What's everyone working on?

[Erfaron]

Working on a linen tunic and cloak (wool turned out to be too hot), and was wondering - do yall just wax cloaks, and does anyone do oilcloth for a cloak?

I just have a simple canvas drop cloth for my cloak, i have been planning to wax it or try an oilcloth treatment but I haven’t been able to get around to it yet

[Iodo]

I'm with Eofor on this one, waxed/oilcloth as anything other than bags/tarps is hot and sweaty to wear, in my experience if you need water resistance a dense boiled wool (doesn't have to be thick) will shed water reasonably OK, and it will feel cooler because it can breath, if you don't need to worry about rain then just use thin linen for cloak/hood to keep the sun off

[Turgolanas]

I would suggest that if wool was too hot then a waxed or oiled cloak will likely be too.
How often do you get rained on?

Rain here is fairly unpredictable, but more likely to happen when the weather is cool enough for wool cloaks. I'll keep my linen cloak without waterproofing for sun protection for now, and see how it goes. At the very least waxing a hood might be an option as opposed to the entire cloak.

[Togon]

Haha! I had the same dilemma. I came to about the same conclusion.

[Desert Loon]

Making an oilcloth was on my list for this summer but I haven't gotten round to it yet either. To be honest I'm a bit afraid of working with boiled linseed oil.

Recently I tried rigging up a chiton from a bedsheet I bought at a thrift store. I wasn't very happy with the results yet: I found it too long, and the pinning is still slow and needs more accuracy. I think I might sew it into a Roman tunic or a T-tunic, though I'm not sure about the color. I still have a T-tunic I made from a white bedsheet that needs a button and a dunk in walnut dye because right now when I put it on I look like I'm playing an angel in a Christmas pageant.

Looking at all your projects is very inspiring - and reading about your delays is reassuring that I'm not the only one.

[Jack]

Well... i should be working on soft kit but in typical ADHD fashion I got distracted and started making another haversack because i'm not happy with how much my first attempt bulges like a ravioli when full so version 2 is going to have maybe folds or gussets or something to give it... depth?
BUT before finishing that project I got sidetracked (and tired of breaking these cheap walmart needles at the eye and sinking them into my finger tips if I'm being honest) and started forging axe heads and carving handles.
The heads need a lot of finish work but the eyes on both are for the most part good to go, which has allowed me to put the cart before the horse and finish carving/fitting the handles (will come back and edit in WIP pics of both axes and haversack later since i dont want to get out of bed right now)
This axe tangent held my attention for a couple of days BUT not enough to prevent me from getting distracted AGAIN and trying to train Merlin (pictured below) to be a pack goat.
I'm quite certain this endeavor will not bear fruit but we did make a little progress today. The smart thing to do would be to (drop the idea altogether but failing that) revisit the idea with a bottle raised wether from the next batch of kids in the spring but we'll see. So yeah at this rate I'll have everything wrapped up in a decade or so lol

Totally forgot to comeback and add a WIP pic.


Ditched one of the 2 heads I made for now and will likely try to re-work it into a mattock or warhammer, the one pictured was the better of the two and closest to what I was trying to imitate. Still need to forge a ferrule and spike for the end of the handle, mount the head and oil everything. I also need to decide quickly once and for all if I want to incorporate some kind of steel langets before I hang the head.

As for the haversack I'm done hand stitching the body and lid (albeit ham-fistedly), just need to make/attach a shoulder strap, then dye and wax the whole thing.

Making an oilcloth was on my list for this summer but I haven't gotten round to it yet either. To be honest I'm a bit afraid of working with boiled linseed oil.

Is it the smell? Or the spontaneous combustion?

[Taylor Steiner]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing the end result!

[Iodo]

That does look like some nice forging

[Ben Sinister]

Recently made these water bottles. Each holds 32 oz.

[Taylor Steiner]

Wow great work!

[Turgolanas]

Finished up the tunic and arm wraps, going to repair my cloak and then work on belt pouches next.

[Taylor Steiner]

Looks great! What sword and boots do you have?

[Jack]

That does look like some nice forging

Thanks Iodo

[Turgolanas]

Looks great! What sword and boots do you have?

The sword is a Ronin Katana Euro #5 , which is a hand an a half Italian longsword. I really recommend RK for low budget high quality swords, and they have a number of options and styles, Plus, they come with wood core scabbards which is always a plus. I intend to get their Italian arming sword to get a one hander to match my longsword. They have scratch and dent sales every now and then with really good prices.

The boots are costume boots from medieval collectibles, they are not really historical or functional. I was wearing them because my current pair of working boots are hobnailed and scratch up my floor if I wear them inside. My working boots are leather WW2 era I think, I picked them up from a guy at a WW2 reenactment who was selling them for a good price.

[Taylor Steiner]

Nice!