The Armour Archive

Hi there...

does anyone out there know how the short maille skirt of the churburg armour of Ulrich IX of Matsch (the big one) is attached. Is it 'sewn' on with some kind of wire? I'dont think that the rings are going through these holes, but all pics I got are too bad to see how it is exactly done.

same question with the maille foot-protection of the avant armour in glasgow.

cheers

micha

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=21152
fourth one down form the top.

I can't realy tell from the picture. I made one years ago by stiching the chainmail to a belt.
Konstantine the red or steven of fourth castle may have a better idea.

Micharrr, GVR and I attach a lot of chainmaille to things so here are a few tips we use.

1. Make sure the holes are deburred. Sinue is easy to sew but gets cut by rough metal edges. When I attach chainmaille directly to metal I use stainless steel wire. Steel wire blends in with the maille. If I have time I usually sew the chainmaille to a fitted leather piece and then sew the leather to the armor using sinue. This allow you to remove the maille for repairs and then quickly re-sew it onto the piece when done.

2. If you are looking for a a sinue type material in colors then consider bow string making material. I use this for things I want black thread for.

Good luck

Micharrr,

You are exactly correct. The mail is "sewn" on with wire. The wire passes alternately into and out of the holes in the bottom lame of the fauld and through the mail (which is on the inside), forming a sort of "running stitch". The holes are strongly counter sunk on the outside. The wire is significantly thinner than that used for the mail its self, and looks as though it might be brass.

There are a couple of very good pics of this in Carlo Pagiarini's big picture book of the Churburg armors.

I have personally always used 18 or 19ga. annealed black iron wire for this sort of thing, but brass would add a bit of color. In either case, the wire must be soft (annealed) or it will be too stiff to work with.

Mac

Thank you all...

il will post some pics when the armour is finished (...hoping this will be before new year)