/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>1600's
>not making your own rings
>shiggy diggy

start by making wrist cuffs, chokers and get a feel
for mailling, then move onto coiffes, bikins etc.

>>207180
When you are assembling and closing rings you might need to overshoot (that is, twist a little farther) so that the ring springs back flush or near flush.
Depends on the metal you're using.

Stainless steel is stiffer than aluminum or mild steel wire. Spring steel is very stiff and springy. Copper looks good but is too fucking soft unless you have some special copper alloy. Aluminum is very easy to assemble but is also fairly soft.
IMO stainless steel is the best for all around toughness and corrosion resistance, but it's harder to assemble. SS Won't tarnish or rub off on your clothes/skin like some aluminum alloys will.
Solid (no-flux!!) MIG welding wire is a great material for making your own springs. I made loads of stainless steel rings from welding wire. SS is too hard to cut with snips so I used small bolt cutters which worked fine.

Take breaks, your hands get fucking sore after too long.

>>207206

I got these:

Copper 18g, 3/16''
Galvanized Steel 18g, 1/4''
Galvanized Steel 18g, 5/32''

Good choice or no? I had a hard time picking out gauges/ measurements so I picked a pattern and went with what they told me.

>>207215
Galvanized steel is alright, strongish and pretty corrosion resistant (except maybe where the cut was made, unless your ring maker is REALLY special and galvanized the cut cross-section too.)
Weave a few items and see what you think.

>>207192
>>207192
>chainmail bikinis
GTFO

>>207237

Not a huge fan of chainmail bikinis, so prolly won't do that lol.

>>207180
OP I'm not sure if you know about this yet but here
http://www.mailleartisans.org/
join the community and help us develop

>>207253

That looks awesome! I'll join for sure. Is there a good place to get rings from? I got mine from The Ring Lord- was that a good choice?

>>207257
not going to get in to how to
but make your own rings
it easy
look it up

>>207260

I found out how to do it, I was just going to see if I even like chainmail first before I get too invested in it.

>>207257
That is where I get mine.
The selection is usually really good and ring quality is nice although the price is a bit steep(mostly shipping)
but if you live near a place that sells the right gauge of wire I would go with that.
Just need a few metal dowel rods or whatever the fuck they are called, a drill, and some aviator shears some gloves also and you are set.
for the fancy look go with the ring lord though for jewelry and such

>>207263
That is wise the shit is tedious as hell but when you finish you will most likely feel proud.

>>207265

Yeah, about 50% of my payment was in shipping :\. Ok, so whats a good guage size to get? I'm completely stumped on what to buy for what purpose.

>>207278
I always buy based on the weave instructions but some weaves can take almost any size.
Pick what you want to make then do your shopping,

>>207281

Thats probably the smart thing to do. What are some good patterns to work on? I saw some on some forum....anyone got anything awesome?

o yes, got a few:
http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/gallerydisplay.php?key=6948

http://corvuschainmaille.ning.com/group/Tutorials/forum/topics/fleur-de-lis-cgi

http://corvuschainmaille.ning.com/group/Tutorials/forum/topics/stepping-stones-cgi

http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=184

http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/gallerydisplay.php?key=6948

Most of those should be tutorials but if not they would not be hard to find

>>207298

That looks awesome! Anyone else have any tidbits to share?

I know that steel needs to be oiled/maintained- what are you supposed to use to keep it nice? Oil, I assume, but what kind/how often?

I don't know about beginner projects to start, I started out making a full Maille shirt a couple of months ago and I would have finished it by now if I wasn't such a lazy ass fuck. Yeah I know, I think the rings I used are too big but I'm not going to battle in it, besides its made of Aluminium and that wont stop the cutting because its pretty soft. pic related

>>207310

That would hurt to much if I had that on my hand. I can just imagine all the hairs being pulled out.

>>207322

What size ring is best to use for a shirt? I'd like to make one, preferable with scale shoulder pads. I saw a picture once, but I didn't save it. Shame on me. How are scales to work with?

>>207325
To be honest I don't know, I didn't exactly plan it out, I just got something that had a diamteter that was pleasing to my eye and proceeded to wrap Aluminium wire around it to make a coil and then cut the rings off then weaving.

make this bad boy

>>207333

Not bad, I must admit.

i cant figure it the fuck out i've made like 100 rings out of some copper wire just to get the concept before i do a large scale 1.2mm mig wire chain mail shirt
made one row of 4-1 and i cant figure out if i'm anywhere close to understanding it
when i pick it up it straightnes out into a chain 1link then 2 links connecting that to one more
> absolute dumbshit

tl:dr am i do it right?

