09-09-2007, 04:10 AM
You have five different production stages of the rings before you
Uncut rings on the coil
Cut rings after annealing
Flattened rings
Punched rings
riveted rings
Now take a carefull look at all these different production stages. KEEP AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE OF EACH FOR REFERENCE. Do the same with the rivets.
OK. Now we can proceed to the real work. First we need to produce our rings. Your tools have been designed to be used with 1,2 mm low-carbon wire. Do not use stainless steel or high-carbon steel wire. These are way too hard and will ruin your tools. Simple wire from the garden store is good. Mostly this wire is galvanised (coated with zinc), but that's not a problem. Do not use wire thicker than 1,3 mm or thinner than 1 mm.
And then you coil. This can be done with a similar setup like the picture. A simple iron rod in a wooden frame. Put the wire in a small drilled hole in the rod and turn. This will end up in a long coil. An example comes with your tools. It was turned around a rod of 10 mm diameter.
There is some debate about what inner diameter of rings in what period was the most authentic. These discussions often don't touch much ground. Fact is that then, just as it is now, smaller rings ask for more work than bigger rings, and therefore will be more expensive. If you want to portray a rich knight, than you could go for small rings. If you want to portray a simple soldier in a communal army, then take a bigger size. The size I chose for your tool set is quite a big one, but it still produces a nice weave. Ideal for a common soldier. This bigger size also makes it easier for you to learn the weaving and handling procedure of riveted maille, which is different from butted maille.
Once you have your coils, you can start cutting off the rings. This is done with the supplied cutter. Take a good look to its front. There is a small hole in its cutting edges. This hole will make sure that our rings will have a build in overlap. Also look at the drawing here above. Ideal is an overlap of about 4 mm. Compare with the rings I supplied with the tools.
It works like this. Bring the coil in the mouth of the cutter in a way that the end of the coil protrudes a mere 4 mm. The small bit of cutting edge on the cutter will then cut the coil. Cut up the complete coil until you have enough rings.
And then we start the annealing process. This is needed to soften the steel. The glowing will change the crystaline structure of the metal, which will make it less hard. That will make it a lot easier to flatten and punch the rings. Without the annealing process you will damage your tools. There are several ways to anneal your rings. An example is a small propane burner.
Put the rings on a piece of wire and hold them in the flame. They will start to glow. Aim for a color as close to yellow as you can get and for as long as you can. The hotter the better. Ideally a few minutes at least. If you use the galvanised wire, you will notice that the zinc starts to burn away. Take care not to inhale the fumes produced. Do this in a well ventilated area.
Most important is to take care that the rings cool down slowly !! Do not drop them in water or oil. Just let them gently cool to the air. After a few minutes already you can touch them.
Another way to anneal your rings is like this : on a coal fire. I use an old stove. The picture shows how. A steel ring with four rods around which the rings are located. I let them in the stove for about 15 minutes and let them cool slowly. Recently I also used the fire place in my home to anneal my rings.
And now it starts to become fun. We are going to flatten our annealed rings ! That is done with four important things :
The Flattening Tool
A steel surface (an anvil or thick steel profile of some sort)
A hammer, preferably a 1 kg.
Your skilfulness and common sense.
And especially that last bit is VERY important !
Take the flattening tool in your hand at its thick bottom, and only there. Place it over a ring on the working surface. Press the tool onto the surface by pushing on the thick bottom. Take the hammer and strike the tool very firmly. If this is done in a good way, the tool will not move. If it is done in a bad way, the tool will jump when you hit it with the hammer. If that happens, you must practise your hammering technique. The flattening tool is absolutely not allowed to jump, or your rings will not be flattened correctly. The trick is to take care that the hammer strikes the tool dead on, and that the blow was hard enough.
After hitting the tool you should get this result : a flattened ring. Compare your results with the rings I supplied with your tools. If the overlap has shifted you can throw that ring away since it became useless. If the flattening is not sufficient, then hit it again.
Again : A right hammering technique is VERY important. If your hammer doesn't strike the tool dead on and the tools jumps, then that ring is almost certain scrapped. Practice is important
And it becomes even more fun. We are going to punch holes ! Take the punch tongs and your supply of flattened rings. Observe that the punched hole is rectangular and not round. That is why you must take care to place the ring in a right way in the tongs. The picture shows how.
The tip of the punch tool needs to be placed in the center of the overlap.
And then we squeeze the tongs. Do not apply excessive forve !! Just normal and calm hand pressure satisfies. Most of the time you can feel the tip breaking through the overlap. This often can be sensed as a gentle "snap", more a feeling than a real noice. As soon as this snap is sensed you don't have to push through! The tip should just barely break through. Do not punch through completely.
