[Patrick Fitzmartin]

Greetings All, First off thank you Patrick Kelly and everybody else that partipated in the "Wholesale Armor" thread. An excellent and informative read.
I have been toying with the idea of obtaining chainmaille. The biggest problem I have is finding something that will fit. I have a 40" chest and 32" waist. Everything I have looked at starts at 47" to 54" chest. Now I know all the makers say the maille will form fit because it moves but that will still be too much material for me. I have gone thru the same trouble with tunics. I have to get them altered because I wind up wearing a tent. Throw in waist belts and gear and I wind up with folds, bunches and weird looking pleats. I can just imagine what too much maille will do.
At this point I have come to 2 solutions. Buy one and alter it or make my own. From what I have read either one will be a task. I would welcome any recommedations as far as instructional material as well as observations and insights. Thank you everybody. Sincerely, Patrick Fitzmartin

[Chris Post]

These sizes look very peculiar. What kind of maille do you want - e.g. butted, rivetted, welded? And how much do you want to spend?

Here in Germany there is an excellent manufacturer of welded ring maille. See examples of it in the "Testing Armour" thread. They offer various types in six different sizes, basically from 32" to 53" chest circumference. The most typical ones are between 40" and 44" though. They all feature the "Norman Cut", i.e. very form-fitting.

The main problem with a maille that is way too big is not that it won't fit, but it's a lot of weight to carry around. And also you always pay for every ring, and of course you don't want to pay for more than you need.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

Patrick-

Chris is correct - it isn't so much an issue of it fitting, bunching, or whatever - maille doesn't act like fabric in that regard due to the structure and dynamics of the stuff. Below is a picture of a 9 y/o (friend of mine, but don't have permission to post his pic, so off with his head - sorry...) wearing my maille shirt. I'm 3 times his weight and 2 feet taller. At 6'2, 230, this comes to a finger-width or two past my wrist/palm crease, and hangs to mid-thigh. What does become an issue is the weight - he obviously doesn't need to tote all of this around with him - could do with 1/2, possibly less, just in circumference, and a lot less sleeve and length. As it is, it's 36 pounds. His would be approximately 12 to get the same coverage and density.

Just for the sake of being thorough... approx. 25,000 3/8" I.D. galv steel 14 gauge rings with brass trim. Took somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 hours... still have the chausses and coif to do. It isn't hard, just mind-numbing and time-consuming. I have a hell of a grip, though...

Hope this helps...

-Aaron Schnatterly

[Patrick Fitzmartin]

[Patrick Fitzmartin]

Greetings Aaron Schnatterly, Nice looking work sir even on him. I see what you and Chris are talking about. After I made this post I found a site called " the Ringlord" that sells kits with instructions. The prices don't look too bad and with my labor I will probaly get what I want. A bit of study brought me to the conclusion you just don't take one of these apart and put it back together again. Sincerely, Patrick Fitzmartin

[Aaron Schnatterly]