Chainmaille anyone?

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Just wondered if there was anyone out there in Euro DAoC who like/make chainmaille. No, not chainmail as in the spam-mails you get from "friends".
Chainmaille as in rings hooked on each other to make armor or other items based on the chainmaille weaves of old (also new weaves for that matter). For those who still aren't sure what I'm talking about, or for those who are interested:

Hauberk with inlay
DragonScaleTiny rings....
Scales
Picture Believe me. That's a lot of rings
Also with pauldrons in leather

None of those are mine.. Haven't made any armor yet... I've only done jewelry so far...

My stuff can be seen here
 

morbix

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
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I have made some small amounts of chainmail for Live Role Playing armour. I will warn you of one thing, it is VERY time consuming. One of my friend made a chainmail vest and it took him upwards of three months. (he used to do it on the Isle of Wight ferry on the way to work).

A good place to start is http://www.armchair-armoury.co.uk/

There are several different ways to make chain ranging formt he modern 'ring-mail' to authentic chainmail. The traditional methods require enormous patience, bearing in mind that a chain shirt made from 6mm rings will require 40,000 rings - each one opened and closed using two pairs of pliars.....

Even the chain used in the Lord of the rings movies took 2 people over a year to make, working full time and it was made of plastic. Apparently when they had finished they had worn thier finger prints off.

Morbix Prydwen, Albion
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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morbix said:
I have made some small amounts of chainmail for Live Role Playing armour. I will warn you of one thing, it is VERY time consuming. One of my friend made a chainmail vest and it took him upwards of three months. (he used to do it on the Isle of Wight ferry on the way to work).
I know how time consuming it is... Have made maille almost a year now. And when working with silver, I make the rings myself. And I usually go close to micro-mailling.

morbix said:
Never liked that site much. I prefer these:
http://www.theringlord.com
http://www.mailleartisans.org

morbix said:
There are several different ways to make chain ranging formt he modern 'ring-mail' to authentic chainmail. The traditional methods require enormous patience, bearing in mind that a chain shirt made from 6mm rings will require 40,000 rings - each one opened and closed using two pairs of pliars.....
The amount of rings also depends on the size of the shirt. I use one flatnosed plier and one chain nosed plier. I also have round nosed pliers for the beading and for making the rings, I use mandrels (of different sizes) and jewelry saw. And there are a lot of ways to make chain, I know. I do mostly butted though, but you can also use split rings, washer lockets, neoprene, and riveted. Largest rings I've ever worked with is 5 mm though...

morbix said:
Even the chain used in the Lord of the rings movies took 2 people over a year to make, working full time and it was made of plastic. Apparently when they had finished they had worn thier finger prints off.
Yeah, but then again, they made more than a couple of pieces. And not all was made of plastic.
 

Job

The Carl Pilkington of Freddyshouse
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I'm not into any of that, stuff, but it does look very cool, hasn't anyone made a chainmail machine yet?
Surely there is an automated process for it somewhere (no doubt those links point to one , but I can't be arsed looking).

Looking at those kits, love to make one of those, might start crafting, could knock out a real vest while waiting for that little bar.
 

Ctuchik

FH is my second home
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Job said:
I'm not into any of that, stuff, but it does look very cool, hasn't anyone made a chainmail machine yet?
Surely there is an automated process for it somewhere (no doubt those links point to one , but I can't be arsed looking).

Looking at those kits, love to make one of those, might start crafting, could knock out a real vest while waiting for that little bar.


why does everything have to be automated??

IMO, looking on something like that and knowing that it took one person several months, or even a year to make, makes me admire the person and the piece he/she made so much more then if he just pressed a button coz he was to damn lazy.

Handmade > all
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Alkoran said:
Ever tried making it from ring pulls?
What the fluff are ring pulls?

Job said:
I'm not into any of that, stuff, but it does look very cool, hasn't anyone made a chainmail machine yet?
Surely there is an automated process for it somewhere (no doubt those links point to one , but I can't be arsed looking).
You can buy machine made stuff, yes and it's cheap. BUT, the quality sux and the closures are awful!
And no, no automated processes on my links at least. The people in those links are against machine made chainmail, since it's lousy quality and cheap. Being cheap it takes customers away from those who make items and sell. And being lousy quality makes people think all chainmail is lousy quality.

