Dragon Fyre

Thanks Lorenzo, I'll give that a shot.

Yep. I`m exposed to high lead levels on a regular basis so contamination is something I pay close attention to . DF

I have machine cut 16516 rings on the way, and currently no more room in the budget to order saw cut even though the closures would be far superior. I've not ruled Silver Solder out at the moment although I have never used it before. As for a heat source I would be using a propane torch and not a soldering iron as I have one on hand and am not worried about melting the rings so I could get it hot enough for the silver solder. DF

Has anybody had any success using Lead-Tin solder with Stainless rings and Scales? I've tried working with split rings in the past and I find them so infuriating that I can't work with them, even when using split ring pliers so I need to find an alternative. I'm making a piece that shouldn't be much more than 1.5 sq/ft and large scales. It won't have to bear any more weight than it's own but will see a lot of movement as it is going to be hanging down in front of my legs. I don't feel that I need to add strength to the rings, but rather have some sort of way to ensure that the scales can't find their way through a closure when the piece is being worn. Any thoughts or comments would be welcome. Thanks, DF

Thanks, I'll take a look there.

Hi guys, It's been years since I've stopped by, but it's great to see that this community is still going strong. My question lies in heat treating dead soft bright alumimum, alloy unknown, what Michael's sells. A friend of mine is doing wire art for some side cash and loves working with the wire that she has, however being dead soft, it deforms very easily after she has formed it and a few of her customers have started to complain. I have never gotten into heat treating so I'm coming to you for help. Is there any way of safely and easily heat treating aluminum at home to harden it that doesn't change the appearance of it. Most of her pieces are made from 16g or smaller, and are normally 9" or less in length. Any help would be appreciated. DF

It's been a few years since I've seriously looked at the punched rings section, for whatever reason I though they had a few sized up to 1" Guess I should have checked again

If you like the look and the speed of the Japanese weaves, make yourself a patch out of the materials you plan on using for the final project. Make a 1' x 1' section, weigh it, and extrapolate the final weight of the piece from that. If it comes in around 60-70% of your target weight, you could also try switching over to j6-1. Another option if you want a lot more strength from the project is to use either split rings for your large rings, or TRL's punched stainless rings. I have not worked with the punched rings, so I don't know if they would be absolutely right for this project or not. You may need to tumble them to deburr them first. Along with the SS rings as your connectors you'll have a blanket capable of towing your house but it should still lie within your weight limit.

For the really cold days I swear by my Alycium Paramount down filled jacket, Fleece toque (or my winter helmet if I'm out riding) Auclair gloves, only moderately expensive but VERY warm. long johns and Dakota -40 boots. If I'm going to be doing light work outside for a few hours on really cold days the snowboard pants may come into the picture. For the heavy work on those really cold days the tough duck overall gets pulled out of the closet. You'll learn very quickly how to layer, starting with a moisture wicking layer. Under Armor makes a great product, but walmart has their own version for 1/7th the cost and they actually last longer. I work outside in the cold and abuse my clothes any time of the year but the afformentioned brands have stood up quite well.

I'm going to be honest and say that at first this is a very difficult piece to decipher at first. Even after reading the posts and knowing what I was looking for I still had some trouble. Once I took a few moments to follow the outines the image came into view though. Now that being said. The construction of the sheet it's self looks very well done. The lines of the shapes are smooth and they don't appear pixelated as some inlays can.

Canada's Queen's York Rangers have decorative maille on thier uniforms. I've repaired it a few times.

I'm not back.

ISA Certified Arbourist chiming in here. This will damage the tree. Sure trees will grow around any object that is in their way, or at least try to but they are never as strong as they would have been without the obstruction. The tree will not press on the maille enough to pop rings. This damages the bark and causes the trunk (or any other part of the tree for that matter, above or below ground) and the trunk will not expand under the covered area as it would in the uncovered areas. Wrapping an object around a tree is actually what Girdling is, and yes it does kill trees. Removing the bark around the tree is Ringing and it's different. The tree will have the weight of a larger diameter but the strength of a smaller diameter and this causes a weak spot. [ / rant ] That being said there are ways of preventing this from doing any harm to the tree. Move the piece either up or down the bark of the tree so that no part of the newly overed area was covered by maille in the origional position. Removing the piece, splicing in new rows, and then re-attaching the piece will also allow the tree to grow naturally while still achieving the effect the "Bomber" had intended.

Wow, I had just headed over here to post the same thing. Wonder who made it. Shiz...missing a shirt?

Thankfully we don't have to read your book. The OP did not ask about the production cost of brass plating a base metal, nor did he ask you what you though of the idea. The question was about cleaning said wire. Going back to the OP. It has been years since I've used brass of any sort so I'm going to have to go off of memory. I recall having some success with vinegar and a rough cloth that I had laying around the house to clean the rings that I had. I don't know tarnished your rings are so you may require something a little more industrial than that however if you change out the vinegar you may be able to get some further cleaning of your rings. DF