Need Craftsman to Make Find It Hamata Bigger

[Antoninus05]

Hi All....recently I purchased a Hamata that was made by Find It Armory...it will not fit me if I wear a Wool Tunic and subarmilis (I had a T Shirt on and managed to get it on) I was told it would fit a 46 chest with real waist of 45 inches(above naval....NOT SO, if you wear a wool tunic and subarmilis, it would fit a 44 chest and a 40-42 inch waist comfortably.....so, is there anyone out there who can make it bigger, also the diameter of the arm holes could be slightly bigger. If anyone can help or point me to someone I'd appreciate it, if it can't be fixed, it will quickly be for sale. The previous owner kept the clasps that came with it, I ordered a real nice set from Matt Lukes for $85.00. This Hamata is brand new and depending on the response I get today, I may have a new post later tonight. Thanks in advance, Antoninus

[Magnus]

Mike, I've never dabbled in chain maille, but I think it's just a matter of making a cut or two on the sides, and adding more rings. Thing is, if that is the rivetted/stamped hamata, you'll have to source the right kind of rings. Find-it Armory may be able to get you those rings....

Same go for the sleeves. Otherwise you may try Erik Konig, I believe he does chainmaille work, but he may have a waiting list. Or even see about Matt Lukes. But with some work and patience, you could do it yourself.

[jvrjenivs]

Otherwise you may try Erik Konig, I believe he does chainmaille work.

I don't know if Erik does chainmail work as well, but he would certainly be able to do. Perhaps you meant Erik D. Schmid instead?

[Celer]

Salve

Get Dressed For Battle supply riveted loose rings for modifying garments. They are 8mm internal diameter which may be the same size as your mail shirt. The biggest problem you will have will be getting the colour to match up. You may have to remove all the leathering and soak the re-sized mail shirt in vinager overnight to remove any galvinisation on the rings, otherwise it may look a little odd with darker inserts running down the sides.

Vale

Celer.

[Magnus]

Yep...meant Mr. Schmid. Thanks Jurjen.

[Quintus Claudius Scaevola]

I've actually had to do this myself - When I made my hamata (Which incidentally started out as a hauberk) I was eighteen or ninteen at the time and it fit just fine. Several years and numerous pull-ups and P.T. sessions later, I was just BARELY fitting into the shirt and had no room for a subarmilis - I guess while a shirt can fit a lot of people, my shoulders grew and so did my chest. A few months ago I decided to enlarge the hamata, and it was a relatively simple process:

I laid the hamata out flat and found the exact center, then split it entirely up the middle and added a few rows of rings (five rows, if I remember correctly; front and back). That fixed my problems with too small of a chest, but I still had to account for wider shoulders. After that, I laid the hamata flat again, found the top of the sleeves (Short sleeves, but sleeves nevertheless...) and split the hamata again all the way to the neck-hole and added more rows of rings (Five rows again; I was working with small adjustments...) After trying it on, the hamata fit once again.

Now I should add that I had several advantages: First, my hamata wasn't edged in leather, so I didn't have to tear that apart and re-stitch it. Secondly, as I'd said before, my hamata started as a hauberk; There was no doubler sized for it yet, and I saved on rings by re-using what was trimmed off. Thirdly (And this is the deal-breaker), mine is made out of 14ga. galvanized (Well, until it met the sand-barrel anyhow...) wire. Butted mail, meaning it was a snap to disassemble and reassemble (Sorry gents, I do NOT have the patience to rivet rings, much less make them). The patch-spots are easy to see at the moment until I re-sand the entire shirt. In your case it's going to be a little more time-consuming to make the adjustments, but with enough spare rings, I think it should come out fine.

-Quintus Claudius Britanicus,
Legionnaire, LEGIIAVG

[Antoninus05]

I appreciate all the "how to" comments, but I've got a full plate right now, I'm really looking for someone to either enlarge it for me or buy it(as I have it listed in the Merchandise section), I wish I had the time and expertise to do it myself, I'll be lucky to get all the other Roman projects I can do before Lafe hits...but again, need someone to do the work, or buy it at my fabulous lower than retail price, Mike