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[Aklyon]

You have weird laws over yonder, Dsarker.

[MaximumZero]

I just popped in to say that riveting is really easy. Taking the rivets out is another story altogether (I just use the drill for that and throw away the rivet.) If you're using the traditional hammer method, it'll be tedious, but still easy. I've never riveted armor before, but I've done a few thousand rivets into sheet metal (my father is a race car mechanic.)

[Girlinhat]

Orly?  Do you have any video references available, or could you hash together some pics/video to show how it's done?  Youtube has been remarkably saturated with extremely specific DIY Home Improvement videos.  Since mail rings don't already have a hole in them, and are very small, I think it'd be rather more difficult to rivet them.

[MaximumZero]

Hmm. Seems I was thinking of a process that is completely different from riveting chain. I am now following to learn.

[Girlinhat]

Judging by that eHow on riveting, I think I'd prefer to go for spot welding instead, when/if I progress to that point.  Either way, some more pictures!  I decided to get some done in the morning before it got too hot, because I'm working outside, and then 10:30 rolled around and I opted to finish the rings I had and pack it in.  I'll likely continue more this evening once it cools down some more.

Coiled on the pipe.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Slipped off, it's rather like a spring.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Clipped away into rings.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Added to the existing length, this added an additional 40 middle-row rings onto the already 40, doubling the length I had.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I estimate I'll need ~200 rows total to make this into a belt, which will be roughly 800 rings total once I make it 1 ring wider.  Possibly 1,000 rings if I decide to go wider still, but I think if I make it 2 rings wider it won't fit through my belt loops.

[Aklyon]

I found an interesting site while watching a video.
Tons of stuff in the library section, though how much of it is useful I'm not sure of yet.

[kisame12794]

I have actually made a chainmaille shirt and a chainmaille coif. The shirt weighs around 12 pounds.

[Nikov]

I made half a glove ring by ring using paperclips. Took a while.

Fun fact. The first wire-cutting die was invented in the 14th century. Before that point, all wires had to be hammered from barstock.

[Duuvian]

I made half a glove ring by ring using paperclips. Took a while.

Fun fact. The first wire-cutting die was invented in the 14th century. Before that point, all wires had to be hammered from barstock.

If I remember correctly there was historical documentation of someone trading a whole village (and it's people, good ol' feudalism) for a complete suit of chainmail.

EDIT: I remember hearing this when I used to play Mount and Blade. I was active on the MBX forums and it was a discussion Ron Losey was involved in.

[sonerohi]

Certainly possible, depending on the prosperity of the village and who the smith was. To have armor be fitted was something reserved for the upper levels of nobility, and chain mail was usually a hand-me-down for many generations of the family. The only reason armor ever really came down in price was because of smelting innovations and the switch to plate armor, which allowed the use of trip hammers over the hand labor of mail.

[Girlinhat]

I've heard from different sources that a full suit of armor would have cost about the same a a modern day house.  Compare that against the Crusades.

[kisame12794]

Are you using galvanized wire? Because if you are you can't weld it.

[Girlinhat]

This is galvanized, but I'm far FAR from welding.  When/if I started welding (and invested in a welder) then I'd probably be swapping to stainless.

[Dsarker]

I've heard from different sources that a full suit of armor would have cost about the same a a modern day house.  Compare that against the Crusades.

Oh, yes. It's the equivalent of a highly technologically advanced army. Better would be a comparison to the Roman legions, which used chainmail before switching to the lorica segmentum.

[sonerohi]

I've heard from different sources that a full suit of armor would have cost about the same a a modern day house.  Compare that against the Crusades.

And, to make it worse, the average person was a janitor rather than a business-y person. Not sure how expensive weapons were though. The majority of pole arms were peasant-affordable, but swords were costly.