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"Your Very Own Chain MAIL!"

For those who are fans of the medieval/fantasy genre, there exists a common desire. You have probably at least once found yourself thinking, “Chainmaile is absolutely and completely awesome! It would be great if I had a chainmaile shirt.” Then, if you went so far as to try and locate one, you found that it is both awesome and prohibitively expensive. Do not give in to despair! For, if you so desire, a chainmaile shirt can be obtained with two things: A relatively small sum of money, and patience. This article will detail how you can create affordable chainmaile.Items you will need: (all are available at you friendly local hardware store) - Two sets of needle-nosed pliers - One steel rod approximately 3’ – 4’ in length and 5/16” to 3/8” in diameter - One set of aviation snips - One 6’ long 2 x 4 - Galvanized steel fence wire 14 or 16gauge(higher gauge #’s make weaker armor) - An electric drill (you must buy/borrow one for construction of mandrill, but not for operation) - An iron resolve (like the metal pun?) The first thing to do is to build your mandrill! “What is a mandrill?” you ask? A mandrill is the device that you will spin wire onto in order to shape straight wire into round rings. The dimensions of this may vary depending on the length and diameter of rod that you choose, so I will simply give you a picture from which you can construct yours. They’re of simple design so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

The diagram above depicts the two mandrills that I would suggest. Your choice will depend upon the availability of a drill or willingness to purchase one. The first mandrill is powered by an electric drill with the rod fitting into the bit housing. The second is powered the old fashioned way: by hand. Both are constructed from 2 x 4's and wood screws and should be wide enough for your steel rod to stick out far enough to fashion a handle by bending, or for the drill to be attached. On the left side of the mandrill, you will need to drill a shallow hole for the rod to seat in and spin freely. You will also need to drill a hole through one end of your steel rod to thread wire through. To create rings, you first must make a coil or "spring". Take your spool of wire purchased from the hardware store and thread the end of it through the rod hole. Now, by either turning your crank or turning on your drill (SLOWLY at first) guide the wire with your hand so that it rolls onto the rod and forms a coil or spring along the length of the rod. When you get to the right end of the mandrill, stop your drill or stop cranking. Using your aviation snips, cut the wire. ***SAFETY WARNING*** Just as a spring will hold tension, your coil will have a good amount of "kick" built up in it by the time you reach the right end of the mandrill. When cutting the wire, be careful to keep your hands back and out of the path of the wire, because it's going to whip around a bit when you snip! Also, for this reason I strongly recommend wearing a pair of heavy leather gloves (preferably padded) to protect you from potential injury if you make a mistake Now that you have your coil, you can simply snip it apart into separate rings with your aviation snips. This is done by opening the snips and placing one blade of the snips inside the coil, and then squeezing down. If at first it is hard, do not be discouraged. After making thousands and thousands of rings, your grip strength will improve wonderfully! You can also, once your grip improves, use a metal file to make one blade of the snips thinner allowing it to fit deeper into the coil and cut more rings in each stroke. Finally, on to assembly! I was going to launch into a lengthy description of how to construct this, but then I discovered an awesome video and figured "Why re-invent the wheel?" This video on Youtube is amazing and my hat goes off to the creator. (VIDEO) The video depicts how to assemble a basic 4 in 1 pattern , which is the most practical for armor. Other videos of the same pattern can be found. You can use your pliers to open and close the rings in the pattern. I've found the easiest way to make a shirt is to make a band that can fit about your chest, and expand it downward until you reach the length you want. Then create pieces to go above your shoulders (leaving holes for the arms of course) and then create your sleeves. *** MORE SAFETY JARGIN*** Now that you have access to skills to creating armor, a few words of caution. Armor is not a preferred method of saving your life. The best way to avoid death is to avoid danger. Even knights equipped with the best armor were killed. In fact, lots of them were killed. So please, do not make a chain shirt and then turn to your buddy and say, "It is done. NOW!!! Try to run me through with a sword!!" This is ineffably foolish and anyone who engages in such behavior will, rather fittingly, eventually end up with a horrific injury to remind them of why one should not engage in such foolish behavior.

Article written by: Ivan

From: Washington Age:22

Click here to visit Ivan's Website

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