Guide to Chainmaille Crafting

[Origin]

Origin here, So I was searching the threads (aka taking a break from lich king pep, so many tiny pieces lol) and noticed that a lot of people when making a costume that would have chainmaille, use a fabric that looks shiny instead. My point is, chainmaille is easy and fun! I have been Mailling for a little over a year and when added to a costume it really helps to pull it all together.

So in this thread I hope to show the most common and easiest weave, known as the European( or Euro) 4-in-1. I will give any advice and let you know off the bat I do this for fun, I get all my supplies from www.theringlord.com. You cannot beat their prices and selection.

So here we go:

Chainmaille wires come in different sizes, also known as a gauge. The smaller the gauge, the THICKER the wire gets as shown here(right to left; 16g, 18g, 19g)

I reccomend getting a decend pair of pliers, make sure they do NOT have teeth as the teeth will scar and mark your rings. Also start with coosing a metal that is easy to work with as far as hardness and gauge. The rings above are aluminum which is a great starter metal and in the smaller gauges, can actually be used in real combat. Fun factoid.

 

[Origin]

So after you have picked your metal and gauge, there is also the size to consider. Smaller gauges can be tricky. For your first time I reccomend nothing smaller than a 1/4" ring. That reffers to the INTERIOR diameter of the ring. The rings in The folowing photos are Stainless steel, I like the look, They are MUCH harder to bend and work than say aluminum or brass. For my lich king armor I am using stainless steel 16g 5/16". If you get the same ring from the ring lord the model number is ss16516, the first two letter are the metal, next two numbers are the gauge and last are the diameter.

So now we have our rings, I like to start off by making two piles of rings, one where they are completly closed up( for quicker crafting) and then a piles that is opened a bit to do the actual weaving.

 

[Origin]

Next, to start out Euro 4-in-1, We take one of the OPEN rings, and place FOUR (4) INSIDE (hence 4-in-1) then close it up. Really that is all there is to it, but just for fun, i'm gonna show you a little more.

To make a sheet all you need is an idea of how big your project is, bracer, gamebeson, shirt, coif etc... So we repeat those last steps and make another 4-in-1 piece.

 

[Origin]

Now we have two pieces that we need to combine, simply align the CENTER row of rings, and slide an open ring through, close it with the pliers and you are on your way.

 

[Origin]

This should have appeared, Idk why it didn't.

Now just continue these steps, weaving over and over until you have the desired size.

Ultimately you will end up weaving something that looks like this

 

[Origin]

Last super important tip, invest in a good pair of pliers(remember toothless is awesome, like hockey players jk) if you plan on making a big project or plan on doing it as a hobby. You can make all manner or bracelets necklaces even bags and of course armor.

making chainmaille for your costume really brings the look together, its easy and relativity inexpensive, ring lord is generally about 3-$5 for a bag of 400 rings, not all rings but most.

I hope this helps anyone, and if you have questions feel free to ask, I can also help you with scale maille projects too.

just remember, chain mail is like knitting only way cooler

 

[GreenLightning]

Sweet post. I'm tempted to make a medieval suit with this. Thanks Origin

 

[Lflank]

It is VERY much cheaper to make your own rings (a typical maille shirt will use about 10,000 rings, which can add up a LOT if you buy them).

Rings can be made from galvanized steel 16-gauge wire, from any Home Depot or Lowe's. Get a 5/16 diameter metal rod, drill a hole through one end, poke the end of a length of wire through that, then wind the rest of the wire around the rod to make a sort of spring coil. Then clip off each ring. If you use aluminum wire, it will cost more, but be lots lighter (a steel chainmail shirt weighs around 30 pounds).

When I made my chainmail shirt, it took me 5 or 6 rolls of wire, at 6 or 7 bucks each.

It also took about 4 months. Winding and binding rings is a boring dull drudgery, best done while watching something equally mindless on TV.

 

[macbeemer]

Fantastic thread. Definitely going to keep an eye on it. Thanks guys!

