j_betts

I'm going to point you to the search function of the forum. We actually have several threads on tumbling projects of all sizes. Please take a look before the "we aren't your human search engine" comments start flying. Specific size and type of tumbler doesn't matter. As long as you can cover your pieces in tumbling media it will work. There have been people here that have put projects in a bucket and just kept that moving. It worked just fine. Different types of tumbler do things better than others, but I don't know the specifics off the top of my head. Any tumbling will start to remove the color from anodized rings. How much, and how fast will depend on what media you use. I'd suggest a walnut or rice media since they work more slowly.

Not poor closures, visible closures. I've had the closure all but disappear on round wire. I don't think that is even possible on the square wire. Can you feel the edges on the RSD bracelet? If not you have good closures in my book.

The square wire looks like it is very unforgiving when it comes to closures. With round wire they can all but disappear, but with the square wire they are rather easy to spot. I'm not saying your closures are bad, I'm saying the material requires much better closures to look as good as round wire.

Are the faded blackened SS a redish brown? If so they may be too clean and have rusted a bit. Try soaking them in some oil and see if they darken to your standards.

I personally think that making a shirt for a first project is a bad idea because it is a big job, and many people will get discouraged before they finish. I suggest something that can be finished rather quickly so they have that in hand while they tackle the bigger projects. When I show people the projects I have they all ask how long it took. I often hear "I could never do that," when I tell them I took a month to build my shirt. I get that reaction much less when I tell them I made a necklace in an hour or three in front of the TV.

Is this your first project, or your first shirt? For a first project I'd say to go smaller. Bags and jewelry make better first steps into chainmail. Tips for making a shirt Make patches, and knit them into the shirt later. Working on the full thing is cumbersome, and heavy. Make sure you are weaving in the right direction. Doing so will make the shirt fit better, and give some room to change size. This is a big project. Understand that there will be times where you think it will never end. Keep going and you will get it done Good Luck

This is like theft you know. I already need to make an order, and you come out with these? I can feel the cash slipping out of my wallet already. The only questions are what color(s) and what size. I don't have a choice.

Did you have any trouble with the tabs wanting to catch on the cord? When I've tried to do this they really didn't want to slide down the cord.

After talking with my wife about the chainmail corset thread that was going on I've decided to make a fashion top for her. The basic design will be like a tank top with laces up both sides. I'm planing on using rubber and AA rings in a basic E4in1 pattern. What I'm wondering about is how to attach the bikini aspect of it to the rest. I'm planning on making an inverted M patterned bikini top to cover the girly bits, and then continue building mail cloth onto that. Will this work? I've looked through the gallery, and either the top doesn't cup to cover the breasts, or it doesn't have much in the way of other coverage. I'm also wondering if I should get some AA rings the same color as the rubber ones for the E6in1 band. Would it need to not stretch to hold things in the right place?

Thank you all for the advice. I think I've got the design pinned down. I'm going with an inverted M bikini top with the E6in1 straps connecting to the back of the top. Front and back will be laced together when on her. It will be made out of black rubber rings and red AA. Last hurtle will be deciding what size of ring. 18g 3/16 would look awesome but take forever and cost a mint. Does anyone know how see through the 16g 5/16 rings are with rubber? The pictures in the gallery are mostly on black manikins with black rings. I can't tell if I'm seeing "skin" or just the rubber rings.

What do you do when you find a scale with the hole almost in the center of it? I make it into a pendant of a necklace. Now this is not a dig at TRL's quality. I've gotten one truely bad scale out of the ones I've bought. I just wanted to show off what I did with one that was a bit off. The chain is bias e4in1 in 18ga 3/16" the same size rings that you use for the small scales. It just seemed appropriate to use that size.

I've never even thought about doing an expansion using dragonscale, but the tutorial looks good. The only question I have is how well the divot in the pattern smooths out as you continue.

It doesn't need to be original to be successful. Look at Hollywood, when was the last time you saw a movie that wasn't an adaptation, sequel, or remake? You are making product that people want. After that, it really doesn't matter.

I am in love with HP 4in1, and JPL3. I just love the look and feel of those two weaves. I also really like interwoven E4in1. It just looks really cool to me, especially when you use different colors. I've done reversible colors where one side is different from the other, and edges being different from the center.

The women (yes plural) I've seen with it upside down are either wearing underbust corsets, or have ones that go over the hips a bit. Look at pictures of random women wearing them and look for ones where there is a point coming up between their breasts. That point is supposed to be at her crotch. Keep an eye open at functions where corsets are common, and you will see it.

To me this says you want a chainmail top that is fitted to the body, and possibly laced up the front or back. The word corset is one used for many different garments, and lots of people dislike the use of it for anything but their definition. If you are looking to make something that will reshape the body of the woman you are putting it on you will need some structural elements that exceed what butted mail can do. You would be surprised how much force is exerted by one of those things. Moving back to chainmail tops. E6in1 or dragonscale is going to look very nice, but will be heavy. There are just a lot of rings, and that will add up to a bunch of weight. Adding rubber rings will help, but then you get to the point where it may start to slide off her body due to the rings streching. Good luck with whatever you decide to build.

To me it sounds like you are saying that by making the rings you can have any AR you need. Although true, I can also get a pretty wide range of AR's by just buying a number of different sizes of rings.

I know more than one woman that has used her corset as a back brace. Then again I can't count the number of times I've seen a woman wearing a corset upside down. Proper fitting, and wearing it correctly will make the corset much more comfortable.

I've been using liquid hand soap and hot water to remove the rub off from my hands. Don't be stingy with the soap, and run your fingernails over the skin that isn't getting clean. On days that I have really black looking hands I repeat the process a second time and I always get the stuff off.

You can do this using a punch. I've seen people selling the tool, and instructions on how to modify pliers to work like this.

The first thing I do when I need to save space is ask "Do I really need this?" Having 12 sizes of every color of AA may allow you to make anything you want at a moment's notice, but do you need them? Perhaps you could keep your stock to a couple common sizes, and buy the odd sizes when you have a project that needs them. After that check out the container store's web page. Even if you don't buy from them you can get a good idea of what is available.

I really like the new lay out. It is much easier to figure out the differences in price since they are all for the same number of scales. I also like that you have all the scales grouped by size. Having the anodized aluminum ones on a second page always confused me.

For your necklace I'd say either use more stainless if you want it to be all silver, or go AA if you want colors. Do note that the punched rings aren't full 16 ga thickness. They are flat and have 16 ga equivalent between ID and OD. You may not get the same look as you are thinking using them. Your cloak idea is very interesting, but I think you may have a problem with how the weight sits. It will strangle you if you just make it sit at your neck. The previous times people talked about doing this we have suggested making a mantle and then having the scales hang from that.

If you are using solder to attach anything physically you are going to have this problem. It is designed to make electrical connections, not physical one. On a glove I'd suggest stitching the wires down to the glove, and possibly using glue to anchor the contacts down. There are also conductive embroidery kits available at the maker's shed web site. I think that going that route may work far better than making a chainmail glove.