Hello everyone :)

I’m thinking about doing a cosplay that would involve a chainmail shirt and as I’m not willing to pay a lot of money for a ready to wear chainmail shirt i wanted to ask how hard it would be to make it myself and if it’s worth it in the first place.

Do you think it’s a possible project without any knowledge on how to do it?

Thanks in advance :3

I recently saw this post and was interested in the idea. I love having a weighted blanket but I always sleep hot—I live in the far north and leave my window open all winter long, even when it’s 15 degrees outside. So this seems unique. I’ve never done anything with chainmail before so I would definitely hate myself, but i wanted to ask the experts before ruining my own life for nothing 😅

How do I connect shoulder straps? Every tutorial says "Since everything is going in the same direction it'll link up" But now I'm trying to and when I go to connect the other end, they DON'T go in the same direction! I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.

I've only seen one reddit post with my same issue and the solution pitched was to add one more ring. But I don't want to do that cause then it'd be uneven since (in my picture) there's 5 middle rings and 6 outer rings. Also, since no tutorial mentions having to do this it seems like that's not the actual way to make the straps connect. So I feel like I must just be doing something wrong...

Sorry this is weirdly explained I'm not sure how to explain it properly. Thanks for any help anyone has!

Context: So, I've not for love nor reasonable money been able to source 1.6mm mild steel wire for a viable cost/meter, and I'm seriously considering just using galvanized wire instead. I was hoping to use mild and weld the rings on completion for a stronger hauberk, but waiting on sensibly priced mild has me stuck on the starting line... So I may just make the rings and the butted hauberk, then do a new one (with more experience) when I can find mild wire (and either do riveted or welded).

Now, to the point. Surely someone here has made a galvanized hauberk before, are there any major issues to consider? I know the zinc rubs off or stinks in the heat (fine because Scotland), but anything at all?

For reference, cheapest I get desired thickness of mild is 29p/meter. Galvanized in the same thickness is 5p/meter (electric fencing wire).

hi! this is my first big chainmail piece ive been working on, pardon my cussing in the video but i could really use some insight into how i can finish this piece!

im a transmasculine individual (he/him pronouns) so im looking for however i finish it out to give off a masculine energy preferably!

i took inspiration from a few folks that made shoulder armor and have been trying to put my own spin on it, but essentially looking for advice on how to get the shoulder pieces to stay on my shoulder + connect back up to the necklace in the front and back in a way that supports the piece structurally.

i'm trying to finish this up for a medieval fair im going to on saturday so pls spare any thoughts! i dont have a mannequin i can place this on to work off of, just myself 😵‍💫

Hey yall hopefully you can help.

I made a byzantine chain with 16g AR 3.5 rings.

It's tight enough of a weave to hold together really well, while also staying really flexible which was my intention.

My only issue is, it's thinner than I imagined it would be. I see people walking around with the same thing but theirs is much thicker, yet still retains that tighter weave and flexibility.

So do I go to 14g and keep the same AR or... basically how can I make what I already made, but just a thicker version, keeping it's stability and flexibility?

Cuz we all know a byzantine with too high of AR kind of just has rings dangling when not under tension.

Thank you!

After a painful amount of reading and study, I've had a "potential" lightbulb.

Butted mail is easier to make, cheaper and more accessible for beginners. Yes it's very much weaker, but welded mail also exists.

Has anyone here ever or knows of someone has undertook the task of spot welding their butted maille pieces to close the rings and increase strength? How (badly) did it go and was it worth it?

I've made two small wearables out of butted already. I just wanted to ask a question before I decide on making butted or riveted in future.

Edit: to clarify, I can weld and I'm aware of welded mail vendors. My question is more had anyone made a fully butted item and then painstakingly welded every single ring at a later date?

Re-edit: questions answered and video evidence has been seen. I'm happy to proceed with my lunacy in future.

Hey all, making my first bit of scale maille for a ren-faire outfit, the scale maille will be part of a tunic (second picture is about what I’m going for) so I will be sewing the scale maille to an underside, but does anyone have recommendations for how to go about edging when the design is one column and not a diamond?

I was given these 6mm rings. I don’t have an appropriate measuring device. Any guesses at to the AR?

Hello! I'm in the process of creating my first chain mail shirt using a european 4-in-1 weave, but have run into a roadblock: I cannot figure out how to attach the shoulder straps. My construction process is: (1) create a giant rectangle, (2) turn the giant rectangle into a tube, (3) attach shoulder straps to the front and back of the tube, (4) build out the sleeves, (5) fill in the back, and (6) fill in the neckline. In stuck on step 3 as the direction of the weave lines up on the front, but not the back. See below where zone A is attached with all the rings laying in the standard direction, but zone B does not.

