Chartres Greaves

TECHNIQUES OF CONSTRUCTION

By Douglas W. Strong

HISTORICAL RESEARCH PRESS

© Copyright 2008, Douglas W. Strong

INTRODUCTION

There is a remarkable pair of cased greaves preserved in Chartres Cathedral. They were

made before 1380 for the boy Charles VI when he was the Dauphin of France. Along with the

greaves are further elements of a right leg harness including a cuisse, a knee and a sabaton. There is

also a beautiful pair of hourglass gauntlets and a wonderful pig-face bascinet which bears oxidation

marks showing where is was formerly fitted with a magnificent royal crown. All the elements of the

armour, save the bascinet were decorated with elaborate silver gilt

edging. Fragments of this edging are still present on the toe of the

sabaton. The armour was stripped of its gilt and during the French

Revolution.

These greaves open on a pair of internal rectangular

hinges inset into the outside seam. There is a hole on the outer

side of the medial ridge, probably for a pin. A larger

corresponding hole is in the surviving demi-greave. Like most 14th

century armour the straps pass from the inside to the outside of the

greaves through a pair of rectangular slots. Near the top of the

foot opening there is a pair of holes situated on each side of the

medial ridge. These holes would have been used for a pair of

lacing points.

Tools

In order to construct these greaves you will need to have access to the following tools. Only

those tool listed in italics are absolutely necessary. A ball peen hammer, a cross peen hammer, a

round faced dishing hammer, a steel bodied rawhide mallet, an anvil, either a saber saw or a Beverly

shear, a bick horn, a file, a drill or a Roper

Whitney punch, a drill bit or punch, a

center punch, a marker, rivets (I

recommend 1/8"), scissors, a leather

punch, a creasing stake, a three inch ball

stake, a pointed ball stake, some dishing

forms, a hack saw, a tile saw, a grinding

wheel with a cloth buffing wheel.

Ideally when you construct these greaves

you will follow the instructions exactly and put in

every detail possible. However, this requires some

specialized tools and some experience. If you feel that

you don't have the skill or are unable to find a tool that

will work for the operation then feel free to omit or

alter the step.

Construction

To begin the process of constructing a pair of greaves of this type, you should lay the patterns

out on a sheet of 20 gauge steel. You may wish to make cardboard mockups of the parts to see how

they fit on you legs. A photocopier is the ultimate tool for this. You can enlarge or reduce and in

some newer models you can choose to reduce or enlarge in one dimension only. This is useful if you

need longer greaves but not wider ones or vice versa. Feel free to move to thicker metal (such as 18

gauge) if you intend to use this for combat. The original thickness listed will work just fine for

combat if you use spring steel and then harden and temper it. Use a permanent magic marker to do

the lay out. When this has been done use your saber saw or Beverly Shear to cut the pieces out. Next,

center punch and drill all the places marked on the pattern for pre-drilled holes. When the pieces

have been cut out and drilled they are ready to be de-burred. Do this by taking a file and smoothing

out any irregularities on the

edges of the plates. Be certain

to clean up all the holes for the

arming points as this will

greatly lengthen their working

life. The process of de-burring

your edges will save your hands

from many small cuts while

you are constructing the piece

and improve the overall look of

the finished product.

The first major

operation in constructing

a pair of cased greaves is

compressing the ankle

region. Before you begin

this you need to simply

bend the greave plates

into a tubular shape

around the bick horn.

Heat the ankle region of your greave so it glows red and place it along the rounded portion on your

bick horn. Tilt it up slightly from the surface and begin to drive the metal back from the lower edge

toward the surface of the bick horn with a broad cross peen hammer. If you have a saddle stake this

works even better as it already has a

compound curve. Make a complete

pass from the lower side and then

repeat the process from the upper side

pushing the metal toward the foot

opening. This will form a bubble of

metal in the middle of the ankle. The

third pass should push this metal

down. You may opt to take another

group of passes (or perhaps several)

depending on how much depth you

got with the first three courses of

compression raising. Once these

plates are rough formed you will

need to do a lot of planishing to make them look pretty. This is the most time consuming part of the

arms. You will want to planish over balls, saddle stakes, bick horns and whatever you have that fits

into the shaping you have created. If you would like to see how this is done in video format a free

online video is available in Real Media form

(http://www.armourguild.org/images/video/mag2003/Hot-Raising-Greave--Aaron-Toman-

internet.rm) A high resolution version of this is also available for sale on DVD

(http://talbotsfineaccessories.com/books/metalwork.html)from Talbot’s Fine Accessories.

Next you will need to give the upper segments of the greave their compound curving. You

can do this in a

shallow dish but this

action tends to

damage the overall

shape and may

unnecessarily curve

the upper section

inward. In order to avoid these issues the forming is more properly done on the flat surface of the

anvil. The

optimal

hammer has a

face that is

shallowly

domed and

formed like

an extra thick

cross peen.

