Greaves Redux

Two years ago I made a Quick pair of greaves and decided recently to construct a new pair to match my new set of armor currently under construction.  As with all things armor they ended up taking much longer to build than expected, but the results were well worth the extra time.

The construction process was a series of small steps and meticulous measurements.  Fortunately a picture is worth a thousand words and my tiny digital camera captured the series of steps as follows.


Step One: Leather blank cut from 15oz, 1/4" thick, cow hide. Measured the length of my shin and determined that 10" slats would provide the greatest area of coverage for my lower leg.  My good friend, who works in a metal shop, was kind enough to make the slats for me.  I took a pattern from my previous set of greaves, from two years ago, and tweeked it to fit the slats evenly.  In the bottom picture, everything measured out together to make sure the plates are evenly spaced. At this stage I marked the position of the holes on the top and bottom.

Step Two:   All-in-one brown leather dye to colour and protect the leather. I also conditioned them with Lexol leather conditioner.  
From the back of the product:  Lexol protects old and new leather from cracking and premature aging by providing the lubrication necessary to keep it strong and supple. It is made with the finest tanning oils which are emulsified into microscopic droplets.

The picture on the bottom is a dry run before setting the rivets to make sure everything was lined up and ready to go.  As it turned out some of the holes needed to be drilled out again since the rivet width varied slightly.

Step Three:  A goal of mine is to step away from modern buckles and use replicas where I can.  These buckles were purchased from Bronzehammer and I have put them to good use to secure the greaves to my lower legs. On the left you see the various stages of completion while setting the size 14 copper rivets.  To the right the tape is holding the rivets down. A nice little solution to the frustration of keeping the whole mess together while setting the rivets one by one.  Also a nice close up of the bronze buckles.

And at last after setting all 30 of the rivets to secure the slats, buckles and straps.  Completion!!