Lillie Frognot a stranger
558 posts
Location: wales


Posted:
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone here in the UK had made chain maille.
I thought people might have because it would look good to wear while spinning fire.
I've made a bit, but I can only get galvenised steel wire, it's very heavy and I'm allergic to it.
I was wondering if anyone in the UK knew where to get wire/rings from in aluminium or maybe even titanium.
I can find some where in USA but its a long way to go.

Eat when you're hungry
Sleep where it's dry
No one is ever what they seem
Gabriel King - The Wild Road


CodySILVER Member
That guy from Reno
556 posts
Location: Reno, Nevada USA


Posted:
If it's the galvenization that bothers you just soak it in vinegar, granted then it's not pritty and shiny. biggrin

Cody Canon
Controlled Burn, Reno Nevada


LurchBRONZE Member
old hand
929 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
You can get other types of wire all over the place. Try to find some welding supply shops, they'll usually carry various types of stainless wire and aluminum.

As for UK suppliers of rings I'm not sure, I can ask around a bit if you want. There are good Canadian suppliers, I'm not sure how much it is for overseas shipping though. I usually make all my own rings so the only thing I've bought was my gold.

If you're allergic to the galvy avoid it. Galvy is usually a "beginners" metal anyways or used mainly for armor purposes, its cheap and strong but it's not something you want to wear everyday. Not to mention the smell and the grody feeling.

Personally I'd go to stainless, you avoid many of the issues that aluminum has but you loose in the weight. Ti is nice, not as strong as stainless though.

#homeofpoi -- irc.newnet.net Come talk to us we're bored frown

Warning: Please Do Not Jump On The Seals


DomBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,009 posts
Location: Bristol, UK


Posted:
When I made some many years ago I bought links from a live action role play suppplier - mine was Labyrinthe at Chislehurst caves in Kent. They had a range of rings.

You can get Aluminium rings - I know https://theringlord.com/
does them, but is based in Canada. Do a Google and you'll probably find something nearer to home.

SterlingspiderBRONZE Member
Senator by day, Sith Lord by night.
128 posts
Location: Suffolk, New York, USA


Posted:
Ringlord may be Canadian but odds are you will be able to find people on the discussion board who can point you at UK suppliers. Though you may want to find people from the UK on the boards and PM them as Ringlord is based out of a commercial site. Or alternately contact the head guy from Ringlord and see what he can do for you.

I'm working on the pattern for making a scalemaille halter pretty much exactly like this precisely for the purposes of firedancing.

The pattern is a b*tch and a half to learn but the end result should be utterly spectacular with fire flickering over it I'm thinking. devil

"If the human brain were simple enough for us to understand, we would be too simple to understand it"
-Emerson M Pugh


thorFlaming Lesbian
181 posts
Location: Portland, Oregon


Posted:
ohh that lorenzo, he's more famous than he gives himself credit for ;]

definatly post on the TRL forums, we got tons of foreign (err, non north american) maillers on there, and one should be able to hook you up.

but for those in north america (shameless plug), TRL is great. i just got $100 worth of rings from em a few days ago and their material is top notch =]

Lights dancing off my skin as chains wrap round it.
Pain is in a little box and I'm so glad I found it.


mtbeerGOLD Member
ARRRR!
529 posts
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA


Posted:
Yep, TRL is the place to go. I made a scalemail vest for Burning Man this year. Talk about shiny, when I light up the poi I look like a disco ball.

"My skin is singed but it heals my heart and with glowing pride I'll wear my scars." -Davey Havok


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Some people use split rings, like keyrings to make suits.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
I found using washers and splitting them works well. You sould bo able to buy round washers from any DIY store. Just the wire cutters to cut them all.

If not, find some wire thats right and wrap it round a bar of some sort (the right width) then slide the coil off and cut them to make loops the same size.

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


thorFlaming Lesbian
181 posts
Location: Portland, Oregon


Posted:
it's increadibly expensive that way, trust me, i've been there =]

Lights dancing off my skin as chains wrap round it.
Pain is in a little box and I'm so glad I found it.


Lillie Frognot a stranger
558 posts
Location: wales


Posted:
I misplaced this thread! but now I've foung it.
Thank you allfor your information and suggestions.
I will have to investigate the ringlord site, it looks well interesting.

