Now i'm going crazy...I'm building a chainmail

[Chris B]

hey everyone,
i wanna use this thread to note the progress on my new project:

building a chainmail


i began on feburary 24th by connecting the first two links.
today i have woven in the last few of my first stock of 500 rings.
i'm proceeding well, though my hands hurt very much, yesterday.

today i'll buy another bunch of 1000 rings to continue with.
i'll need aproximately 7500 rings in total. this being a rough guess the number could of course rise a lot. if later i decide to make it longer and with neck and sleaves i might need 14000-20000 rings.

this image shows how far i was yesterday:
http://misc.dd3d.de/mail.jpg

today the piece is allready twice as big :D

[skyhawk223]

I just don't understand...

[Alex]

You're not crazy, you're just... um... crazy, yeah.

[Chris B]

skyhawk, the idea is to construct a mail as worn by knights and soldiers around 1000AD

[moovok]

And the idea would be: WHY?

[Drakath]

lol

I'm curious if you'll keep it up.... :)

[Proximo]

Originally posted by moovok
And the idea would be: WHY?

Perhaps because he can? ;)

[Chris B]

mike, i'm someone who might be called re-enactor. i run around on markets and fairs pretending it was somewhen in the early middel ages, wearing medieval garment, weaponary. and soon i will hopefully be clad in a chainmail. :)

armin, it's an obsession - once you have begun you must go on...
oh, just this ring...only on more....only this row.....
it's hard to resist the temptation to weave... :D

graham, yeah, that too :D

i'm making good process , the piece is about 7 times as big now

[General Phoenix]

I used to work with a guy who sold chainmail - he made pretty good money on each suit, but it took him forever to finish a piece. Every year, there's a Renaissance Festival here in Texas, not far from where I live, and I usually go a few times a year. I can definitely appreciate the time and skill required to construct something like this, and I'd love to buy a set, but I can only afford the occasional sword. I'm up to three now...

Keep it up, Chris -and when you're done, let's see a photo of you wearing it, too! :D

[Kakaze]

Chris is part of the SCA now?

[Fëanor]

awsome! one of my co-workers is working on a chainmail shirt too. he's got the neck, shoulders and about half the chest area done on his.

[moovok]

Originally posted by XmESs
oh, just this ring...only on more....only this row.....

You can just picture it now:

"MANY RINGS TO RULE THEM. MANY RINGS TO FIND THEM. MANY RINGS TO BRING THEM ALL. AND IN THE DARKNESS BIND THEM."

Chris Backmann's LORD OF THE CHAINMAIL. In cinema's everywhere from 2015 :D

If you enjoy it, go for it. Can't wait to see it finished. When you do, it would be great as Pheonix says, to see it in action :)

[Kai]

real weapon Re-enactment or Safe weapon?
(I used to do Safe here.. Fools and Heroes + Labyrinth)

I remember one F&H where a continginent of Belgium Re-Actors took part...
we had the latex weapons.. they had real ones????

[Chris B]

update: i bought a bag of 1000 rings yesterday and i'm allready done with them.
judging the piece i have now (about 13x47cm) i am liekly to need a lot more rings than planned. in general they say a mail is between 15-20k rings, as i posted earlier. well, my rings are smaller than the average - 10mm as opposed to 12 or even 15, which means that i`ll have a lot more work to do. but that's fine, i can live with that. i'm calculating 15000 rings for a shirt shaped like a muscle-shirt now.
that i did a thousand rings in just 2 days makes me hope to finish the thing really soon (two months, that is) :)

rick, our medieval "season" begins in march/april and end in december. we'll probably be visiting 5 or more fairs this year. unlike texas we have the advantage of having castles standing around :D
actually it is not that difficult to just connect the rings, it is however very time consuming and therefor many ppl don't even start to make one.
if you want to look into it, try www.tempora-nostra.de - they have a pretty good tutorial there and actually they might have an english version too.
for the beginning all you need are two pairs of pliers and a couple of rings.

after two days your skin doesn't burn anymore and after four your joints start to ache... :D

chris, part of the SCA? what exactly might that be?

