How to Make Your Own Medieval Chain Maille

By �Maeve of Stonehaven� Chaos

And �Matt the Mad� Death





How to Make Your Own Medieval Chain Maille

Chain maille is light weight armour made of small links of steel wire. In the Middle Ages, it was worn by those who wanted mobility more than full-body protection. Herein I will detail the materials necessary and the directions to follow for making your own medieval chain maille.


Materials:

• Small bolt cutters
• Two (2) pair of needle nosed pliers (bent nosed preferred)
• Pair of sturdy leather work gloves
• Spools of 14 gauge galvanized steel wire
• Two foot length of wood (2x4)
• Two (2) metal brackets with holes large enough for dowel to pass through(recommended over wooden brackets)
• Metal dowel with hole drilled through one end (recommend dowel diameter of 5/16)
• Power drill and chuck key

How to Make Links:

1) Assemble mandrill from the wood and dowel as shown below. (Actually bending the dowel and putting a handle on it is not necessary.)








2) Insert end of wire through hole in dowel and wind wire around dowel. My brother and I, after some serious muscle effort, decided that it was easier all the way around to chuck the end of the dowel into a power drill and let the drill wind the wire for you, all you have to do is guide it. We recommend sturdy leather work gloves for this, to protect your fingers.


3) Cut the two ends of the coil so that you can pull it free from the dowel.





4) Pull ends of coil to space out links for easier cutting.





5) Use the bolt cutters to clip links off the coil.





6) Prepare links by either opening them further or closing them.



How to Make European 4-in-1 Chain Maille

1) Close 4 links. To close links, hold them with pliers and twist shut.





2) Place all 4 closed links on an open link and close it to make a 4-in-1 unit. This is your basic building block for chain maille.






3) Make lots of 4-in-1 units.




4) Using an open link, connect two 4-in-1 units.





5) Continue in this fashion.





6) Next connect two chains together.





7) Continue in this fashion.


A maille shirt can be made simply from three rectangles; a large one to go around the chest, and two small ones to go over the shoulders. A coif or hood can be made from a large coaster like circle and a rectangle. Both are just the thing for the discriminating medieval student.



Places on the Internet where you can find out more:


http://members.xoom.com/colluphid/index.html
(One of the best sites on the Internet. Has great links to other sites) This link is broken, but I have the instructions on how to make the Chainmaille hauberk that used to be there. I'll be posting them here, soon.

http://www.concentric.net/~vistar/arador/armour1.html


Books from Barnes and Noble:

Edge, David and John Miles Paddock, Arms & Armour of The Medieval Knight; New York: Crescent Books, 1988.

Ffoulkes, Charles, Armourer & His Craft: From XIth to the XVIth Century; New York, Dover Publications, 1988.

(Excellent book on armour crafting. Covers tools and techniques.)




The graphics on this site were taken from other chain maille sites. As soon as I recall (or find again) those contributing sites I will give them the full credit they deserve.