Here's a little project I just completed that I thought you might like to see.

I've had it in my mind to make a set of multi-coloured arming points since the subject of coloured points came up on this forum some time ago. I got kicking the idea around with my friend Toby, and he provided me a very clear image of The Trinity Altarpiece (Hugo van der Goes, 1478) where coloured points are clearly seen on St. George's couter.

What's exciting about the painting is that not only are the points three coloured, the lace itself is clearly made up of a regular old three-plait braid, not a fingerwoven braid. The simplicity of it intrigued me, so I had to have a go at it.

To make the laces, I used 6 strands of hemp cord (2 each of 3 colours) for the braid itself, and affixed our Lace Chapes to the ends with Gorilla Glue. Note- Authenticity mavins could substitute hide glue for the Gorilla Glue, or drill and rivet or drill and stitch the chapes on. Since the glue doesn't show, I don't much care that it's modern. I actually made two sets, one for my friend Dominic and one for Jeff. Jeff's (pictured) are red, blue and gold; Dominic's are red, gold and black. Both sets have been saturated in beeswax to improve wear and grip on the armour.

A small project like this is fast and easy to do, and doesn't require any fancy tools or setup. It's clean, quiet, and doesn't smell bad. It's the sort of thing one could easily work on at an event while chatting with friends. It's inexpensive, too- I figure this dozen 20" laces cost me about $20 in materials and took about 3 hours start to finish. It's the sort of finishing touch that can really pimp out your kit and bring it to the next level. Jeff will be using his new points at the tournament in New Zealand this weekend, and I'm looking forward to hearing a report on how they performed for him.

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Love the colors. I can't really see the laces in the image. If there's a larger one, I can't find it.

Jenn

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Jenn, that was the only image I could find of the Trinity online. I have the photo Toby sent me that I can send on to you if you want to see it. He actually sent me 2, a good quality colour photo and a closeup B/W.

The braiding is just a regular three-strand plait like a ponytail, not a more complex finger braid. One of the reasons I wanted to make this post was to encourage people who may not be able to do the more complex finger braids.

Gwen

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