Need help with attaching pieces!

[Caleb Ellis]

I made a custom suit of armor out of 16 guage steel sheets, but I am having some issues. The back and chestplate are separate pieces, that attach over the shoulders and under the arms. I bought some clasps from amazon, but they can't handle the stress. Any ideas on how to connect the pieces?

 

[Adeptmechanicus]

Might try leather an steel or brass buckles. Medieval armor used leather at the top of the shoulders and waist to keep it closed. The back actually overlapped at the shoulders and the chest "hung" on it to take the weight. I might be wrong, don't know my knight armor all that well

 

[ZiggyGrimm]

You might need to separate the shoulder into multiple pieces and use leather strapping or multiple overlapping plates connected by rivets with enough room to slide to allow better movement.

The shoulder looks like a high stress area that is preventing the rib from easily connecting. Removing that stress and using leather strapping to allow it to sit on your shoulders would reduce the constant pressure on the rib connection points and allow for a that connection system or a different connection system to be used for that area.

You could also use a mechanism similar to the "BOA" lace system that rollerblades use on the ribs section, but with steel components and braided wire. But you'd have to custom fabricate parts which wouldn't be easy to do.

 

[KragAxe]

For medieval breast/backplates, we usually overlap the steel over the shoulder and use buckles on leather. That wouldn't look right for this, though. For what you have, I'd just use hook clasps under tension on either side of the ribs on the inside and keep the front/back sections as assembled sections. I'm not sure I could explain it with just words. If you're up for a Zoom call this weekend I'll go out in the garage and pull out some stuff and show you. Mine will be made from aluminum and I'll be doing something similar. I was actually going to use spring-button closures. They would blend right in with the HALO style.

 

[Caleb Ellis]

For medieval breast/backplates, we usually overlap the steel over the shoulder and use buckles on leather. That wouldn't look right for this, though. For what you have, I'd just use hook clasps under tension on either side of the ribs on the inside and keep the front/back sections as assembled sections. I'm not sure I could explain it with just words. If you're up for a Zoom call this weekend I'll go out in the garage and pull out some stuff and show you. Mine will be made from aluminum and I'll be doing something similar. I was actually going to use spring-button closures. They would blend right in with the HALO style.

Thanks for the help! I might pass the zoom call though!

 

[GMer56]

Maybe just add more latches? Maybe 2 side-by-side on the outside, or put another one inside.