Second ible, here we go. still a work in progress(finished for now because of my deadline(fantasy fair) but the back piece isn't finished yet)

Im building a neckarmour piece(gorget) and wanted to share on instructables, to my surprise there is not a single one for neck armour so here's the first. For the decorations in the center you can check out https://www.instructables.com/id/etching-large-metal-items/ .

Step 1: Tools and Materials

For this project you'll need basic metalworking skills like sawing drilling and sanding.

tools:
jigsaw
clamps(if you need them to secure the metal for sawing)
drill(press)
some drillbits(the size of the rivets)
sandpaper(i used a range of 240 -600 gritt)
marker
pencil
scissors
metalfile
boltcutters or hacksaw
grease or oil(i used silicon spray)
scotch tape
hammer
pliers
anvil(or something hard like a barbell)

Optional tools:
fire
magnets
gloves(my hands are full of small cuts so gloves are recommended)
eye protection(recommended,but I already wear glasses so there's a smaller chance of anything getting in my eyes)

materials:
metal sheet
cardboard
8 large nails(rivets)
8 washers(same inside diameter as the large nails)
2 straps with beltbuckles(from a watch or thin belt, I got mine from a hobbystore)
a box of small nails(rivets)

Step 2: Design

My apologies, I didn't take any pictures of the drawing or the cutting process.

First of take a look around the internet to get an idea for your design, I googled; neck armour, neck armor, gorget. My design consists of a front plate and a backplate, both have reinforcements around the outer edge. The front and backplate are connected with 2 small straps on top of the shoulders.

When you decided on a style draw a rough shape onto your cardboard in pencil and cut it out. Once cut out fold it in two so you can cut it symmetrically. Try it on now and again to make sure it fits.

Step 3: Tracing Your Design

Now puzzle your way to the best fit within your metal sheet(I used a plate from an old washing machine) so you are left with as little scrap as possible. Be sure to leave enough room to saw the pieces.

Tape everything down using scotch tape and start tracing everything using your marker.

After you traced everything take off the tape piece by piece and fill in the gaps created by the tape.

Step 4: Cutting the Parts

Take your metal sheet to your sawing bench and start cutting out all the parts. Because I used a piece of metal that had curved edges I had to hammer them flat to be able to saw the outer pieces.

Step 5: Shaping

OK so now you have all your parts ready and its time to shape them. Take one of your parts and just bend it slightly using your hands and knee. You might want to use gloves for this considering the edges can be sharp.

Go slow, just gradually bend each piece until it looks right. Test the main plates(front and back) from time to time to see if they fit.

This is where the (optional) magnets come in, use them to stick the front and backplate together so you can see if they fit together.

Keep shaping the plates until it fits snuggly on your chest and back. When the two main plates fit, start to shape the(optional) reinforcements so that they fit over the edges of the plates.

Now you can stick everything together with some magnets to see how it looks.

Step 6: Sanding (and Optional Fire)

I did this step before drilling the holes (wich i normally do first) because I first wanted to do this:
https://www.instructables.com/id/etching-large-metal-items/

Alright so we got everything together now we need to remove any paint from the parts. I used fire, just build a fire in the backyard and when its going chuck in one part at a time and wait till the paint is gone.

When you're done or didn't use painted metal you can start sanding everything. I don't think this really needs an explanation, just keep going till its shiny enough to bite(R.I.P. futurama)

Step 7: Drilling

Ok so normally I do this step before sanding because any screwup now is basically permanent(especially with my large etch) but I wanted to etch first. One more sidenote, I know it is better to center your holes before drilling, but I find that it leaves a dimple around the hole so I chose to not center . This makes drilling quite a bit harder(especially with a hand drill) but if you go slow it can work. (dimples look strange in armour)

I chose to secure the straps with 2 rivets on each side(so 2 front left, 2front right, 2back left, 2back right) so 8 in total. For the reinforcements I ended up using 8 rivets on each side (16 total).

You need to find some drillbits that are close to(but not under) the size of your nails(rivets). I used 1.5 mm nails for the reinforcements and about 4 mm nails for securing the straps, so I used a 2mm and 5mm drillbit.

So start out by taking your cardboard cutout and figure out where the holes need to be. Fold your cutout in half and drill holes at the correct positions to get all the holes symetrical. Now take a fineliner / pencil and mark the holes on your metal.

If you chose to add reinforcements like me you'll need to figure out where to place the holes on the front and back plates. This is done by first drilling the holes in the reinforcements and laying them over the plates in the correct position and marking, through the holes, the plates.(if a pencil / marker wont work use a nail to scratch the metal)

I marked and drilled the holes by starting in the center, marking the holes, drilling the holes, putting a nail through and securing it with a magnet from the bottom. Then I would mark the next hole and secure it with a nail and magnet, keep this going till you have all your holes marked and drilled.

After drilling the hole for the straps I drilled a hole in the strap and secured it to the lower hole with a bolt an nut and then drilled the second hole using the hole in the metal as a guide.

Step 8: Riveting

I have an old shoe anvil thingy(don't know what its called) wich I use for riveting, but you can use any solid surface that fits. Use a small hammer for this step, it takes longer but the results are better. Before you start riveting grease up all your parts, this makes riveting a little bit harder but it makes sure that there wont be any rust forming on the inside of your armour!

Now starts the hardest part of this instructable, the riveting. Start by cutting some small nails to size, double the thickness of your metal plate plus the diameter of your nail. So if you used 1m thick metal sheet and 1.5mm diameter nails its 1mm+1mm+1.5mm=3.5mm long from the bottom of the head to the end. Just make a test piece by taking 2 scrap pieces of the same metal, drill a few holes and rivet until you find what works for you.

When you have enough start by riveting each hole alternating between the left and right side. rivet by softly tapping the top of the nail in circles so it mushrooms out. Keep doing this until all the rivets for the reinforcement are done.

For the straps you need to take your large nails and figure out how long they need to be; the metal + the strap + the washer. for me it was about 5mm. Cut your nails to size using boltcutters / hacksaw and put them through the correct hole, add your strap and washer and rivet it down. Just remember that the strap will give a little, so its better to have a rivet that is a little short in stead of one that is too big.