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[Loud Whispers]

I reckon Bay 12 could make a passable fort.

You want to be mayor? D:

[Telgin]

A mail shirt isn't all that expensive if I recall from my previous calculations.  Especially if you can get the wire second hand (some fencing wire maybe, not the best but it works for practice at least).

You want to buy the wire in bulk if you can help it though, cuts down on expense.  A shirt should be less than $100 in materials I'm pretty sure, but I can't be more specific than that.

Most of the cost of a mail shirt is still labor, which while manageable is quite involved.  My understanding is that a breastplate at one point could be cheaper because of the labor actually being less, but that's all completely without any evidence I can quote.

[Duntada Man]

At the very least our deaths will be epic and hilarious. When the apocolypse comes I look forward to standing shield to shield with any other bay12'er fending of attacks from the fort.

I also look forward to dying epically and hilariously when someone flips the wrong switch, raising a drawbridge that traps us all in a hall rapidly filling with freezing water and angry snakes, leaving behind a dark and twisted ruin for future explorers to die in.

[Deadmeat1471]

They wont be laughing when the Zombies get minced by our shieldwall.
...and they're the proverbial ----meat.

As for price.... that's about what I thought really. $200 would be wayyy expensive, $50 too cheap.
I wouldn't include labour, as shes making it for herself I was just curious as to what its costing.

[Deadmeat1471]

I calculated based on januarys steel price it would be worth roughly...
(providing it is 20lb's of stainless steel, a conservative estimate based on historic chainmail)

Raw materials: £30
Labor           : £885 (8/h x 8h x 5d)
Bonus          : A sock.
Total           : £915 + sock

Thats a god awful labor cost. Though I seriously doubt a modern smith would pay himself such a high hourly wage, working alone and without the benefit of machines.

*luckily in DF, there is no economy. *CLAIMED

[Aklyon]

Is that labor cost for obtaining wire and turning it into rings and then making it, or just buying 20 pounds of stainless steel rings and making it?

[Deadmeat1471]

Is that labor cost for obtaining wire and turning it into rings and then making it, or just buying 20 pounds of stainless steel rings and making it?

For working 8 hours a day for 5 days for £8 an hour. Based on what girlie said, it probably would take more hours than that. Both my pricing on the materials and the labor amount is a conservative estimate.
So it's value, unless I made a massive fkup should be more than this!

*£8 because she would be a skilled laborer, so not minimum wage.

Remember tho this isn't necessarily its actual value, just the value if she were paid a living wage for making the armor.

[Girlinhat]

What's the pound-dollar ratio?  $8 is almost minimum here ($7.55 in this state, last I checked.  I generally give myself $10-12 an hour.).  But 8 hours a day for 5 days... maybe.  Not if that includes winding and cutting, but if that's just the weaving then sure, in a hurry.  The issue is the turning wire into rings, which is rather time-intensive.  When I was cutting my own, that was easily the longest part of a simple 4-1 weave, although mostly because my tools were mediocre.  Power drill, pvc pipe/mandrel, and double-handed bolt cutters that have seen better days.  With a proper hand crank and snips, that time could shorten drastically.

50 dwarfhours of labor sounds fair for solid working speed.  I'm comfortable with Euro 4-1 so I could work solid on it.  Of course, they also make automated chainmail machines that would turn my $500 labor into $50 electricity cost...  But those don't have the same sweat and blood anointing each hand-spun ring and each rage-printed rivet...

[MarcAFK]

I recon i could build an automatic coil maker and a ring cutter for about 50 bucks very easily, but damn i just saw the monster the ring lord uses for it's prewelded mail....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBIa-9-lus
I'm trying to design a simplier and much smaller one.

[Muz]

Posting on interest.

I predict that the axe might get a bit blunted by hitting the chainmail, though. It sounds like an old axe. Wouldn't really recommend it unless you don't want to use it anymore.

Put the chainmail on a watermelon and pretend that it's someone's head Test it first with something light and sharp, like a machete or steak knife or razor blade, then build up to axes, and if it still doesn't break, take like a piece of old furniture and smash the thing.

Also, I'm curious how you make titanium chainmail. I know titanium is hard enough that you can hardly bend it with some of the stronger tools around. How do you even link them together?

[Girlinhat]

The axe is unsafe.  The head is prone to fly off with a dozen more swings, so I'm not worried about wrecking it.  And a watermelon would definitely shatter.  Refer to previous comments: Chainmail converts edged attacks into blunt attacks.  Hitting a watermelon with chainmail and axe would be the same as hitting a watermelon with a mace.  Watermelons have no bones, they don't hold up to stress in the same way.  And more importantly, this isn't a test of protection, it's a test of durability.  I'm curious how well the chainmail stands to wear, not the wearer.

I couldn't tell if that video had music in the background or if that was just the glorious sound of dwarven industry.

[Wayward Device]

The axe is unsafe.  The head is prone to fly off with a dozen more swings, so I'm not worried about wrecking it. 

Just when you think things can't get any dorfier. Just a thought, but if you have access to any clay/thick earth then a mound could make a suitable dead pig/ pony/ ballistic gel substitute. Sure, its not ideal but it should be closer to flesh than wood. Also chainmail + hard substance behind it + loose axehead held in place with nails + a good hard swing = ballistic axe flying in random direction and a possible need for long term medical care. As a final thought its a shame that science hasn't advanced to the point where testing on an expendable clone is fiscally viable.

[kisame12794]

I do belive it is the sound of glorious dwarven engineering. Maybe some radio too.

[Dutchling]

I actually thought this would be a thread about how chain (e)mails can cause stress to people.

I would surely be interested to see how your by now legendary armor withstands the attacks of an ax.

[Rgamer]

Sounds Dorfy!

Also, to the guy who said that we'd make an epic fort: Yes, we could. I call metal casting.