Week 2: Research

Starting this week, I have continued on with my research on the proper and most authentic way
to make this chain mail. After reviewing several sources, the most common metal used (at least
for movie productions) is aluminum wire. this is do, in part, to the fact that it is light weight,
very shinny, and easy to mold. however, it is also stated that aluminum is weaker and much
more expensive then the real thing. therefore, the next best metal that was stated is Galvanized
Steel Wire. This material is much cheaper and much easier to attain then aluminum and has the
authentic look, weight, and durability that one would have witnessed back in the middle ages.

Along with the metal used for the chain, i also needed to learn as to what the best material to

purchase in order to hand craft the armor. The first thing that is always mentioned is the

mechanism used for winding the wire into a spool, an wire winding apparatus which looks

similar to this...

Next I will need some steel cutters, two needle nose pliers without teeth (so that there wont be

any ripples in the rings) an optional heat lamp (to make molding the steal rings easier) leather

gloves (so that when the wire is spun is does not cut your hands) and construction glasses. All of

which should be easy to locate at my local hardware store (aka Home Depot).

Knowing what materials is needed is only half the battle when it comes to making chain mail. The other half is the some whatcomplicated patterns for weaving the chain. There are a few different patterns and outlines for doing such, however, all of them which has been used to craft

European chain mail (which is what I wish to make) use what is called the "4-1 European"

pattern. This pattern consists of four rings looped around a center ring, followed by the connection of these so called "units". In a rough illustration, it looks like this...