Sterling Spider, the halter is amazing, I cannot even begin to imagine how that is made. I have only done 4 in 1, 6 in 1 etc and box chains and stuff like that. I was meant to be making my bloke a maille shirt but I was using galvanised (wound on a Xbow bolt!) and when I had him try on what I'd done he moaned about it cutting in and being heavy and all sorts of bloke type moaning. So I reckon I'll take it apart into big peices and attatch it to his leather.
That halter would look amazing for fire spinning.
Post a picture when it's done, I'd love to see it.

Eat when you're hungry
Sleep where it's dry
No one is ever what they seem
Gabriel King - The Wild Road


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
I've just ordered a pound of bright aluminum rings from The Ring Lord and it's only costing just over £10. That's including shipping all the way over to England, I was surprised at how cheap it is smile

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


Lillie Frognot a stranger
558 posts
Location: wales


Posted:
That ain't bad.
How many do you get for a pound?

Loads I suppose, being aluminium.

Thanks.

Eat when you're hungry
Sleep where it's dry
No one is ever what they seem
Gabriel King - The Wild Road


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
3710 smile
They're 16 gauge, 1/4" internal diameter ones.

Unfortunately, it's going to take a fair while to get here, since I took the cheapest shipping option.
The UPS expedited shipping isn't very expensive though, and that only takes 3-8 days.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


Lillie Frognot a stranger
558 posts
Location: wales


Posted:
That's loads!

Good one, and ta for the info.

Eat when you're hungry
Sleep where it's dry
No one is ever what they seem
Gabriel King - The Wild Road


drakematrixSILVER Member
Maker of the Cheesecake
174 posts
Location: Akron, OH, USA


Posted:
actually, that's not a whole heck of a lot, especially depending on the weave you are doing... well, then again, I'm a mutant, and it takes a *lot* of rings to make a vest for me... even with the european 4-in-1 weave... I'm working with the stainless.. my biggst problem is that the pliers I use are jeweler's pliers that spring back open when there's no tension on them, but they are tiny for my huge hands. Still trying to find ones that spring open but are larger... preferably without teeth..

What exactly do I have to light on fire to get you to notice me?


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
I don't know, 3710 rings per pound is alot for that gauge and ring diameter, there aren't many metals that'll get you more of those rings per pound.

I have the same problem with the pliers, they seem tiny but they're the only ones I can find with no teeth. Unfortunately, the shops that used to sell a decent range of tools now seem to just sell paint, wallpaper and mdf, which is just crap.

I've yet to start on a vest, since I can't afford the wire and I have no idea what the hell I'd do with one anyway. I intend to make one eventually though.

I've been playing with alot of chains, and now have myself a half persian 3in1 permanent bracelet made from 1mm diameter copper taken from electrical wire.
I'm not entirely sure how long I'll be wearing it for, I'll probably take it off when my wrist starts turning green. It was only really an experiment to see if I could weave the ends of a chain together while it was around my wrist - it took me 2.5 hours to get the last 2 links in place biggrin

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


darkpoetBRONZE Member
Irish
525 posts
Location: Dallas.........ish, USA


Posted:
www.lonewolfforge.com

its a smithy south of dallas...you can order mail and other ironworks from them...good quality too

Jesus saves sinners and redeems them for cash and
prizes

Co-Founder of Keepers of Light

Educate yourself about the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!


LurchBRONZE Member
old hand
929 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Written by: TheBovrilMonkey


I've been playing with alot of chains, and now have myself a half persian 3in1 permanent bracelet made from 1mm diameter copper taken from electrical wire.
I'm not entirely sure how long I'll be wearing it for, I'll probably take it off when my wrist starts turning green. It was only really an experiment to see if I could weave the ends of a chain together while it was around my wrist - it took me 2.5 hours to get the last 2 links in place biggrin




Heh I'd advise against the copper permy's wink Stainless is mighty nice though, I don't like working with aluminum though, I like the weight of steel.

You think hp3 is a pain, wait till you start weaving hp4 or 5 onto itself. Right now I've got turk, fp and a 3-3 orbital chain permy on my left wrist and you're right, they can be a pain in the ass.

#homeofpoi -- irc.newnet.net Come talk to us we're bored frown

Warning: Please Do Not Jump On The Seals


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
Yeah, I had loads of fun trying to weave the ends of a hp4in1 chain together. I've only done it once so far, it took a fair while too. I suppose I should really have another go soon, I'll only get better with practice after all.

I'm quite surprised at this copper bracelet, it's been on for about a week now and there's been no trace of green on my wrist at all, the copper's slowly turning brown but that's about it so far. I think I'll keep it on for another week or so to see what happens, then cut it off.

