Chain mail

[SnakeEyes]

Better work than anything I've ever done, thats for sure.

[CameronTaylor]

At first I was thinking "a chain mail kilt ...nah ..." but this quite a fascinating thread says I.


CT - and nothing more.

[Sorcha Griannon]

Do the renaissance fair types really pay well for chainmail? Do they buy it in premeasured lengths or in things like clothing, etc.?
Just curious

People like the look of any chainmaille at faire, and usually have the money to burn. Coifs and tunics do well, but little things like 4 inch strips of 4-in-1, 6-in-1, 8-in-1, ropes, and various other versions do well as key chains. Hand flowers are popular with the ladies as well.

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I had a boyfriend who did this a while back, and used a wooden frame, through which he threaded a steel rod. There was a hole in the end of rod where the end of the wire went, and the other end was put in a drill. You get a good, even spring fast. This is the method I will probably use WHEN I get around to making my own rings. It can help save your hands, especially when you are making a lot of rings.


Sorcha

[cwr89]

That hauberk you see at the RenFaire for $500 was likely made in India or Pakistan, the guy running the booth paid $80 for it and $20 in shipping.

not always true, at least from my standpoint. I am sure that Rygar would disagree. After all, he co-hosts one of the Maille booths at the cincy ren-fest.

and, if you payed $100 total for a Pakistani Machine made piece o' crap. I am sorry to inform you, you have been violently ripped off.

as for you question MacGregor, I know that Rygar's booth had everything from shirt and coif to fine jewelery, and If I remember it was the letter expensive things like ear rings and bracelets that sold for the most part. but to let you in on a little secret, if you want maille, talk directly to the person who is making it. like with kilts, it is very specific if you want a good fit. (and it probably wont cost you an arm and a leg. just an arm. the mark up of a faire is a killer.)

~Casey

[LordKiltClad]

You see all kinds of maille at TRF (Texas Renn Fesitval) From a guy in full suit armor, to a woman wearing not much else but a maille halter top and "skirt", to the wanna be knights wearing just a coif and bracers. My wife was curious about the maille head pieces she sees, but none of the vendors at TRF had them. Wonder if they are customs.

I'd be real curious to see what happens to the copper mail over time. I would assume it patinas and eventually takes on the green tints.

[Gaian]

This has been a most interesting and informative thread. Thank you guys for sharing all the info. I just bought a book on the byzantine pattern and am looking forward to finding some time to actually get started on it. Now, I see more things I want to do. There is not enough time in my week for all this stuff. guess I will have to take some vacation time to get it all going.

[Caradoc]

but to let you in on a little secret, if you want maille, talk directly to the person who is making it. like with kilts, it is very specific if you want a good fit.

Um.

Actually, if I wanted mail, I'd make the stuff myself. I used to make a *lot* of it, taught classes on how to do it, built my own rig to make links, used a Dremel to grind out new faces on several pairs of pliers to get a better grip, et cetera, ad nauseam.

[Caradoc]

I'd be real curious to see what happens to the copper mail over time. I would assume it patinas and eventually takes on the green tints.

Somewhat. One of the paradoxes of mail is that the more you wear it, the less it patinas because the links rub against each other and literally polish each other.

The medieval method of cleaning mail was to put it in a burlap or canvas bag with some clean straw and hand it to the squires to play "medicine ball" with it. The pounding as it was thrown from hand to hand cleaned the links off as they rubbed together.

The other method, which I've used to great results, is to put the mail into a barrel with some clean straw and a handful or two of sand, and roll it down a nice slope.

Copper's fun to play with, but any large expanse of it will pull the links open under their own weight unless you're using obscenely large gauges of wire. Mild steel will do the same thing if there's enough mail in one piece.

[BLAZN]

Do the renaissance fair types really pay well for chainmail? Do they buy it in premeasured lengths or in things like clothing, etc.?
Just curious

I watched a guy make some ornamental head dresses and a coif... the head dresses were going for $75 a pop with MAYBE 200 or 300 rings in them. I dunno what he wanted for the coif.

What are the stats???

looks nice, bit loose, but nice.

Umm... the rings are made from 14awg solid copper. I personally stripped the copper, coiled it up and cut the rings with a pair of tin snips. I've gotten the rings as closed as I can.

Thanks.

Found this site.

Exactly what I need to do... join another forum. lol

cwr89 is right we've hijacked this thread long enough let's give it back to BLAZN, he's earned it with his wonderful work. Sorry BLAZN.

No biggy.

Somewhat. One of the paradoxes of mail is that the more you wear it, the less it patinas because the links rub against each other and literally polish each other.

I've heard that and I had actually counted on it to keep my copper, copper. Though, maybe a little bit of tarnish would look nice. I wouldn't want to be wearing the Statue of Liberty on my head, though.

Copper's fun to play with, but any large expanse of it will pull the links open under their own weight unless you're using obscenely large gauges of wire. Mild steel will do the same thing if there's enough mail in one piece.

14awg is fairly stiff stuff, as I'm sure you know.
The strip I made will likely be absorbed into the coif I have started. I'm debating whether I want to do a coif with a full mantle or not.

[Caradoc]

14awg is fairly stiff stuff, as I'm sure you know.
The strip I made will likely be absorbed into the coif I have started. I'm debating whether I want to do a coif with a full mantle or not.

14ga copper isn't *bad*, but if you made a full-length byrnie or hauberk of the stuff, the shoulder links would very likely pull themselves apart - especially if the wearer was doing anything like live steel combat work.

I was doing most of the "decorative" links in my mail with silicon bronze welding rod - 16ga and 14ga to match the case-hardened steel link gauges.

I'd finish a piece, then take it over to a buddy of mine, toss the mail into his heat-treating kiln, bring it up to temperature to burn off the zinc from the steel (galvanized steel is a PITA - it gets white and fuzzy after a bit) and drop it directly from the zinc burn-off temperature into a bucket of cold used crankcase oil. It helped harden the links up a bit.

Don't try that at home, BTW. Zinc fumes == ickiness. Hence the use of an outdoor kiln that already had a ventilation system.

I played with riveting my mail for a while. That was tedious and nasty. I was chiseling the rivets from a strip of metal to make little tiny wedges, and they'd occasionally go interesting places as they flew off the end of the strip.

Yes, I wore goggles for that. Goggles don't cover your nose. I replaced the goggles with a full-face shield after getting a wee sliver of steel stuck just inside my nostril, which hurt rather a lot.

And since it was stainless steel, it wasn't magnetic. So it was a bit harder to pull out...