I think that I'll start a Zombie Apocalypse store
 

Here's the first item that I'd sell.

Hah! One of my friends used to cut links and link his own chainmail.
It gets heavy after you get a decent sized sheet going.

You should do duct tape armor too.

http://zombie-forum.com/zombie-blog/...tape-armor.jpg

That 11 Gauge galvanized steel in the picture would be for the fast zombies, that you can't outrun anyway. Let them chow down and they just aren't getting through. I'll call it "The Human Tank." It's just galvanized fencing wire, that I got from Home Depot.

I've got some 16 Gauge hard aluminum on the way, that weight about a third of the equivalent steel wire. The place I ordered it from also sells spools of heavier gauge aluminum, steel, stainless, titanium, and niobium wire. My calculations show that it'll take roughly 30,000 rings to make a full chainmail shirt and coif, so aluminum is the only thing I would try. I also need a much faster and better way of cutting the wire than bolt cutters.

My friend used an old fashioned hand drill with a rod in the chuck. He wound the wire around it until he had a dozen or so wraps and then cut & linked them. It's still not a fast process, but it was easier than cutting it link by link.

Or you could try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTTSTKesjGQ

Oh, and for cutting... there's The Ringinator

$450 for that badboy, but if you're serious about making chainmail :idk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYCmuwovaao

Soda tabs...

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/12/09/armor-2.jpg

The tensioning rig isn't a bad idea, but I'll likely continue to do it by hand anyway. I made a hand cranked mandrel, like his, that lets me wind almost two foot long coils at one go. The rod I wind around is a 5/8" steel bar, that I drilled a hole through with my drill press.

I've also looked at The Ringinator and several other ring cutting rigs. The Ringinator doesn't even come with the drill you need to drive the thing, for a cost of $450.00. For about $50.00 I can buy a jeweller's saw and the chuck for it, clamp it into my Dremel, and build a clamp that will work like The Ringinator. I figure that I'll either feed the coils through a piece of copper or plastic pipe with a slot cut into it, to take it past the jeweller's saw blade that will cut it.

Oh, and when it comes to links I've got some good ones too :)

http://theringlord.com/cart/

My friend used to mess around with that stuff too. He never got very far before getting bored though.

Well I did say 30,000 rings, didn't I? :lol:

I guess it helps when you have some projects in mind.

That should shield him from all sorts of things, including vaginas.

My first thought! Pussy repellent for sure

Trust me; there's always a woman who will find something sexy on a guy.

Based on my experience though, you don't want the woman who finds THAT sexy. Ever been to a SCA event? Kinda like going to a Harley meet, but without the strippers.

Whatever you fucks... I think that could be the basis for a killer halloween costume... I have a feeling that guy's not wearing it to hit the clubs and shit...

The Hallowe'en costume thing is what got me started. I did a Medieval rig for a party this year. Just had to leave my longbow at home, unless I wanted to get arrested. Also doesn't hurt that I know a girl who rather enjoys costumes.

Just make sure no one at the party asks her out while you're there with her :whatwhat:

Ever been punched with a chainmail gauntlet? Tends to discourage further incursions. :lol:

My roommate told me about a friend of his who was doing Ren Fair. He left the grounds to hit Ye Olde ATM at a convenience store some miles away. He was wearing a chainmail shirt underneath a silk overshirt and chainmail gauntlets at the time.
A guy came up to him at the ATM and tried to hold him up with a knife.
The exchange went something like this:

Mugger: Give me the money!
Sir Knight: Haha..no... :lol:

The mugger takes a swipe Sir Knight's torso, slashing his fine overshirt and sliding harmlessly off his chainmail
This angered Sir Knight and he proceeded to backhand the offending ruffian with his chainmail gauntlet clad hand. Broke the muggers jaw :lol:

Moral of the story: Do not fuck with a man in tights (particularly if he's also wearing 6-in-1 steel chainmail armor)

The four foot long broadsword might also serve as disincentive too ;)

That has to be an urban legend.

Yeah, probably is, but it's still the sort of thing that brings a smile to my face :)

You'd think, but no, I believe it actually happened.
Not to say it wasn't embellished at some point, but you know how that goes. This is Texas, after all.

It's Texas. If it was embellished then it would have been Chuck Norris and he'd have cut the guy in half with his hand.

Here's the back of a chainmail shirt that I'm making for a friend's 5 year on son.

Can you make a glove?

I need oyster shucking gear.

