I has mail

[RayvenQ]

Not the electronic kind, nor the postal kind, rather the chain kind. Or at least, I soon will, once I get the wire to make my own rings, right now I'm practising weaving using plastic curtain rings, about 4 times bigger without having to open and close them (they kinds snap together) pretty much just using them for practise.

Are there any current or possible mailers on these boards? or just someone who has an interest in the subject.

As a treat, here is what I worked on today, just for fun.

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3280/chain2mb9.jpg

Sorry for the bad image quality, camera ran out of batteries and couldn't hold my webcam still to save my life)
just a flat piece of European 6 in 1 (meaning that all the rings, except for ones on the edges, are connected to 6 others.

[Evil Queen]

oooo, nicely done! :)

[RayvenQ]

oooo, nicely done! :)

At first I swore I wouldn't go beyond 4 in 1, as 6 in 1 looks horribly complicated to me, though to my joy I found out it wasn't all that complicated, and produces a nice, tight, flexible weave. Hell, I'm even considering trying 10 in 1

[tropicsgoddess]

Oooh, nice work! :)

[Evil Queen]

At first I swore I wouldn't go beyond 4 in 1, as 6 in 1 looks horribly complicated to me, though to my joy I found out it wasn't all that complicated, and produces a nice, tight, flexible weave. Hell, I'm even considering trying 10 in 1

BF took chain mail making classes once. He said it was pretty easy, way easier then it looks.

I want chain mail....

[Fenrus]

SO is currently making a shirt of 6 in 1. It looks really good, and he's making the rings himself out of tie wire (10g steel wire).

[RayvenQ]

BF took chain mail making classes once. He said it was pretty easy, way easier then it looks.

I want chain mail....

Yeah, it is, I was suprised at just how easy it was to make, though it still takes time, especially if you're making your own rings. Hell, there's a site I know of who specialises in making rings and wire for making chainmail, I just can't use it because the shipping costs for an internation delivery is either too much, or it takes too long. :cry: But if you're in the US it might turn out cheaper.

SO is currently making a shirt of 6 in 1. It looks really good, and he's making the rings himself out of tie wire (10g steel wire).

Good luck and happy mailing to him, I'll be coiling wire myself too, though I'll be using 18SWG wire.

[Shangri-laschild]

Well my best friend and I got a whole bunch of wire coiled and cut a whole bunch of rings...and then he moved on to a different phase and the rings got lost of a bit. I finally found them and keep meaning to get around to making something. At some point soon though I'm going to start working on it. It has been fun so far.

[crazylegs]

You have far more patience than I ever have/will, congrats on the work, it looks stunning.

[sms001]

VERY cool. But I have to confess - my mind was stuck in "Chain LETTER" mode until I got to the part of the sentence about curtain rings, at which point I made the transition to armor. Gotta say, you sounded completely whacked out until then. :)

....wire. to make his own rings.... some sort of pyramid scheme on the telegraph? ... maybe wire is a new slang for intertubes... wait, wut? WTF... curtain rings.... that'd be more like... oh. ...

I gotta read slower! :roll:

BTW, when you get to the real thing, do you plan to alternate colors like the practice? I think it looks pretty cool.

[RayvenQ]

Unless I get different coloured wire that won't tarnish, then they'll stay the same, but I can try spraypainting and varnishing rings, to see if that'll work as a cheap alternative to getting entirely new wire. It might work, it might not.

Yeah, my mum gave me an odd look, her mind was stuck on that kind of chain mail too, but my dad took it, well, he didn't say much didn't seem to suprise him, then again, he is a metal worker so maybe he's just glad I'm getting a new hobby involving metal.

To put it in perspective, to make a hauberk with the real stuff (a shirt with a bit of a skirt) it'd take somewhere between 5000 and 9000 individual rings, which would take around 180 hours at least to put together.

I dunno what I'll do, wether making shirts and stuff with it, or just see what I can do jewelry wise with the rings, I have a couple of ideas though.

[Evil Queen]

A chainmail dice bag would be cool. :D

[RayvenQ]

I could probably do a dice bag, do a single sheet of the 6 in 1, fold it in half, do the sides up and adding a drawstring, should be done.