plastic chain mail armor

chain mail armor made from weed wacker string. Its cheap, cool looking, and easy to make. (this will not stop a sword!!) cool for costumes if you can find black or silver. or just spray paint when done.

Step 1 Step one

stuff you will need:
1. a roll of weed wacker string
2. a cutting instrument (i used a gerber)
3. time and patience!

cut strings into about 1 foot sections as many as you will need to make a full top. also cut about 6 inch sections for the connecters.

Comments

[koga wolf]

i know this isn't going to win any medals but i used whut i had on hand p.s. for weave just keep looping thru the hole
thanks for the advice

[Cardinal Fang]

There is of course the old Monty Python method - knit a shirt out of string in a fairly loose weave, then spray it silver. All the knights in the Holy Grail wear "mail" made like this.

[chainedflesh]

I think this would be much more expensive than using 14gauge fence wire by the time everything is said and done.  And logistically speaking this would a lot longer than just using butted wire rings.  Not only would you have to weave each individual ring, but you would have to weave them together THROUGH the other rings, which, when you actually have a sheet made would be nigh impossible.

I have seen a method for making plastic chainemaille before though, and they used cut pvc pipe to make their rings, when woven they just glued the split of the rings together..

[chainedflesh]

As a side note, you can pick up 1/4 mile of 1 gauge fence wire for around $25.  If you want larger links a 5/8 inch iron rod for around $4.  And everyone should have a decent pair of vice grips, aviation snips and some needle nose pliers just laying around.

Making it from wire really is very inexpensive,and if you are too young to afford it, ask your parents if they would hel you out... it would be something you could do together.

[Cammer]

 It seems to me that making chain mail from metal rings, especially aluminum, would be a lot easier than twisting slippery plastic line together and hoping that it doesn't come untwisted when you put it on.

[ChaseyWasey11]

Um no. This is not how chainmail is made and you have no idea what your doing. Chainmail is easy to make and can be made out of any metal wire. I like buying electric fencing wire and getting free coat hangers from various people I know. The coat hangers are my free source of metal and I mix the coat hanger wire with the fencing wire to make my chainmail. Its cheap and easy and some of my rings are even free. This looks just as complex as making real chainmail out of metal.

[Sylkhr]

that is an actual weave, Japanese 6-1.

[ChaseyWasey11]

It may be an actual weave but with weed eater string?? Look at your coils I mean they are all woven together to make one ring. It looks to me like over time you would have a potential problem of the weed eater string coming apart and the fact that you can make chainmail with metal rings just as easy. Galvanized electric fencing wire isn't as expensive as you think. You can get a quarter mile of the stuff for about 35 bucks most of the time. Coat hangers are thicker and stronger metal making them a challenge to work with but the source of wire from coat hangers is cheap if not free if u get them from people who have switched over to plastic and simply don't use the metal ones any more. If your going to spend time on some thing why not make it worth your while? Sorry about being so blunt in the last comment I can see the weave for what it is now that you got my attention.

[WurdBendur]

The virtue of plastic chainmail is that it is light, which is good for costumes. I still wouldn't use the cord, though, or if I did I would make the rings smaller and melt the ends together instead of winding them like that

[15zhangfra]

not how maile is made, but a cheep alternative, use tin foil and you can make a holloween costuem- just don't let an archelagist see it

[Speedmite]

That looks harder than using wire, and more time taking. And I have made wire chainmail. Suggestion: Couldn't you try to fuse the plastic together with like a lighter?

[lilpepsikraker]

the lighter would weaken the plastic.

[Speedmite]

I was just suggesting. I can get wire chainmail materials for free. Its stronger. I was just suggesting a way to improve this, cause it looks weak and fragile.

[Speedmite]

Wire chainmail is sooo much easyer.

[theatre_tech_guru]

it seems harder and longer I can put together a sheet of chain mail 10 inches by 10 inches of 1/4 14 gauge rings from wrapping the wire, cutting the rings, and weaving them in a couple hours

[koga wolf]

i didnt have a lighter

[Joanassie]

Good to see another enthusiast! Nice instructable, but if you could have more detail on the ring-making, like best method or such, that would be great.

[koga wolf]

thars not a lot of method involved (first instuctable