In this instructable I will teach you how to make a shirt of real chainmail. It will take a lot of time and patience but is a very rewarding project when you finish. To do this project you will need:
For an with me about my chainmail click Here
- 1-2 years of time
- A very strong will
- 1200-2000 feet of wire (6000-10000 links)
- 2 pairs of small blunt nose pliers
- A drill (with a chuck)
- ½ inch or ¼ inch metal rod
- A dremel or other cutting device
- A vice or strong clamp
- Some 2 by 4s
- 4 screws
For an with me about my chainmail click Here
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Signing UpStep 1: How to Make a Chainmail Shirt
The first step is to be able to make the links of the chainmail. If you have some money you can buy them at theringlord.com as well as other jewelry stores. If you plan on buying links you can skip this step and the next.
First with the 2by4s you need to build a rig to support the rod (fig 1) that the links will be made on. Attach the 3 pieces together with the screws. Drill a hole in both sides of the wood, big enough for your rod to pass through easily. Now drill a small hole through the rod that your wire can get through. For wire I used a multi-purpose galvanized 16-gauge wire from Lowes. It is sold in 200ft lengths for around $8.
When you have all this assembled put the rod and drill into the jig (which should be clamped on a table) insert the wire into the hole and start the drill turning slowly. The wire will wrap it's self around the rod making a nice little spring. Use pliers to pull the wire out of the hole and slide the spring off the rod.
First with the 2by4s you need to build a rig to support the rod (fig 1) that the links will be made on. Attach the 3 pieces together with the screws. Drill a hole in both sides of the wood, big enough for your rod to pass through easily. Now drill a small hole through the rod that your wire can get through. For wire I used a multi-purpose galvanized 16-gauge wire from Lowes. It is sold in 200ft lengths for around $8.
When you have all this assembled put the rod and drill into the jig (which should be clamped on a table) insert the wire into the hole and start the drill turning slowly. The wire will wrap it's self around the rod making a nice little spring. Use pliers to pull the wire out of the hole and slide the spring off the rod.
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A few points, from my 15+ years of chainmail experience...
The strength of the links comes from three things: a) the material they're made out of. The wire you used is a good option for chainmail, but other options are available which are stronger/weaker/shinier/more rust-resistant/less rust-resistant/etc. b) The ratio between the thickness of the wire and the diameter of the link (which comes from the diameter of your coiling rod). The ideal ratio depends on the material the links are made out of, what the chainmail will be used for and so on, so largely relies on trial and error to get that right. c) The way that the links are closed. When you bend the ends of the links closed like you did, it's called 'butted' mail. It's by far the most common way to do it, since any other option such as riveting - although it makes the chainmail stronger - it makes this tedious job take a heck of a lot longer. :/
I agree with some of the comments about using the dremel to cut the spring into links. It provides a nice cut where the cross-section of the link is flat and easy to butt closed, but it has a few drawbacks such as it being easy to slip and ruin a few dozen links at once. Personally I use bolt cutters, or sidecutters for smaller links. The cross-section of the cut links are then V-shaped, but still can be made to butt together nicely enough.
When using the drill to coil the wire into a spring, there are two things to be careful of: The main one is the rotating end of the wire. I still have a scar on my finger from one of those, and it hurt a LOT. The second thing is to try to get the spring as tight as possible, without the wire overlapping a previous link. When it overlaps, that's a waste of wire. When the spring isn't tight, you can end up with links that are slightly larger diameter and you may not notice until they're in the middle of a shirt, but then they look REALLY out of place.
To keep track of main seam features such as the centre of the neck, the crest of the shoulder or whatever, you can attach a spare link like you suggested, but I find it a bit quicker and easier just to use a small wire tie.
Keep up the great work!
Um... bikini tops and bottoms, g-strings, shirts, halbergs, necklaces, bracelets, slave bracelets, chokers, hackey sacks, juggling balls, neckties, dreadlocks, eyepieces, manes, coifs, leggings, booties, gloves...
I'm thinking of making myself an assassin's mail halberg soon, which is standard 4-in-1 chainmail but with a small piece of leather glued onto each link so that the whole item is non-shiny, non-reflective, and silent. But glueing each piece of leather on individually will be very tedious, and I'm trying to gather enthusiasm for it. :/
sunshiine
Good luck! Hope you win!
BTW, the grandson was NOT wearing the shirt at the time. ;^)
Mail armour provided an effective defence against slashing blows by an edged weapon and penetration by thrusting and piercing weapons; in fact a study conducted at the Royal Armouries at Leeds concluded that "it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional medieval weapon"[35][36] Generally speaking, mail's resistance to weapons is determined by four factors: linkage type (riveted, butted, or welded), material used (iron versus bronze or steel), weave density (a tighter weave needs a thinner weapon to surpass), and ring thickness (generally ranging from 18 to 14 gauge in most examples). Mail, if a warrior could afford it, provided a significant advantage to a warrior when combined with competent fighting techniques. When the mail was not riveted, a well placed thrust from a spear or thin sword could penetrate, and a pollaxe or halberd blow could break through the armour. In India, punching daggers known as katars were developed that could pierce the light butted mail used in the area. Some evidence indicates that during armoured combat the intention was to actually get around the armour rather than through it—according to a study of skeletons found in Visby, Sweden, a majority of the skeletons showed wounds on less well protected legs
If that doesn't make sense, when you make a square of mail, if you hold it one way, by two corners, it hangs square and "open" like this:|_|. If you then rotate it 90º, it hangs "closed", thinner at the bottom like this: \_/.
Am I making sense?