SAIT’s Knights in Shining Armour
By Diane Scaman
Published 2007 - Weekly Albertan Newspaper

In a SAIT classroom adjacent to a hangar filled with airplanes and helicopters there is a project of medieval proportions. Two instructors at the Art Smith Aero Centre, one of SAIT’s satellite campuses, are making traditional suits of armour by hand.

Mark Kost and Chuck Luehr teach Aircraft Structural Repair and so far have made helmets, chain maille, shoulder pieces, and are currently working on the breast plate. Kost said the idea came from telling his students that they would be able to make almost anything after they completed the course. When the students didn’t believe him, Kost set out to make the full suit of armour. He found the plans on the internet and started making the armour during lunch hours and spare time.

“Students love it. It’s a very popular piece during open houses when the public comes through,” he said.

Kost says the other instructors at the centre “get a big kick out of it” and are always coming down to the shop to see what’s new with the piece. The two instructors make the armour using traditional methods used “since the beginning of time” said Kost. They use a tree stump, a bag of sand and a wooden hammer to shape the curved pieces. They make the hammers themselves using a lathe because they’re expensive to purchase and hard to find.

“We even make our own chain maille (by) putting all the little rings together,” he said.

He’s lost count of how many individual rings make up the chain headpiece, but Kost estimated that it was in the thousands. Each ring is made and attached by hand.

Kost usually works on the headpiece, called a coif, while watching movies and said it took him “about 15 movies” to make. He made the helmet four years ago and is working on the breast plate right now. Kost said he doesn’t have any plans for the finished piece.

“No battles, I’m too old for that. It’s just a fun thing to make,” he joked.

Even though suits of armour are no longer practical to make, Kost said the methods used to make them are.
Similar techniques are used in making the curved pieces in both armour and more modern projects, like airplanes and cars. Prototypes of airplanes and cars are usually made by hand before the product is mass-produced because it’s less expensive. Kost said television shows like American Chopper also showcase s modern-day use of metal-working.