Where a typical cross peen has a face that is 1 inch by ¼ inch this one would be more like 1 inch by

1/2 inch. A fine example of this type of hammer is available from Ironmonger Armoury

(http://www.ironmongerarmory.com/). While this would be optimal since it would do more curving

in one direction than the other it is not strictly necessary. Any shallowly domed hammer would work.

With the oblong hammer face placed parallel to the crease strike the greave plate on the flat surface

of the anvil. While you are doing this you should be lifting the farther edge off the anvil. This will

provide a small amount of air space so the metal can be pushed downward to contact the anvil. The

whole time you are hammering you should be lifting the plate in this manner. The area that needs to

be formed in this way is marked on the pattern. Once this has been done turn the piece over and

planish it over a 4 inch ball. Feather the edges of this area outward so as to create a smooth

transition.

The last feature of the greaves is the bulge to accommodate the anklebone. This is easily

accomplished with a

ball peen hammer.

Take a stump or other

large piece of

softwood and hammer

a small depression into

the stump. Place the

greave over this

depression and lightly

emboss a bulge for the ankle. You may need to lightly planish this bulge over your small ball stake.

When polishing the greave pay special attention to the bulge you have just created as well as the

crease, the flair and the upper calf modeling.

Once you have completely planished all the elements of the piece, place it on the rounded

section of your bick horn and curl the greave until it fits your leg well. The lower leg will need to be

tightened to fit the ankle region but will need to swell out to accommodate the foot and the calf.

Depending on your leg shape you might want to place the ankle region on a ball stake and do some

light planishing on the inside. This will give the ankle region a gently rounded form. This will not be

necessary for people with very thin calves. Once you have the greave curved to fit your leg you may

need to go in and clean up any irregularities around the crease that may have appeared during the

curling process. To do this, place the greave face down on the anvil right next to the crease. Take a

cross peen hammer and lightly tap the high spots down to the surface of the anvil. Take extreme care

when doing this.

The lower edge of the greave will need to be flared outward like the back edge of the sabaton.

This flaring should be wider than the flared edge of the sabaton and should be executed by

hammering it with a cross peen hammer held parallel to the crease. The plate should be held against

the rounded portion of the bick horn. The portion to be flared should be held slightly away from the

horn so that it can be hammered down to meet it. Flaring is most effective when done from the inside

with a cross peen hammer.

The last major stake in creating the front plate is creasing. Ideally, a well made leg harness

will have a single uniform crease running from the top of the crease down through the lames over the

knee down the demi greave through the greave and out to the tip of the sabaton. This is one of the

features that distinguishes real armour from sporting goods.

To execute this crease draw the centerline on the

inside and the outside of the piece. Be as accurate as

possible. If you are unsure of your ability to make an

accurate crease you may want to start the crease from

the inside using a blunt chisel with a rounded cross

section. Put the plate on a lead block and place the

chisel so that its face runs parallel to the centerline and

strike it lightly. This will leave a small indentation in the

metal. Move the chisel slightly along the line and make

another mark. This mark should but up against or overlap the previous mark. If it doesn't, then go

back and make another mark that fills the gap. Move all of the way along the centerline until you

reach the other edge of the plate. Once this has been done go back and clean up any irregularities

with the chisel. When you are doing this step you will need to be careful that your chisel is absolutely

parallel to the centerline. When you have your starter crease made turn the plate over and examine it

from the outside. If the piece doesn't look perfect turn it back over and fix the imperfections.

When the piece looks correct take it and place it on your half-ball creasing stake. Use the

edge of the ball to find the starter crease. You will feel it catch in the crease. Hammer the plate

lightly where the ball meets the cop. Allow your hammer face to over lap the edge of the crease

slightly. This is a delicate operation. Be sure that you are not hitting the metal too hard. If you hit the

metal with too much force you are in danger of cracking through the crease. Proceed with this

operation slowly and carefully. Remember always strike where the metal is supported by the ball,

never strike from the

cut away side. When

you have made one pass

of hammering from

each side of the crease

on the half ball stake,

you are ready to take

the final pair of passes

on the creasing stake.

This pass is done in precisely the same manner as the previous pass except you will need to be even

more careful and accurate with your hammer blows.

The rear plates of the greaves are constructed in much the same way as he front plates. The

most significant difference is that the rear plate has no medial ridge. The forming for the upper calf

muscle must be deeper so as to accommodate the bulk. Use the techniques described above to

construct the rear portion of the cased greaves.

Once you have formed the elements it is time to fit the parts together. This is a delicate

operation. The front and rear parts must fit each other perfectly and must fit your legs without

causing any discomfort. To do this you will need to use all the stakes and forms at your disposal.

