The Armour Archive

Anybody know what kind of metal they use for wire coathangers? I was thinking about using them for trim and a design on the chest of my hauberk.
Anyone know if they're stronger or weaker than galvanized metal of the same ga.?
Just wanted to know if that will compromise the strength of my hauberk.

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p.s. DON'T SUE!!!

Hi Black Prince,

I'm thinking coathangers are a little weaker than the same gauge of galvanized steel. I've worked in only galvanized electric fencing wire, but I've noticed that coathangers seem to bend more easily than the 14 ga. wire I've used, and the hangers I have are thicker than the galvanized wire.

If your design is small, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you would be doing a larger one, I think you'd want some stronger metal.

Just my two cents.

Good luck!

MR
Mathrocks@geocities.com

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Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.

Psalm 46:8-9

from what i've seen, coat hangers are stronger than galv.. best advice anyone could prolly give is to take a couple coat hangers, coil 'em up into springs, cut 'em up, and try weaving some maille outa it..

Having made a hauberk entirely from coat hangers while in some mideastern desert last year, I can state that the coathangers are weaker. At least the ones I was using. I wound all the coils to make the links by hand if that tells you anything.

The fact that the nearest hardware store was 3000 miles away had somethng to do with me using the coat hangers.

i bleave that the coat hangers are galvanized steel but it is a low quality steel and a bit smaller that 14 guage
but with all thing s it varys from the type of coat hanger and the temper of the steel
your best bet would be to find some steel you liked at the hardware or steel yard if is only decrotave you may want to do it in brass or copper you can also find adonized aluminum in nice colors if you have the time to look

The problem is that I have a rather large supply of wire coathangers readily available, and I can't find any source of wire other than galvanized at any hardware store nearby.
The design will be on the chest, and rather large.
It is a costume for my friend, Medieval Man, and will have the Superman emblem with an M instead of an S. He thinks it to be quite humorous.

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p.s. DON'T SUE!!!

I started my hauberk off with coat hanger wire since it was all I could find when I first started making maille. I have a very large supply. These coat hangers are 12 gauge mild,and much stronger and harder to work than the 14 gauge galvanized I use for everything else. My hauberk may not stop bullets when I'm done with it,but I shall feel very safe ( and very tired,12 gauge is VERY heavy!) in it.

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Talon

Love and Protect Thy Family,and Woe to Those Who Would Do Them Harm!

Ah, fond memories...

Around 1971 we were thrown out of our digs under the stairs of one of the classroom buildings at the University of Maryland and plunked down in the former Air Force ROTC offices in the old Armory. Boxes and boxes of AFROTC surplus coathangers! Must have been a thousand of 'em, all wired up by the dozen! Consequently, there was a sudden outbreak of 12 ga. mail in Markland. Still don't know what the AFROTC needed them for, but it sure kick-started our armor.

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Full time civil servant, part time blacksmith, seasonal Viking ship captain

a) I'm afraid the answer is: "It depends." Galvanizing is a surface treatment. It doesn't tell you what kind of steel is inside. Similarly, different brands of coat hangers are probably made of different flavors of steel. Some are lacquered to prevent rust, while others may be plated.

b) The question is not how hard it is to bend the steel once, but how hard it is to bend it twice. It may be hard or easy to wind your coils, but that is not necessarily a good predictor of their strength after work-hardening.

c) In other words, try it! The man who taught me mail-making had a vest made of four-link, 1/4" ID, coat hanger wire. The stuff was awesome. He called it "Flex Plate" because it would only curve slightly before locking up. Once you put it on, it had already curved about as much as it could, and you might as well have been wearing plate. In testing, it stopped a small calibre bullet, as I recall.

-Brian

Well, It has already been said, but i have found it stronger than galvanized steel electric fence wire. the first maille Imade was coat hanger, and it was damn strong......I dont think it would have stopped a bullet though. WOW!

Flex Plate, huh? I have a vest made of 8 link, 5/16, 17 ga. wire that does the same. I was thinking about cutting it up and reinforcing it with bands of 14 ga. wire between each row, then building it to look like plate.
Any ideas or comments?

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It's just a flesh wound....

i once made a blanket out of 10-2 14 gauge stainless rings that would hold water because it was so dense

The stuff I use is what my uniforms used to come in on ( the techs in the bay still bring me their hangers,they have no use for them). They are laquered,but that is easily fixed. After I cut the links from the coils,I pop them in my brass tumbler filled with sand. Strips that silly laquer right off! The rest of my projects are going to be 14 gauge. The only reason that I still work on the 12 gauge is that I hate giving up on a project .

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Talon

Love and Protect Thy Family,and Woe to Those Who Would Do Them Harm!