M.A.I.L. :: View topic

athair · Posted on Tue Mar 13, 2012 12:44 pm

Hi there:

I started a few weeks agowith a 1/4'' 16gauge hauberk, using stainless steel. I've been closing links and creating basic units for speed mailling, and now I have to start with the work in earnest. I was planning using the pattern found here:

http://www.bladeturner.com/pattern/hauberk/hauberk.html

but the rings used the are 5/16'', and the conversion is giving me huge headaches.
Has anyone tried taht pattern using smaller rings, or can point me to some other guide?

Thanks in advance

Gallery Assistant · Posted on Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:11 pm

I did NOT use the Bladeturner pattern when I made my first shirt, but a roughly similar one, that features also 45deg seams. In my experience the chosen ring size doesn't matter much, as long as it's not too tight to do such a 45deg seam joint at all. Personally I used even slightly smaller rings as you - my rings were coiled on a 6.0mm mandrel instead of your 1/4" (~6.35mm). But if it gets tighter (aka lower AR), such a seam shows the nasty behavour of pulling itself a bit tighter as wished at the seam. The solution for me was, to use ONLY for the seam connector rings ones that were coiled on a larger mandrel - 7.5mm, if I remember right - in your case 5/16" just for these connectors should be on the spot. In the photo below that can be seen - I marked these rings in the photo with a golden/yellowish color. Hope that helps.

BTW: If you have only the 1/4" ones around as you bought the rings and cannot acquire or make a handful of 5/16" ones, there is also a way out - instead of making a straight 45deg join seam make a zigzag joint. But that isn't easy to explain, and I'd need to weave an example for, if you cannot get behind yourself.

-ZiLi-

Maille Code V2.0 T6.5 R5.6 Ep Fper Mfe.s Ws$ Cpbsw$ G0.4-3.5 I1.6-16.0 N28.25 Pj Dacdejst Xagtw S08 Hi

Human societies are like chain mail.
A single link will be worth nothing.
A chain is of use, but will break at the weakest link.
A weak weave will have the need to replace weak links.
A strong weave will survive even with weak links included.
-'me

Thunderbolt · Posted on Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:14 am

I started working on the same shirt as you did and found that for 1/4 16g, 10 rings is equal to 9 rings of 5/16 16g. For me I found that I'd have to extend it to triangles of 12 to get the right size since I seem to be much larger than the guy who wrote the pattern.

I'm also having a problem with the 45 seams. With the smaller rings the seam is closer to a 30 degree angle so I wove another triangle into the corner to get a good turn but now I have a weird triangular section that needs to be filled but it is beyond my ability as of yet. Is there anywhere I can find a pattern that could help me? Anyone have any advice? Thank you so much.

Konstantin the Red · Joined: March 27, 2002 Posts: 2900 Submissions: 1

Try this page: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/trevor.barker/farisles/guilds/armour/mail.htm -- a fifteenth-century pattern of shirt from when they were still wearing mail for keeps. It's a better pattern than the Bladeturner one you came across, which I'm not a fan of.

All you'll really need to do to salvage your 45-degree shoulder sections is to build out from the angled parts into rectangles. Sleeves go on. In open hang.

'The Minstrel Boy to the War is gone...'

djgm · Posted on Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:00 am

It should work in 0.062" 1/4". bladeturner has a good info there. Joining the patches rather then building from the neck hole out makes thing a bit harder.

Thunderbolt · Posted on Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:10 am