Chainmaille Coif Status: Complete

[Liokae]

I finally got the coif I started back in November finished! Stuff got hectic with nonmailling activities in Nov. and Dec, but now I'm back on the wagon, and the results please me!

Materials are 14 gauge galvy, ID approximately 1/4" (Approximate because this was made from coils I received for free from a man with an unknown mandrel size). Rather than circling outwards, I made eight triangles and stitched them together, then made a web in the center of that so there wasn't a large hole, and finished by stitching on a rectangular sheet for the drape. All in all, it came out to precisely 1817 rings, and from coil to end, probably took about 15 hours or so.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9667/004et7.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9667/004et7.jpg)
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6799/005um8.jpg (http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6799/005um8.jpg)
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8269/006ru3.jpg (http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8269/006ru3.jpg)


Plans for further work: Smooth out the front bangs, extend the drape further downwards, put triangular flaps on the drape edges to help with hanging straiter, and replace the ear-covering sections with inlay pieces.

[Meek]

Wow. Looks like it took a while.

Grats on finishing, looks good.

[Fabian920]

It does look cool, I am always fascinated by what can be hand-made.

[Hereticman2]

Wow, congratulations on your work. I'm jealous, I wish I could make something like that..

[Karl]

Nice! I used to make bits of mail. Nothing as well done as that, though.

Nerdstatus ++

[XGEN-CRaZeD]

You should make a large amount of those and sell them. You could make a large profit.

Also, I want one.

[CrazyCrossover]

ok im sorry but this is the single most wierd and nerdy thing that i have ever seen in my entire life

[XGEN-CRaZeD]

ok im sorry but this is the single most wierd and nerdy thing that i have ever seen in my entire life

Yeah, but I think it would be awesome to run around in public in full knight armor yelling "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR THE ALLLLLLLIIIIIIAAAAAAANNNNNNCE!"

[Karl]

ok im sorry but this is the single most wierd and nerdy thing that i have ever seen in my entire life
Says the man with a guitar hero avatar, a game where you essentially role play the life of a rockstar, and a signature that simply says, "furrehs", a sub-culture of people who dress in suits that look like anthropomorphic animals.

Hmm.

[Fabian920]

Says the man with a guitar hero avatar, a game where you essentially role play the life of a rockstar, and a signature that simply says, "furrehs", a sub-culture of people who dress in suits that look like anthropomorphic animals.

Hmm.


He changed signature and avatar after your remark.

[Karl]

Blol.

I win, then.

[Tanktunker]

Well, now you can sleep safe knowing next time someone tries to shoot an arrow into the back or side of your head, you will only get a concussion, maybe.
Grats.

[DarkReality]

An arrow at close range would probably pierce it, especially if it's got a thin head.

However, in the case that someone should attack you with a sword or decides to throw rocks from behind you, you'll be protected.

Do you plan on finishing an enitre armor, or at least giving the coif a neckpiece? Cause it sort of looks like a wig right now. A chainmail wig, nonetheless

[Serisium]

Grab yer' sword and fight the horde!

[Liokae]

Eventually, yes. This one is actually going to my girlfriend, so there'll be lots of touch-ups to do; the primary things right now are extending the drape a bit and smoothing the bangs.

I've got a pretty good project list set up; first I'm making some hacky sacks to sell, and then a headdress for Lauren. Then I've got a few bracelets, a necklace, and then to start on a shirt for myself and a tapestry for Lauren. I may do an XGen tapestry as well!

[Freddy]

How much would you sell a shirt for?
I may buy one if it isn't reduculously over my budget.

[h00pla]

I tried making a shirt once. I made about two to three square feet and had to give up for a long time. That eventually got turned into a lot of chainmaille ties.

As for shirt prices, it's the shipping that will kill you. It get's pretty heavy. Especially a shirt.

[Liokae]

I'd need your measurements to get you a precise quote, but with the galvy steel I have on hand, a shirt would run you to around 150-350 dollars, plus whatever shipping charges you need.

[denacioust]

Eventually, yes. This one is actually going to my girlfriend, so there'll be lots of touch-ups to do; the primary things right now are extending the drape a bit and smoothing the bangs.

How very...sweet.

[DarkReality]

A chainmail tapestry? o.O

Very... unique.

