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I've never been to a 'Renaissance Fair'. I don't Re-enact'. But I did play a bit of AD&D in my day, and have always had a fascination of all things medieval, so I thought it would be neat to make a suit of mail armour. Many blisters later, here's what I came up with. (There's some more pics on the Hallowe'en page.) I went into this pretty blind. My cousin in England (who attends Renaissance Fairs and Re-enacts) told me about his rather obscure hobby, and after a bit of researching on the 'Net, I found out where to get materials, and some basic instructions. The instructions were rather sketchy, so I wound up having to do some logical yet creative alterations.
The hauberk (or shirt) was from a very basic design from The Ring Lord (http://www.theringlord.com/) - instructions were included in the kit. The Ring Lord was also the place where I bought the raw material. Before you go and buy the material, check to see who your closest supplier is... shipping metal can be very, very expensive. A good source for instructions is http://www.arador.com/construction/. The hauberk essentially consisted of three rectangles (one with a square hole in the middle), stitched together. I had to do some funky math to tailor the tapered sleeves. And I then elongated the pattern to come down to the knees. If you need help, I would be more than happy to explain it via e-mail. If you buy a plain roll of wire, or coiled wire (rather than pre-cut rings) which is much cheaper, I recommend buying some high-quality wire-cutters. The wire-cutters you find in your local hardware store WILL NOT DO!!! You MUST buy high-grade wire-cutters, which cost about $70 CAD. Anything less will only result in a massive waste of time. If you choose to ignore this advise, you will learn a very hard lesson! The coif (or head-piece) was constructed by simply following a design given on the 'Net at http://www.arador.com/construction/coif1.html. I had to tweak and jimmy with it to get it right, but the final piece was a very fine fit, and would definitely prevent me from getting my throat slit by an uncanny Saracen. The chausses (or leggings) were pretty much constructed free-style. By the time I had finished the hauberk and coif, I had a pretty good sense of how the chain link behaved. I did get some help with the foot-sections (for the life of me I can't recall the site), but even that required some customizing. In case you're wondering, the chausses are attached to a belt worn around the waist, and the belt is supported by suspenders running over the shoulders. So in the end, the entire 80-pound ensemble rests on the shoulders. After wearing it for an evening, my shoulders and back ached for days... Until I get all the links and instructions posted, please feel free to contact me to get some help. As I've said before, this site is under construction, so each 'phase' is coming as soon as it can. |
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MoggyBC@telus.net with questions or comments about this web site.
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