chainmail metals

[Benalishlancer]

What would be a fairly authentic and low maintenance to use to make chainmaile. Im still learning, but I'm playing with galvanized steel. What would you all suggest?

[Steve S.]

Most medieval maille was made of wrought iron. This is essentially pure iron with varying amounts of slag (silicates) in it. Some maille was made of steel (iron with carbon added), but most was just plain wrought iron.

There is no real modern substitute that is the same as wrought iron, but low carbon steel wire will do.

Galvanized (zinc coated) as we know it is out. It is possible that some medieval maille was gilded or tinned.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
The Riveted Maille Website!

[Owen]

Wrought iron contains 0.2% carbon, with less than 0.5% impurities. Steel is 0.2% to 1.5% carbon. Cast iron is 5% (useless for armor, too brittle). Pure iron (alphitic) would have been near impossible to produce in the middle ages, as they had no way to remove all of the the carbon.

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Owen
"Death is but a doorway-
Here, let me hold that for you"

[Konstantin the Red]

I think you will have to choose between "low maintenance" and "fussily authentic," Benalish. Galvanized may not be fussy-authentic, but it *is* steel wire and it does have a rust-resisting coating on it that in regular use just stays a darkish steely gray color. For entry level mail work, I recommend galvanized, at whatever cost to authenticity, because of its bang for the outlay of bucks. Galvanized will teach you how to do most of mail, and it will do so at small monetary cost. You can get pickier (er, elevate your standards) as your skills and experience increase.

When I first started reading this board, I was happy with SCAdian butted mail. That is no longer so. There will come a time when I get the kit to flatten, pierce, and rivet my mail -- so, I guess, 18ga baling wire, here I come!

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."