Like planishing the parts, the more different shapes you have with which to work the easier fitting

the halves will be.

You are now ready to create the inset hinges for the

greaves. In order to do this you will need to make a pair of hinges.

This is easily done by rolling the four hinge pieces around a nail

and squeezing the protruding edges with a vice. Use a hack saw to

cut the slots in the hinges and remove the material in the blacked

out sections with a file or better yet with a tile saw. Use the file to

fine-tune these pieces until they fit together. When you are

finished you can use the same nail you wrapped the

hinges around as the hinge pine and peen it like a rivet.

Place the hinges upside down on your anvil and hammer

their flat spots lightly with a cross peen in order to give

them a curved profile. Take a hinge and center it along

the outside edge of the vambrace. It should be placed on

the outside of the plates so that the back edge of the hinge

is in line with the edge of the front greave

plate. Mark its outline with a magic marker

and mark the position of the edges of the

rolled portion of the hinge. Draw two lines

down to the edge of the plate. Place the rear

greave plate in your vice and make cuts that

follow these lines with a hacksaw. Bend the

little flap you have made outward and place it back in the vice. Using your hacksaw cut this piece

away. You may need to turn the blade in your hacksaw sideways in order to get proper clearance. A

jeweler’s saw also works well for this. Place the hinge in the opening and mark and drill your holes.

Now it is time to make your straps, strap ends and buckle tabs. The buckles I used on this

armour were eared buckles based on a surviving example in our private collection. These buckles are

available from Talbot’s Fine Accessories through Revival Clothing (http://revivalclothing.com).

All the leather straps should cut

to ½ inch wide and all of my

leather elements were dyed a

natural brown. All the leather

elements were also treated with

neat’s-foot oil to keep them

supple. Custom buckle tabs and

strap ends can be cut from scrap

brass. The slots in the buckle tabs are made Slots are easiest to make by punching or drilling out a

series of holes and using a small file to clean out between them. If you wish you can engrave the tabs

and strap ends with wiggle-work engraving. This is done by placing a round-bottomed graver onto

the surface of the brass and pushing both downward and forward while gently rocking the graver

back and forth along its face. (http://talbotsfineaccessories.com/armour/engraving.mpg) This form of

engraving is very common medieval strap ends, and other simply decorated items.

The tabs and the strap ends should be folded over onto themselves. The ends of the straps can

be placed into the strap ends an they can be secured with an escutcheon pin used as a rivet. I find it is

easiest to drill the hole for this once the leather is already inside of the strap end. This helps

everything line up perfectly.

Once your parts fit

together well it is time to

make the strap slots. These

should be positioned as they

are on the pattern pieces. Use

a Roper Whitney punch

punching a series of

consecutive holes to make

the slots and use jeweler’s

files to make the slots

smooth. The straps and the

buckle tabs should be placed at their appropriate locations in the slots and riveted with steel rivets.

In order to polish the elements of your greaves you have two options. The first of these is to

sand the pieces by hand, using various grits of sand paper to achieve the desired finish. The other

option is to use a buffing wheel. This is the better choice. If you have a grinder simply remove its

stone wheel and put on a cloth buffing wheel. Coat the cloth wheel in a buffing compound. I use an

80 grit greaseless compound available from my local abrasive company. I also have expandable

wheels for sandpaper. This does a nice job of removing more stubborn hammer marks. Whether

sanding or buffing, do the cleanup before any of the pieces are permanently joined together. This will

make it much easer to polish. You will want pay special attention to ankle region where you did the

compression raising. This area is most likely to have the worst hammer marks. It is at this time that

every mistake you made in the hammer work process will come back to haunt you. Remember,

every hammer mark you put in is one more hammer mark you have to take out.

I hope you try this project and find that it is not difficult at all. It is a great project for a novice

armourer. Remember; if some operation looks too difficult skip it! And if you don't have a particular

tool you can always improvise! Most of the tools that are required to make this helmet are easily

attainable or fakeable.

Good luck and happy armouring!

Bibliography

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Chalcis" The International Arms and Armour Exposition London: 1982.

Boccia, Lionello Giorgio. Le Armature de S. Maria delle Grazie di Curatone di Mantova e

l'armatura Lombardia del '400. Busto Arizio: Bramante Editrice, 1982.

Boccia, Lionello Giorgio and E. Coelho L'Arte dell' Armatura in Italia, Milan: 1967.

Edge, David. and John Miles Paddock. Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight: an Illustrated

History of Weaponry in the Middle Ages. New York: Crescent Books, 1988.

Grancsay, Stephen V. Arms and Armour. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986.

Scalini, Mario. The Armoury of the Castle of Churburg, Udine, Italy, Magnus Edizioni, 1996.

Trapp, Graf Oswold. The Armoury At the Castle Churburg Trans. Sir James Mann, London:

Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1928.