1.) Introduction / Before You Start

In the centuries preceding the Industrial Age, the fabrication and construction of chainmail was a slow and tedious process. In order to make wire for the links in a suit, molten iron would have to be slowly and laboriously pulled, rolled, and hammered into relatively short strands of metal. It would have been rather difficult for all but the most talented blacksmith to keep the thickness of this wire constant over the course of a whole suit. These lengths of wire would then have to be bent into rings around some sort of mandrel and cut to be made ready for assembly. [This could have been done by an apprentice, hired hand, or even the master himself (traditions varied from culture to culture).] This element of chainmail construction has not changed much, even today!

Pictures of vintage chainmail pieces will reveal an additional feature that is no longer in common practice among armourers today: each individual link is riveted closed. This added innovation made the maille up to five times stronger than unriveted maille. Unfortunately, the riveting process slows down the production of mail so much that it is quite impractical for most modern armourers. Our armour will most likely never enter into battle and have its strength tested.

This, of course, baits the question that is inevitably asked of every modern armourer: Why? Why would we go to the trouble of building a product that is most likely never going to be used? Why devote literally hundreds of hours build a chain shirt that might stop a sword, when a simple Kevlar jacket can stop a bullet? Anyone who needs to ask this question might as well stop right here. Some might say that armouring is simply a hobby, and like any other hobby, simply provides some measure of relaxation and enjoyment. Others might say that armourers are an obsessive breed, compulsively acting upon fantasies of knights and dragons, often in tenuous touch with reality. Only those who spend the time to master this craft can know the real reason. A gleaming shirt of maille is just exceptionally cool.

Materials

2.) Materials

There are so many different styles and types of armour that it would be quite possible to spend thousands of dollars in pursuit of the craft. It is also possible to spend very little (relatively) and still produce a quality piece of armour without too much difficulty. Therefore, it will be the philosophy of this guide to produce maille of the highest caliber with the smallest amount of money.

With this in mind here is a list of tools and equipment you will need for start up, along with an accompanying estimation of cost:

Tools

one (1) pair channel-lock pliers (4" handle) ----------------- $3.00 one (1) pair needle-nose pliers (3" handle, 2" tip) ---------- $4.00 one (1) pair 7" Craftsman wire cutters ---------------------- $16.00 3/8" chuck power drill -------------------------------------- $20.00 3/8" wood drill bit ------------------------------------------ $1.50 1/16" steel drill bit ---------------------------------------- $1.50 one (1) pair leather gloves --------------------------------- $10.00

Hardware

one (1) hardwood board (24" x 4" x .75") --------------------- $2.00 two (2) hardwood boards (6" x 4" x .75") --------------------- $2.00 four (4) 1.5" wood nails ------------------------------------- $0.50 four (4) square brackets/ wood screws ------------------------ $1.50 one (1) 5/16" unthreaded steel dowel (3' long) --------------- $3.00

Wire

one (1) spool 16 gauge galvanized wire (1/2 mile long) ------ $25.00

Total: $90.00

Most all of these tools and hardware can easily be found at any large hardware store. For high quality needlenose pliers, you might want to check a craft store such as Ben Franklin or Jo-Ann Fabrics. For a little extra money, it is recommended that you buy Craftsman hand tools. That way you can take them back for an exchange if they ever break, and you don't need a receipt. You can find Craftsman tools at Sears. For low priced, bulk wire call Tipper Wire (1-800-441-fence) or go to your local Agway. Brass rods should be sold at any welding supply store for about $3 per pound.

A word of caution is appropriate when looking for a good power drill. Making links is very hard on the bearings of the drill and will cause accelerated aging of the drill's components. Under even the best of conditions, a consumer power tool will not last longer than 12 hours of continuous use! Because of this, I would recommend spending a little extra money to find and industrial "light duty" drill. Industrial power tools will last as much as 20 times longer than their consumer counterparts.

Since my original reorganization I've been getting a constant stream of email asking what the brass rods in the above list are for (there is no mention of them elsewhere in the guide. The brass is used to make brass links for edging and inlays on finished pieces. In fact, if you can find brass wire instead of the rods, that is even better. At any rate, it is always a good idea to have some brass or bronze around for when you need it.

Setup

3.) Setup

The process of making chainmail is fairly simple. Some sort of wire is fashioned by pulling and stretching hot iron into long strands. These strands are then wound around a mandrel of some sort to make springlike winds of metal. These springs are then cut into individual rings or "links". Then it's just a matter of carefully assembling the links into a piece of chainmail.

