The Midrealm assistive listening system goes to war.

I can't express how excited we were to be able to implement the Midrealm assistive listening system, a portable, event-ready audio service had this year's Pennsic War. 

After several days sitting at the Crafters Green helping people configure their WiFi enabled smart devices to use their Bluetooth earbuds, hearing aids or headphones, The Big Day came and we spend an extra hour before court helping even more people set up. 

The range and coverage for the venue were excellent and the feedback that we received from people using the system was heartwarming and encouraging. 

We have received many requests for upcoming events throughout the Middle Kingdom and plan to travel as best we are able following the Royal progress to make sure that this service is available where needed. 

The Assistive Listening System (ALS)

Everyone deserves to be part of the story.
Yet all too often, participants may miss important details due to crowd size, background noise, or variables in hearing. 

The Assistive Listening System (ALS): A portable and event-ready system that provides real-time audio during courts, classes, and announcements that is delivered directly to an attendees’ personal devices, using headphones, Bluetooth earbuds or compatible assistive hearing technology. This is an opt-in initiative, we ask that you do not use your devices speaker to listen. 

This system is part of our commitment to making the SCA welcoming and inclusive for all attendees. 

The Assistive Listening System (ALS): 

• Operates over a private, secure Wi-Fi network — not the internet. 
• Transmits real-time audio to phones, tablets, earbuds, or assistive listening devices. 
• Requires only a quick QR code scan to connect. 
• Is discreet, low-profile, and preserves the ambiance of events.

 This past Saturday, April 26th at the Quest for the Golden Seamstress event in the Barony of Roaring Wastes, Gianna Nicole Vettori and I served as judges and had a great experience. Nine teams of six or fewer artisans competed to create a complete historic outfit — including accessories like shoes, belts, and trim — during a 20-hour overnight stitchapaloza. Teams had to bring all materials with them, as no one could leave once the competition began. Afterward, there was a fashion show where outfits were judged on materials, fit, scope, workmanship, and completeness, along with special points for inspiration, on-site accessories, overall "wow" factor, and team garb. The maximum score possible was 205 points.

There is a chance that Rebecca Muller may have convinced us to put together a team of our own for next year.

thers

 Now that they are presented, the scribe boxes for the Royalty and Heirs that I was commissioned to create as regalia with artwork design by Dag Thorgrimsson. The boxes are based on this exploded view of a stollentruhe chest around 1300 from the Lüneburg Heath.

   

 I had an amazing time at Val Day tournament of chivalry (SCA fighting event) yesterday and I'm sure that I will have the bruises in the next few days to prove that I was there.

I'm humbled to be a member of the order of Chivalry and I am honored to serve the unbelt community of fighters who travel to this event and wait in long lines to have an opportunity to train against us.

I hope that I am able to give advice equal to what each of you teach me.

Additionally I want to thank the Roses who served by coordinating and sending the various fighters out for their bouts.

02/09/2025

Etching on Stainless steel

Laser etching I wanted to try on Stainless steel.

Honestly it worked better than I would have expected and after a few adjustments such as running the program several times in place and changing the focal length on the laser to compensate for the convex shape I was satisfied with the resolution. This opens up some possibilities for post processing castings.

 

Flamingo in her Piety

 Now that it has been presented, I can post about the "Flamingo in her piety" created using my Creality 22 watt laser for my wife's elevation to the SCA order of the Pelican. 

It is made from several layers of wool and backed with heat n bond sheeting witch allows it to be cut, then ironed down before stitching. 

Custom Boxes

For Pennsic 2023 I was asked to make a contribution to the gifts for the State dinner hosted by the Midrealm. We had been chosen to provide gifts for the East and this was my contribution. Two boxes, one made from Wenge and the other from Bubinga. 

Leather Masks

A few years back I crafted a leather mask for a costume party. I didn’t start from scratch though, A friend and I picked up a Mardi Gras-style mask from a Halloween store, and after taping it up, we filled it with plaster to create a mold. I used about 2 ounce vegi-tanned leather, soaking it in warm water to make it pliable for shaping around the form. After several hours of working with the leather as it dried through various stages, I was mostly satisfied and left it to dry completely.

