4 in 1 Chain Maille

My son (10 years old) was a knight for Halloween. He was not impressed with the authenticity of his costume. He asked the night before Halloween if we could make some real chain maille. I said of course but not tonight.

The following Thanksgiving I was visiting my in-laws with the whole family. My father in law has a shop and I needed something to do. I looked up chain maille on Instrucables.com and headed to Home Depot to pick up supplies. For a madrel I used a bolt. I cut a slot in the end to "clamp" the wire. For wire I used drop ceiling suspension wire (straight). This yielded very stiff rings with a tight weave.Two and a half days later we had a coif head piece that fit my son.

This inspired him to do a research paper on William the Conquer er. The research paper ended with a "Night of the Notables" where each student is required to stand in front of a display about their chosen "Notable" subject in costume and talk to the student's and parents about their chosen "Notable" person. When my kids do papers like this I learn so much in the proofing process.

The Chain Maille Coif was a big hit. It got heavy on his head so my son took it off and used it as a "hook" to engage parents. He would hold it out to passing parents and ask "Do you want to feel how heavy medieval armour is?" I watched as one mother dragged her husband over to feel the armour.