chainmail for opinions

ham · 3rd March 2006, 10:32 PM

Perkun,

Is there any variation in the thickness of the rings in the sleeves or at the lower extremity of the shirt? Typically mail from the 16th c. onward, regardless of origin, will show a thinner diameter of wire at these points to distribute weight best. There are exceptions, of course. The notches on the rings were probably intended to harden them, since they are butted. One wonders if it would not have been less work simply to rivet them.

I have seen one riveted coat which was incontrovertibly of Polish workmanship-- each rivet had been fixed with a tool that simultaneously closed it and struck it with a tiny cross.

TVV- riveted mail occurs fairly regularly in Eastern coats. Only occasionally in the late 18th (and very cleverly at that), and increasingly in the 19th century, did butting become common. It is doubtful whether butted mail was protective, most of what survives appears to have been for parade.

Ham

3rd March 2006, 10:32 PM	#4
ham Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 190	Perkun, Is there any variation in the thickness of the rings in the sleeves or at the lower extremity of the shirt? Typically mail from the 16th c. onward, regardless of origin, will show a thinner diameter of wire at these points to distribute weight best. There are exceptions, of course. The notches on the rings were probably intended to harden them, since they are butted. One wonders if it would not have been less work simply to rivet them. I have seen one riveted coat which was incontrovertibly of Polish workmanship-- each rivet had been fixed with a tool that simultaneously closed it and struck it with a tiny cross. TVV- riveted mail occurs fairly regularly in Eastern coats. Only occasionally in the late 18th (and very cleverly at that), and increasingly in the 19th century, did butting become common. It is doubtful whether butted mail was protective, most of what survives appears to have been for parade. Ham