/diy/ - Do It Yourself

So first off here's a picture of my paper template - not the final version. I had to try wearing it and make changes, then try it on again etc several times. Eventually I got it to fit. The paper sheets show the arrangement of the leather plates - there will be mail (or maille if you really want). There will also be a central strip of mail between the plates at the front. Later I decided for ease of construction to separate the front plate in half and use a strengthening strip of leather to join them to. Here is the front:

and the back....

Ok next I better show you my materials. Over all the cost wasn't too bad - the leather hide cost me around £50 after tax+shipping. The rings cost more but I'll only be using a fraction of them for this piece. The leather is 5mm Buffalo shoulder, which is very thick and difficult to work with but will be hard as metal once conditioned. Well... almost.

Ok next I better show you my materials. Over all the cost wasn't too bad - the leather hide cost me around £50 after tax+shipping. The rings cost more but I'll only be using a fraction of them for this piece. The leather is 5mm Buffalo shoulder, which is very thick and difficult to work with but will be hard as metal once conditioned. Well... almost.

The rings I'm using are oil quenched stainless steel square cross section rings, in 8mm and 12mm. They're basically just split ring washers. These rings are from Armchair Armoury in the UK. I won't lie - they're a bitch to work with. Using a couple of pairs of pliers I can only work with these rings for an hour or two before my hands are too painful to do any more. On the plus side, I'm building a hell of a grip, and some impressive callouses too. Here's a bucket of 10 thousand of the little bastards

So, the first thing I has to do after completing my paper mock-up was to transfer the designs onto the buffalo hide. Surprisingly, it was difficult to get the pattern to fit onto the leather I had available. I thought I'd have plenty spare!

Also I should probably mention (like I did in the previous thread) the reason for designing the armour like I have done. Partly the design comes from a bracer I made at an earlier point but I when I thought about applying the concept to my first whole suit of armour it made a lot of sense. Basically, the bracer, liek my armour was made up of segments of leather banded together with chainmail. I thought that as this was my first full sized piece, using segments means there's less risk of me ruining a large piece of leather if I got anything wrong. Another point is I intend to sell this armour once it's done. As I have no idea who I'll be selling it too, the fact it's much more flexible than fixed leather means It will fit a much wider group of people. Pun kind of intended. Also it does look really cool.

Anyway, here's a pic of the leather with the pieces marked out on it, ready for cutting with a stanley blade. I actually went through like 4 stanley blades cutting this out, that's how thick the leather is.

So once I had my leather segments ready I started on the chainmail. The weave I used was the simplest - European 4 in 1. It's strong and looks good. Last time I made this thread there were pictures of it in progress but we can skip them this time and just post the finished piece.
I've been getting much faster with practice at making mail from these rings. The first half too me several hours but the second half was much easier.

>>409650
Check the manky painted keyboard!

Anyway... Here's where I began procrastinating. I had to go to the beach and get a bag of sand (because I'm a cheapskate) and just kept forgetting/whenever I did go the tide was in. You know how it goes...
So like 2 weeks later I started back on this armour and got round to beveling the edges of the leather. I used a leather beveling tool for this - there's really no substitute I can think of. It's a pretty nifty little tool. The reason I beveled the edge of the leather is to round it off, it makes the later stage of slicking the leather edges easier. Beveling and slicking create a sealed edge to the leather which prevents fraying, helps waterproof the leather and generally improves its appearance.

Getting so many hilarious capchas today... urines nao

Alright now for the fun part - once all my leather plates were beveled and ready for production, it was time for cooking!
The leather is condition by water hardening - traditional leather armour would likely be hardened by either water hardening or boiling - the term cuirbouilli was used for boiled leather armour, where the leather would be boiled, stretched into shape and left to dry. I used a different method. I soaked my leather in regular cold water then dried it out in a cool oven to solidify it. Firstly I soaked it in the bath for a few minutes - for a rough guide wait for it to stop squealing (you'll see what I mean) then leave it another minute.

After finally getting a bag of sand, washing it thoroughly and waiting nearly a week for it to dry properly (I know salt water is very bad for leather and reasoned that slat water steam would be no better for it...) I finally had a sand bag mould to use in my oven.
The leather pieces were carefully cooked for around 20-30 minutes, at about 60 c. Keep checking your leather throughout, make sure it doesn't burn or char and watch for the leather becoming too dark - if it get's brittle it will snap. I took my pieces out of the over when there was just a little moisture left as they were still pliable and I could bend them into shape and stamp out any creases or folds that were forming.

