Riprodotto per gentile concessione di Dave
Miller
La vera armatura fatta di anelli uniti si chiama "Mail(e)". Chain-mail
e' un termine di origine Vittoriana, ma tutti lo usano...
"Chain Mail"
La stile piu' comune e semplice di Mail nei GRV e' quello del grande
e piccolo anello.
Il capo piu' comune e' una sorta di T-shirt.
Materials
-
12mm dia. split/spring washers, 1000s
(1000 x 12mm rings will cover, what, about 15 inches square? So how
many will you need?
-
6mm dia. split/spring washers, twice as many
Tools
-
A set of chunky pliers
-
Another pair!
The method is simple.
-
Twist all the 12mm rings flat.
-
Twist all the 6mm rings 'open'.
-
Twist all the 6mm rings shut again, with the 12mm rings in between!
Quick tip; When twisting the rings, don't get the whole ring in the jaws
of the pliers. Get the ends of the pliers by the ends of the ring. Leave
almost a third of the ring clear between the two sets of pliers. This will
give the ring 'more space to bend' which will make the ring easier to bend
(only an issue for the first few hundred rings, before you become Charles
Atlas!!) and will reduce the likelihood of the ring shearing while you
are manipulating it, due to stresses, etc.
The commonest pattern is the square form, where the 12mm rings form
a square grid. My procedure to (slightly) aleviate boredom and despair
is to link 9 x 12mm rings (with 8 x 6mm) in a string and then roll these
round to form a 3 x 3 'patch' (using another 4 x 6mm). Form two of these
into a 6 x 3 path and two of these into a 6 x 6. Continue like this until
you have a piece big enough to hide behind. Then do it again for the back!!
Actually, I would advise first making up a sort of mini poncho of patches,
to go on your shoulders and hang down onto the chest and shoulder blades.
This will allow you to guestimate how wide to make the front and back.
Extend this to form a chain tabard and then fill in the sides. Run patches
in a belt from front to back so you can see how the fitting will go.
Hang patches down your arm from the shoulder. Stop at the elbow and
run a belt of patches around the arm and fill back as is comfortable.
Wear over a garment with a hood or a good collar. A belt will support
some of the weight at your waist.
Coif
As above but join the big rings in 'triangles', not 'squares'. Chose a
centre ring and fasten 6 rings around it in a 'hex' pattern. Fasten 12
rings around these. Proceed exponentially until you have a 'doiley' which
covers the top of your head. Fasten square patches to this around 4 of
the 6 edges, so they hang down the side of your head. Continue down to
shoulder level. Extend at over the nape of the neck for balance and style.
Hang some chain around the neck at the front.
Ring Mail
There is a thing often called Ring-Mail where metal rings are sewn onto
a fur or leather backing. As stated elsewhere, I don't sew by hand. At
all!. Here is a variantion on a theme. It looks ok, is quite speedy to
assemble and can be thonged onto various carrier garments.
Materials
-
Inch and a quarter cheap brass curtain rings (less than 5P each?)
-
6mm dia. split/spring washers, twice as many.
Tools
-
A set of chunky pliers
-
Another pair!
The method is simple.
-
Twist all the 6mm rings 'open'.
-
Twist all the 6mm rings shut again, with the brass rings in between!
A square pattern can be used, but the hex/triangle pattern looks nicer.
