Dave’s Ramblings

Still digging pictures off an old file server and finding more and more chain mail projects that I created. Here is a Dice Bag that I created and actually sold a few dozen ‘kits’ and a number of pre-made, the Dungeons and Dragons fans went crazy over them. As well as a school in Colorado that I supplied a few hundred bucks worth of rings to for the kids for Renasance Fairs. I was never able to gain permission from the all of the kids parents that were photgraphed at the fair making them so I can’t post them. But the kids had a great time so it was time and effort very well spent.

I’ve still got the instructions for assembly around somewhere and may post them when I can find them.

These were created using the Oriental 6-in-1 weave (my instructions page)




With a pop can inside to demonstrate the interior space (yeah I know it’s unleaded pop)

Found a scan of an inlay of a celtic cross I’d created to add to my chainmail shirt and thought I’d share a picture of it to share.

I still need to make a few hours to weave it into my shirt. This was created using 14ga brass rings to outline the black rings, these were created from 14ga galvanized steel rings painted with high temp grill paint, so far with the amount of handling it has received the painting has stood up very well. My daughter has enjoyed showing off my work at school for a teacher who does a semester on the Dark Ages (Jr. High) and even after she has long since moved on the teacher requests samples of my work each year for demonstrations for her current class.

She gets a kick out of having a dad who’s a total redneck, rides a 30 year old Goldwing in spring and summer, but generally is a shirt and tie to work as a network engineer, but still makes time to learn and do strange things like creating chainmaille. Go figure. Though my plans to build a forge out back sort of got nixed by Angel as going a bit too far, I wanted to try my hand at learning how to forge my own swords and plate mail armor. For now I’ll settle for those I’ve collected thus far. But still on the lookout for a full suit of plate mail just for fun.

Every wonder how the cool looking chainmaille (chain mail) shirts, coifs and other various protective garments were made? I was doing a little clean up of one of my file servers and I stumbled across some old files I’d stashed away that may be of some interest to others. During a long and cold Wisconsin winter I took up the task of studying and mastering the creation of chainmaille, many of the different weaves that were used around the world during the Dark Ages. I now have a mid thigh length chainmaille shirt, made from 10’s of thousands of 14 gauge galvanized steel rings. This little project took me months to complete and weighs in at over 60 pounds. How did the knights and such bear such tremendous weight is beyond me. But it was fun, and I was even able to support my little hobby while I was add it, even made a few hundred bucks selling the excess rings in eBay.

So I reposted the web pages on something I called Dakar’s Armory

Some examples;

Again, take a look at Dakar’s Armory for more weave styles and instructions.

Somewhere I have drawn up instructions on how to create the rings and may post them as well. Or maybe get back into the business of selling them again.