How to make a chainmail shirt

so you might now how to put chainmail links together, but making a shirt is an entirely different thing. It includes hours of work and a lot of mistake-making, but the finished product can last a lifetime and looks pretty gnarly if you ask me.

Step 1 Materials

Since i'm not going to teach you how to make rings (there are other instructables on that subject), wire,mandrels, and cutters will not be on this list.

24,000 (give or take 2,000) 1/4 inch, 16 gauge galvanized/ungalvanized rings (you can use other sizes/gauges but the number of rings will vary)

2 pliers (one for each hand)

PATIENCE! - putting 24,000 rings together is no small thing...it can take months, even years depending on your speed

Knowledge of how to make 4-1 European chainmail

This instructable teaches the basic principles of how to make chain mail rings and how to connect them using European 4-1:

http://www.instructables.com/id/European-4-in-1-maille-chainmail-speedweaving/

Comments

[cdando]

This instructable is awesome. I couldn't have made it without it. Do you know a good way to colour the rings? I'd like to make mine a bit darker and possibly colour my inlay rings

[Vann92]

Hey,
Thanks for the awesome guide, I just finished my first shirt thanks to you. It looks awesome, I'll have to do a few touch ups here and there because its a bit too big in places but I'm sure I can manage.

Thanks again.

[mbennett13]

Do you know how many rings it would take to make a much smaller shirt? How big is the shirt in this instructable?I'm probably going to need something like half this size. Do you know if there is a better way to determine how many I will need than just halving the amount suggested?

[octo137]

i don't feel like making one but i would buy one for 100, 125 bucks if you put some on ebay.

[Lord Jon Bigglesworth]

Try like 200-300 at least for a nice, handmade shirt. Although, the point of this site IS DIY. Meaning, do it yourself. Buying it on eBay kinda defeats the purpose of Instructables. Trust me, if you do it yourself, you will like it so much better.

[demeterschild]

unless it's aluminum. you are not likely to find a maille shirt for that price anywhere. but if you want an aluminum one, they have them at thinkgeek.

[skimmo]

no way! do it take so damn long

[Lord Jon Bigglesworth]

And now we all know why tabards are so popular. Because honestly, I can do the chain mail. But I don't think I can bring myself to rip it open and add more chain mail, much less in an actual drawing.

[skimmo]

here we go it took me 12 long months

[iaincwil]

nice job!! some work gone into that, er! how on earth do ya get it on and off LOL!!!

mick

[skimmo]

to get it on you need to put your arms into into it, grab the inside of the sleeves then put your arms straight above your head and flick your head into the bottom, then let it go so it falls over you, then you need to do some bounces so that it settles. Then taking it off you need to touch your toes wand then wriggle your shoulders until it falls onto your feet in a big pile, its not very dignified... or graceful

[iaincwil]

LOL!!!!!!!! would have to make it extra large and get a wench to help me drag it off,

[biggfoot53]

NICE!!!

[darknessfalls]

COOLL!!!! only thing im doing differently is im going sleeveless

[ineverfinishanyth]

very nice! what are the specs on the ring size, gauge, and material?

[skimmo]

my spindle was 10 mm my wire was 3.5 mm fencing wire

[didgitalpunk]

seems easy...
a bit long for shure but easy.
try making a glove where you can bend your fingers and where you feel confortable.
i did it with cooper wire
the rings are 1cm wide on ext.Ø and 8mm on inner Ø the wire is 1mm thick.
sorry for all those who don't understand metric system I'M FRENCH.
up to now I used about 50-60 metres of wire and I didn't finish my 3rd and 4rth fingers and my thumb and I still have a bit of my wrist missing.

[Appollo64]

Great instructable! About how many rings does a shirt require to be made.

[ineverfinishanyth]

Thank You! This particular shirt took about 22,000 rings to make.

[arlon17]

Is there a speadweaving technique for 6 in 1 mail?

[goofy102938]

I have a question. When you measure the elbow do you mean from your neck to your elbow or your elbow to elbow? (horizontally or virticaly)

Thanks

[ineverfinishanyth]

With arms outstretched horizontally, the measurement goes from one elbow to the other.

[goofy102938]

Thanks A LOT!!!!!!!!!

[goofy102938]

im making a maille shirt and this helps a lot; thanks

[eoutlaw]

Aww, that's going to be cool!

[goofy102938]

Yeah, but its gonna take a long long long long time

[ineverfinishanyth]

glad it helps; make sure to post a picture or two when you're finished!

[goofy102938]

sure thing

[003mi6]

Yea Im making a chain mail costume for halloween, for about 1/2 foot piece its taking me about 4 hours ... is that slow of fast for making a chain mail shirt?

[ineverfinishanyth]

umm it depends on how wide the piece is, as well as the ring size being used...for example on my shirt, which is 1/4 inch diameter, a reasonable amount to get finished in 4 hours is about 7inches by 8 inches (not counting the making of the rings).

[skimmo]

my shirt is finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

[the_burrito_master]

post a pic of it!

[skimmo]

i will very soon

[GeoMage]

On step 5 does 20 rows mean:
)))))
(((((
)))))
counts as one row or that count as three rows (like what you have in picture one, would that whole thing count as one or three rows)?

[Mr Ub]

SWEET!! i think that it rocks. although the picture of the final product is a bit small its one of the coolest instructables I've ever seen : )

[eulaliaaaa!]

Use the Pop Bottle Chain Mail for this. It would be quicker.

[riku1]

I made some poptab maile and it looks awesome but it definately is NOT practical because it falls apart i am working on improoving it by taking and combining this type of chain maile and poptab maile i am also working on dragon scale armor

[Pryo Chain]

 Quicker?  Yes.
Better?  No.

It would fall apart unless you solder each gap together.  Plus it wouldnt function as armor, it would only [kinda] look like real chainmail.

You also have to consider, how long do you think it will take to collect thousands of pop tabs?

[eulaliaaaa!]

Oh, it took me about two weeks.

[KnexFreek]

 seconded