Issue 23

This one was very simple, yet it took a long time. This issue had very few steps, and each one was not difficult. However, the interval between each step took so long because I had to wait for glue to dry. That is the to secret this, and many other, issues. It takes so long because I must wait for the glue to dry.

That is also why I open the next issue and start that before I finish the current issue. When I make time to work on the armour I don't want to do 15 minutes of work and then spend hours waiting. While I wait for the parts from this issue to dry I will often work on a few parts from the next issue, until invariably I must also wait for that glue to dry too.

I suppose I could keep repeating this process. Every time I must wait, I open another issue and start on that. I would have five or six issues on the go at once, I certainly have enough backlog in my to-do pile. However, I have chosen not to do this for several reasons: I don't have enough room to work on the parts from six simultaneous issues, the parts in later issues often rely on the previous issues to be completed, and ultimately I just don't want to. Making this Samurai Armour is not a race. I'm still about ten issues behind, but I don't mind. I work on this project because it's fun and I do it to relax. The waiting is a part of the process.

So what about this issue? As I stated above, the work was quite easy. I had to make on anther set of plates, as I have done so many times before, and then attach a little silk pad to the left front quarter of the armour. This is a curious piece and I can't really work out what it's function is. I think it has something to do with the way the Samurai would carry his Katana, because this silk sheet covers the side where the Katana would also be kept. I assume it's there to stop the metal guard of the sword from rubbing against the armour. Perhaps this is done to prevent minor damage to both the armour and sword.