Do never tap the punching tongs with a hammer to punch the hole. Mere hand strenth is more than sufficient. Do not use any other materials than low carbon steel. Stainless steel and high carbon steel are way too hard for the tongs. The punch bit would break or bend. It is made out of hardened steel and can be damaged easily if abused. So take care
And the fun continues. We are about to make some rivets!
Take the cutter. This is the one we use to make rivets. That means it is used for two different actions. Rivets are cut from a flattened piece of 1,5 mm iron wire. Anneal the wire prior to flattening to make the flattening procedure a bit easier. The flattening itself is done with a hammer on an anvil or the same working surface you use to flatten your rings. Flattening the wire is not very easy. Here too a good hammer technique can make a world of difference. Perhaps best keep the supplied piece of flattened wire as a reference.
It is also possible to cut the wedges out of steel plate instead of flattened wire.
Take a good look at the small supply of rivets that came with the tools. The angle of the triangular wedge shape is important. Memorise it. The wedges you will cut must be about the same angle. Best results are obtained if you take the obtuse corner of the flattened wire as a point of reference ®. Make sure that point R touches the cutting edge of the cutter and now form up an imaginary triangel. Then cut. Take care that the freshly cut wedge doesn't fly around the room.
And now for some real fun. We are about to rivet!
Take the setting tongs and observe them well. This picture gives a cross section. You will notice two holes. A deep one and a shallow one. Both have a specific function in the rivetting process. The deep hole is used first, followed by the shallow one.
Take a punched ring and a rivet. Gently place the rivet in the punched hole.
Now take the setting tongs and put the ring with the rivet gently over the deep hole. Then squeeze the tongs. This will chase down the rivet in its hole. Here you see this shown from two different angles.
Finally comes the rivetting itself. The protruding part of the rivet must be crushed. That's done with the shallow hole of the setting tongs. Do not use brutal force like a large hammer. Just good solid hand pressure must suffice. If you decide to use a hammer to set the rivet, then certainly do not use one heavier than 200 grams. One gentle tap on the tongs should do it. The protruding triangle must be completely crushed, leaving a small elevation or dome.
Important is however that a small dome is formed on one side and the other side should be virtually flat. A lot of things can go wrong during this rivetting process. The most important error occurs when the wedge rivet folds instead of being crushed. Rule is : practice, practice, practice. Your first 100 tries will perhaps produce 20 good rings. Don't be alarmed, it will get lots better later. I have now 1 or 2 rings rejected on every 100.
Uncut rings on the coil
Cut rings after annealing
Flattened rings
Punched rings
riveted rings
Now take a carefull look at all these different production stages. KEEP AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE OF EACH FOR REFERENCE. Do the same with the rivets.
OK. Now we can proceed to the real work. First we need to produce our rings. Your tools have been designed to be used with 1,2 mm low-carbon wire. Do not use stainless steel or high-carbon steel wire. These are way too hard and will ruin your tools. Simple wire from the garden store is good. Mostly this wire is galvanised (coated with zinc), but that's not a problem. Do not use wire thicker than 1,3 mm or thinner than 1 mm.
And then you coil. This can be done with a similar setup like the picture. A simple iron rod in a wooden frame. Put the wire in a small drilled hole in the rod and turn. This will end up in a long coil. An example comes with your tools. It was turned around a rod of 10 mm diameter.
There is some debate about what inner diameter of rings in what period was the most authentic. These discussions often don't touch much ground. Fact is that then, just as it is now, smaller rings ask for more work than bigger rings, and therefore will be more expensive. If you want to portray a rich knight, than you could go for small rings. If you want to portray a simple soldier in a communal army, then take a bigger size. The size I chose for your tool set is quite a big one, but it still produces a nice weave. Ideal for a common soldier. This bigger size also makes it easier for you to learn the weaving and handling procedure of riveted maille, which is different from butted maille.
Once you have your coils, you can start cutting off the rings. This is done with the supplied cutter. Take a good look to its front. There is a small hole in its cutting edges. This hole will make sure that our rings will have a build in overlap. Also look at the drawing here above. Ideal is an overlap of about 4 mm. Compare with the rings I supplied with the tools.
It works like this. Bring the coil in the mouth of the cutter in a way that the end of the coil protrudes a mere 4 mm. The small bit of cutting edge on the cutter will then cut the coil. Cut up the complete coil until you have enough rings.
And then we start the annealing process. This is needed to soften the steel. The glowing will change the crystaline structure of the metal, which will make it less hard. That will make it a lot easier to flatten and punch the rings. Without the annealing process you will damage your tools. There are several ways to anneal your rings. An example is a small propane burner.
Put the rings on a piece of wire and hold them in the flame. They will start to glow. Aim for a color as close to yellow as you can get and for as long as you can. The hotter the better. Ideally a few minutes at least. If you use the galvanised wire, you will notice that the zinc starts to burn away. Take care not to inhale the fumes produced. Do this in a well ventilated area.
