MAILLE INFO:
Below is a complete description of Chainmaille as well as some pattern examples.
"Chainwear is devoted to producing the highest quality Chainmaille for both recreation and fashion."
--Jonathan Douglas
Chainwear Founder
It's that time again....
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ABOUT OUR MAILLE:
Chainwear is made of 14 gauge galvanized steel rings interconnected to form a flexible material that not only looks like warrior garb--it IS. Every maille product we produce starts as hundred of yards of straight 14 gauge wire. This wire must be turned into tens of thousands of small metal rings. To do this, metal workers wind the steel wire onto special dowel rods with modern high-power drills. This results in a three foot long spring-shaped coil of wire. Each coil will produce over 400 links, but to do this every link must be opened and cut. Opening the links requires nothing more than pulling the spring-shaped coil until it opens a space between each ring. Cutting them is a bit more complicated. Conventional wisdom is to slice into them with cutting shears or wire cutters. This is a speedy way to create lots of links, but the quality of the links is very low. Simply cutting the links with snippers will create sharp edges on both sides of every link. This will not allow the links to close completely and will lead to the maille falling apart (or worst of all pinching or catching skin). Chainwear uses a "Score & Torque' system that leaves very clean flat ends on both sides of every link. This is time consuming because every link has to be individually hand removed from the coil. After the open links have been created, a metal worker must then place each link into a pattern and close it with pliers. The end result is a beautiful steel weave pattern that looks and feels great!
4 in 1 Pattern:
The '4 in 1' pattern is period for Europe in the Middle Ages. It also works well of garb because of its lighter weight and looser pattern.
6 in 1 Pattern:
The '6 in 1' pattern is also period for Europe in the Middle Ages. It is heavier and less flexible than '4 in 1' but offers superior protection from any blade or bow.
Inlayed Pattern:
Inlayed Patterns are created by using different metals production of the maille. This results in very unique and special peices. We treat each inlay pattern peice as a custom job. If you are interested in this additional work on any of your items, please contact us so we can work with you directly on your design.