When the first pieces were done cooking and cooling the next stage is to condition the edges of the leather. I applies a little gum tragacanth/tracaganth/whatever, see the picture, to the edges of the leather carefully. It's not dangerous but I've found out to my cost before that it likes to reject the oil dye used later on. Once the edge is coated then using a slicking wheel the edges are rubbed to build up friction heat, until the leather fibers mash together and form a smooth shiny edge. Because this leather is so thick, my slicking wheel didn't properly get all the leather on the edge. To fix this I used the smooth handle of my edge beveler to smoth out any areas the wheel missed.

Here's a pic of the stuff I used, including the correct spelling of the gum. It's worth mentioning here that I get most my leather from LePrevo leathers in the uk, but the tools I have were bought from Tandy leather, available in the UK and USA.

Here's a better picture of the effects of edge slicking...

It's worth noting that you can use water instead of gum Trag to slick edges with, or a mix of 50% of each. As this is a short text section I'd also like to apologise for spelling mistakes - I think I have fat fingers or I try to type faster than I actually can sometimes.

whilst more bits of my leather were cooking I got down to dyeing my leather plates. Here are the smaller front plates after there first coats. They'll likely need 2 coats. I'm using fiebing's oil dye - on leather this thick, oil dyes are definitely the way to go. Also, hint: Use gloves, because this stuff does NOT wash off!

Also remember to buff the leather with a soft cloth about 10 minutes after applying the coat of dye, this helps spread the pigments about and gives a more even cover as well as a nice shine.

ok one last photo for now - some pieces required a bit of extra shaping, such as these lower back plates. I used some encyclopedias (when you need to book something in, encyclopedias are the way to go).


I have never read an encyclopedia. I don't even know why I have them. My gf bought them because they looked nice I think...


So that's al I have for now? What can you look forward to later? Well I have to give all the pieces a second coating of dye, mark out where all the eyets are going, attach the plates together, add the chainmail, polish, buff, condition and add some buckles or something - I havn't yet decided how I'm going to attach the back and the front section, though I have some plans! See you all later, and enjoy the thread.

you are a legend

>>409672

Thank you

Fantastic mate. Thanks for sharing. its a shame that after all your work typing this out and supplying build pics this thread'll die out someday. Do you have your own blog? In 5 years I'm sure there will be more people who could benefit from your experiences.

>>409680

Thanks, I'm planning on doing a blog or something when I finish - my bro recommended deviantart, anyone know any other good sites?

>>409737
blogspot is pretty good, you can add pictures and such.

>>409752
bump so OP might notice.

>>409760

Thanks man, will get one up when I'm done. Luckily /diy/ is a slow board and plan to keep thread updated so will post a link to my blog before it dies.

>>409770
I wish you best of luck.

>>409633
hey OP first of all good luck on the chainmailing I have a suggestion for ya
id recommend picking up some turbopliers and using those with a needle nose it takes all the pain out of making chain mail when you have jaws of life holding onto one end.
pic related- somethin im workin on- black oil rings as well(fuckers are dirty)

>>409633
Random fact: The word chainmail was invented in the 1800 by blacksmiths making fake medieval armours for decorations.
The real term for chain armor is simply "mail"

The more you know
Captcha: protects mithrilin

>>409975

You mean maille, no?

Also OP it is looking really nice, good job but you are a bit of a scrub for not using riveted links, they just look better and I think the piece deserves it.

LePrevo is a good supplier but Shop4Leather on ebay and Lyon Leathers are good as well, it never hurts to have more than one supplier.

>>409956

Thanks, I'll pick up a pair

>>409975

Interesting, mail is much easier!

>>409982

I have neither the time, tools or inclination to rivet every ring.. Maybe some day, but it would take me ages which on this project means the armour becomes much more expensive. Like I said, it's fantasy style, rather than historical, and the mail is solid, you couldn't remove a single ring by hand so it's not necessary for strength either. I do agree they look great though!

Also bump - more pictures soon.

I'm getting supplies together to make a brigandine/jack of plates vest.

MAILLE QUESTION

How the fuck do I pierce these little bastards so I can rivet them? I've got a growing stockpile of flattened ones with no way to continue...

Ancient way is hammer and nail. You can use a drill with a thin mesh.

>>410714
Nails aren't strong enough. I've even tried tempering them... Stainless Steel rings.
I also tried retooling some bolt cutters to no avail.

>>410711
Get yourself some WIDIA/solid carbide drills of the appropriate size and use a column drill.

>>410721
Regular drill with a vice should work. Don't need a column drill.

Your arms will tire fast though.

>>410721
I was hoping to pierce for historical accuracy and use wedge rivets (I know... Stainless steel but I didn't want it to rust...)
But thanks. I might end up just using round rivets. Think 1/32 would be small enough? 1/2 inch diameter with about 1/16 width.

bamping for more soon - waiting on more materials!

bump for interest

Some stylish armor for the modern urban warrior.

Do you have any sketches of what you want the complete set to look like?

>>412943

It's Chicago!

>>412943

Some 520 fags in here tonight.