Skaldplate Hand Forged Steel Cuirass with Articulated Pauldrons | 18 Gauge Mild Steel | Roped Edges, Hooped Fauld and Rune Plaque | Norse Armour Gift | RK-1477

This is a full upper body harness: a raised breastplate, a hooped fauld hanging below it and a pair of articulated pauldrons riding on the shoulders. The pauldrons are the part worth looking at closely. Each one is built from a stack of overlapping lames riveted through sliding rivets rather than fixed ones, so the plates walk over each other as the arm lifts. Fifteenth century armourers worked this out the hard way, and it is the single reason a man in full plate could draw a bow, swing a poleaxe or mount a horse. A rigid shoulder cop cannot do any of those things.

The whole harness is raised and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. Every plate edge is rolled and roped, the chest carries a riveted plaque chased with knotwork and an Elder Futhark line, and the piece hangs on russet leather shoulder straps and side straps with steel roller buckles. The wooden stand, the folded gambeson and the loose belt in the photograph are studio props and are not included.

Specifications

How a cuirass is articulated

Articulation is the whole art of plate armour and it comes down to one trick: a slot instead of a hole. Where two lames overlap, the rivet passes through a round hole in the upper plate and a slot in the lower one. When the arm rises, the lower plate slides along the length of that slot and the stack opens out like a fan. When the arm drops it closes again. Get the slot length wrong by an eighth of an inch across five lames and the shoulder either binds solid or gapes open at full extension.

The fauld under the breastplate works on the same principle in the other direction. Two hooped plates hang from the bottom edge of the cuirass and overlap each other, so the belly is covered when you stand upright and the hoops ride up over each other when you bend at the waist or sit in a saddle. Notice that the lower hoop overlaps upward over the one above it. That is not arbitrary. Plates are lapped so that a point sliding downward off the chest runs over each joint instead of catching in it.

The roped edge running round every plate is doing the same job it has always done: it removes the raw cut edge that would cut into padding, it stiffens the perimeter so the plate holds its curve, and it deflects a point that runs across it.

Steel, gauge and honest limits

This harness is mild steel at 18 gauge, roughly 1.2 mm. That is display and light reenactment weight. It is genuinely hand raised armour, it wears like armour and it carries like armour, and it will take the ordinary knocks of an event weekend. It is not certified armour and it is not full contact weight. Fighting harness is built from 16 gauge and heavier, often in spring steel, and it is inspected by the society you fight under. Please do not take this into a bouting list.

Armour is always described by gauge and by whether the stock is mild or spring steel. Blade grades and hardness numbers belong on knives, not here, and anyone quoting them on a cuirass is telling you something that does not mean anything.

The leather is vegetable tanned cowhide cut heavy at the shoulders, because shoulder straps carry the entire weight of the harness and a thin strap stretches over a day and drops the plate two inches down your chest.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it, so the chest plaque shown here carries whatever you specify. Read the engraving page for sizes and lead times.

Fit and sizing

This is made to a stated chest size. The standard build suits roughly a 38 to 46 inch chest with the straps taking up the remainder, but a cuirass with pauldrons has more fit points than a plain breastplate and we want more numbers from you. Send chest at the fullest point, throat hollow down to natural waist, shoulder point to shoulder point across the back, and the thickness of what you plan to wear underneath.

That last number decides everything. A gambeson adds an inch to an inch and a half all round and a mail shirt under it adds more again. A cuirass built to a bare chest measurement will be uncomfortably tight over an arming coat and the pauldrons will sit too far inboard and foul your neck. Tell us the whole stack you intend to wear and we will build for it. If your measurements sit outside the standard range, message us before ordering.

Care

Wipe the whole harness down after every wear, paying attention to the inside of the collar and the underside of the fauld where sweat runs and sits. Keep a film of light machine oil or a paste wax on all surfaces. Put a drop of oil on every sliding rivet in the pauldrons two or three times a year and work the lames through their travel; a dry sliding rivet grinds and eventually wears its slot oversize. Check strap stitching and buckle tongues at the same time. Store the pieces upright and separated on a stand or a rail, never stacked face down and never sealed in plastic. Surface bloom lifts with fine steel wool worked along the polish and then reoiled. Our notes on steel care cover oils and rust removal in more detail.

Forged in Memphis

Every plate here was raised, planished, edged, drilled, riveted and polished in our own shop in Memphis, Tennessee, and the straps were cut and stitched in the same room. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. That is why the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings is a real promise, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This harness is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Lame spacing, the run of the roped edges, hammer texture under the polish, the tone of the leather and the depth of the chased plaque all vary, because each set is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Do the pauldrons actually move?

Yes. The lames run on sliding rivets and fan open as the arm rises. They are not a fixed decorative stack.

Is there a back plate?

No. This is a front cuirass with fauld and pauldrons, hung on shoulder and side straps. Message us if you want a matched back plate quoted to your measurements.

Can I fight in it?

No. Eighteen gauge mild steel is display and light reenactment weight. Full contact fighting needs heavier stock and a harness approved by your society.

How heavy is the whole thing?

Around thirteen pounds complete, most of which sits on the shoulders. Over a properly fitted gambeson that is comfortable for a full event day.

What goes underneath it?

A gambeson or arming coat at minimum. Steel plate directly on the body rubs, rocks and bruises, and the harness will not sit still without padding under it.

How long does it take to ship?

Processing is one to two weeks because every plate is raised and fitted to your measurements. Shipping inside the United States is free and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• One hand raised steel breastplate with a two piece hooped fauld
• Pair of articulated pauldrons on sliding rivets
• Russet leather shoulder and side straps with steel roller buckles, fitted
• Riveted chest plaque with knotwork and runes, or your own engraving in its place
• Light protective oil coat applied before packing
• Care and storage card
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in plate armor, viking armor, brigandine and gambeson and medieval helmets, or read the guides.