JC

It'll be a while before I'm proficient enough to do something that detailed. It takes a lot of expansions/reductions in the mail pattern and would require rather small links. The links would probably have to be 1/3 the size I'm working with.

You can see the sort of detailed work it requires by checking these guys out:

http://www.summitglove.com/glove.php?gid=1140&aid=4

*EDIT* It is in the plans to try making gauntlets and a coif after I finish this project though, so I'll let you know ;)

It's 100% true.

I read it on the internet.

Getting there. The back is done and I've added the shoulder straps. The front gets made and then added to that, by linking it into the straps and the sides of the back. After that I fill in the collar area, to make it round, but leaving a slit that makes it easier for the kid to get his head through.

Cool. I don't want to buy one from just anybody.

JC

I've got a smaller mandrel rod that should make rings that are roughly 3/8" OD, that would likely work for what you want. It wouldn't stop you from jamming a shucking knife clean through your hand, because the links aren't sealed, but it would certainly save you from random slices. I might get a small quantity of stainless wire, later on, to see how that works.

C'mon Bennett....you don't want to SHOOT me....you want to stick a KNIFE in me...and tweeern it!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k0dbd3Dkyb...MMANDO-001.png

That was a sweater. His mother just dropped every other stitch. She wasn't very good at it, you see.

I found a pretty good shop for all your Zombie Apocalypse needs:

http://www.strongblade.com/

It's beginning to look like the only survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse are going to be Rick's group and one five year old kid from Canada.

Here's my ring cutting rig and the armour, just before I start final assembly.

And here's the final product.

Not bad, sir. :dthumb:

Thanks :)

Now I've got to build my variable wire gauge and coil diameter cutting rig, so that I can get to work on my own stuff. It will have to be variable speed, too, if AMJ ever has a hope of getting a stainless steel oyster shucking glove.

Oh dear Lord....I had to stop when I saw a link to their "LARP and Foam" page :skep:

I wish we could shoot larpers on sight.

:rockwoot:

I wish I didn't know WTH that meant

Then stick to drooling over this. It might just be my next purchase:

http://www.strongblade.com/prod/sbch-stk-zatoichi.html

Oh, come on now. Dungeons and Dragons players need SOMEONE they can laugh at too.

Actually, I DID sorta like this one myself :skep: But I can't quite get past the whole "Nerd from Comicon LARPing with a sword" deal

I did a little reading about these guys and they started out by making their own swords, domestically, for themselves. They then grew into a business and ended up sourcing offshore manufacturing, to turn out the swords, and started selling swords by major manufacturers like CAS Hanwei. The LARP stuff came way later and is all 3rd party. If they can make money on it, good for them.

Sort of splits the difference between traditional katana and 'Book of Eli' style willow leaf blade.

Well I received my Christmas presents to myself, yesterday, from Strongblade. Unfortunately it looks like the scabbard of one was damaged in shipping, so they're going to send me a new scabbard. I got the two, below. One zombie eye poker and one zombie decapitator.

I'm also trying other chain weaves now, to build the skill. Unfortunately I burnt out my first blade by being lazy about lubricating it, so on to the second. Cutting will be much more reliable once I build my adjustable ring size cutting rig.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/attachmen...1&d=1355488407

Get the helmet and your set to do some Monty Python LARPing in your own front yard now :rockwoot: :lol

Fetchez la vache.

LARPers use foam.

Psychotics use steel.

:lol Psychotics

"Know thyself" ;)

Now I just have to work out the best way to do the thumb. It involves a 45 degree weave, which has been busting my brain. Even doing "Dragonscale", which is a captive ring weave, is easier on the head.

How the hell did you get Rhianna to pimp your stuff?!?!?! I mean, giving her the false impression it would work against Chris Browns pimp hand was a smooth move...but DAYUM man! :rockwoot:

Same way you get her to drop her pants; a big blunt and a bottle of Hennessy.

Now I've started making my personal anti-zombie suit out of 12 gauge bright aluminum. Anodizing: It's not just for motorcycles anymore.

Nice design! You should do one with a gold lion rampant on a field of azure. :D

*insert TBBT orbiting particles bumper here*

That was actually my clan's armourial bearing, some 20+ years ago. The current clan chief's bearing is this bloody thing with a heart, a couple of nails, some crowns, and a deer's head that I wasn't going to try to do in 1/2" wide rings.

And I don't do super hero costumes :p

Oh poo...there goes my Flash chainmail. :rolleyes:

I finally got a halfway decent cutting rig put together. By dropping down to the basement a few times, yesterday, I managed to cut something like 6000 rings (4000 in 1/4" 16 gauge aluminum and 2000 in 3/8" 12 gauge aluminum).