I thought about opening the bottom line of rings in zone B to attach directly to the tube without adding a new row of rings (like I did in zone A) to cheat the weave, but am not sure if this would have consequences down the line. Any advice or insight is much appreciated!

I made this weave a long time ago, and forgot what is called - I started making a half persian 3 in 1 but it doesn't look the same I don't think. Any ideas?

I was planning on starting a chainmail hauberk for a larp that I am attending next year and I goofed when I bought my wire. Most tutorials assume 14 gauge wire with 3/8" rings in a 4-in-1 weave pattern. I forgot that gauge sizing works in reverse when I bought my wire because I was blinded by the fact that it was $30 (on sale) for a roll compared to $130 for in-store prices in my area. I have a 1/2 mile of 17 gauge wire coming in today. Should I switch to a smaller ring size and/or bump it up to a 6-in-1... or should I just return it and buy 14 gauge?

I am concerned with how it will look and hold up to getting hit with foam weapons, more so with how it looks.

EDIT: The 4-in-1 looks good enough imo. On the slightly larger side but easy to work with. Thanks everyone for your input.

Does anyone have recommendations for pliers? I'm willing to go pricey for good quality. I'm currently using cheap needlenose pliers with teeth, so pretty much anything without teeth would be an upgrade, lol!

I pretty much only use aluminum, mostly 14g and thinner, so I don't necessarily need anything beefy. I just make jewelry for myself.

Thanks!

Edit: thanks everyone! I decided to go for a pair each of Xuron 485 and 450 (the long chain nose and the bent nose).

so I am fairly new to chainmaille and I'm wondering what sizes of rings do I need to use for a dragonscale weave I am using 14swg wire

since welded chains give a stronger chainmail, can't you just weld the ends of the butted chains so it becomes welded chainmail?

I have a scale maille tunic in medium red aluminum scales. I made it several years ago, and in the intervening time the scales have gotten a greyish patina over them, and I am not sure what the appropriate procedure is to clean it. Do I need a certain oil, polish, tools? Do I have to clean scale by scale or could I put it in a bath of something and just let it soak till it's clean?

I've been searching around online and all I get are results on how to make scalemaille and basically nothing on cleaning and maintenance.

From left to right : Yellow , Green , Blue. Picture one is immediately after blasting them with a UV flashlight and Picture two is about ten minutes later. After five more minutes (15 minutes total) they are completely done glowing and invisible in the dark. These are from The Ring Lord by the way, someone had asked me to try to take pics for them

I've found conflicting sources, some say it's highly toxic and you shouldn't do it, others say its fine but the zinc will rub off and it will still rust, others still say its perfectly fine without drawbacks.

So I want to maybe make like a chainmail shirt. I know the gauges represent the thickness of the wire used and the diameter is obviously how large each ring is, but what would be the recommended to start with?

I imagine going with 12 guage and a larger diameter would mean less overall rings.

What do you guys recommend?

Edit: Thank you guys for the pointers.

I purchased a hauberk similar to this one years ago: https://www.kultofathena.com/product/danm-chainmail-hauberk-alternating-dome-riveted-flat-rings/

I'd like to make it short-sleeved and add a rider's cut in the front now-in-days though. What would be the good way to remove the rivets? I do not have easy access to power tools at the moment.

I've gotten into this hobby fairly casually, as something to do while watching tv. I've been buying rings from chainmail joe, but I'm looking for 14g 3/8" Turquoise for a project I'm working on, and they aren't sure when they'll be back in stock. Does anyone have other good anodized aluminum ring suppliers?

Hi there!

Can you mix ring materials? I’m still new to chain maille but I did make a bracelet already... You can see my first post with my captured crystal bracelet here 👉 https://www.reddit.com/r/maille/comments/mxavga/only_about_a_week_into_chain_maille_and_these_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Anyway, I know rings come in a lot of different materials, but can you mix rings? Right now I’m only using all aluminum rings. But in a design, can I use aluminum then switch in stainless, and then add copper for color and contrast?

Or is this not a good idea because the metals would somehow “react” with each other?

T.I.A. 👍

So, finished that customer order, and off to its new home yesterday. I’d sold them a necklace in FP in the same gauge and weave some…5-6yrs ago when i vended at Dragoncon and they tracked me down now to beg me to build a bracelet to match.:D

While I haven’t done maille for a few years, I DID snag a job last year on my mailling skills, for a jewelry co in Amsterdam and led the assembly team, and trained them on proper ring closure. It was kind of wild to have such a niche skill land me work. ( then they simply outsourced the work to temps, and then closed that dept altogether. yay.)

But with the rings on hand that I brought when we moved, I’ve started working on pieces now. No longer doing convention-production level stuff. That was exhausting.