Review of a three piece hanger

Another review from a satisfied customer!

I just received my hanger, very nice. The leather is of a good heavy quality, and the hooks/buckles are made very well and sturdy. I have to say over the years I bought different types of hangers from different dealers. But they all lack, mostly in the choice of leather used. Most of the leather was of low quality/ like card board or so thin and flimsy they did not hold up. Just a costume piece.

Mr. Last produced a high quality hanger for a very reasonable price. For a better lack of words. The hangers a REAL not just a cheep costume piece.

Very happy with my purchase. Thank-You Chris.

Review of the Hanger Beta Test

Gordon Frye says:

"I've been VERY impressed with the workmanship that Chris, Aaron and Clayton are putting into these, BTW, and they are a good, accurate rendition of a piece of equipment that everyone packing a rapier (or rapier-hilted sword) should have. EVERYONE!

When you consider the horrors which most of "rapier hangers" that are on the market today consist of, which are either complete fantasy fabrications from the fevered minds of Anime readers or people who just can't look at a two-dimensional painting and figure out a three-dimensional object from it (or from scheisters who just don't care), Chris' offering comes as a public service as much as a business venture. I very much hope that people recognize the quality and accuracy of these hangers and belts, and do him right."

Big thanks to Gordon for testing out the product and giving us great feedback for improvements!

You can find more of Gordon's work here:

http://www.renaissancesoldier.com/

http://historypundit.blogspot.com/

3 Piece Hanger - The New Model

We made the changes to the hook alignment and are in the process of adding an option for a 'S' hook release. Straps in the pictures are not trimmed, as that is up to the individual user's preference and this one does not have a home yet.

Close up of the hook connector in its correct alignment:

Prototyping a 6 Buckle Hanger

By looking at portraits and some of the very few extant hangers, a straight 6 buckle hanger seems to be fairly common place. We patterened out the main suspension piece and got it buckled up with 5/8 inch buckles that Clayton cast. Measured to sit on the natural waist with the sword just below the hip line. Next is the pad hooks, which Aaron is working on, and then attachment to the belt for some photos of it on a person with a sword in it.

The truly historical version of the piece will not have the top lobe, as we have not seen that in any artwork or extant examples (thanks Dan!). The pad hook is a trefoil/tulip shaped piece.

So far though, we all really like it!

Pictures so far

Past Project - Knife Suite for Jehan de Pelham

Aaron's words from the Armour Archive Post:

At the end of March, I was charged by Jehan de Pelham with the task of making an array of historical table/utility knives appropriate for the later 14th century. The commission's bounds were fairly simple - the request was for: 8 eating knives, 2 prickers, and 3 carving knives. I was essentially granted free reign, as long as historical bounds were considered, and they were to be delivered in time for Crossroads in Time, 2008.

Awesome. Ok, so... how to proceed... Plan. A plan is good. Get a vision and work towards it. The carving knives seemed best as a set. An elegant set without being over-the-top seemed appropriate. The eating knives were an opportunity to see and experience a spread of designs, so all are different - some moreso than others. The prickers (I delivered 4 instead of the requested 2) were made en suite with 4 of the eating knives.

Great. So on to design... Lots of time was spent looking at period art, as well as at surviving pieces/artifacts. Often, surviving pieces are incomplete or heavily damaged. Sometimes, one piece survived which could have belonged to a set, and so elements may be pulled to extrapolate the rest of the set. The knives were designed with a combination of guidance from actual remaining pieces, period artwork, and personal experience and preference for both aesthetic and form/function.

Each piece was ground by hand out of 6150 steel - works beautifully, holds a nice edge, is tough and strong... Once roughed out, I heat-treated and tempered each blade. They were then straightened and finish-ground, then I did the cutlery work, final polish...

Full Gallery of the Set

16th Century Hanger - Prototype

The prototype for this project was my own piece. Buckles are cast steel. The biggest changes so far are the turning of the connector rings to the correct offset position, casting in a very tough durable pewter, and quick release hardware.

Here's the full gallery of the test fitting.

Prototype_Hanger