Most important is to take care that the rings cool down slowly !! Do not drop them in water or oil. Just let them gently cool to the air. After a few minutes already you can touch them.
Another way to anneal your rings is like this : on a coal fire. I use an old stove. The picture shows how. A steel ring with four rods around which the rings are located. I let them in the stove for about 15 minutes and let them cool slowly. Recently I also used the fire place in my home to anneal my rings.
And now it starts to become fun. We are going to flatten our annealed rings ! That is done with four important things :
The Flattening Tool
A steel surface (an anvil or thick steel profile of some sort)
A hammer, preferably a 1 kg.
Your skilfulness and common sense.
And especially that last bit is VERY important !
Take the flattening tool in your hand at its thick bottom, and only there. Place it over a ring on the working surface. Press the tool onto the surface by pushing on the thick bottom. Take the hammer and strike the tool very firmly. If this is done in a good way, the tool will not move. If it is done in a bad way, the tool will jump when you hit it with the hammer. If that happens, you must practise your hammering technique. The flattening tool is absolutely not allowed to jump, or your rings will not be flattened correctly. The trick is to take care that the hammer strikes the tool dead on, and that the blow was hard enough.
After hitting the tool you should get this result : a flattened ring. Compare your results with the rings I supplied with your tools. If the overlap has shifted you can throw that ring away since it became useless. If the flattening is not sufficient, then hit it again.
Again : A right hammering technique is VERY important. If your hammer doesn't strike the tool dead on and the tools jumps, then that ring is almost certain scrapped. Practice is important
And it becomes even more fun. We are going to punch holes ! Take the punch tongs and your supply of flattened rings. Observe that the punched hole is rectangular and not round. That is why you must take care to place the ring in a right way in the tongs. The picture shows how.
The tip of the punch tool needs to be placed in the center of the overlap.
And then we squeeze the tongs. Do not apply excessive forve !! Just normal and calm hand pressure satisfies. Most of the time you can feel the tip breaking through the overlap. This often can be sensed as a gentle "snap", more a feeling than a real noice. As soon as this snap is sensed you don't have to push through! The tip should just barely break through. Do not punch through completely.
Do never tap the punching tongs with a hammer to punch the hole. Mere hand strenth is more than sufficient. Do not use any other materials than low carbon steel. Stainless steel and high carbon steel are way too hard for the tongs. The punch bit would break or bend. It is made out of hardened steel and can be damaged easily if abused. So take care
And the fun continues. We are about to make some rivets!
Take the cutter. This is the one we use to make rivets. That means it is used for two different actions. Rivets are cut from a flattened piece of 1,5 mm iron wire. Anneal the wire prior to flattening to make the flattening procedure a bit easier. The flattening itself is done with a hammer on an anvil or the same working surface you use to flatten your rings. Flattening the wire is not very easy. Here too a good hammer technique can make a world of difference. Perhaps best keep the supplied piece of flattened wire as a reference.
It is also possible to cut the wedges out of steel plate instead of flattened wire.
Take a good look at the small supply of rivets that came with the tools. The angle of the triangular wedge shape is important. Memorise it. The wedges you will cut must be about the same angle. Best results are obtained if you take the obtuse corner of the flattened wire as a point of reference ®. Make sure that point R touches the cutting edge of the cutter and now form up an imaginary triangel. Then cut. Take care that the freshly cut wedge doesn't fly around the room.
And now for some real fun. We are about to rivet!
Take the setting tongs and observe them well. This picture gives a cross section. You will notice two holes. A deep one and a shallow one. Both have a specific function in the rivetting process. The deep hole is used first, followed by the shallow one.
Take a punched ring and a rivet. Gently place the rivet in the punched hole.
Now take the setting tongs and put the ring with the rivet gently over the deep hole. Then squeeze the tongs. This will chase down the rivet in its hole. Here you see this shown from two different angles.
Finally comes the rivetting itself. The protruding part of the rivet must be crushed. That's done with the shallow hole of the setting tongs. Do not use brutal force like a large hammer. Just good solid hand pressure must suffice. If you decide to use a hammer to set the rivet, then certainly do not use one heavier than 200 grams. One gentle tap on the tongs should do it. The protruding triangle must be completely crushed, leaving a small elevation or dome.
Important is however that a small dome is formed on one side and the other side should be virtually flat. A lot of things can go wrong during this rivetting process. The most important error occurs when the wedge rivet folds instead of being crushed. Rule is : practice, practice, practice. Your first 100 tries will perhaps produce 20 good rings. Don't be alarmed, it will get lots better later. I have now 1 or 2 rings rejected on every 100.
Hi my name is johnathan :lol: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" />:lol:
I would like to help as much as possible
I would like to help as much as possible
8) 