| January 2004 | How to Tell Real Silver from Everything Else |
| February 2004 | Knitting Rings Under Test |
| March 2004 | New Store Carries The Chain Mail Guy's Wares |
| April 2004 | Steel Prices Skyrocket, The Story of Bethlehem Steel |
| May 2004 | Making Coiled Wire Spool Holders |
| June 2004 | Call for Models |
| July 2004 | New Pictures of my Corset Dress |
| August 2004 | The London Celtic Festival, Prices drop on Hanging Candle Holders |
| September 2004 | The Fergus Scottish Festival, Pink Titanium Now Available |
| October 2004 | New Stainless Steel Supplier, and Fashion Show Rumours |
| November 2004 | Website Updates, Tweaks, New Jewellery, and the Titanium Anodizer is Now Available |
| December 2004 | The Dark Vanity Fashion Show and the December Price Reductions |
Greetings, Link readers!
Welcome to the January 2004 issue of Link, the monthly text-only e-mail newsletter of the Chain Mail Guy. This month I'll be telling you how to tell actual silver from silver-looking metals and the story of how I happened across this neat little test. I'll also tell you about what I've been doing to my knitting rings lately, and I'll tell you about some of the specials I'll be running through the month of January.
IS IT SILVER?
I was talking to a colleague a number of weeks ago about how some technologies seem to catch the attention of the general public and some remain a fading curiosity. His example of a fad technology was the personal rocket belt. You may have seen NASA footage of a man wearing a jet pack, flying a few feet off the ground, hovering above the crowd below before coming down for a gentle landing. If the rocket industry had, pardon the pun, "taken off" the same way the computer industry did, we should all be flying disposable jet packs to and from work by now. "Where did the technology go?", my colleague wondered.
I couldn't put that question down and www.askjeeves.com was very helpful in providing the answer. The rocket belt was invented by one man working at Nasa in the 60's, and he and a group of technicians and engineers went on tour across America showing the thing off. When the inventor died, NASA shelved the project and broke up the team, putting them on other projects. The device used highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide as a fuel. Hydrogen peroxide is a mono fuel, meaning it carries both the fuel and oxidizer in the same molecule. How does it work? When hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with silver it breaks down into oxygen and water and generates heat *without* consuming the silver. The silver is just a catalyst. The process generates so much heat that at 50% - 70% concentrations, the heat is enough to turn the water into steam. Direct this through a rocket nozzle and you've got thrust without actually burning fossil fuels.
The NASA rocket belt used this technology by forcing 90% hydrogen peroxide through a rocket nozzle lined with silver mesh screens. One 6 lb. charge would be enough for 20 seconds of flight, and the screens would have to be changed often. At 90% concentrations the heat generated is enough to melt the silver mesh.
After reading that I asked myself what would happen if silver came in contact with regular household 3% hydrogen peroxide? Further study indicated that the only metal hydrogen peroxide catalyzes with is silver although in high concentrations it's unstable in the presence of organic material like skin, grease, etc.
I set up a row of glasses of hydrogen peroxide and dropped a piece of metal in each. A sterling silver ring, a stainless steel ring, a brass ring, an aluminum ring, a titanium ring. After 20 - 30 seconds, bubbles began to form on the silver ring, break off and rise to the top. No other metal I tested did that. The silver had a badly oxidized spot on it and the bubbles did not form there. I didn't have any rhodium-plated jewelry to test, nor any pewter. I expect these would not react with hydrogen peroxide either but I haven't proven that yet. If you have some, try it and let me know how it goes. The test shows postitive for silver plated material as well. If you want to find out if a piece is silver plated look for the maker's mark indicating such, or for a wear mark that shows the brass underneath.
