a.a.r.
actual aspect ratio; this is determined if you take into account springback from coiling. (see also i.a.r. (ideal aspect ratio), and aspect ratio)

a.r.
(aka AR) - See aspect ratio.

aketon
A quilted, padded garment, usually of linen, worn under and sometimes instead of mail.

alloy
Metals prepared by adding other elements to a basic metal in order to attain desirable properties.

annealing
A heat treatment for metals, primarily used to induce softness in the material. Annealing also refines the crystalline structure, removes stresses, and changes electro-magnetic properties of ferrous metals.

anodizing
Process of creating an oxide layer on the surface of a metal by anodic treatment. Generally used on niobium, titanium, and aluminum. Results in a thin film of oxide that is often harder than the unoxidized metal beneath, and which can be manupulated via thickness to produce desired colors. In the case of aluminum, dyes can be used to color this layer.

arming cap
A padded cloth coif worn underneath a maille coif for comfort and protection.

aspect ratio
The mathematical ratio between the diameter of a ring (inner diameter) and the diameter of the wire from which it is made. Often referred to as 'a.r.' or 'AR'. Formula: AR = Ring Inner Diameter/Wire Diamater

Austenite
A phase of steel in which the metal is in a solid solution. Austenite is stable only above 1333°F in plain carbon steels. Alloying elements aid in stabilization of the form at low temperatures.

aventail
A curtain of mail attached by means of staples around the base of a helmet. This protects the neck and the shoulders.

AWG
American Wire Guage (AKA Browne & Sharpe) - Somewhat obsolete American(US) wire measurement standard still used for non-ferrous wire and intended for electrical use. Based on electrical resistance in a wire, such that each successive number has twice the resistance of the number below it.

basic unit
The smallest grouping of rings which can be repeated indefinitely to form a weave. Some basic units may be able to form more than one weave.

binary alloy
Any alloy containing two major alloying elements, apart from any minor impurities.

bishop's mantle
(see mantle)

BU
(see basic unit)

burr
A sharp, projecting edge or point sometimes left when cutting metal.

butted maille
Maille constructed of rings whose ends are not fastened together, i.e. by welding or rivetting, but are simply butted together, relying on the strength of the ring material to hold them closed.

butterfly
(see fivelet)

byrnie
A mail shirt which usually extends only to the waist, and has no sleeves.

cage
The group of rings which trap a captive ring and hold it in place.

camail
(see aventail)

captive ring
A ring that is held in place by a series of rings without passing through the inner diameter of those rings. The rings holding a captive ring in place are known as its cage.

chainmaille (also chainmail, chain mail)
(see maille)

chausses
Pronounced "SHOWS". Mail protection for the legs, either in the form of mail hose, which covered the foot as well, or strips of mail laced round the front of the leg.

closure
The point at which the ends of a butted ring meet.

coif
A hood, usually of maille. By the twelfth century it many had incorporated a ventail, which could be pulled across the lower part of the face.

coif droop
The tendency of the unsupported lower end of the face opening on a coif to sag.

cold rolling
The rolling of metal at a temperature below the softing point of the metal. This allows work hardening during forming.

cold working
Deformation of metal at a temperature low enough to create work hardening. Typical at room temperature.

cuirass
Breastplate and backplate worn as one peice of armor.

dag
A triangular shaped decorative attachment, usually along the hem lines of a piece of mail clothing. Forms a "wavy" edge.

ductility
A property of all traditional metals that allows for deformations during cold working without fracturing. Typically measured as elongation at break in a tensile test.

electro-galvanizing
Galvanizing by electrodeposition of zinc onto steel.

elven rings
Recent term for rings that are formed of twisted wire.

ferrous
Containing the element iron (chemical symbol 'Fe').

fingernail maille
Maille that is too small for pliers but too large or tough for tweezers. The right size for fingernails.

fivelet
One ring with four rings attached to it. It is a starting point for European 4 in 1 and many other weaves. Also referred to as 'butterfly'. It is not, however, a basic unit.

footman's slits
Modern term for slits in a maille shirt that are placed at the wearer's sides, for greater leg mobility. Not historically accurate, as this exposes the wearer's legs to attack.

full hard temper
(See Temper)

functional ring
Any ring in a weave that is required for the completion of the weave (It connects to other rings).

gadlings
Knuckle studs worn on gauntlets.

