can tab chain body armour

grade 2 aluminum can tab armour.
Strong and easy to make, but takes a while to make.

Step 1 Materials

for this you will need

- a lot of copper wiring

- needle nose pliers

- wire cutters (unless the pliers come with wire cutters)

- and a couple hundred can tabs

Comments

[Kosmicon]

Ok, 2 Points to make here.
          1: This takes waaaaay too long! Im having a hard time gitting all the tabs, and not to mention being bored outta my mind wile weaving.
           2: Has anyone ever thought of smashing cans into a flat plate like thing, and hooking them together with Duct tape? I think its worth looking into...  :D

[knoxarama]

smashing them and then holding them with duct tape? if i'm thinking what what your saying, it probably won't work well. But i don't know. If you could post a picture of a sample of your idea maybe?

[Kosmicon]

Smash a can flat Long wise, so its not just a flat circle. Put a few strips of ductape on it so it covers both sides and cover your whole body with it. then u will see what it is, and how well it works! THANKS

[trevor3693]

that would be really cool if u put da colored side so people can see it.

[ChaseyWasey11]

this is how big I make my rings compared to a dime

[chainedflesh]

Links that small... are you a madman? (LOL)  My first chainmaill project I used rings that size... to make a hauberk.  After six months I vowed "never again".  To be honest i still use links that size, but only when making jewelery or making Japanese weaves.

[knoxarama]

those are pretty good.

[ChaseyWasey11]

I used my camera phone to take the picture. I need to get a real camera so I can show you guys what the coloration of the two different types of ring are like. The coat hangers I put through an electric wire brush thats on my stationary grinder, then I hand crank the coils because the metal is so thick. I tried using a drill on the coat hanger and it didn't go over too well. I then slide the coils on a peace of rod after bending the ends tight so they are tight fitting on the rod and then proceed to cut them with my dremel tool very slowly about half way through. I cut them half way through and then bend them off the could snapping them right off of there and making a very nice butted together ring.

[ChaseyWasey11]

I meant to say bend them off the coil snapping them right off

[NIJU!]

www.instructables.com/id/Genuine-chainmaille-from-pop-tabs/ why dont you make it like this. (link above) i made a 14cm by 11cm peice in half an hour without any skills here is a pic 

[knoxarama]

i started making it like that but i never made an instructable for it. I was about to when i saw there was a widely advertised version of the one i was making, so i never bothered.

[NIJU!]

 oh yea and this way is very scratchy so i sowed it onto the top of some gloves and now it looks awsome. cant send a pic because i gave it away as a birthday present.
lol $56 of pepsi

[NIJU!]

 well this one still looks beter even if when you dont make it big enough it has a tendancy to disconect link by link but if you make it big enough that doesent hapen

[moosofa]

it looks very scratchy... and probably hurts when you move your hand around... have you thought about lining the inside? maybe with duct tape or a thin glove or a thin cotton?

[knoxarama]

it isn't really meant for hand use except for covering the back where it doesn't move much, but putting it on a glove, fingerless preferably, would be best.

[ChaseyWasey11]

The bottom ring is coat hanger and the top ring is galvanized. Both rings seem to be similar in thickness other than the fact that the coat hanger wire is stronger and a slight bit more thicker. The galvanized wire I use is 14 gauge being harder to work with but much more stronger than 16 gauge.

[ChaseyWasey11]

hope this is just for looks because mah knives would go right through this. Why not use metal coat hangers, make a mandrel, make ring coils, and cut your own rings? If your going to make chainmail you might as well make it good and make it worth your time. This would be good for costumes only.

[knoxarama]

i've been making real 4 in 1 with 16 guage galvanized steel wire. The rings are big, about 1 inch in diameter, but its worth the time. tried coat hangers though, not worth the time. they don't work so well.

[ChaseyWasey11]

4 in 1 chainmail is not hard to repair, doesn't cost that much if you know where to find ur materials, and is more effective than soda tabs. Soda tabs are lighter but as far as that knife going through it ur better off with real chainmail. I know no ones going to knife you any time soon but when I think of chainmail I think of the real thing being better.

[knoxarama]

yeah, but this is mostly for show, like costumes. i don't really see anybody trying to kill eachother in pop tabs.

[PastTheVoid]

OOH, Black Sabbath...

[knoxarama]

those others were never considered metal. also, the way they describe the music is off. it sounds to me like they just want to debunk them. zepplin, stones, etc. were rock. i've heard them all, and none of them sounded at all like metal, heavy, or not heavy. either way, black sabbath was the father of heavy metal, and the original metal band, as proclaimed in 1970, but have been playing it since 1969.

[PastTheVoid]

What are you trying to prove?

[knoxarama]

i was just answering your statement.

[dunnos]

how did you get so much tabs? nice ible

[knoxarama]

people drink alot around here, so tabs are easy to get. it takes awhile even then. but its tabbish so its worth it.

[soullessperson]

ha, i hacked into soulessperson's acount. The knox lives! muahahahaha

[knoxarama]

hi me.

[o123]

THIS IS AMAZING''

[minerug]

I have finally got around to making my own version of this click here to see the intructable

[knoxarama]

it's well made. i'm impressed. I haven't gotten around to updating mine so it's a bit behind.

[minerug]

Thanks for the nice comment =)<br/>

[thedog458]

that is amazing 10 out of 10 like you said its easy to repair very cool im gona start geting lods of those littel tabs now.

[sageserver]

Use european 4 in 1 chain mail. its stronger than yours. i also did the same thing but i did it the scale mail way, not the chain mail way.

[knoxarama]

also, 4 in one is harder and more expensive to make then mine, and harder to repair.

[knoxarama]

i'm also making chainmail out of wiring cut into rings and clamped together, but i can't post it since i dont have a camera anymore

[knoxarama]

how to count in binaryalso look for my other instructables

[BuffaloNickel]

doesn't exactly hav a system, does it?

[knoxarama]

what are you talking about?

[knoxarama]

i am making better chainmaille with steel chains, but it is expensive and i don't have a camera to post with. Although the expense isn't going to stop me from buying the stuff or making it.