>>207345
forgot pick
sorry dark all lights are on but yeah

>>207346
>>207345

Try and make another row and see if that helps. Looks like it doesn't have enough structure to be a complete E 4 in 1. If that doesn't work, look up a complete set of the shirt and see if you can spot the differences.

>>207346

http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.cgi?key=6199

Can't tell from your pic at all but just use this tutorial.

If you're a bit slow like me it'll take you a few sections to understand it but once you do you can do it in your sleep.

>>207359
>>207350
thanks guise/grrls i just figured it out!
i found that by adding the rings one by one in an under over interlacing pattern dealie works and follows the diagrams as shown like you said can do it in my sleep now but it was difficult to grasp.

now to see if i can remember how to do it after work tomorrow

only made these rings to test the concept but now i've made so much progress i dont want to start again with a tighter smaller ring set :(

i'd post pictures but its sitting on my keyboard and i dont want to disturb it to take a picture with my laptop camera

>>207372

Glad you've figured it out. Usually helps me to see a chunk of the chainmail and not just a single row.

Any other chainmail people out there? Show what you made!

I made this loin belt for some guy.
Dont know why he wanted it.

>>208014
forgive the shit presentation

>>208014

That's kind of....odd. Can't be that comfy to wear, either. How much did it you charge him, if I can ask? Also, how much do you charge for labor?

>>208061
very little considering the labor but I wanted the practice and I used black steel which is cheap.
I dont think people routinely go for his genitals with knives so I have no idea, or maybe they do, whatever
he likes it

>>208076
Oh I made him pay for mats only

so do people sell sheets of it?
eg square meter?

>>208135

These guys do:

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=95&cat=Sheets+of+Chainmail

>>207333
Ohhh, let's just say, I've already made it ;)

To page 0 you go! C'mon /diy/, I know there are more chainmailers among you!

How do you all feel about punched rings?

>>208816

I'd love to try them. Way more time consuming though, aren't they?

take a row out and join it back together is normal. the first row should have only 3 in 1. not 4. if u expand its 5 in one and carry on as normal. thats not the best description.

check out Jack Gohan Design on facebook. message the guy there if you have any questions. he makes chainmail for movies

>>210164

Thanks for the link! His stuff is awesome.

Ordered rings? Dude you don't need to order them. Take a drill and a pipe. Drill a hole through the pipe. Insert a wire into the hole. Attach pipe to drill. Spool some wire. Snip straight up the side of the spool. Suddenly RINGS EVERYWHERE.

You can make any size you need. Just buy wire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBQjp_oZ0Z8

Enjoy.

>>210383
This is a good method when starting.
Once you get better with closures and have a general idea what you are doing you can start using nicer metals that are anodized or enameled or whatever.
Unless all you are doing is making shirts and shit, then fuck it go with that

So does anyone make anything cool from this? A lot of what I'm seeing is Artsy Fartsy stuff and shirts. Not something I would wear.

>>210650
Most of what I see is more art, like baskets and wraps. You could make rings and bracelets (if you wear them), or banners even. Here are some links:

http://www.chainmailbasket.com/projectchart.php

http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/

Lots of stuff to make, just have to decide what you want, I guess.

bump

as an ancillary note: just to dash the hopes of some, chainmail, no matter how you make it, wont be bullet proof. most handgun bullets will penetrate between 5 and 10 layers of 14ga 1/4" ID 4 in 1, and 16ga 3/8" ID 6 in 1 (which by the way is retardedly stiff)

>>212284
Why would anyone assume that an armor defeated by the introduction of the crossbow be impenatrable by bullets?

For a beginner? Start with a sheet and see how it goes. If it ends up looking good, then see what you can turn it into. If it ends up crap, recycle and start something new.

>my first project mixed with scale.

>>212288
ive been making chanmail for quite a while, and thats usually the first question guys ask. one of my buddies bet me that my shit would stop bullets, so i made a bunch of ~4" square pieces and we took them out to his place and started shooting them. i have pictures of it but theyre on an external thats at work at the moment.

regardless of all that, it was fun to shoot some damn chainmail, and i made $200 in the process.

>>212294

Whoa! How hard is it to work with scale? I've heard its difficult, but I want to make a shirt with scale shoulders.

>>212704
I found it alot easier to work than maille. It costs more, but it comes together much quicker.

>>208082

Butt buddy?

>>212294
Man, I've to do a gauntlet like that

>>212907

Scorpion snowman?

Ok, so I just got my rings and I have an extremely noob-ish question to ask: I'm trying to weave the E 4-1 and I'm not seeing it come together. I tried weaving a few rows and trying to put them together, but its just not working!

Also, how do you keep the rings in place while you weave? I'm tempted to get a huge magnet so the rings stay in one place and the chain doesn't get all messed up.