The Armour Archive

Firstly, greetings...

I've only recently delved into the delights of maille creation, and have never found a hobby so addictive from the start. I'd always wanted to try, and then, for no reason I can think of, I did (with solder wire, ugh, picked it up and it fell apart).

Finally managed to aquire some 1.6mm galvanised wire (incidently what guage would that be called?), but finding any of the other wire is near impossible... And so...

1.) Where do you find your materials? I can nothing besides 1.6mm galvanised. Not one hardware shop has anything in stock. (I live in England, help here would be great).

2.) This is a fantastic hobby, but soon I'll be returning to University (ugh, mature student!), and would love to make maille to supplement my meager student income. Is this possible? I thought maybe sell pieces at boot sales and craft fares?

Thanks for your help, fully apprecieated...

Pryrates - Novice armourer

I live in the US but you might be able to find some on the weg or maybe a local fabricator would have some. That's all I can say.

Try looking for wire suppliers in the UK on the web. Try industrial supply houses - here in the US we have McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com) - they may have a UK branch.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

The measure of a man is not in the steel of his skin but in the steel of his heart. - S. Sheldon

I work in plate rather then maille...but I have two bits of advice for you.

the first is that the materials you are looking for can be found at rural supply shops (farm shops) and at larger garden supply stores in the city. Basically you want fencing wire.

Second. There is a huge difference between a consuming hobby and something you make money to eat from. For most people making the transition is (sooner or later) a painful process. Turning things out because you want to is very different to needing to make a deadline for delivery because you have already accepted someone's deposit or full payment.

Consider very carefully at what level you can genuinly offer a commitment to making armour. And also do not accept commissions for stuff you have not tested and experimented with already. That is where the biggest roadblocks lurk.

Sasha

Go to a nearby hardware store and ask about electric fence wire.

Eric

you can get some decent stuff for making maille in the UK. Cutters and a couple of pairs and wire are all available at any DIY shoppe over there.
Gene

Thanks guys...

I'll keep plugging away trying to find a shop in my area that sells the goods..

My main concern with buying from the net was I wasn't sure how serious the hobby was, and didn't want to order a large amount of materials for them to all end up siting in the garage un-used... Heh

One more quick question, which in your opinions is better - Galavanised or stainless? I heard cleaning maille with the tumble dryer/sand technique removes the galvanising, whilst stainless never needs to be cleaned at all?

I think I'll just carry on making for fun, and then if I find myself in a position to sell something, I'll see where it goes from there...

Thanks again, fully apprecieated...

Pryrates - Still a Novice armourer

Turning things out because you want to is very different to needing to make a deadline for delivery because you have already accepted someone's deposit or full payment."

This is why I recommend, if possible, that you do not require down-payments before accepting customer commssions.

I understand this can be difficult for plate-makers, because the finished armour only fits people with those exact measurements. Maillemakers can dodge this problem, as their wares usually fit others with a little leeway, and if not, are usually easily tailored to fit someone else.

If you must require a down payment (and it is a handy way to keep clients from abandoning commissions when they are finished), the armourer should <u>not</u> spend this deposit while working on the commission. This deposit should be put in a shoebox and <u>not touched</u>. This is <u>not</u> the money that you should use to buy tools, materials, pay bills, or anything else with. If you are going to go into business, you need to expect to invest some of your own money into those things before you start taking orders.

Why is this important? Because if you require and accept a deposit before delivering a commission, and something goes wrong that you are unable to deliver the commission, and you have already spent the customer's deposit, you, the armourer, are screwed, and too often the armourer passes that screwing down to the customer, who now neither gets what he commissioned nor does he get his deposit back.

If you have not spent his deposit, then if everything goes wrong you can, with a clean concious, at least refund the customer his deposit and walk away.

The upshot of all of this: Don't spend the customer's deposit until after you've delivered the customer's commission.

Which metal is better for a particular armour is usually a matter of taste vs. cost. Galvanized wire has the virtue that it is cheap and readily available, but eventually the galvanization will wear off and it will rust. Further, the galvanization oxidizes fairly rapidly and turns a dull gray, which some people do not like.

Stainless has the virtue of resisting oxidation, and so is a fairly maintenance-free armour material. It's also somewhat harder to work than mild steel, and it's usually more expensive.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

The measure of a man is not in the steel of his skin but in the steel of his heart. - S. Sheldon

1.6mm is 16 gauge.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Excellent, thankyou both...

I won't even consider making armour to sell till I rate m work good enough, and have promised a few pieces to friends already anyhow, which will make for good practice...

I'll endeavour to find stainless if I can, but only when I think my work is good enough. Galvanised is a little cheaper, and has the added advantage that I actually know where I can get some, heh...

Thanks again, and any more tips or tricks are gratefully received...

Pryrates - Still Novice armourer

Pryrates,

One other tip, some groups don't allow galvinised mail, which would decrease your chances of actually making a pound. Check with REgia Anglorum, etc. for their standards. Another good wire to practice with is that sold for tying together concrete forms, (usually found in larger, buildiner's supply oriented stores)it has a black mill finish, is a good gauge for smaller (6 mm) rings, and would be found alongside reinforcing rod , sacked concrete mix, bricks, etc.

Good Luck!!

alail/scott

SCA knight, Royalist gunner, imperialist lackey.

It's really very easy to strip off the zinc. I use a bucket filled with a 50% solution of distilled water and swimming pool acid, followed by a bucket of baking soda. The zinc literally foams and bubbles right off, yielding clean steel, a black precipitate(zinc chloride) and hydrogen gas. This also works on cadmium plating, too. You might want to stay clear of stainless until you build up your forearms enough to rival popeye!

Heh, unfortuantly right now I'm more of an olive oil...

Ah well, will keep going with the galavanised for now (still all I can find), but as soon as i start making pieces for use in combat/sales, I'll move onto better working materials...

Again, thanks for the tips - all greatly appreceiated...

Pryrates - Still Novice Armourer