Tooled Greaves
These were my first real attempt at tooling leather, painting leather, and creating this form of armor. I learned a great deal from them, especially in not being too light a touch on design transfer and stamping.
The Design
This design is based off of stonework found in the 12th-century Urnes stave church. it is thought to represent Ragnarök, with Níðhöggr eating the branches of Yggdrasil. The original may be seen here.
The Design
This design is based on a Sutton Hoo shield fitting from around 600 AD. It has been identified as a bird of prey (species unknown) alongside a six-winged dragon. It shares artistic links with art in Sweden, suggesting that East Anglia and Sweden had cultural contact and link at this time. The original may be found here.
Transferring the Design
To move the design from paper to leather the leather is first lightly wetted, then the design is placed over it and traced. This can be done with any implement, but a pen (or pencil) that can provide enough pressure to transfer and show against the drawn design is easiest. After the design has been transferred it is then cut using either a swivel knife or an exacto tool.
Raising the Design
To bring the design out, I first wet the leather then stamped down the surrounding leather. For this project a rougher finish was used as I preferred the 'mottled' look it had with the uneven stamping. Inner lines were not stamped, but beveled to smooth the cutting lines.
Painting the Design
The raised work was then painted. The colors were chosen purely on personal preference and had no connection to the original design.
Hardening the Leather
When Painting and Stamping was completed the leather was hardened using the Beeswax method. To harden, the Beeswax was melted and brushed on the leather, which was then placed in an oven set about 170F. When the piece appeared dry it was removed and more wax added. This was done roughly three times (until wax was pooling on the surface) before pieces were removed for shaping.
Shaping the Greave
The Greaves were shaped by wrapping them while still warm over 2-Liter bottles and leaving them. Wraps were occasionally checked to make sure they were still tight until a few days had passed, then greaves were checked for proper shape. This was repeated and adjusted as necessary.
Functional Finish
Once shaped, a single strap was used for the upper and lower attachments and knee cops were attached via a flexible piece of leather.