Admire my balls, so heavy and full

[Orrex]

[mcctatas]

1. did anyone ever tell you you're balls look a little rusty?

;)

[Orrex]

4. No way, baby! Galvanized!

Think zinc!

[Lorien]

2. Chain mail pot scrubbers?

[Orrex]

6. I suppose that they could be, now that you mention it

I made them with juggling in mind, though.

[Aristus]

3. Your seminal vesicles are looking a little sclerotic.

Sorry, it's the medical training... B-)

[Orrex]

5. Too much iron in my diet, perhaps

[DarkTirade]

7. I would have used brass rings myself.

:shrug:

[Orrex]

10. Not cost effective, and too flimsy

Each ball has two brass rings at the top and bottom center, and these were formed from K&S 1/16 brass rod. It's great stuff, but pricey.

The crap that you can buy in a spool from Lowe's or elsewhere is just too soft to hold its shape well IMO, and it's a trifle pricey, too, considering the finished product.

I've worked with stainless, though, and if I could find a cost-effective supplier, I'd probably go back to it.

[DarkTirade]

11. Yes, but then you could have made your own brass balls.

And that makes it worthwhile. :P

[Orrex]

27. What would I do with two more brass balls?

:shrug:

[DarkTirade]

35. ...

:spray:

[dawgmom]

8. That will be just about enough of that, young man (n/t)

[LeftyMom]

9. I want a chain mail dice bag.

That's like the best geek accessory ever, IMO.

[Lethe]

21. hell ya

that would be cools.

My bag is full at the moment. I am very very very superstitious when it comes to d20's. I have many. I use certain d20's in certain situations.

[Connonym]

12. "Ouch My Balls!"

and you just know that'll be the #1 TV show if Palin gets elected

[elshiva]

14. St. God's Hospital

:)

[Coyote_Bandit]

13. How

did you learn to do chain mail?

I've been wanting to make a very small Celtic star to wear as a pendant.

[Orrex]

16. A good friend showed me the basics back in about '91

Never tried a Celtic star, but I can throw one together, I'll PM you with the details.

[Coyote_Bandit]

31. Thanks!

I've been playing with glass for the past couple of years and have recently become interested in learning chain mail and maybe eventually some of the metalsmithing skills.

I was surfing the net and looking at chain mail images when I came across these pics of celtic stars:





I've been really tempted to try and make one of these with my very limited knowledge. I know how to make jump rings that are soldered and used to hang various glass items. I also know that the jump rings that are utilized in chain mail are not soldered.

I don't know what the best gauge of wire is for chain mail - or what ring sizes to use in this pattern. I'm sure there may be more that I need to know.

Anyway, I'd be delighted if you could help me out just a bit - and maybe point me in the direction to learn a bit more or to find some chain mail design ideas.





I love your balls. How long did it take you to make them?

[Orrex]

37. Thanks--cool designs!

I love your balls. How long did it take you to make them?

Well, I hadn't made a circle in quite a while, so it took some time to figure out the pattern again. After that it moved along much faster. Given a supply of loose rings, I could probably put a bag together in a little over an hour.

Incidentally, each of the balls contains 332 links, two of which are 1/16" brass rod with a 1/4" internal diameter. The rest of the links are 17gg galvanized steel with a 7/32" internal diameter. If I've done the math correctly, that comes out to a little over 21 feet of wire in each ball.

It's hard to advise on gauge versus ring size, because there are so many variables of aethetics and functionality. For instance, I could probablue 3/16" rings for these bags at the same gauge, but any smaller would be problematic. Here are a few (very rough) guidelines for standard 4-on-1 mail:

Wire Gauge Minimum Effective Ring Diameter
12 5/16"
14 1/4"
16 3/16"
17 5/32"
18 1/8"
19 3/32"

By "effective," I mean how small the internal diameter of the ring can be before the mail "fabric" loses its suppleness.

Hard to judge from those pictures, but I'd estimate that the larger rings would work with 16gg wire @ 5/16" diamater, while the smaller rings might be 17gg or 18gg @ 3/16" diameter, but that's a total guess. I've never made one of those, so I'd have to play around with it before I could say for sure. I've also done only a little work with rings of varying sizes. Japanese mail makes extensive use of it, as does a lot of ornamental mail, but mostly I've stuck with European 4-on-1 and 6-on-1.

[mopinko]

15. my son used to do chain mail

now he has a girlfriend.

[Orrex]

17. Hardy har har

I'll be sure to tell my wife and sons how funny you are!

:evilgrin:

[mopinko]

36. seriously, tho

he does have some wire hanging around here that he is not gonna use. i have no idea what it is exactly, i just know that he was always getting some new cool think from some place in canada. if you are interested, he would probably part with it for a good price.

[Lethe]

22. so he makes Boba Fett armor now?

???

[Pierre.Suave]

18. I don't even know why I clicked on this stupid thread...

:P

[Orrex]

32. Because you're totally in love with me, obviously

And you feel compelled to read everything that I post.


I can hardly blame you, to be honest.

[Pierre.Suave]

34. *sigh*

I know, no use in denying it anymore...

:P

[pokerfan]

19. I'm ever upper class high society, God's gift to ballroom notoriety

[Pierre.Suave]

28. AC/DC

Nice...

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. Those aren't brass, so you're not quite qualified for the Glengarry leads.

[elshiva]

23. May I lick your balls, please?

[Orrex]

24. Well sure, I guess

You'll get a yucky steel aftertaste, but go for it.

[elshiva]

25. Slurp slurp!

Yummy!

[Lil Missy]

26. Admire my Brass Ovaries.

:D

[SalmonChantedEvening]

29. So when someone massages them

Do they turn into a fence?

[Orrex]

30. I take a fence at your comment, in fact

Wire you being such a hassle?

[SalmonChantedEvening]

33. Hass ta be :)

[Generic Brad]

38. Chain, chain, chain

Chain of balls.