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Joined: June 20, 2011
Posts: 1
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Location: Las Vegas
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| How difficult is it to make 1-6 ga. wire into rings. |
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| Posted on Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:22 pm |
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| I'm playing around with wire gauges trying to think of how sturdy, heavy, and durable I want my Maille to be. How difficult is it to coil 1 through 6 gauge stainless steel wire? and once you get it coiled how bulky is something like that. If anyone has tried it and found a different gauge just as strong please let me know. Thanks. |
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losthelm
 [ Grand Master Speaker ]
Joined: July 25, 2008
Posts: 603
Submissions: 0
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| Posted on Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:34 pm |
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My first question is what are you useing this for and what AR are you hopeing to get.
Usualy SCA and live steel combat use smaller rivited or welded chainmail for combat. butted usualy is 14 guage 3/8 or 5/16 for galvy so it should hold up well in stainless.
With heavy guage you may have trubble finding suppliers for material.
Depending on the size a diacro or hossfeld style bender can be used to turn bar stock in to short coils.
I would use the cheap harbor freight version insead of the expencive hossfeld parts.
Most power winding options won't have the control or torque for that size a crank handle bent into the mandrel is another option. |
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Joined: November 25, 2010
Posts: 701
Submissions: 57
Location: Es-whoy-malth B.C.
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| Posted on Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:52 pm |
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| what's the lowest gauge you've ever used? I don't think most people go lower then 10 for the most part and I've never seen armor lower then 12. I'm not sure but even with the same AR I think lower gauge will = stronger given the same ring count but lower gauge means less rings for any surface and the added weight will bring you to your knees. if you want stronger really all you need is a lower AR. Lower gauge however will block more blunt force. the other thing low gauge will help with is if a strong point is used to break the links apart then the thicker wire will hold up better. I agree though that 14g is choice but heavy you have to be one hell of a beast to wear 20 pounds all day don't kid yourself. |
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11PM
[ Ringlet ]
Joined: July 12, 2011
Posts: 1
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Location: SRCA
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| Posted on Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:33 am |
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Yeah I just finished my 12g vest. 26lbs, I think. It's going to be a pain to cut anything more than that. (by hand)
It really doesn't need to be stronger than that. Also know that the bigger the gauge, the more its going to cost, the bigger your rings will be... etc.
I assume that at 1g you will need some special setup just to close the rings. |
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Joined: May 07, 2008
Posts: 3490
Submissions: 147
Location: Germany, Herxheim
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| Posted on Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:38 am |
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| djgm wrote: | | what's the lowest gauge you've ever used? I don't think most people go lower then 10 for the most part and I've never seen armor lower then 12. I'm not sure but even with the same AR I think lower gauge will = stronger given the same ring count but lower gauge means less rings for any surface and the added weight will bring you to your knees. if you want stronger really all you need is a lower AR. Lower gauge however will block more blunt force. the other thing low gauge will help with is if a strong point is used to break the links apart then the thicker wire will hold up better. I agree though that 14g is choice but heavy you have to be one hell of a beast to wear 20 pounds all day don't kid yourself. |
As a rough rule of thumb at a given AR and shirt sizing the weight is directly proportional to the wire thickness. But the overall strength is NOT direct proportional, as other limiting parameters come into the game that must not undercut/exceeded. So if the increased workload for making a shirt with thinner wire, aka higher ring count is accepted, you'll get a much more convenient end product when going down with wire thickness.
But to be honest: Even I won't ever go thinner than 1.2mm (18swg), as long as I don't do a riveted or welded shirt (what allows higher ARs), maybe somewhen in the future. At the upper end of wire thickness range I would also never go above 1.6mm (~16swg) stainless or 2.0mm (~14swg) galvy with butted maille - due to the weight issue. And I would always fit the ring aspect ratio to the wire hardness - using 'soft' wire one should maybe even stay below an AR of four, while spring steel easily allows above five...
-ZiLi-
Maille Code V2.0 T6.5 R5.6 Ep Fper Mfe.s Ws$ Cpbsw$ G0.4-3.5 I1.6-16.0 N28.25 Pj Dacdejst Xagtw S08 Hi
Human societies are like chain mail.
A single link will be worth nothing.
A chain is of use, but will break at the weakest link.
A weak weave will have the need to replace weak links.
A strong weave will survive even with weak links included.
-'me |
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Joined: March 3, 2002
Posts: 4372
Submissions: 79
Location: tres piedras, new mexico
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| Posted on Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:57 am |
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i've worked 4ga stainless.
it's manageable.
don't expect pretty cuts unless you're the guy with a saw for 20 years.
PSA: remember to stretch.
3.o is fixing everything. |
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Joined: November 25, 2010
Posts: 701
Submissions: 57
Location: Es-whoy-malth B.C.
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| Posted on Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:03 pm |
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| 4!!!!!!! that's nuts. I'm having a hard enough time with 12. from people that I know that have tried on the armor I've made most find 14 even too heavy but 16 is like nothing to wear. jap weaves like J4in1 can be done with hella tight AR's though not as stable as J6in1. i'm curious which is stronger cuz J4in1 would have the tight ar but j6in1 is denser. guess what I'm really saying is 16 is ideal and anything lower then 12 is madness. |
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Joined: October 22, 2010
Posts: 311
Submissions: 242
Location: Madison, WI
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| 1-6 gauge |
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| Posted on Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:45 pm |
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i've worked 10awg titanium and 4awg stainless. yes, it would not work well for armor, but there are countless other applications.
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