Ctuchik said:
IMO, looking on something like that and knowing that it took one person several months, or even a year to make, makes me admire the person and the piece he/she made so much more then if he just pressed a button coz he was to damn lazy. Handmade > all
:clap: :clap:
 

frogster

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
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Ring pulls are the old style erm ..ring pulls :x

Coca cola "lids"? the ones you lifted and they came away from the can.
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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frogster said:
Ring pulls are the old style erm ..ring pulls :x

Coco cola "lids"? the ones you lifted and they came away from the can.
Ah... Pop tabs!!!
Like this? And no, it's not mine
tabvest.jpg
 

frogster

Fledgling Freddie
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Pop tabs? :eek6: Its a ring! that you pull! Ring pull >>> Pop tabs imo ;)

AF Value? :eek6:
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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frogster said:
Pop tabs? :eek6: Its a ring! that you pull! Ring pull >>> Pop tabs imo ;)

AF Value? :eek6:

Hmmmm... I'd call it pull ring, but pop tabs is the "American" word... ;)

Don't know the AF value, but you can check this discussion at TRL, this or this

You may find some answers there.. And yes, some of the guys into this are crazy
 

punchy

Fledgling Freddie
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frogster said:
Ring pulls are the old style erm ..ring pulls :x

Coca cola "lids"? the ones you lifted and they came away from the can.

showing your age eeN :p
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Stallion said:
verry cool stuff ;)
Thanks if you were talking about my stuff...
I think so too, if you were talking about all the other stuff.. ;)
 

morbix

Fledgling Freddie
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Hehe sorry Aremeriel I was in a rush and only saw the link to your work just now. Some lovely crafting there. Yep Armchair armoury is pretty rough and ready - tends to be for people that want to run around woods in it :)

I used to make leather armour for an internet LRP site and some of the chain he got in was (relatively) cheap but not good quality.

What you make is art! Have you ever done a LRP event with your work? I know people who would snap it up :)

Some people may also be surprised to hear that you can buy modern chain mail. It's made for butchers for when they cut up meat! It doesn't look pretty but it's nice to know that after all these years the old designs are still doing the job.

It's always good to see people keep the old crafts alive and using them in new ways. I'll really look forward to seeing more of your work.

Morbix.
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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morbix said:
What you make is art! Have you ever done a LRP event with your work? I know people who would snap it up :)

Thank you very much for those kind words... I haven't ever done LRP event. Not with or without my work. And my work wouldn't fit in LRP anyways, as I've just done jewelry so far... Have a patch of DragonScale somewhere that is the beginning of a bracer though... And I sooooo want to make a wall hanging of our guild emblem from DAoC. We'll see if I can ever get the time and money for that though.....

Oh.. And the DragonScale shirt in my first post just took about 4 years to make... Poor Buddha (the guy who made it)
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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stubbyrulz said:
id prefer some plate mail tbo and i big ass polearm
Then you should get in touch with a mate of mine... Made a lot of armor, clothes, sandals, shields and weapons for a Roman reenacting group... Now he's working on manuals for how to make them... ;)
 

stubbyrulz

Fledgling Freddie
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Aremeriel said:
Then you should get in touch with a mate of mine... Made a lot of armor, clothes, sandals, shields and weapons for a Roman reenacting group... Now he's working on manuals for how to make them... ;)
cool was gonna buy a poleaxe but my mum got real pissed when i got a katana so i thought it wasent that good a idea :/ hmm but think i could get some plate mail mebe
 

Healer McHeal

Fledgling Freddie
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im still yet to see some one on any of these forums say they have tried doing blacksmith, lol, i think blacksmith would be quite fun aswell as making chain, to just know u spent time in making the sword or whatever and then hang it on the wall :D
 

Sharma

Can't get enough of FH
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Now ive seen those chainmail bracelets im actually considering buying one..

//edit:

First%20maille%20I%20made.jpg


One of those to be exact.
 

