Armor from PVC Pipes

Pam asked about the chainmail that the kitten slept on... (this post, if you're wondering)

The rings were cut from 3/4" PVC pipe using a pair of ratcheting PVC cutters. We tried using a high-psi 1/2" pipe, too--it works well for small pieces (like mail vambraces) but it takes a lot longer because you need so many more rings.

There are instructions for how to weave the rings together on the net. We used the ones at ArtofChainmail.com. About half the rings are split so they can snap on; the rest are left closed. You can glue the split rings together again after they've been woven, to make it stronger, but we didn't glue them and it still stays together fairly well (just drops a ring now and then).

A mail-shirt (or hauberk) can be constructed several ways. The method we used isn't the most historical, but it's the easiest, especially when you're working with thick PVC rings.


It's woven in eight separate pieces: trunk, shoulders, two sleeves, and four skirt pieces. The trunk is a large cylinder (a flat piece of mail with two edges connected); the shoulders are a flat piece with a squareish hole in the middle for the neck; the sleeves are smaller flat pieces; and the skirt pieces are long flat pieces. Two edges of the shoulder-piece connect to the front and back of the trunk, and the other two edges connect to an edge of a sleeve. The skirt pieces (which are optional, and just add length) connect to the bottom edge of the trunk.

You'll end up with sleeves that hang over the arms but aren't connected underneath (as in the picture). They can be connected, but it limits mobility more; we've tried it both ways. (There will also be gaps at the armpits; I don't know of any way to close those. It would be almost impossible to move if you did.)

After the pieces of the suit are connected, you'll want to make a split in the front of the neck (as in the picture) so it can be pulled on something like a T-shirt. "Something like" because it's stiff and weighs 10-20 pounds--we usually need a helper to get it on. Taking it off is easier, if you make the neck-hole big enough--you just slip out of the shoulders, let it drop to the floor, and step out of it.

We painted the suit after it was all put together using a metallic spraypaint. This seems to work well, although you have to use more than one coat: paint all the visible surfaces, shake the suit to turn the rings, paint again, and repeat as necessary. The site whence we got the idea suggests that you paint the rings first and then assemble them. We've not tried this, but I expect this method scratches the paint a lot. If I were to do it again I might weave the separate pieces of the hauberk, paint them while they're flat, and then put them together.

Right now I'm working on adding a gold dagged edge to my suit. I'll try to get some pictures up when it's finished.


Some more links:
The site that got us started
More mail weaves (some of these are too tight to do with PVC)
My page on our chainmail