[Karl]

I'm pretty sure chainmaile is restricted to protection from slashing attacks, from a blade. An arrow will pierce straight through the links, and any blunt objects will still carry force.

Even a dagger, thrust hard enough, could split a few links and stab you.

[Liokae]

How very...sweet.

For her? Yes indeed. She's very into the medieval reenactment things.

A chainmail tapestry? o.O

Very... unique.


Actually, no! There's a long history of using maille for wall hangings and tapestries- in fact, there's an enormous one at the Tower of London. It was done in period, and a lot of maillers do one at some point or another, just for fun. They're wonderful for making intricate inlays.

Here's one a member of the mailleing boards I go to did (He's an employee of Google):

http://www.tyndanproductions.com/images/misc/Google4.JPG

And a closer view, as a link since it's a big picture:
http://www.tyndanproductions.com/images/misc/Google5.jpg

The one I have in the works will be about half again the dimensions of that.

I'm pretty sure chainmaile is restricted to protection from slashing attacks, from a blade. An arrow will pierce straight through the links, and any blunt objects will still carry force.

Even a dagger, thrust hard enough, could split a few links and stab you.

An arrow will go through, if close enough, but it'll be severely blunted and reduced in force by it; wooden arrows will often snap, resulting in a relatively minor wound. Blunt objects do still carry their force, yes, but the chain acts as a distrubution network, spreading the force of the blow out, in much the same way that kevlar works- you still get the force, but it doesn't hurt you as badly. Also, while you *could* get through maille in a dagger, it wouldn't be as easy as you think- only with butted maille would it be feasible, as the dagger just acts as a wedge to push apart the connections. For riveted or welded maille, it'd be even more difficult, as you'd have to actually break apart links, and that's difficult to do on a dagger thrust, so long as they're using at least 14 guage links. A rapier is perfect against it; just get one with a thin enough blade to slip past the rings, and it's like there's no armor at all. Aside from that, a very heavy blade to shear rings in a slash, or a medium weapon to cut them in a thrust are the usual methods of getting past it; and, of course, a spike with a heavy weight behind it trumps ANY armor.

[Karl]

That looks akin to pixel art. Each ring is a pixel, maybe.

[Liokae]

Precisely right, actually. There's a program that translates images to inlay patterns as 1 pixel to a ring.

[Tanktunker]

From the picture it looks like he just sprayed the logo on, instead of using plated (?) rings.

[Freddy]

Wow, you're using galvanized steel for this... O.O

You know you're aren't actually going into combat with this right? I really don't need to go top dollar for something that's for show... as cool as it may be. I mean unless you plan on renacting battles in the rain you shouldn't have to worry about rust.

Was the galvanization process even around for the originals in the middle ages?
I'm pretty sure they knew what zinc was back then, but could they figure out a way to attach it to steel?

[denacioust]

Yeah, isn't galvanisation done with electrochemistry or something?

[Liokae]

Actually, I'm in the SCA, so while I'm not going to be facing blades, I am going into combat with it. :-p Galvanized is just for ease of maintanence- no rusting. And no, they didn't have galvanizing back then. Galvy steel is far, far from top dollar, though- it's used to make electric fences for ranchs, so you can buy it at farm supply stores for around 30 dollars for a quarter mile of wire.

For the tapestry: The colored rings were neither sprayed on, nor plated- the entire tapestry is made out of aluminum, and the colored rings were colored through a process called anonidization. Prevents rusting/discoloration, and when done with slightly different chemical baths, gets you amazing colors in aluminum. You can do the same thing with titanium, but the colors are more muted.

[denacioust]

Isn't that anonidization how the ipods are coloured? Prevents them from losing colour when they get scratched.

[Liokae]

I think so, yes. It's a nice process, and can actually be done at home- all it takes is acid, aluminum, and lead.

[denacioust]

Common household items!

[DarkReality]

That reminds me, I'm out of Xenon again. I need to buy some more when I'm at the supermarket.

[Karl]

RdD, can I run by your house to pick up some Germanium? I'm all out.

[Tanktunker]

Hey, do you guys know where I can get some Uranium Oxide?
I tried Africa already, turns out they don't have #### over there.

[Teh 1337]

Try Iran or perhaps Pakistan. Word is they might have some. Preety cool coif by the way.