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metal_ · Joined: October 20, 2008 Posts: 21 Submissions: 0

how do u make a punch for my rings so i can make riveted mail i have no prob flatting them but i have had a couple costly fails trying to find a way to punch holes in the rings
my grandpa helped me make some out of drill bits that just went flat i was using flattened 12g stainless steel rings

Links Caretaker · Posted on Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:54 pm

It would be hard to get away with something cheap for punching stainless. To last, you're going to want a high carbon/chrome alloy punch....it just makes sense, the punch needs to be a harder, more durable material than what you're punching.

There are hole punching pliers out there,mostly made for punching sheet metal, and not stainless....here's a sample:
http://www2.northerntool.com/hand-tools/chisel-punch-stamp-kits/item-14572.htm

You can modify these or if you spend a bit on a quality pair, they'll have replaceable, hardened pins for harder metals.

Some armorers use a modified press setup like this, but the ones I know, are punching softer steel or galvy.

Question; why stainless....because it's pretty? Not that I don't like pretty, but....riveted stainless=headaches. If you're up for the challenge though, it would be the ultimate in strength and looks.

If you want strength, any good steel will be just as strong, practically speaking, as stainless, and so much easier to work. If you want rust-free, look at nickel silver.

Kodiak-

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong". -H.L. Menken
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -Dorothy Parker
Chaincraft Mandrels

metal_ · Joined: October 20, 2008 Posts: 21 Submissions: 0

cool ty i will try that the only reason i use stainless steel is because its the most convenient and cheep thing for me put i will try what u suggested

Links Caretaker · Posted on Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:02 am

Good luck....Galvy steel fencing wire, like talked about in many threads and in the articles here at MAIL, is a great material, and heavy enough to rivet fairly well....use the search button or just go to the articles section and go to construction for more really great help.

Kodiak-

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong". -H.L. Menken
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." -Dorothy Parker
Chaincraft Mandrels

Konstantin the Red · Joined: March 27, 2002 Posts: 3112 Submissions: 1

Though we recommend non-galvy wire like baling wire because the links need to get at least a crude annealing to soften them up enough so they don't eat your piercing drift -- the flattening workhardens them. The crude annealing, or "normalizing," heats the links red hot, which vaporizes the galvy's zinc coating. Zinc vapor is very noxious to breathe. It ain't carbon monoxide, but it will make you feel quite awful.

A powerful enough arbor press can drive a piercing drift nice and straight without snapping its teeny little 1/16" across point off.

Cheap piercing drifts can be made by filing/grinding masonry nails, reshaping their pyramidal points into something more like the blade of a precision screwdriver. A box of masonry nails costs less than a drill bit.

Your choice of link material and its size are what messed you up: stainless doesn't soften up enough to drift rivet slots open this way, but mild-steel or fully annealed spring wire does. Welding is the preferred method for stainless, as Whiting & Davis shows with their all-welded SS butchers'/shark suit mail. W&D mesh played the part of Frodo's mithril shirt.

12 ga SWG SS wire is monstrous thick for riveted work. The overlaps would spread out to an absolutely gigantic width. You've noticed flattened SS dulls drill bits quickly. More typical size for riveted mail is circa 18 gauge SWG (.048" or so).

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

Frostfly · Joined: April 29, 2008 Posts: 38 Submissions: 0

Konstantin the Red · Joined: March 27, 2002 Posts: 3112 Submissions: 1

It should be pointed out Paw Paw Wilson already suffered from emphysema, and that day he inhaled a LOT of zinc vapor. Induced pneumonia, did it not?

Frostfly · Joined: April 29, 2008 Posts: 38 Submissions: 0

what part of "it never leaves your body" did you miss. This is heavy metal poisoning. It builds up and does very bad things to you.

Paw Paw did have health problems, but he was killed by burning Zinc.

If you want to inhale fumes that will kill you, be my guest, but don't suggest it to others without disclosing the health risks.