When I returned, I trimmed the edges and the eye holes before sketching the design with a stylus and wetting the areas for tooling. Once that was complete and dry, I painted it with Eco-Flo Cova Color, a water-based leather paint, and sealed it with a clear coat. I added a little elastic cord for the strap, and it was ready to wear!

 

Cloth buttons using the laser cutter

I needed cloth buttons for a project, so after researching tutorials, I developed a process utilizing my laser cutter, a predictable choice I know.

This is how I created approximately 3/4 inch cloth buttons.

First I did a little trial and error to get the size that I wanted before drawing the circles and squares in the lightburn software.

After running playing with the power settings I was able to mark the circle onto the square and then cut the squares out.

The next step was a simple matter of doing a running stitch following the marked circle and pulling up until I was ready to fold the corners in to the center, sort of inverting it a little. From there just top stitching across at angles until I pulled everything as tight as I needed. All in all I'm pretty happy with the results and consistency

Layout in Lightburn with zero space between my arrange so there is no waste

Running stitch following the scribed circle

Just about ready to tuck the corners in to use as a stuffing.

More medieval pouches

 Now that they have been gifted I can share the pouches I cut out to assemble at Pennsic. These are based on patterns form Darkhorse workshop with some modifications. The red one was for my squire (Eli J. Hawkins) Cadfan for the one year anniversary of his squiring. The Tarsoly was a gift for Duchess Runa( Linda M Bouck )and funded by members of her household for being an amazing and inspirational lady and artisan and the third was a gift to myself, because. All were cut out on the laser cutter the dyeing was done with Fiebigs alcohol based dyes and imersed in a ziplock back to get an even saturation of color. All were saddle stitched with waxed linen thread.

Gothic Chair repair

 I do this not because it is easy, but because I thought it would be easy.

If I'm being honest I knew this was going to be challenging. I traced, scanned and imported the outline of the back into Vectorworks and cleaned up all the lines before exporting the dxf file to Alphacam to apply the toolpaths. I glued up the new material from Quarter sawn White Oak and cut out the bulk on a CR Onsrud panel pro router. There was a bit more post processing than a had wanted but I was able to achieve the look ii wanted with a few hours and a carving chisel. I added some Gilsonite tinter to the varathane walnut stain to really darken the grain lines. In the end I'm pretty happy with the results of remaking this broken back on this chair for a friend.

As I received it

Lots of tool pathing.

Medieval Cast Pewter belt

I had wanted to create a medieval style plaque belt for my wife for some time and finally talked my self out of all my excuses.

I wanted the belt to reflect elements of her registered SCA heraldry, shown below but not be an exact copy. 

I decided to cast the plaques in pewter since the material and equipment was relatively inexpensive.

About $80.00 for the casting furnace and I recommend getting the Lyman Casting Dipper to make your life easier.

Next, I designed the part in SolidWorks exactly as I wanted, then printed the STL file on my Creality 3D printer using PLA plastic. This provided me with the positive image, including a sprue, needed to create the high-temperature silicone mold.

With a bit of rubber cement, I secured the part to a smooth surface. Then, using Mold Max™ 60, a high-temperature silicone, along with some reusable mold forms that  I 3D-printed from an online design, I poured the catalyzed silicone to create the mold. in two operations to create a front and back.

I ended up using a pair of soapstone blocks that I had to clamp on either side of the silicone mold to act as a heat sink but could still only cast 6-8 at a time before needing to allow the mold to cool.

After some clean up and polishing i mixed a clear slow curing epoxy resin that I added some liquid pigments to. this needed about 24 hrs to cure. 

Once the plaques were complete I used the posts to attach them to a leather belt that I lined with felt after all the setting was done. For the closure I used a 1 1/2" removable pin hinge and riveted the two haves to the leather.

It weighs in at 2lbs 15 oz which makes the belt hang just as I hoped.