feanor, i won't be making sleaves and neck for now. as i said i'm going for a muscleshirt shape. a big tube for the thorax held by two strips that run over the shoulders. but i can always make it bigger of course. wish your collegue good luck from me, please :)

mike, lol, thanks. i will make sure to post photos as soon as possible. in fact i will have someone take photos of me in my current garment this saturday. this includes the pants and tunic my liz made for me, the gugel (a kind of cloak that covers head and shoulders and has a very long tip), the fur neck i got from a friend, the leather purse i made myself, and some accessory... you'll see :)

chris, i'm only re-enacting to promenade on fairs and markets - i'm not actually fighting with my sword (a cheap two handed deco piece). i must say that i find LARP-players a bit weird. dunno, running through the forrest with a latex sword sounds odd in a way. besides, i think that the latex swords are far to expensive. for the same price i can get a steel sword that will actually not break when you club it on someone's head :D
yesterday at the shop some LARP-player told me that he wanted a chainmail too but couldn't afford it currently. i suggsted to make it himself but he insisted that he couldn't "bolt" the rings and he must have one of these.
then he told me that he plays the role of a healer in the game.
a mere healer with a mail that many a lord couldn't able to afford...hmm...

[moovok]

After you make the chainmail, is there anyway you can make me Sauron's helmet? :) You know, if you have a spare minute? :) hehe

[Proximo]

Or an Uruk-hai.

[Chris B]

i'm not a smith, mike...not yet ;)
not an alchemist either!


i do however know of two germans who built the complete mail by hand

[Kakaze]

SCA= Society of the Creative Anachronism.

People who form kingdoms and romp around with homemade chainmail and weaponry.

[Chris B]

a clear "no" then :)

[Drakath]

Hm, you can build the chainmail in 3D after finishing the real one, ring by ring...

[Chris B]

lol, i bet my comp would die ;)

[Chris B]

ok, let me quickly show you how building the mail works:

the idea is that every ring links to 4 other rings. we call this 4-in-1-technique.
below you can see how this will result in many a row of rings. the rings that ly in one line do not link to each other but to their neighbours of the next row.

http://misc.dd3d.de/rings.jpg

[Guinan]

That is SO cool and intrinsic! I applaude your enthusiasm and dexterity!!
I got to see a demonstration of how chain mail was made at a Medieval Times resturant recently. It looks incredibely tedious, but the finished product must be extremely rewarding!

[Alex]

*Itching for photos*

[Chris B]

guinan, thank you. thank you indeed :)

you are absolutely right, it is a dull job to do, but with every ring you get closer to a final goal that man ppl don't even try to reach. that is incredibly rewarding :)


shui, the photos arte coming. we took a lot of them digitally, but i don't know when my brother will upload them :)

[Chris B]

tadaa

http://misc.dd3d.de/garment.jpg

[moovok]

STARK! It's you! :)

Sorry, its the way the hood looks :)

[Guinan]

LOL! Very nice outfit..
There is a renissance fair here in Miami in a couple weeks. Can you make me a plus size outfit and ship it here by then? :D

[Chris B]

lol

guinan, i'd surely like to do so, but unfortunately i can't :(
as i have said earlier liz made tunic and pants for me, i can't sew myself, 'm afraid.
if i could i would indeed like to.

what you can do, though: try ebay. they sell a real lot of medieval garment and accessories for very low prizes. :)

[Sess]

Originally posted by Guinan
LOL! Very nice outfit..
There is a renissance fair here in Miami in a couple weeks. Can you make me a plus size outfit and ship it here by then? :D

well I could make one but the way russian mail works you'll never get it in time :evil:

ps: I wouldn't call 7 euro for a hood low prices.

(I'm working on an outfit for me too. expect photos this summer/autumn)

[Chris B]

what i can get for you are: horns, leather purses, furs, mail. i could indee get skirts and shirts and pants as well, but the prices would be a lot higher than what i had to pay.

[Chris B]

ah yes, i can get hoods as well :)
't were €15,50 though, not €7

[Sess]

details :D :oreo:

seriously, I have a great idea for an outfit... you'll see :)

[Sess]

oh btw I didn't mention it here yet did i?

I got myself a CROSSBOW

(knowing my experience with knives sticking in my body, I shouldn't have)

anyway

now I'm armed and dangerous

[Chris B]

i wanna try the chainmail with your crossbow, btw... :D

once it is complete, that is

[Sess]

sure.
we put it on jens and then you can shoot ;)

[Chris B]

lol

[Alex]

Your chainmail is cool :D The crotch is invincible!

[General Phoenix]

Well, you have to protect your assets, right? :)

[Kakaze]

How does crotch protection help protect his assets?