 

[Vrogy]

Very nice! The old ways need a refresher now and again.

I'd only add that you can assemble sheets by adding a row at a time as well to the 'stacked' edge- it's just a different method, maybe less failure-prone when you start spacing out.

 

[Origin]

I have seen all manner of contraptions to make your own rings, that is a sweet idea, and though I have the patience for crafting the maille, not so sure I'd be patient enough for making the rings lol Great addition though

 

[TigerStoneFX]

This is great info! Rekindles my dream of being a blacksmith when I was a kid

 

[AbbyDarkStar]

Fantastic!!!! What about scale mail? Do the same principles apply?

 

[aeonpulse]

wow, this is great! Thanks so much for sharing this info, I'm tempted to buy a few bags and give this a try myself. If I get into it, I might even try Lflank's suggestion and start making my own rings!

 

[Origin]

check out theringlord.com, there are cost benifits to making your own rings, however, with buying from a seller, you have accessory piece options, not to mention the range of metals from aluminum, brass, bronze, milled steel, stainless steel, gold, silver, titanium,niobium etc... clasps, stones, all kinds of fun stuff. This all applies to their selection of scale mail too.

As far as weaving scale maille, its pretty simple, I will put another basic tutorial up this week. There is a special set of pliers I use and a special kind of ring to make them stronger, which means less repairs. I will try to get the tutorial up today if work allows.

on a side note, anodized aluminum is awesome, it is coated with another metal to make the color different, ill post a pic of an anodized aluminum bag I made a few months ago.

 

[Dracosfire83]

If your looking to get started working in chain maille I suggest you check out
M.A.I.L. - Maille Artisans International League - Home Page they have great tutorials for numerous patterns and also got good guides for making rings and other cool stuff under the articles section in the library.

 

[Origin]

That is a fantastic site. I've learned quite a lot from everyone there. Literally hundreds of different weaves to do. Good post

 

[Gibbtall]

This is great Origin! I've been Mailleing for 6 or 7 years now, just got back from Toronto Comicon yesterday as a vendor.

Some tips i'd like to add though.

When working with thicker gauges of harder metals like stainless steel, it helps to get pliers with teeth, the stronger metal is less likely to be marked and the teeth with help you from slipping while working on them. Also try finding some gloves, I was able to find a pair with the tips of the index, middle and thumb already cut off, so I can still pick up tiny rings with precision.

The Ring Lord has 2 separate method for cutting their rings, machine cutting and saw cutting. Machine cutting is slightly cheaper but results in a small divot on the outside and sometimes a bur on the inside. Saw cut is much more flush and is less prone to odd bending when being cut, which saves time when correcting.

When working on a larger one off project, such as a shirt, it may not be as important to you, but when working on something with detail and that will be against the skin, it is a good idea to be sure all of your rings are closed as well as they can be. Machine cut rings, due to the pinching way they are cut, tend to come miss-aligned, simply bending the two pieces back to being flush in one axis does not mean they will be perfect in both, you'll have to pinch the ring across its diameter to bend the misaligned side inwards. It doesn't tend to cause too much trouble but this can also result in oblong shaped rings.

 

[Yodajammies]

chainmaille is easy and fun

LIES!

 

[Origin]

Awesome! I actually have never had/ seen any issue on the machine or saw cut rings I've ordered, I know it CAN happen, but they give such a great product either way it makes no difference to me.

GLOVES... would be a great idea. If I named random objects, my pliers would be angry and stabby... some days I think they plot against me... true story. jk kind of.

I am in the process of making a Lich King (from WoW) costume which requires a full shirt and leggings, I will be wearing something underneath, they knights who wore chain mail or any armor for that matter, wore a thick kind of quilted shirt underneath for comfort and to soften the blow of sword banging the armor against your body. So I figured, eh, good idea why not. however, smaller items like jewelry i haven't had any issues being right against the skin.

Good additions though

LIES!

LIES!!!!!!