How To Make Chainmail

Chain mail (also written as chainmail) was a more protective outfit worn by ancient soldiers that evolved to offer more defense than leather or padded garments. The material is a mesh or matrix of metal rings. This structure is meant to offer protection from stabbing weapons such as knives or even arrows. There are varying degrees of chain mail, which are differentiated by how many rings are interlinked. The material is more flexible and lightweight the looser the mesh, but won't offer as much protection as a more complex construction. Naturally, the more complex forms of chain mail are better at protecting the wearer, but get heavier and stiffer.

Once plate mail and suits of armor were invented, chain mail wasn't worn as much, but still was used as an under-suit to some of these new forms, or was used in places where the suit pieces came together in spots like joints to offer more protection in the breaks or gaps in the armour plating.

In the modern day, you can still find historical recreationists making traditional chain mail at Medieval and Renaissance Fairs. Those who shuck oysters often wear a glove or gloves which incorporate chain mail as that prevents them from cutting their hands as they slice open the touch muscles that keep shellfish closed. Chain mail has also been adapted to offer protection to SCUBA divers who swim around or study sharks.

Chainmail can be crafted so delicately and lightly as to be used for making jewelry, or it can be made to withstand the impact of sharp and bladed weapons. A lot has to do with the type of rings used to make the maille and the density of the matrix formed.

Some craftspeople make their own rings for chainmail. Metal stock (wire) can be wound around a dowel using a lathe and then the large springs formed can be clipped apart to make rings. Some people who choose to make their own chainmail order jump rings in the metal and diameter they wish from commercial manufacturers, preferring to carry some extra expenses in exchange for saving time and labor. For jewelry, sterling silver or gold wire might be used, but for historical armor, steel or iron is used.

When you talk about chain mail, you often hear numbers being used to describe it. Phrases like "four-on-one" or "six-on-one" refers to the density of the maille. What is being described when you say "four on one" is a structure whereby each ring in the matrix will have four other rings joined to it. A ten-on-one mail is extremely dense, with each ring have ten different rings fastened to it. That's the type of density that will stop a high-speed arrow or crossbow bolt.

Since most of us don't need to worry about wearing shielding in case of knife or sword attack, chainmail isn't something that's part of the every day modern world. However, it still looks and feels kinda cool, so it's found a new home in modern accessories.

Chain mail can be used to make earrings, bracelets, belts, necklaces, bikinis and just about anything else you imagine (and are willing to pay for). It turns out to also be a very sturdy and good material for making hacky-sacks. You can often find chain mail artists at street and craft fairs, adapting the metal mesh to just about anything their customers want.