Blackening Mild Steel Chainmail?

[Oisin]

Hello everyone,

I recently came into posession of a shirt of mild steel rivited maille. It has been stored unoiled, but in a bucket with rice as a dessicant and it only very mildly rusted. Does anyone know the best way to blacken it to prevent further rust? I have heard that boiling/dipping/baking it with olive oil/motor oil/any oil will work, but what is the best technique to use on an actual shirt? I can get used deep frying oil pretty easily if that would work, but what is the best way to actually do it? Techniques, times, etc? Also, do I need to strip the rust before I blacken it, or will the chemical process of blackening make the rust a non-issue?

Also, what methods do field archaeologists use to preserve excavated maille from rusting without damaging it?

Thanks for your help.

[aitor iriarte]

Ben,
I think that you may find better answers to your question here and, therefore, I've moved the thread. 8)

Aitor

[Martin Wallgren]

Lots of knowlegable people at www.myarmoury.com too. Just throw in the Q there too for more answers.

[Chuck Russell]

rust? ug.

i've had a rivetted shirt now for over 5 years and i dont have any rust anymore

my shirt got super rusty after teh first use. i put it in a bag of sand and rolled it around. took it out, inspected it, and put it back in. repeat etc.

then i cleaned the sand all off and no more rust. i now keep it in a burlap bag. every once in a while i'll go into the office and kick the bag around etc.


i dont think blackening it is period for celt or roman.

there are several different ways to blacken mail. each is hard to do becuase shirts are large and need to have equal heat.

olive oil rubbed on, placed on cookie sheets, put in oven on lowest temp.

very dangerous)!!! Boiled linseed oil in a pan. put the shirt in teh pan and place on a grill in a place where fire wont get to anything. WARNING linseed oil is very flamible and can blow up. i dont suggest this method for the average joe.

used motor oil and a camp fire. will make mail clumpy and burnt.

there are several other choices to do. check www.armourarchive.org i looked on teh search but it messed up on me anc got stuck in teh cache so i couldnt get you actual links. just go there, sign in and ask.

[Magnus]

Yeah, as chuck mentioned, I don't think that blackened maille is period for Rome. Get the rust off and keep a light coating of oil on it. Something in a spray can will work, but like most things that need oiling, you'll need to re-oil it after a while.

Give Balistol a shot...it's in a spray can, developed by Germany and it goes on like a coating.

[Primvs Pavlvs]

I keep my maille in a 5 gallon bucket of kitty litter and a roll it around occasionally.

Maille is a self cleaning material. I do not believe that the Romans kept it drenching in oil, or other materials. If its worn on a regular basis it cleans itself by the action of rings rubbing against each other.

[Franklin]

For maintenance I always prefer Rem Oil (Remington gun oil). Green and yellow spray can in the sporting goods aisle.

[Geoffrey]

Does the oil effect the leather backing at all?

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Geoffrey,

Any petroleum product will eventually cause the leather to break down.

[Magnus]

Ballistol won't. It's made for wood, leather and metal.

[Cornelius Quintus]

Ballistol won't. It's made for wood, leather and metal.

Ave Matt,

completely right! It's great for any kind of weapon maintenance, protecting and cleaning the metal, let wooden parts look fresh and softening leather.

A German do-it-yourselfer household without Ballistol is like an American without ketchup. :lol:

[Primvs Pavlvs]

A German do-it-yourselfer household without Ballistol is like an American without ketchup. :lol:

LOL more like hotsauce in my household.

[john m roberts]

To get the rust off before blackening: (warning, this is very noisy) put the shirt into a tumble-action clothes dryer. Toss in pieces of old terrycloth towel. At first the bits of towel will come out black. Keep tossing in clean pieces. When the toweling comes out almost clean, the mail will be sparkling. About two hours should do it. I suppose it's rough on the dryer, but what's that compared to a nice, clean mail shirt?

[Magnus]

Hahaha, just do it at the local laundromat.

(i'm only kidding, in case anyone takes that seriously)

[Matthew Amt]

I believe it was one of the Indian manufacturers who recommended wood chips rather than sand for taking rust off mail. Put it all in a bucket and shake for a while, if you don't have a barrel and/or don't want to ruin the clothes dryer!

One other problem with blackening mail is that the constant chafing that helps keep it from rusting also wears off the blackening. But probably unevenly! There is evidence that some Roman mail was tinned, though, if you want to try that. (And no, galvanization doesn't really look like tinning, to most of us!)

Valete,

Matthew