galvanizing
The process of coating steel with zinc or tin for protection against rust. Can either be done electrolytically (see electro-galvanizing) or by traditional dipping (see Hot Dipped Galvanizing).

gambeson
Padded tunic-like garment worn under or over maille for protection and comfort. Sometimes called an aketon or jupon.

gauge
Older standard numbering systems indicating wire diameter. Still in widespread use in North America.

gauntlet
Armour for the hand, ranging from mail mitt, to articulated plate armor.

gusset
a small patch of material added into a seam to allow room for expansion and contraction in use. On a hauberk, these are often needed in armpits, and occasionally across the back.

half hard temper
(see temper)

handflower
Maille jewelry which covers all or part of the back on the hand. Consists of a bracelet and finger ring, along with maille connecting the two.

hard drawing
Passing metal through successively smaller holes in a draw plate in order to reduce diameter and increase hardness.

harness
A full suit of armor.

haubergeon
A mail shirt which usually extends to the upper thighs, and has half sleeves. Often, these would be laced down the sides.

hauberk
A mail shirt reaching to somewhere between the knee and hip and including sleeves.

heat treatment
Any process involving heating a metal to a specific temperature for a specific length of time, followed by a specific rate of cooling, in order to change the physical properties of the metal.

horseman's slits
Slits in a maille shirt that are located in the front and back of the shirt. Allows more freedom for the wearer's legs when riding a horse.

i.a.r.
Ideal aspect ratio; ideally, the inside diameter of a ring is equivalent to the size of the mandrel. (see also a.a.r. (actual aspect ratio), and aspect ratio)

i.d.
Inner Diameter or Interior Diameter. Refers to the size of a ring.

inlay
An image of some kind woven directly into maille using rings of different colors, obtained either with different materials or coloring methods, such as heating or anodizing.

insanity maille
Maille made with very tiny rings. Some tweezer maille can be considered insanity maille if the rings are small enough.

jump ring
A jewelry term for a wire ring. Usually butted closure, but can be soldered for some applications. Virtually indistinguishable from a standard ring used for making maille.

jupon
(See aketon)

kerf
The gap between the ends of a ring after it has been cut.

king
In chainmaille, the action of king(ing) a weave simply means to double the number of rings. This can be used to add strength to a few places in a piece, or to make the entire weave stiffer.

lamellar
Armour constructed from lames.

lamellar armor
(see lamellar)

lames
Narrow strips of plate used for moving joints and sometimes full suits.

latten
A copper alloy of varying formulation. Modern brass and bronze would be considered latten in the Middle Ages. Latten was often used in the decoration of arms and armour.

maille
(Also 'mail') A flexible material composed of small interlocking metal rings or loops of chain.

malleability
A property of all metal that determines the ease of deformation when subjected to rolling or hammering.

mandrel
A cylindrical shaft around which wire is wound to form coils, usually for the purpose of making rings.

manifer
Armor for jousting which covers the left hand and forearm.

mantle
A circular drape of cloth or mail worn over the upper body. Covers the shoulders and upper chest and arms, and has a central head hole.

Maximum Aspect Ratio
Some single ring size weaves will fall apart, and collapse into other weaves, if a certain aspect ratio is exceeded in their production. This A.R. is called the maximum aspect ratio.

micro maille
Maille made with small rings. Generally speaking, the standard for micro maille is that made with rings of 1/8" inner diameter with a wire size of around .032" (20 gauge), and smaller, although some would disagree and consider the ceiling ring size lower. (see also tweezer maille and insanity maille)

Minimum Aspect Ratio
For a single ring size weave, the smallest AR at which the weave can be made. Can be broken down into an "absolute" minimum, in which the weave can be started, but quickly locks up as slack runs out, and a "practical" minimum, where a continuous weave can be produced.

mobified
The process of interlinking one or more rings which would normally be parallel to each other in a weave, thus turning them into a primitive mobius ball.

muffler
An often occurring, mitten/sleeve extension of a hauberk, with a hole at the wrist, that allowed the wearer to remove his hand.

nipple effect
Nipple effect occurs when the queen ring of a coif is too small to hold the first row of rings. The bunching up of these rings gives the top of the wearer's head the appearence of a nipple.

normalizing
A common heat treatment that can be applied to metals. Similar to annealing, but does not appreciably soften the metal. Typically done to relieve internal stresses caused by cold working.

o.d.
Outer Diameter. Refers to the size of a ring.