Addlcove

Fledgling Freddie
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go for it sharma! leave "teh closet"! .... you know you want to!
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Healer McHeal said:
im still yet to see some one on any of these forums say they have tried doing blacksmith, lol, i think blacksmith would be quite fun aswell as making chain, to just know u spent time in making the sword or whatever and then hang it on the wall :D

Yeah.. Haven't seen anyone on Freddyshouse saying they've been doing any blacksmithing, but we have a couple of guys on TRL who does quite some blacksmithing. These items are meant to be functional though, not just for show.

PlaysWithFire 1
PlaysWithFire 2

TheMadMailler's baby Uruk Hai sword
TheMadMailler's other sword

Breastplate

Sharma said:
Now ive seen those chainmail bracelets im actually considering buying one..

//edit:

One of those to be exact.

Now THAT'S a compliment. Thank you very much.. ;)


And just to show you HOW crazy some of us are: (Not me.. Not that small yet.. ;) )

Micromaille
11645dab_micro.jpg


Nano maille
233nanomaille.jpg

There's actually a patch of maille in lower right corner...

Another one.. Large picture
http://mailleartisans.org/gallery/pics/9145mr_rigrananomail.jpg
 

Vardadringion

Fledgling Freddie
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.. Yeah, i love them .. She made this one to me:

vardbyz2.jpg


.. It's an Byzantine weave. 1 mm Sterling Silver, 5 mm inner diameter. Have used it every day since she made it .. :clap:
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Vardadringion said:
.. Yeah, i love them .. She made this one to me:
.. It's an Byzantine weave. 1 mm Sterling Silver, 5 mm inner diameter. Have used it every day since she made it .. :clap:

One of the things I've made for you, yes.. ;)

Oh.. Here's a pic of how the wall hanging will look if I ever get the time/money to do it
http://aremeriel.com/daoc/maille/guildmaille5.jpg
Warning! Huge pic, so I'll be able to see the individual rings
 

Harsk Aborre

Fledgling Freddie
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Vardadringion said:
.. Yeah, i love them .. She made this one to me:

vardbyz2.jpg


.. It's an Byzantine weave. 1 mm Sterling Silver, 5 mm inner diameter. Have used it every day since she made it .. :clap:

omg that it the most cool chainneckless i have ever seen.. i wish it where on my neck :)

what do the material cost to make one like that?
damn it looks fine :D
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Harsk Aborre said:
omg that it the most cool chainneckless i have ever seen.. i wish it where on my neck :)

what do the material cost to make one like that?
damn it looks fine :D

First, thanks for the compliment.. ;)
Hmmm... It all depends on where you live... I bought the silver here in Norway and paid 2 NOK per gram for the material, and then it's the hook which cost about 25 NOK (or so). That necklace weighs 150 grams (IIRC), so total cost (not counting the material loss in sawing process) would cost about 325 NOK to make. That equals about 38 ? or £ 26... If I were to sell one like that I would probably charge at least 500 NOK, 58 ? or £ 40... How much I would charge on a comission also depends on the weave (complexity), ring size (Inner Diameter and wire gauge (thickness)) and approximately time I'd spend on it.

My favourite ring size is 0.8-0.9 mm wire and 4-4.5 mm Inner Diameter.
Thicker wire is harder to work with and smaller ID is more complex, so I'd charge more for that....

Does that answer the question??

You can get the material (also ready done rings) cheaper from http://www.theringlord.com, but be prepared for taxes.....
 

Harsk Aborre

Fledgling Freddie
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Aremeriel said:
If I were to sell one like that I would probably charge at least 500 NOK

Thats still very cheap :) the one im wearing right now, have cost almoste the double of that, and that is a way smaller neckless.
im still impressed by the work, but how long did it take to make?
 

Aremeriel

One of Freddy's beloved
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Harsk Aborre said:
im still impressed by the work, but how long did it take to make?

Not sure really.. I maille while I watch TV and stuff... But I'd guess somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half.. ;) Just uploaded my latest work too now.. Will put them up on my web-page soon too, as soon as I get my video camera back from my brother so I can take better pictures....

Byzantine web/ladder bracelet
HP 4-1 ring
Byzantine collection Necklace, bracelet and earrings I made for Christmas
Close up of byzantine necklace
Byzantine earrings with 10 rings mobius ball bottom
 

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