[Guinan]

Originally posted by XmESs
lol

guinan, i'd surely like to do so, but unfortunately i can't :(
as i have said earlier liz made tunic and pants for me, i can't sew myself, 'm afraid.
if i could i would indeed like to.

what you can do, though: try ebay. they sell a real lot of medieval garment and accessories for very low prizes. :)

That's OK. I was kidding.. :D I did get my daughter an outfit at a costume shop though. It's harder to find the plus sized online.. Maybe they will have clothing at the fair, most usually do.

[Chris B]

i wouldn't buy garment and equipment on fairs, their prizes - at least here in germany - are way off limits. on ebay you can cut better deals. :)

i'll go buy more rings today...by the weekend the piece should have doubled in size.

[Kakaze]

Chainmail=manly crocheting?

I'm verklempt, discuss.

:D

[Chris B]

on a sidenote:
is anyone interested in necklaces and bracelets made of rings? i will be making some for sale :)

[Chris B]

ookay, got the rings!

i've woven in another 200 or so allready and will continue later on...

[Alex]

now I'm armed and dangerous

Ah yes... when Baggy Jeans was no more than a little spark she offered to be "the girl with all the weapons."

[Chris B]

got the first 500 of 2000 rings nailed down...

[General Phoenix]

You think costumes are expensive at those fairs? Try buying a sword for a reasonable price...

[Proximo]

There are places. I just got a samurai set for £90. 1 Wakizashi, Katana and Tanto in a ncie emerald green. Nifty.

[Chris B]

rick, for swords that you can fight with you pay aproximately 299,- € (equals $) in stores.
on markets you might get the same sword directly from the smith for as little as 200€/$.
besides, you can barter with them on fairs ;)

if you want a decorational sword, their prices atart at 49€ here.

i saw some very nice stuff on ebay.com, but most sellers don't ship internationally! :(

[Chris B]

okay, 1000 down, 1000 to go.

by tomorrow these second 1000 will be gone as well. and i'm still so far from being done.

[Chris B]

update: i wove the main piece together - the "hose" that will cover the chest is complete. well, not exactly complete, it's not long enough, but that'S the last step.
next step is to make two dummies for the shoulders...

[Chris B]

update: the strings are done and attached.
unfortunately i made the "chest-hose" too narrow, guess i gotta widen it a bit.

the way it is now it would be a good top for a girl ;)

[Chris B]

ok, so that's sorted out. not so tight anymore.

next week i will try to get new rings...

[Proximo]

We need pictures soon. :)

[Chris B]

guess i gotta carry the thing to my parents then, they've got a digicam. in fact they've got 4 (!?)

tonight i shalt return with photos :)

[moovok]

can't wait

[Chris B]

http://misc.dd3d.de/kettenhemd.jpg

here we go. it's of course gonna be much longer ;)

[Proximo]

:...:

[moovok]

Not saying you have them, and I would never dare, but...

to me, the first thing when I saw that image was MAN TITS! cause it looks like a metal bra. No offence matey :D

Looks nice though

[Chris B]

i was waiting for someone to say that! :P

as i said, it will grow larger. and by saying it i mean the mail and nothing else! ;)

[Guinan]

Originally posted by XmESs
i was waiting for someone to say that! :P


eh, someone beat me to it. ;)

Our renisance faire starts this Friday. I got a cloak off ebay to wear. :)

[Chris B]

goody, a cloack is a good thing to have - somehow the weather's always bad on these days... :O

our first one is on april 19th

[Guinan]

It's nice and hot here already. :) I'm thinking a cloak is going ot be hot. I got my 11yr old a maiden costume too. I"ll post pictures after Saturday.

[Chris B]

yeah, well...miami... here it's still kinda chilled. 10°C or so. ;)

looking forward to see these photos :)

[Guinan]

Ok here are a few pictures. I need to develop the rest of them...

These are hosted on Geoshitties, so you will have to cut and past them to see them.

First, a little background, this was held at
Vizcaya (http://www.vizcayamuseum.org) , an Italian Museum and gardens here. It's a beautiful place, but sadly, this was the renaissance Faires last year here. :( The ppl at Vizcaya complained of all the damage done to the grounds after the faires here. So anyway, here are the pictures!

Me and my daughter at the entrance to Viscaya
http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/faire1.jpg

One of the 'locals'. ;)
http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/faire3.jpg


and lastly, a picture of minstrils.... They were good. :)
http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/faire4.jpg


Oh, here is the link to the Italian Renaissance Historians (http://www.italianrenaissancefestival.com/)


I'll post the rest when I get my film back.




edit: Cleaned up the post a bit. /edit
:o

[Chris B]

the only renaisssance festival in the western hemisphere? i daresay no!
http://www.burg-satzvey.de/

apart from that it seemed to be a very nice event indeed, allthough my friend and i are more situated between 1250 and 1300 :)

[Guinan]

They are the only ITALIAN Renaissance festival in the western hemisphere......