For now it looks like the hydrogen peroxide test is a valid, quick, inexpensive, portable method of telling real silver from everything else including its identical but cheaper twin, german silver or nickel silver which has no actual silver content. It doesn't destroy the piece under test and the results come back in 30 seconds. A 500mL bottle is about $3 and will last you for many tests. The stuff can be re-used, but even when unused it does break down with heat. If stored at room temperature, replace the bottle every year. If stored in your car in the summer, replace it every day. The test can be performed at garage sales to see if that heirloom piece you're eyeing is what the vendor says it is.
I was about to say that this test is so simple, that it's not rocket science, but really it is. :)
KNITTING RINGS UNDER TEST
It seems that this past month has been a time of test for my work. A number of months ago I told you I was developing a method of testing the pull-apart strength of chain mail rings after I got frustrated with the math involved in determining the same thing. The device holds a ring under test at the top and bottom and gives it a steady, specific pull based on a precision weight and lever mechanism. I add more weight to the device until the ring stretches open enough to allow a ring of the same size to pass through the break in the ring. This is the point at which a ring in a garment would come apart and make a "moth-hole".
In the SCA, WCJA and AEMMA, the minimum ring required for armoured combat is made from 14AWG galvanized steel fencing wire, knitted in butted-mail fashion. The specification is only for the ring size, wire size and material, it does not specify the tensile strength of the ring. Obviously a ring with a welded or riveted joint would be much stronger. This would mean that the rings can be larger, the wire smaller, and still meet the same strength requirements as the 14AWG galvanized steel ring. The question is, how much stronger? I've noticed that rings with a smaller wire diameter/ring diameter ratio are stronger than rings in the same material with a larger ratio, but how much stronger?
These questions will be answered shortly, and the answers will be posted in the Accessories and Pricing sections of www.chainmailguy.com. I'll put the ring strength with each type of ring so you'll have a better idea of what rings are stronger than others.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
This month I'll bring you some of the numbers I promised last month regarding how strong my chain mail rings are, and I'll let you know about some cool changes to the chainmailguy.com website that are being installed.
HOW TOUGH IS TOUGH?
Finally I put my rings to the test. I built a device that pulls open a ring with a given amount of force, and keeps applying more force until the ring opens enough to allow another ring of the same wire diameter to pass through it. In real life, this would be the amount of force require to create a "moth-hole" in chain mail. When choosing knitting rings for creating a working suit of chain, this is an important set of numbers to know. If you're making a decorative curtain, it's good to know that the finished piece won't pull itself apart under its own weight.
The testing device is deceptively simple. It's a horizontal board attached to a vertical board by a hinge. The horizontal board has one end 4 times longer than the other. The short end has a screw-eye in it to hold the ring under test, and the long end has a screw-eye in it to hold the weight bucket. The whole thing is balanced with a counterweight on the short end. The ring under test is put in place and weight is added to the bucket until the ring opens enough to pass an identical ring through the break. The bucket is then weighed and multiplied by 4 to get the ring strength.
This test is repeated a number of times on different rings to get an average. This minimizes the errors introduced by beam imbalance, variances in material from ring to ring, and other factors.
I tested galvanized steel, aluminum, and stainless steel rings in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" sizes. Three rings of each specific type were tested. Not a large number, but certainly a beginning.
What did I find?
14 AWG X 1/2" galvanized steel (Minimum ring for SCA, AEMMA, and WCJA armour) - 31.78 lbs
3/32" X 1/2" #5356 aluminum - 27.23 lbs.
1/16" X 3/8" #5356 aluminum - 11.09 lbs.
1/16" X 1/4" #5356 aluminum - 14.91 lbs.
.080" X 1/2" #304L Stainless Steel - 27.25 lbs
1/16" X 3/8" #316L Stainless Steel - 23.20 lbs
1/16" X 1/4" #316L Stainless Steel - 43.03 lbs
Clearly the 1/4" stainless rings are stronger than the minimum requirements for armoured combat, with the 1/2" stainless and the 1/2" aluminum coming in at just under the same ring strength. The 1/2" aluminum has a 50% weight advantage over both stainless and galvanized steel, making the aluminum a better tactical choice for armoured combat. Aluminum is 1/3 the weight of steel, but this is partially offset by the added wire diameter of the aluminum.
