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+--- Thread: Was the Lorica REALLY polished? (/showthread.php?tid=2121)
Re: The Deepeeka Shine - richsc - 09-25-2003
"..good Roman backdrops in some of the pics. I know that is difficult in the U.S..."<br>
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Here in DC we have no end of Ionic columns and end parts. Heck, just look at the back of the $10 bill; but getting us up by the US Treasury building in armor, or the Capitol, or even the Smithsonian would be a touchy thing. <p>Legio XX<br>
Fortius Conamur<br>
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</p><i></i>
Re: Free labor! - Anonymous - 10-29-2003
Realisticly I believe that armour would have been polished, yet after years of service this armour would looked nocked, patched, and muddy and rusty. It rains quite a bit in Europe.<br>
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My pet hate is seeing re-enactors looking as if their costumes have been washed and ironed. I think costumes should look more run-down and dirtier. What are people afraid of getting a little muddy? <p></p><i></i>
Re: Was the Lorica REALLY polished? - John M McDermott - 11-17-2003
Erik Schmidt, expert on ancient mail, informs me that the type of iron the Romans had would last about three rustings and be gone. Therefore, it is a virtual certainty they covered iron with something. Evidence such as Matthew Amt sights suggests they tinned practically everything they could get their hands on. <p></p><i></i>
begs the question... - richsc - 11-18-2003
Which begs the question, has anyone tried tinning their lorica? <p></p><i></i>
What\'s the ancient equivalent of the scotch bright pad? - Anonymous - 11-18-2003
Maybe the romans simply spent alot of time cleaning the corrosion off of their lorica? <p></p><i></i>
Re: tinning mail??? - Anonymous - 11-23-2003
I don't know whether roman era mail was just good enough for three rustings and be gone. Actually I don't really know what it means. But I don't think tinning would be an improvement as far as mail is concerned...<br>
With the constant rubbing of the rings together the tinning would be gone in no time.<br>
Regarding burnishing armour in the middle ages. I've read somewhere that it was accomplished with hard, polished stones and that different finishes were available depending on the hardness of the stone used.<br>
This burnishing was not necessarily made by hand. The Romans used lathes to make helmets by spinning.. They could have used them to burnish, or polish metal.<br>
However I don't think they were mirror polished but I'm pretty sure that indeed they spent a lot of time cleaning their armour.<br>
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On Polishing - Anonymous - 12-04-2003
Me think da Roman was very smellie indeed, with da polish of animal fat, sand, and ashes......<br>
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hehehehehe<br>
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M.VIB.M.<br>
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back in business!!!!!!!! <p>V COH II<br>
LEGIO X GEMINA<br>
EX GER INF</p><i></i>
Re: On Polishing - Aluscladiusmaximus - 12-14-2003
In my experience fire bluing and forge bluing is dull and not shiny at all even when coated in oil. The reason a gun is shiny when it is blued is it has been machine polished to a mirror finish before it is blued.<br>
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I remember reading somewhere that Apicus said in his cookery book<br>
Clean your pots the same way solders clean their armour with powdered chalk.<br>
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Powdered chalk is what most metal polishes have in them today so it might ( note the word might ) have been possible to clean the armour to something approaching mirror finish. They certainly could polish their mirrors to mirror finish. Maybe only brass/bronze could be polished this way.<br>
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The Re-Enactor group The Ermine Street Guard (ESG) armour is not mirror finish except for one person who tells me that it is easier to keep it clean if it is well polished.<br>
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AlusCladiusMaximus <p></p><i></i>