Twined Linothorax

[Feinman]

Alright, well I purchased some 12-ply  red linen cord for about $113 USD, so I should be able to sew on a piece of the leather edging and post a pic in a few days.  Then to buy more linen fabric and more cord...  My funds are low for a while as I jut got wrung out for tax season, and have other projects that really suck up money... 

[Feinman]

I just purchased $112 dollars more of the linen fabric --I want to get all that I need in case the supply of that particular fabric dries up! Now I need one more spool of the natural linen cord and perhaps a few more spools of the twining cord (to be safe), and I will have what I need to complete this project. Much of my spare time is gone now, unfortunately and will be for the next two years, between visiting my dog in another city and saving up my vacation time. Nevertheless, I will work on it as I have time, and then full-time on it after about two years --if it is not done by then.

[Dan Howard]

It would be disconcerting to add up how much you have spent so far on this project.

[Feinman]

It would be disconcerting to add up how much you have spent so far on this project.

Absolutely! I could probably figure it out, too. A LOT of money. Between it and other projects and hobbies which are all quite expensive, a tremendous amount of my income goes into them --money I could be saving And, since the armour projects are pretty much all experimental, there always remains the chance that things could go wrong or not work out. I am confident at least that the linothorax will work out, though my assumptions about construction would ultimately best be verified by more archaeological finds.
What really bugs me is that I was just getting into beating bronze into helmets, and shields, etc. Inspired by Jeffrey Hildebrandt, and then abruptly lost my access to any space to continue on with those projects --which I must store, half-finished, for for a few more years until I can get back to them. Life is too short, is my takeaway.

[Creon01]

Your project is really the only reason I still check here almost every day. There's a lot of good archival information of course that we mine over on the International Hoplite Discussion Group. When you are finished I'll gift you a hyper accurate bronze sauroter I commissioned from that Norwegian professor, in fact I commissioned 20! It's the right alloy based upon an analysis done by Harvard with 1% lead and check this out, it's hollow almost down to the tip as all the spiked ones are. Get this done and it's yours pal!

[Feinman]

Your project is really the only reason I still check here almost every day. There's a lot of good archival information of course that we mine over on the International Hoplite Discussion Group. When you are finished I'll gift you a hyper accurate bronze sauroter I commissioned from that Norwegian professor, in fact I commissioned 20! It's the right alloy based upon an analysis done by Harvard with 1% lead and check this out, it's hollow almost down to the tip as all the spiked ones are. Get this done and it's yours pal!

Hey Joe,
Wow! Those are beautiful!! That is so sweet of you --Thank you!! :-)
That does indeed help me with my motivation as I contemplate the long hours ahead. I certainly miss your posts here, this is the kind of thing where it is nice to have other people around who are interested in these things --otherwise one can feel pretty isolated after a while. I was actually thinking a chap like yourself would be the person who should own one of these.. Because you have devoted yourself to educating people about the ancient Greeks and Romans, and you have been in the military --perhaps when it is done, we can talk more about it.
Best regards,
Todd

[Feinman]

I am too busy trying to find time to paint and work on other projects to create or join a reenactment group, so the things I own or create are just stored and no one ever gets to really see them --except perhaps in forums. That seems like a sad fate for things that have required so much work. So, I like other people to have them. For myself, I would keep the leather spolas I am working on, so I would have a complete Greek kit, my Bronze Age Greek stuff, and my Egyptian stuff --which I really want to finish, because that culture isn't well represented in the reenactment community, and I just think it is really quite cool. When I finish the armour closely based on Tut's hide scale armour, I want to send that to Egypt, to a museum, as a gift. I also want to finish the Mountain Pattern armour I am working on.

[Creon01]

I'd not donate anything to a museum as they won't consider the reproduction object as valuable and requiring care as an antiquity. A good friend recently tried to donate one of my best hyper accurate sauroter reproductions to the museum in Sparta as a teaching object that folks could handle, and they rejected it. I think the mayor's office has it now. Probably a paper weight. At least it's in Sparta so it makes me happy.

[Feinman]

I'd not donate anything to a museum as they won't consider the reproduction object as valuable and requiring care as an antiquity. A good friend recently tried to donate one of my best hyper accurate sauroter reproductions to the museum in Sparta as a teaching object that folks could handle, and they rejected it. I think the mayor's office has it now. Probably a paper weight. At least it's in Sparta so it makes me happy.

Wow!  That's a cautionary tale..  Sorry to hear it!  Perhaps I'll just trot around in the Egyptian armour myself for a while and eventually sell it to a respectable private party when I am too old to be convincing in it anymore! 

[Dan Howard]

You're already too old...

[Creon01]

Yes, best to keep it in your own collection and roll it our among those who can appreciate it. Also, perhaps a visit to your local college can be arranged to show budding ancient history students what such things actually felt like.

[Feinman]

You're already too old...

That's true, but I am relatively young compared to many reenactors!

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Yes, best to keep it in your own collection and roll it our among those who can appreciate it. Also, perhaps a visit to your local college can be arranged to show budding ancient history students what such things actually felt like.

That's a good idea; I know you and Amt and other folks do that. It is disconcerting to see how Tut's armour was treated in the Cairo Museum, too.

[Sean Manning]

Hi Feynman, if you post a picture showing how easily the twined linen stands on its own (or does not stand) I think Bret Devereaux would be interested https://acoup.blog/2023/06/09/fireside-f...ne-9-2023/

[Feinman]

Hi Sean,
This Pic shows the wet twined cords mostly standing up on their own.  I will be able to get back to this project and the others in a little over a year from now.

   

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I'd add that the outer linen cover --which is sewn through the twining, and which I have only just started, also makes the armour much stiffer.

[SoniaB]

Hi. I'm researching uses of linen for a potential exhibition in Belfast NI later this year and stumbled across this post. Can I ask if you have continued on this project, do you have any further photographs? It's amazing work.
Many thanks