Using the copper is the first chance I've had to make my own rings with diameters that I feel like making, which has jumped my learning up really quickly over the last few days. Suddenly I can pick a weave that I feel like learning and make rings with the right AR for it, which makes a very nice change. Favourite new weaves so far are Euro 8in1 and Dragonscale, I made myself small patches of both of them and I'll just sit there playing with them smile

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


LurchBRONZE Member
old hand
929 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
ah, yes, I've always made my own rings other than specialty stuff like gold/silver. Copper is an easy way to start for that stuff, but its expensive if you actually buy it when you can usually hunt around a little bit and come up with loads of scrap.

As for your sig about Tarzan, he shaves every day with his dad's giant knife because he doesn't like the facial hair wink Tis in the books if ya read em

#homeofpoi -- irc.newnet.net Come talk to us we're bored frown

Warning: Please Do Not Jump On The Seals


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
I got mine from electrical cable. It's not an ideal place to get it because of the time spent stripping all the plastic off it, but it's cheap enough buy plenty to play around with.
I've still not found anywhere in the uk, or even in europe to buy wire or rings in the much smaller than industry quantities that I'd be using.
I tried to get hold of some 0.8mm stainless so that I could make some more of the 5/32" and 3/32" rings that I was making bracelets out of, but the smallest amount I could buy was 25kg of the stuff - enough to last me about two lifetimes I think smile

I should have known that Tarzan shaves really, I used to have a load of Tarzan books. They seem to have got misplaced a few years back though frown
Time for a sig change then I think smile

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


LurchBRONZE Member
old hand
929 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Try and find a welding supply shop and you should be able to find 2 pound spools. Unless my math is bad .8mm is about .03" which is what the majority of my stainless is, and is a very common size for welding.



Couple examples for you if you want



https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/Defarge/turk.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/Defarge/fullp.jpg

EDITED_BY: Lurch (1113383977)

#homeofpoi -- irc.newnet.net Come talk to us we're bored frown

Warning: Please Do Not Jump On The Seals


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
Welding wire eh? I'll see what I can find.



I need to find myself some decent mandrels too at some stage, I'm using a knitting needle and a mechanical pencil at the moment.



I like that turkish round chain, it looks like it'd be really awkward to fit a clasp to neatly though, like inverted round.



I'll see if I can dig out any pics of the small amount of stuff I've done.



edit.. found some.


Non-Https Image Link


Bracelets, from top to bottom - Japanese 12in2, Byzantine, Half Persian 4in1, Full Persian 6in1.




Non-Https Image Link


A choker - Half Persian 3in1 Sheet 5.




Non-Https Image Link


Another bracelet, byzantine with a swarovski crystal in the middle




Non-Https Image Link


European 6in1 ring



The rings in the first three pictures were bought from the ring lord - they're 20 gauge stainless steel and either 5/32" or 3/32" internal diameter.

The ring in the last picture was the first thing I made using rings I'd wound myself, it's 24 gauge steel wire that was wrapped around a coat hanger, so I'm not sure of the ID of those rings.
EDITED_BY: TheBovrilMonkey (1113407964)

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


LurchBRONZE Member
old hand
929 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Nice nice, I love a nice tight byz, loose byz and box annoy me.

The turk isn't that bad, theres a way to connect a clasp to it by dropping it down to two rings instead of three, I just solved the problem by making it a permanent.


Non-Https Image Link



Non-Https Image Link



Non-Https Image Link


Welding wire is the way to go. It's also a good supply for some other types of wire if you, you can get copper coated steel cheaply but I wouldn't recommend it. Aluminum also, and titanium if you hunt around a bit. You'll want to be asking for Stainless mig wire. Make sure they don't try to sell you anything weird like flux cored gasless wire.

something like these guys https://welduk.com/Results1.asp?Category=34

#homeofpoi -- irc.newnet.net Come talk to us we're bored frown

Warning: Please Do Not Jump On The Seals


pjmember
277 posts
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA


Posted:
A friend of mine made a small sample of titanium chainmaille a few years back. Was a total biatch to work with, but the result could be confused with Mithril.

-p.

TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
I am now the very proud owner of a captive inverted round permanant bracelet, made in 20 gauge 5/32" titanium rings, it took maybe an hour and a half to make it, another 45 minutes to join the ends together around my wrist.
I had to keep getting up to answer the phone then starting again though, which was so incredably annoying angry
I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Written by: pj


Was a total biatch to work with




Yeah, titanium is a pain in the backside to work with, until you get used to how springy it is. It's not too bad after a while though.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
Oooo Bov I'd like to see that biggrin

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!



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