Sorry AMJ, I still haven't managed to cut stainless or Ti. I could probably make a chainmail palm that could be sewn to a glove for oyster shucking though, in 1/4" aluminum.

The first anti-zombie product is ready to go. It's aimed at the fashion conscious zombie fighter, so it's a bit of a compromise.

Hopefully it will be used as a prop in the next season of "Standard Action", a Dungeons and Dragons themed web comedy series that's produced by a group in Vancouver.

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...l/Q5050291.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...%20pinhole.jpg

And here's how it's done. All home made rigs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psIGKM4TD-Y

Right then! Bring on the zombies.

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...26612728_n.jpg

Pretty cool! Is the blade a diamond blade on a router? If so, is the router variable speed and what speed are you running?

That is flipping awesome PC!! I totally want some chain mail now...

Looks like you're having fun with that. Good job!

I had originally thought about using a variable speed router but after checking the proper cutting speeds needed, I chucked that idea. Instead I'm using a keyless chuck hand drill in a homemade clamp, with a 0.008" thick, 1.75" diameter steel jeweler's saw blade.

When cutting aluminum wire I'm running somewhere around 400 rpm but I don't have a laser gauge, so that's only an estimate. I control the speed by plugging the drill into a router speed control box.

I didn't realize that you were back! Good to see you :)

Something like 16 gauge, 1/4" links of aluminum makes for a great costume grade suit of chainmail. It weighs roughly a third of what actual steel would. That full chainmail weighs about 20 pounds. The halter I made weighs in at less that 8 pounds (maybe around 6) and both the women who tried it on, my model for the pictures and a friend who is big on cosplay, said that they barely noticed it while wearing it.

Doing this has also resulted in a skill that has made me pretty popular ;)

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...l/Q8161565.JPG

Thanks, I'm definitely enjoying this. Everything from the tool building to the final product. While typing this I actually have another project sitting on my table a few feet away; a scalemail short that will make for a better Hallowe'en costume, because it's much lighter.

I'm attempting a come back...hopefully more successful than Lindsey Lohan's...

I'm a secret ren fair fan, and the hubby and I are planning to finally attend some comicon events, but armor would be awesome for our bug out bags in the event of thezombie apocalypse, or general civilization downfall...I make jewelry as a hobby myself, and I am really digging those bracelets!!

I doubt that you could do any worse ;)

We've got a couple of Medieval/Renaissance fairs in the area and I could never really get into the jousting, but the art and archery competitions have always fascinated me.

You can go a few different ways with the armour thing:

You can do what I did and build your own coiling and cutting rigs, make the rings from scratch in whatever materiel you liken and then figure out how to assemble the whole thing yourself. There are patterns available on how to make a suit, but I just winged it. Satisfaction is definitely high, once it's all said and done, but it takes a high level of dedication to the work. It definitely has cosplay cred though.

You can let someone else cut the rings and come up with the pattern, then just assemble it like a kit. Places like my materials supplier not only sell instructions/patterns on how to assemble a suit, but also packaged ring or scale sets with everything that you need. Add some additional rings or scales, and you can customize it however you like.The satisfaction level is still high, because you made something with your own hands.

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisp...B+Instructions

Then again you can just buy a finished suit, made on the cheap somewhere like India, that has all the satisfaction of buying a new pair of shoes ;) Costs about the same as making it yourself though, on the low end.

http://www.darkknightarmoury.com/c-5...-hauberks.aspx

[QUOTE=Papa_Complex;531554]I had originally thought about using a variable speed router but after checking the proper cutting speeds needed, I chucked that idea. Instead I'm using a keyless chuck hand drill in a homemade clamp, with a 0.008" thick, 1.75" diameter steel jeweler's saw blade.

When cutting aluminum wire I'm running somewhere around 400 rpm but I don't have a laser gauge, so that's only an estimate. I control the speed by plugging the drill into a router speed control box.



QUOTE]

Ah! I didn't realize you were using aluminum! I was thinking you were using steel and figured you'd need the power of a router to cut that quick.

I can run much higher speeds than I do when cutting aluminum but the funny thing is that the tougher the metal, the lower the speed that you cut it with. The routers that I checked, including my own, were up in the 10,000 rpm range. Aluminum should be cut at no more than about 1,000 rpm with the size of blade I use. I also routinely cut brass, which should be cut at around 200 rpm. Mild steel is about the same as brass. Mid strength Ti or stainless steel is around 100 rpm, but I haven't tried them yet. no idea if my current rig can handle it.