OOOC
Acronym for "One Open, One Closed". This describes a technique for making a weave wherein a preclosed ring is linked to an open ring before it is woven into the existing weave. Some evidence exists that this can accelerate weaving for certain weaves, European 4-1 being one of them.

ORAAT
Acronym for "One Ring At A Time". This describes a technique for making a weave wherein each ring is added alone to the existing weave, without any pre-linking with other closed or open rings or other weave segments.

orbital ring
A ring which is connected around either the space where two or more other rings connect or around one or more entire rings, while never passing through the inner plane of any ring.

overbite
The tendency of a pair of cutters to mar the next ring on a coil after cutting through a number of rings on the coil.

oxidation
The chemical addition of oxygen to a compound. Typically, atmospheric exposure will create surface oxidations. Effects increase as temperature increases.

oxide
A compound of oxygen with another element.

pickle
An acidic solution used to clean the firescale that forms on the outside of some metals during heating. (see pickling)

pickling
A process of chemically removing scales and oxides from metal by passing it through a chemical solution. See pickle.

plate
Armor constructed of large sheets of metal hammered or otherwise formed into the shape of the wearer.

plate mail
A misnomer born of mistakien victorian historians and popularized by fantasy role-playing games. Mail is defined as an armor made from metal rings. Plate mail, then, is self-contradictory. The correct historical term is plate or plate armor.

pringled
Warped out of plane (i.e. looks like a pringle chip - AKA 'tacoed'). A pringled ring is almost impossible to get straightened out without a hammer.

proof
Armour 'of proof' is made thick or hard enough to resist a shot from a bow or musket, depending on time period.

quenching
Rapidly cooling metal in oil or water. Used in certain kinds of heat treatment to increase or lessen hardness.

riveted mail
A form of maille made up of rings whose ends have been flattened, punched, and rivetted together, rather than simply butted.

sabaton
lamellar foot armor which comes to a point at the toe

scale
Armor constructed of rows of small metal, leather, or horn plates attatched to a flexible backing material such as leather or canvas.

scale mail
A misnomer born of mistaken victorian historians and popularized by fantasy role-playing games. Mail is defined as an armor made from metal rings. Scale mail, then, is self-contradictory. The correct historical term is scale armor.

scaling
Oxidation of metal due to heat, resulting in heavy oxide layers. Also, the removal of scale bears the same name.

slipandjab
The medical condition occurring when your new needlenose pliers slip off the 12ga galvy rings you are working with and jab into your flesh.

solder
An alloy with a relatively low melting point, used in soldering. Soft solders typically are a lead or tin based alloy, while hard solders are usually silver, cooper, or nickel based.

soldering
A method of joining by fusion of alloys by melting solder, then allowing it to cool and bond the joined pieces together.

spacer ring
An extra ring inserted into a weave in one row which is then treated as a regular ring when putting in the next row to cause the piece to be wider at the bottom than at the top.

speedweave
A weaving technique whose stated purpose is to decrease overall time to make a particlar weave, usually involving adding one or more preclosed rings or units of weave into the larger workpiece rather than individual open rings.

split ring
A ring cut from twice as much wire as a butted ring, for example a keyring. These rings must either be purchased or cut with modified tools.

spring hard temper
Hardest temper attainable by cold working. Not normally used for maille, as it exhibits a great deal of springback and can be very brittle and difficult to form by hand.

springback
The tendency of a tightly wound coil to expand after the coiling tension is released. This causes the coil to expand slightly, making the completed rings larger than the mandrel they were originally wound on. This can be a serious problem with very small rings not being a standard size.

surcoat
A flowing garment worn over armour from the 12th Century. Some were sleeveless, some were sleeved, it usually reached to mid-calf.

SWG
Imperial Standard Wire Guage - An old English wire measurement. Still used in US for many ferrous (iron and steel) metals and some non-ferrous metals not intended for electrical use. Based on the number of times wire was drawn through an Imperial standard draw plate to reach a given diameter.

tarnish
Discoloration of metal, typically from a layer of oxides or sulfides.

temper
v. In metallurgical terms, the act of treating a metal so as to adjust it away from maximum hardness so as to achieve a desired balance between strength and brittleness.
n. Commercial wire suppliers (and maillers) often use this term somewhat incorrectly to refer simply to the hardness of a metal. A range of terms are used to represent the spectrum of hardnesses, some of which are presented below.