Thoughts on chain mail ring size

[Crispvs]

A now departed blacksmith I used to know told me that before the advent of modern welding methods, 'fire welding' was practiced, which aparently did not require the use of a secondary agent (such as modern welding wire). This was the method he used but I never had the oportunity to watch him doing it. I generally assume it to be a method of fusing metal together under heat, but this is just an educated guess. When I asked him about butted vs welded mail he considered that any experienced blacksmith could have welded mail rings together easily and quite quickly and did not think that the number required to make half a mail shirt (as opposed to the rivetted half) would be particularly taxing, given enough time. He also said that it might, after a long time, be difficult to tell a fire welded ring from a butted one just by looking at it (taking a jab at the examination of photographs as evidence of metalurgy - one of his favourite hobby horses), but said that he had never tried to weld rings as small as 7mm external and so was not prepared to commit himself absolutely to the idea of mail being welded and riveted rather than butted and rivetted.<br>
David Sim would probably be a good person to talk to about this.<br>
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Crispvs <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 2/5/04 1:23 am<br></i>