We are going to another Renaissance next Saturday. :)
I bought a chemise and bodice at yesterdays, and just got a skirt on Ebay.
Hopefully the skirt will get to me in time.

[Chris B]

i'm not too well informed about the renaissance but where's the difference between italy, france and germany?

[Guinan]

ummmmm..... language? :D
How about jousters? There were none for this faire, but there wasn't a place for jousting either. :( I'm going to an English faire next Saturday, and there are jousters advertised....

[Sess]

you know chris, I wouldn't say "No" to that "bra" :D
though that's a lot more than 1K rings and a lot more than 10 euro therefore... :eek:

[Chris B]

perhaps you'll get one for your next birthday, made with love :)

[Sess]

Originally posted by XmESs
made with love :)

that usually applies for children... :eek:

[Chris B]

who's the always children making bunny-rabbit of doom here, you or me? ;)

[VayVay]

Sheesh you two, get a room ;) /joking

And I think your chainmail bikini is dead sexy, Chris. ;) /again joking/ ;)

[moovok]

No, it is a chainmail bikini :) And Chris knows it!

[Guinan]

ROFL!
How far along are you with the chainmail now?

[Chris B]

i didn't do any on it, i'm afraid. waiting for my friend jens to finish his first 1500. we'll probably get new rings tomorrow, though.
i'll buy at least two- probably threethousand :)

jason and mike i'm gonna slap you with the mail, when it's done ;)

[moovok]

He's gonna start the chainmail tights and chainmail headband.

Sorry, just pictured Chris wearing his Chainmail bikini, with chainmail tights and a chainmail headband :D

[Guinan]

Finally got my film back. These are also from Saturday, after I bought a chemise and bodice and put them on in a shop. ;)

http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/pic000.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/pic001.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/pic002.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/thegrandinquisitor/pic003.jpg

[Sess]

I finished my outfit btw.
it's a corset and a skirt out of potatoe bag material. just a lot finer.

well linen anyways.

[Guinan]

Pictures please. :)

[Chris B]

i second that :D

[VayVay]

Originally posted by XmESs
jason and mike i'm gonna slap you with the mail, when it's done ;)

LOL, I guess that's better than being challenged to a duel by being "slapped" with a plate gauntlet. :)

Hehe... Chainmail tights and headband... be sure and paint them pink. :)

[moovok]

Originally posted by VayVay
Hehe... Chainmail tights and headband... be sure and paint them pink. :)

Don't give Chris ideas. I'm sure he'll paint 'em pink now :D

[Chris B]

the plated gauntlet is but 500 gramms heavy, this mail is gonna be 4 kilo!

[Chris B]

uff, the dullest phase of the job has begun - since the piece is long enough to wrap around my chest it has to be lengthened now so it will reach to my hips.

in the first phase you can see process quickly, but in the second phase progress is scarcely visible...and yet, i have not surrendered. almost 5500 rings are woven into the mesh, only few remain of the 2000 i had bought days ago.

[moovok]

how many rings all around your waist? (1 row)

[Chris B]

180

but to add one row you only connect every second ring by a new one. thus you need 90 rings for each new row.

[Sess]

I'd much enjoy to post pictures
but

a) I don't know how to put the tape in the photocamera
b) by the time the tape would be full it'll be january already. I'll rather make some this summer.

[Chris B]

the friend i mentioned bought all rings the shop had to sell - 13.000
no more supply problems *g*

[Kakaze]

Your camera runs on tape, Liz?


:chuckles:

[Chris B]

my two camera bodies do as well. hail the negative - at least by owning it you can prove that you own a piece or photography.

now if you only take holiday photos...

[Kakaze]

So cameras in Europe run on tape? I never knew that.


:chuckles more:

[Chris B]

i can but shake my head with a sad smile on my lips...


anyways,
5500 rings woven in..the thing is getting heavy

[Kakaze]

YOu can what?

[Chris B]

i can make a chainmail, which is what this topic is about :)

[Chris B]

the work continues...

got abother 2000 rings to work with.

[Sess]

nah chris, you're normal if you make a chainmail.

you're crazy if you make pink chainmail tights and a chainmail crotch-protector

[Chris B]

did i emntion i'll be wearing a skirt? :D

[Chris B]

1/3 of the mail reaches down to my hips allready....i`m getting there quickly now!