darknessstaresback In reply to marmist [2006-03-27 06:30:10 +0000 UTC]

I find stainless to be fair amount harder to work with but it depends on a few things.


1. The gauge (diameter) of the wire you are using, the bigger the gauge the more it fights back
2. The sort of pliers, the bigger and flatter the heads the better (linesman pliers are very good for this fact), though this isn't important to as much of an extent once you start using wire around the 20 ga size range and being able to control the ring becomes more important than the amount of surface being gripped
3. The AR (aspect ratio; is the inner diameter of the ring being made divided by the diameter of the wire) the smaller the AR the harder the ring is to open and close
4. How long you've been making maille, believe it or not you develop some completely different muscle groups making maille
5. How much the manufacturer has hardened the wire, the place I buy wire ( [link] ) specifically gears towards supplying chainmaillers and the KSI rating of the stainless steel is 125 for most sizes and the 18ga I use is rated at 160 whereas the galvanized is rated at 90-110. If you are buying galvanized wire at a farm supply store or hardware store it is most likely dead soft since it is made to be bent easily so it would have an even lower rating.

But I hope this doesn't deter you from trying stainless steel because the great lustre and the lack of smell (galvy starts to stink when you wear it a lot because the acids from your skin make the zinc coating start to oxidize) make it great, though being able to colour it with a torch (straw yellow, gold, purple, blue and indigo) is really nice too

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darknessstaresback In reply to Prilandryn [2006-03-16 06:38:23 +0000 UTC]

thanks... i'm planning on doing alot of new things that i haven't seen done before, all i need now is time

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darknessstaresback In reply to SwordOfScotland [2006-03-16 06:41:25 +0000 UTC]

no problem... as you could most likely see from my gallery i'm getting more and more interested in things from the past, so your page was very exciting to find.

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darknessstaresback In reply to pixel-dirt [2006-01-30 21:25:34 +0000 UTC]

hmmm... got bored so i did a little calculating:
36"x44"= 10.4 square feet = 15.6 lbs for scales + 8.1 lbs of rings to hold it all together (using small stainless steel scales)
but the supplier i order through has said that they are going to try and start producing aluminum scales (including anodized) so that would mean that i would only need to use 5.2 lbs of scales to make the same size sheet

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pixel-dirt In reply to darknessstaresback [2006-02-01 02:00:07 +0000 UTC]

aluminum scales wouldn't be too great - other than being light weight. aluminum turns things black when it rubs up against things (like skin) and it is really really really really really soft

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darknessstaresback In reply to pixel-dirt [2006-02-01 06:46:08 +0000 UTC]

they won't rub black if i give them an acid bath first... and his supplies are selected for mail so his aluminum is surrprisingly work hardened

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darknessstaresback In reply to pixel-dirt [2006-01-27 07:38:43 +0000 UTC]

if you tell me how many square feet it would take to go around your legs down to the length you want i could tell you how much materials for it would cost... and try to make an estimate on how long it would take to make

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darknessstaresback In reply to redheadpunk [2006-01-26 07:39:11 +0000 UTC]

not to bad i suppose... rather stressed about my classes and volunteering though, well that and trying to get into a situation where i can start seeing someone that i know... but other than that nothing much goeing on in my life.

though my parents leave on a vacation in two weeks so

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redheadpunk In reply to darknessstaresback [2006-01-26 22:07:21 +0000 UTC]

sweet party at your house lol

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darknessstaresback In reply to redheadpunk [2006-01-27 07:25:21 +0000 UTC]

deafinatly going to be some of that going on... in addition to the required bonfires, drinking and *cough*otherness*cough*

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redheadpunk In reply to darknessstaresback [2006-01-30 01:31:53 +0000 UTC]

teeheehee awesomeness

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darknessstaresback In reply to FerricOxide [2006-01-23 06:43:03 +0000 UTC]

i'd have to say 7.62 x 51

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FerricOxide In reply to darknessstaresback [2006-02-04 03:10:28 +0000 UTC]

Good answer. I'm putting together a rig for that round right now. It should be done in about 2 weeks, as soon as my glass and bipod arrive. I saw your pic of your property. Nice! If I were in your shoes, I'd be taking a close look at .50BMG as well.

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darknessstaresback In reply to FerricOxide [2006-02-05 23:26:25 +0000 UTC]

cool

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