Chainmail questions

[Realmwatcher]

I'm looking to make some chainmail.  I've found a (what seems to be) nice set of tutorials at: http://cgmaille.com/index.shtml

I've also found a ring supplier at http://theringlord.com/

Does anyone have an recommendations for suppliers, tools, or tutorials?  I've never made chainmail before.

[jcbanner]

If your making your own rings, (its cheaper, but more work.)

if you plan on working with steel wire, I would recommend to head to a farm store and buy a spool of single strand fence wire.  its a lot cheaper to buy wire in those 1/4 mile lengths then it is in 100 foot length

for making your rings, start with a 1/4 inch diameter metal rod, or larger if you want larger rings. Put two bends into the end of it.   so you'll have a shape something like this  __/-------  sorry its not better, I'm really not very good at making diagrams with keyboard characters.

on the other end of the rod, a few inches from the end, drill a hole large enough to fit the wire through.  now take some scraps of wood and make a frame that the rod will fit into so you can rotate it.   you've now made a mandrel for winding the wire onto for making coils to cut your rings from.

there are countless methods people have for cutting the rings. one that I've tried and liked is to (slightly) stretch out the coil, take a pair of wire cutters, and crimp the cut spot then twist the ring off, its slower then other methods, but not as hard on the hands.

probably the easiest method to start with is the basic 4 in 1 pattern. this one here -->http://cgmaille.com/tutorials/e4-1.shtml

one thing I also do is to make several of those 5 ring clusters as shown in the first diagram  then join them into long chains that look like step 4 on the same page as above. 

once I have several long chains, I'll lay them out and join them together. to make a large sheet.

[I. Stewart]

Try this for cutting

http://cgi.ebay.com/MAKE-SAW-CUT-chainmail-jump-rings-chain-mail-maille_W0QQitemZ220356544355QQihZ012QQ

[jcbanner]

oh wow, I REALLY want one of those! I might even start doing chainmaile more often again if I had one!

[lady serena]

The Ring Lord also has a forum that will be able to help with all you questions, and so will Maille Artisans. (Links below)
Maille Artisans has a actual turtorial page; if you are just starting out I would recommend that you buy your ring first then work into making your own. I make chain mail jewelry and sell it my store and I order all my stuff from the ring lord as 1. I don't have the space to cut rings on my own, not the way I would like to do it 2. I just dont have the time.

So here are some links for you:

http://www.theringlord.org/forum/

http://www.mailleartisans.org/

http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/

[EponaBlackhorse]

I agree with Lady Serena.  I buy my rings from The Ring Lord because their selection is incredible and the prices aren't too bad.  They have some instruction books too but I would recommend checking out Maille Artisans before buying a book.  The tutorials and weaves sections are full of great information.

[tcindie]

That ring saw is pretty darn spiffy.. though I would imagine one could be built for much cheaper than the listed selling price.