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Maille and plate leg armour

last photo ←

Here is My new leg armour. I opted not to make an instructable for them since they just use a continuation of the techniques in my Maille and Plates Armour instructable.

These are made from 1-1/4" pallet banding again, however i used 9mm flattened wedge rivet rings for the maille(meaning that i had to rivet EVERY ring shut) and a dished 16 gauge knee cop. all the buckles and fittings are hand made as well from 3/4" pallet banding and nails.

22 comments

Apr 30, 2012. 4:36 AMcdando says:

First of all, this is awesome. very inspiring. I'm thinking of making some using the material used in gutters, I think it's tin? Would that work alright?

Sep 15, 2009. 5:32 AMpyrorower says:

I have always wanted to make something like this, though I was going to cut up soup cans to get the plates and had no clue what to do for the knee :P

Aug 2, 2011. 3:37 PMAethereal says:

I know it has sharp edges (and if you're planning on LARPing or anything SCA-related this is a baaaad idea, since it really can't take a hit) but you could try using aluminium flashing coil? It's pretty cheap and looks shiny (hence "flashing"), but if it's for only display/hallowe'en/cosplay, you could use it. Just make sure you sand down the edges and curve them a bit so there aren't sharp points. Getting cut with flashing coil hurts >.<

Good luck!

Feb 19, 2011. 11:28 AMseabee890 says:

nice armor, lover the chain mail also

Dec 23, 2010. 8:17 AMCaleastro says:

The reason the plates under lap is for being on horseback. If the plates overlapped the armor would not do much and piercing tools would pass under the armor. This way is glances off.

Very nice armor.

Nov 29, 2010. 3:03 PMMailleman42 says:

wow, i'm making chainmail and it is taking me forever, i watch all the vids on it and, there rings they use are almost twice as big as mine! i think thats why it taking me longer, but then more protective, hmmm

oh i used 14 gauge wire steel galv, not sissy 16 gauged, and i heard of a guy who made "bulletproof" chainmail with 8 gauged wire.

i also make dragonscale to supplement my armour, like a layover

im from the midwest! children of the corn!

Aug 8, 2009. 3:54 AM

frollard says:

Riveted maille is a pain - thank goodness it was only for seams :D Great project!

Aug 8, 2009. 3:57 AM

frollard says:

are those slats overlaying 'bottom to top' or 'top to bottom'? It looks as if they are backward what they should be (photos aren't very clear/closeup) It would seem that attacks would be from 'above'...as would any fluids poured on them - so you'd want them overlapping the other way... --or does that make them not fit properly?

Aug 9, 2009. 6:39 PM

armourkris (author) says:

they do overlap bottom to top, it seems a bit counter intuitive, but every picture I've seen of existing maille and plate armours overlaps this way. I don't think it really makes any functional difference either way, but since thats how it was done historically it;s how i chose to do it.

Feb 4, 2010. 3:58 PMGhalko says:

Think horseback. Legs are bent, so anything sharp coming at you would be deflected rather than getting caught in the seams. Also good for keeping lighter metal from getting caught by a low up-swing under your shield.

Feb 5, 2010. 10:40 AM

armourkris (author) says:

That is a verr good point. I probably should have thought of that

Aug 9, 2009. 10:10 PM

frollard says:

I learned something today! Neat. Maybe makes bending at the knee easier...

Aug 31, 2009. 4:52 AMnaruto the ninja13 says:

post an instructable for it please i want to make one (plus it would be good to learn how to make rivieted rings)

Sep 7, 2009. 10:58 PM

armourkris (author) says:

I'm still working on getting the tools to make my own riveted rings. I bought these rings from Historic enterprises. but once i have the stuff to make my own rings I'll definitely make an instructable on how to do it.

Aug 29, 2009. 5:02 PMthe_burrito_master says:

how'd you make the knee pads?

Sep 7, 2009. 10:57 PM

armourkris (author) says:

Naruto is right, i dished them. My instructable on making a buckler shows how to dish metal. for knee cops like this start by putting a pencil behing your knee and bending it, then measure the distance over your knee from one side of the pencil to the other, that gives you your width. next measure the distance over the point of your knee to get how tall to make them. once you have those 2 measurements draw a cross using them then draw an oval that touches all 4 points. dish it and you;ve got a basic knee cop. I think that makes sence, if not let me know and i;ll try and clear it up a bit.

Aug 31, 2009. 1:14 PMnaruto the ninja13 says:

he bowled a piece of metal and cut it down to the right size i think... if your wondering what bowling is i belive he has an instructable for making a buckler that has how to bowl in it

Aug 30, 2009. 7:34 AM

BlondGuy101 says:

What is the name for this style of armour?

Aug 19, 2009. 11:00 AMPastTheVoid says:

Are the rings you used round or flat?

Aug 19, 2009. 5:24 PM

armourkris (author) says:

they are flat with wedge rivets. technically they should be round with pin rivets to be historically accurate, but i figured that flat riveted rings were still better than round butted ones.

Aug 10, 2009. 2:56 PMDerStu says:

Your new legs look great the, greaves should be awesome you decide to finish them. Just remember to leave enough flexibility so you can drop to a knee quickly, having to add links of chain after you rivet them in place would suck.