[Felix R.]

What do you think of this riveted maille.

[James Barker]

If you are wondering did flat maille come with round rivet heads instead of wedges then the answer is yes; in fact it is more common in extant examples:

Museum of London; 14th century



Leeds Museum; 16th century:

[Jeremy V. Krause]

And yet the difference in appearance between historical pieces and reproductions is glaring. All attempts are really kind of sub-standard. Only Erik Schmid can produce authentic looking reproduction maille at a very, very high price.

Jeremy

[James Barker]

Jeremy is correct no cheap made maille really has captured the total look.

[Felix R.]

Thanks for the pics. The thing is really, that this cheap maille, though riveted is far away from the original. The example of the 14th cent looks like flat punched ring mixed with round ring riveted. Is that correct?

[James Barker]

I think it was flat punched ring mixed with round ring riveted now that you mention it. That too is common place.

[David Drake]

How about this riveted chainmail? Looks nice enough. What do you think? I believe that the inner diameter of rings is 8mm,and the diameter of wire used is 1,0mm.

[Felix R.]

Hello, the riveted section looks quite good to me, especially in the overlap as it is not too big. But the inner diameter to wire thickness ratio is off to me. Also I like my aventails more dense and round in appearance.

When I finish my aventail I will post a picture it is of alternated solid and flat ring wedge riveted rings.

I read in a German forum about the tinning of original maille shirts. I think with something like this it would look much better, I always wondered why the riveted section was so perfectly blending into the ring, things I didn´t see on modern reproductions. Tinning might be the answer.

[Jared Smith]

I would settle for either the reproduction wedge or round rivet head versions. I take no position on the issue, but have read some articles and opinions that some of the surviving links show evidence of mixed construction (welded rings, punched rings, mixed solid and riveted, evidence of hand formed wire rather than flat links, etc.) and even speculation that rust and deterioration may be giving some surviving mail a more beautifully rounded shape at the joint area today than it originally had when it was made.

I bought a starter coif kit for wedge rivet construction almost exactly one year ago from Forth Armoury. They have since discontinued their business. Since then, I have been trying to locate rivet rings being offered as loose solid flat rounds and matching pre-punched rivet rounds in an appropriate mild carbon steel. The Ring Lord has been promising to develop and offer them for a while. If someone is offering suitable steel rings for the aspiring mail maker please identify and list the source!

[Dan Howard]