Those router speed controls come in handy don't they! I have one I use for a lot of different things. I've even used it on my hand-mixer when the lowest speed was too fast for the recipe!

Definitely. I used it on my router when I cut the plastic block that is the bottom plate for my cutting rig too. I still have to pick up a laser rpm gauge though, so that I can be more precise with my cutting speeds.

Well Billy Bear is ready for the ZA now.

Now I just need to find a model.

And a really, really cold room. ;)

Have you ever put on a piece of chainmail that's been sitting in a car, in winter? A cold room is unnecessary ;)

Might want to put some steel plate on the bust... you know, to prevent the inevitable "hard enough to cut glass/aluminum" that happens to the wearer. ;)

I will not compromise my artistic vision, or something equally pompous sounding.

I ain't even mad. :lol:

:boobs:

Well then have I got the dress for you! ;)

Damn it people!! I'm at work! (the site finally got unblocked! Shhhh!) Do you know how hard it is to get any work done with those boobs bouncing in every post! Hell! I can barely respond to posts because they're right there on the right right now distracting me!! I just lost a half an hour trying to type this respon.........:boobs: :dribble:

Imagine how little work you'd get done if Archen was modelling my chainmail dress.

Mind... BLOWN.

I think I just pulled something....I may pull it again! :dribble:

How I make the long coils of wire that I turn into rings. At least how I do it now, after getting tired of hand cranking a rig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOBaUMnZPXM

Your ridicule.

It sustains me.

I wish that I could afford to but about 50K tiny red and gold scales. Combined with these, and a few white light LEDs, I could make one hell of a medieval Iron Man costume.

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...l/J1110116.JPG

Adding to the armour, I have now branched out into weapons. Daryl and his stupid crossbow can't nearly match my rate of fire! (Made for a friend's 6 year old son).

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...w/J5170014.JPG

You know, it's amazing what you can do with a little plumbing pipe. This one is going to get wrapped in deerskin and 'artificial sinew.'

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...w/Q6180020.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...w/Q6180023.JPG

Whats the pull rate?

Somewhere between 35 and 40 pounds.

Damn. May have to make me one.

It's now covered with deerskin, a pigskin grip, and 'synthetic sinew' holding everything on. I can see that I tapered the tips too much, though, because they're bending enough below the siyahs to be near collapse. With a 40 pound weight at full draw I should have tapered them less. I'll reinforce the tips, reduce the initial bend by lengthening the string, or both. It should be fine if I drop it down to around 30 pounds.

A lot of good information and how-tos from this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_U...gKHN_A-iTAwZbg

Here it is. I'm going to reduce the draw and consider it a costume bow then start work on another one in the same style, that will definitely be able to take that much draw weight. Every new bow is an education.

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...w/Q6230025.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...w/Q6230026.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...w/Q6230027.JPG

I'm hoping to have some pics that you folks on here might actually appreciate, some time in September. A friend who I met through the motorsports photography gig also does fashion style photography, and he wants to do a studio session with some of my chainmail and weapons, with a model he referred to as "rather well endowed and heavily tattooed."

I'm now working on some larger armour and decorative pieces, getting ready for it.

Well, that could sort out PotM for the next couple of years...

Only if I can work a motorcycle into it somehow, though I suspect that no one here would really complain.

Dressed up bow #1 is going to a ladyfriend whose favourite holiday is Hallowe'en. Can't wait to see what she does with it. I suspect something like sexy pink Ninja :D

Got a pre-shoot meeting for the model session on Monday, so that I can show the armour and jewellery pieces I've made for it, and let the studio photographer get a look at the available weapons. Apparently they're going for "sexy warrior woman."

Bored, so I broke out my light tent and took a few pictures:

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...f/Q9160158.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...f/Q9160159.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...f/Q9160162.JPG

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...f/Q9160166.JPG

I love that. Woman ask what kinda armor she'll be wearing and they hand her a thong and metal bra. LOL

That's called "bikini mail." It's a staple of fantasy fiction book covers and role playing games.

Hopefully the chainmail mini dress is going to be used in someone a photoshoot by someone else, now. It's in the mail and on its way. Can't wait to see what she does with it :)

The major piece I made for the photoshoot, though not the model:

http://www.morallyambiguous.net/mult...-Chainmail.jpg

Nothing wrong with THAT model!!

A four foot, eleven inch bundle of happy.