail, etc. -- wrapping the handles well with tape can help. (Editor's Note: The grips on pliers and other tools can be replaced with a product called "Plasti-Grip," available from hardware stores) The
teeth may have worn down -- you can renew them with a triangular file, or
flatten them altogether if you don't want them marring the work. If you're
looking at vise grips, make sure they change back and forth smoothly between the
locked and unlocked positions.
Shears and Cutters. By the time people part with complex things like aviation
snips and boltcutters, there's a good chance that something has gone wrong with
them. Check for broken tips, chipped blades, and loose rivets or pivot-points.
One person I know keeps a length of 14 ga. wire and a small bit of 18 ga. sheet
metal in his pocket at all times for covert testing of these kinds of tools.
Carpenter's pincers and end-nippers may need their jaws filed to new angles to
make a straighter cut for chainmail rings.
Hand Drills. The type of hand-powered drill to keep an eye out for is the
breast drill. It is heavier and more powerful than the ordinary hurdy-gurdy,
and not as cumbersome as the bit brace. The really old breast drills have
circular plates at the end, to lean on as you drill into the work. The more
recent models have oval or saddle-shaped plates. The gear system is generally
so simple that it takes a long time to wear out -- the first thing to start
going wrong seems to be the chuck that holds the drill bits (usually a 3-piece
Barber chuck). In combination with a punch to make a depression or even a small
hole in the metal, a breast drill equipped with a fancy new drill bit can go
through (mild) steel plate fairly quickly. I haven't tried it on the heavier
gauges yet, but based on what I've seen so far, this sort of thing would be
okay, as long as you didn't require a whole lot of holes. It's slightly more period, it'll
work even if you have no access to electrical power, and it's a lot cheaper than the battery-operated drills on the market.
Measurement Devices
Cloth measuring tape (the kind used for sewing). These are actually more
appropriate for taking armour-fitting measurements than the flexible rulers used
for carpentry.
Steel rule. Unless they have been treated very roughly, metal rulers hold up
better than wooden or plastic ones over time. Inspect them to make sure the
steel is not too warped or nicked to serve as a straight edge (sometimes people
have wrecked them in mock swordfights). If the etched or stamped numbers are
deeper than the surface corrosion, the metal can be sanded clean, polished with
automotive sandpaper (600 or finer), and oiled lightly.
Calipers. The odds are against finding the fancy kind with the built-in scale,
but there are a lot of former art students who are looking to unload the basic
no-frills plastic/aluminum model held together with a simple bolt. If you find
a pair that can take an inside or outside measurement of 10" (25 cm) or more,
they would be very useful for fitting armour (especially helms). The outside
type have more of a curve to them, but can also be adjusted to take some inside
measurements.
Fishing pull-scales. They don't take up much space, but are useful for
estimating the weight of materials and finished pieces of armour.
Improvised Tools
Here is a list of useful items which sometimes turn up at second-hand sales, and
can be pressed into service as tools:
Trailer hitch. These come in sizes ranging from about 1.5 to 2.5 inches in
diameter, and can be made into ball stakes or hammers (for raising or dishing
metal and leather). The old-fashioned kind which are rounded rather than
flattened on top are the best, but the new ones can be ground into a curve.
They can be secured by welding, or using pre-threaded metal rods.
Thick pieces of steel plate. Several years ago my dad picked up a piece of
steel, about the size of a paperback novel but around half an inch thick. I
don't know what it was used for, or where he found it, but it's great as a
striking surface.
Chunks of railroad track. Sometimes railway workers take home discarded track
offcuts to use as doorstops. These can make decent anvil substitutes.
Heavy steel plumbing pipe. I haven't tried this out yet, but it might be
possible to contruct a T-shaped stake using a T-junction and short bits of pipe.
Could be useful for bending metal strips (e.g. for Roman armour).
Mooring cleat. These sometimes turn up in port cities. I found one here in
Victoria which was as big around as my wrist and must have weighed at least ten
kilos -- looked like an skinny anvil with long horns.
Shotputs, ornamental iron finials (knobs). All of these have been suggested as
acceptable substitutes for large-sized ball stakes, in the four-inch range. If
you are thinking of raising helmets in one piece, you will need something
larger, at least six inches in diameter, preferably seven or eight. They're out
there -- cannonballs, etc.
Summary
My goal is to assemble a set of hand tools suitable for armouring, with a price
ceiling of $20 (Cdn) for each one. So far, I've acquired a drill, a hacksaw,
several pairs of pliers, three different-sized punches, a hatchet that I'm
hoping to reshape into a historic pattern (the way John Steinbeck did when he was
working on his Arthurian book), a 1" plastic-handled firmer chisel, and more
hammers than I really need -- all for under $100. Most of these tools are
"previously owned", and while many of them have seen better days, others (the
Montreal-made Ryall drill, and the Stanley hammer) are downright handsome. I
could get everything else I want next week for another $100, but I'm having so
much fun just hunting around for used stuff that I'm going to keep on doing this
through the garage sale and street market season -- who knows what else will
turn up?
Bibliography
Jackson, Albert, and Day, David. 1992. Tools and how to use them. Wings Books:
New York.
Klenman, Allan. 1990. Axe makers of North America. Whistle Punk Books:
Victoria B.C.
Taylor, Jeff. 1996. Tools of the trade. Chronicle: San Francisco.
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