We are fortunate that we are able to save ourselves tremendous amounts of time and money by simply being able to purchase large quantities of pre-made steel wire, complete with rust resistant galvanization, instead of having to forge our own. Unfortunately, the process from that point on remains a long and tedious operation. The only major advance in chainmail production that has been made in the past few centuries is the addition of a power drill in the winding procedure.

Before we can begin winding wire into metal springs we have to build a frame to hold the mandrel (dowel) during the process. To do this we need the three (3) hardwood boards, the four (4) wood nails, the four (4) square brackets, and the drill.

First drill a 3/8" hole in each of the two smaller boards, along the central axis about 4" from one end (see photo). Next place the two boards on their ends, centered, at a distance of 2" from the ends of the larger base board (as shown.) Fix these boards in place from the underside of the base board using the 1 1/2" wood nails.

To ensure that the frame will be strong enough to hold up to the rather large forces that you will be exerting on it, it is necessary to attach square brackets on each side of the side boards (as shown.)

Finally, you will need to drill a small 1/16" diameter hole in the 5/16" steel dowel, about 5" from one end. To do this you might want to put the dowel in some sort of clamp to keep it from slipping.

Making Links

4.) Making Links

Once you've finished building your frame you will be ready to start making links for your maille. The first thing you want to do is make sure that you are wearing a pair of leather gloves. The wire will be running through your fingers at a rapid rate and could easily cut your hands if you were not wearing gloves. Some people find it helpful to clamp or bolt the frame to some surface during winding, to keep it from sliding all over the place. Personally, I have found that it is sufficient to sit in front of it on the floor and hold it steady with my feet.

Chuck the dowel into the drill such that the hole in the dowel is closest to the drill. Next put the dowel through both holes in the wooden frame (as shown.) Make sure that there are no tangles in the first 8-10 feet of wire on the spool. When you are ready to begin, insert about 1/2" of wire into the dowel hole. Holding onto the wire and applying constant pressure, slowly start the drill turning. As the wire winds itself tightly on the dowel, make sure that you are winding the wire in a right-handed fashion if you are right handed (the drill should be in forward), and in a left-handed fashion if you are left handed (set the drill in reverse.) When the coil has covered the entire dowel between the two side blocks of the frame, you are finished making a single coil. If you are using 16 gauge wire, and a 5/16" dowel, this should produce about 300 links.

Before you unchuck the drill, you will have to cut the wire coil from the spool. Using the wire cutters, snip the wire as close to the dowel as possible (CAUTION: when winding the coil, you have put a large amount of potential energy into the coil. When it is cut is will release some of the potential by snapping quickly forward and around the dowel once or twice. This force is sufficient to slice through a heavy leather glove, causing cuts, bruises, and gashes. Be sure that both hands are away from the coil when you cut.) Finish by cutting the coil at the hole. Once the dowel is slid out of the frame, it will be ready to be cut into links.

To cut links off of the coil, first slide it down to the end of the dowel. Take care not to stretch the coil out as you slide it. Once at the end of the dowel cut off the excess left where you cut the wire after coiling.

After the excess is removed, start cutting the links. Make sure you make each cut as close to the previous cut as possible(lengthwise, along the dowel, to minimize the gap in each link). It may take a number of tries before you get it just right.

The amount of gap that cut links have should be kept at a minimum. The size of this gap, more than any other factor, will decide the quality of the final product.

Once you have that down it's just a matter of slowly guiding the coil off the dowel with one hand, while the other uses the wire cutters to cut each individual link. Once again, when cutting the links it is important to not leave a gap at the open end. Catch each link in a bucket or bin to prepare for use.

The Basic Unit

5.) The basic unit

After you have made a sufficient number of open links, you should now be prepared to start knitting them into maille.

The first thing you will want to do is create a bunch of basic units. The basic unit is the smallest portion of any maille project that still retains the style being used to create the piece. For the purposes of this primer, I will show the most common basic unit, the European 4-in-1 style. Later instructions will show other, more complicated and esoteric styles.

Begin by using the channel-lock and needle nose pliers to bend the (slightly bent) cut links straight and closed.

After you've made four of these closed links, take a cut link and bend it slightly open. Slide the four closed links into the one open one.
making a basic unit

Now use your pliers to close the open link, and you have a four-in-one basic unit.
The basic unit

Joining Units

6.) Joining Units

After you have made enough basic unit to make a row (depends upon the project), you will need to connect basic units together (as shown). Row

Next, join rows together to make sheets. Row

That's it. If you've done all this, you can make chainmaille!

The European four-in-one maille style is the most basic design for chainmail projects and is by far the easiest, and quickest technique to use, as well as the lightest to wear. As such, The Pattern Library will give detailed instruction on the construction of pieces of maille, primarily based on this style. For more complicated, dense, and ornate styles go to the next few sections.

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