Day - 1 (22/4/07)

I decided to finally go out and get the materials required to make my chainmaille hauberk (shirt), and i decided to take photos of it, for Metalstorm and Myspace. This is my first major chainmaille project, and I figured you guys would get a kick out of it. It's also gonna help me motivate myself to finish something for once in my life. I'm gonna be updating this daily with the next days worth of pictures until I'm done. Feel free to reply with comments, criticism. tips or questions.

I started out using 16 gauge galvanized steel wire, some plyers, and a wirecutter.


I wound the wire onto my shitty homemade winder, into a coil so it could be cut into rings of the same size later.


Here's a finished coil, almost perfect.



And 22 coils later, i got enough rings to do half the hauberk, atleast. I'll start with this and make more coils later if i need them.


This is all i did today, tommorow i'll cut them all into millions of rings, and start weaving the barrel for the shirt, so stay tuned, and check back later to see what this will turn into.

Hey , this is great please do let us see it when you are done , I think it is a great feeling when you do something by your self like that so good luck ..

Pretty neat idea, but why dont you just buy metal links to make a chainmaille shirt?

Great project - I'll be watching to see how you are getting on with it

Hej,
Well I made a hauberk back in 2001-2002... rolled all the wire with jut my hands back then... some 12500 rings, you can see it on the website in my siggy.
Took me some 80 hours then.
So good luck !

Keep it up man!

And Good Luck!
Looking forward to see when it is done

Written by Doc G. on 23.04.2007 at 07:40

Pretty neat idea, but why dont you just buy metal links to make a chainmaille shirt?

Costs waaaaay more, and is actually much more out of the way. If i ordered them online, i would still be waiting for them, when i already have them.

Here's the pics from today.

Day - 2

I was using wire cutters to cut the links, but it would have taken years at the rate of one link per cut. So i fished out some REALLY old aviation snips, and tightened them with a screw driver until they were ready to be used again after 40 years of sitting around. They worked much better.


After 3 hours of clipping I'm left with 43 ounces of rings, or 91 meters worth of wire, and a really bad forearm cramp.


And it has begun...

Written by -Valhalla- on 24.04.2007 at 05:18

After 3 hours of clipping I'm left with 43 ounces of rings, or 91 meters worth of wire, and a really bad forearm cramp.

I believe you .

Good luck for the next and interesting idea you have had to show the evolutionof your project.

You're going to ENJOY this work....I used to spend time on this work about two years ago....I have completed the front part and on third of the back part....I'm sorry....I haven't had time nor will to continue....

lol this is truely the most METAL hobby ever!

Hey this is really good. It must be hard to keep at it though. It will be good to see the final output though!

Written by Valentin B on 24.04.2007 at 16:31

lol this is truely the most METAL hobby ever!

Without any doubt....you'll smell of metal after spending some time doing it......

Hey is going well , keep going I want to see more !

Hej,
Any update on this ? Or have you given up valhalla ?
Here I have started my 3rd bra, it will be 8mm rings with 1.8mm wire, like the 2nd one, but this one will be with smaller cups.

Written by yvesson on 11.07.2007 at 22:33

Hej,
Any update on this ? Or have you given up valhalla ?
Here I have started my 3rd bra, it will be 8mm rings with 1.8mm wire, like the 2nd one, but this one will be with smaller cups.

Why are you making a brassiere? For yourself? Do you possess breasts then?

Hej,
Because it's funnier and more technical than a shirt/hauberk.

Oh....But it leaves your other areas unexposed and easily sliced by a weapon....unless you put the brassiere on another kind of armor....then yeh...then it looks just funny.....

Hej,
Yeah it's more about medieval-fantasy, it's supposed to look good on a nice girl, not protect from any blade. But you got that already right ?

I got that....but aren't a nice girl right? : )

How are you closing the rings?

Hej,
Unless you wanna spend ages to make a riveted hauberk, you just close the rings with your pliers.
Here is a close view of mine :

click to enlarge (wow those rings look huge ^^)

That's a nice project you got going there, but I don't think that will do any good against spear attacks. I suggest that you make yourself some plate mail to put on top of that, just in case a maniac on the streets decides to come at you with a spear made of an old pipe and a fork.

Written by Guest on 13.07.2007 at 01:27

That's a nice project you got going there, but I don't think that will do any good against spear attacks. I suggest that you make yourself some plate mail to put on top of that, just in case a maniac on the streets decides to come at you with a spear made of an old pipe and a fork.

Dude badass project! HOw much did all the wire cost?
if you put plate mail on top of a chain mail shirt... expect to be wearing very heavy armor, expecaly if its ful plate....

Written by Metal Meltdown on 13.07.2007 at 03:27

Written by Guest on 13.07.2007 at 01:27

That's a nice project you got going there, but I don't think that will do any good against spear attacks. I suggest that you make yourself some plate mail to put on top of that, just in case a maniac on the streets decides to come at you with a spear made of an old pipe and a fork.

Dude badass project! HOw much did all the wire cost?
if you put plate mail on top of a chain mail shirt... expect to be wearing very heavy armor, expecaly if its ful plate....

Actually, I don't have a project going on right now, I was just trying to be funny. Although, I believe I would look really cool in plate armor.

So how was it in teh end? I thought I'd find a pic of the chainmaille finished.
It must be hard and it must take a lot of patience to make one of those.

Hej, we can surely say he's given up by now, but let's still talk about chainmail anyway, any of you Metalstormer made a hauberk or anything ?
Havn't done anything chainmail-related since 2008 or something... Wering chainmail doesn't suit with card weaving...