metals

Black Steel

Galvanised

Hard stainless

workability

durability

material cost

Metals Information

Comparing the Metals

(Ideal metal would have straight ones)

Workability 1=easiest to work 5=hardest to work

Durability 1=most durable 5=least durable

Corrosion 1=least subject to corrosion 5=most subject to corrosion

Material cost 1=least expensive (by weight) 5 = most expensive (by weight)

Aluminium

Aluminium weighs only 1/3 as much as steel.

Mail made from aluminium is not durable enough for combat.

Aluminium mail makes a light tinkling sound that will not sound like steel mail.

Aluminium oxides almost instantly in air, polished aluminium is a bright shiny silver, this quickly fades to a dull steel grey colour. The oxide will wear off leaving greyish black colour on the wearing surface (washes very easily). Aluminium armour could be sprayed with a thin layer of clear paint to make it cleaner.

Black steel

Annealed steel; annealing is a process that makes worked steel (like wire) softer.

Comes coated with a black coating to prevent oxidation during shipping and storage, this coating wears off quickly leaving you with regular steel.

The 16 Gu black steel has a very nice black finish although I am not sure how long it will last.

I recommend Black Steel if you want to make medieval looking pieces and plan on taking care of your mail.

Black steel is significantly easier to work with then galvanised steel but not as durable.

Brass

Brass is pretty expensive to use for anything other then trim and jewellery.

My brass is tempered which is much stronger then untempered brass.

The down side to the temper is the brass is very springy and after it is coiled it tends to expand a bit. The effect is the ring diameters are slightly larger then the rings made of other metals. This does not effect the use of these links as trim but there may be difficulties using brass to make patterns in a piece of mail made of a different mail. If you wish to use the brass to make patterns in a piece of mail I recommend the hard stainless as rings made from this material are also larger then the rod it is wrapped around.

The thickness of the brass wire is measured using a different gauge then the other wires; 14 and 16 gauge brass wire are slightly thinner then the other 14 and 16 gauge wires.

Galvanised

Galvanised is the best all round deal for making armour. It is the cheapest, it has some rust resistance, and it is durable.

Galvanising is the process of coating steel in a layer of zinc, the zinc prevents steel from rusting though a chemical process (see reduction - oxidation processes in a chemistry text). While it does not rust the zinc will oxidise and turn grey. The zinc oxide will wear off eventually and the metal will be shiny again.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel is, in my opinion, the best material for mail.

It is the only material I recommend for prolonged contact with skin.

It is the strongest material I sell.

The "hard stainless" steel is stronger then the other stainless but harder to work with.

Stainless steel is a nice shiny silver and will not corrode unless deprived from oxygen for extended periods of time.