How did titanium fare? More on that next month.
COOL NEW STUFF
I've been busy tweaking the website. There's now a FREE STUFF section where I'll be putting all of the past issues of LINK for your perusal and reference. Other links to sites I really like will also be listed there.
For people who just can't get enough of chain mail, I've made the background for the website available as a download so you can use it as wallpaper for your PC desktop.
The PRICING section now has a calculator for both shirts and dresses. Gone are the old instructions that read like an income tax form. All you have to do is plug in your measurements and click the button for the ring style you like, and up comes the price, delivery, and ring count.
In the future I'll tweak these calculators to figure out garment weight, and I'll put them in the Accessories section as well. The calculators in the Accessories section will also tell you how many bags of rings you'll need to get to finish your project, and will calculate pricing with the "Buy-4-Bags-Get-1-Free" deal in mind.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
NEW STORE CARRIES THE CHAIN MAIL GUY'S WARES
The Baden Emporium is now carrying a limited selection fo Chain Mail Guy stuff, including the book, Chain Mail Basics Third Edition, bags of aluminum 3/8" X 1/16" rings for people who want to learn how to start knitting chain, and the hanging candle holders you can find in the Accessories section of my website.
The Baden Emporium is in Baden, Ont., just a few doors down from EJ's, and just seconds from Highway 7&8. It is a fabulous place to lose yourself for a couple of hours. Handmade articles of all types, styles, and materials from local and international artists for decorating your home and garden. Stuff you'll never see anywhere else! See them at www.badenemporium.com for a tiny taste of what they have to offer.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
Greetings, Link readers!
SKYROCKETING STEEL PRICES NO JOKE
I got a nasty case of sticker shock when I tried to place an order for some stainless wire with my usual wire guy this week. Prices for stainless wire have more than doubled in the past few months.
An industry insider told me the story of the bankruptcy of Bethlehem Steel, and the unsubstantiated rumour that the assets have been purchased by an Asian firm and all manufacturing capacity moved offshore.
So how can one little steel mill cause so much trouble?
It ain't one little steel mill.
It started as an iron works in Bethlehem, PA in 1857 under the guidance of Charles Schwab. They made pig iron, billets, expanded to forgings and castings, and started making steel rails in 1873. They created an Armour Plate Works, and manufactured artillery and armour, and had an R&D department that developed some of the best ordnance a government can get.
Later, shipbuilding plants were built and Bethlehem Steel made a horribly large pile of money from WWII, building 20% of the US Naval fleet and supplying the British with "Anything they can afford". U.S. neurality laws at the time forbade such practice, but this was circumvented by some clever shipping through Canada.
Bethlehem Steel's plant in PA covers 1500 acres and has multiple subsidiaries across the USA. Their R&D department is also resposible for the creation of the H-beam, the big brother of the I-beam. These structural components are found in every single high-rise and commercial construction project on the planet. The company is responsible for the manufacture of the Golden Gate Bridge and the New York Skyline. The R&D department also developed High Speed Steel, the stuff that every single common drill bit is made from.
After Charles Schwab, Eugene Grace grew the company into the #2 steel producer in the USA. Mr. Grace started with the company as a crane operator and within 17 years worked his way up to President. He is quoted as saying, "Let it be your guiding, impelling aim to take the boss' job away from him.". He was 36 when named President of the company. For a story of opulence, iron-fisted ruling, and rags-to-riches worthy of a Hollywood movie, visit http://www.bethlehempaonline.com/steelgolden.html
The scope of this one company is mind boggling . For more background on Bethlehem Steel, visit http://www.bethlehempaonline.com/steel.html
WHERE'S THE STEEL GOING?
Structural steel is almost impossible to get according to my industry insider. Stainless steels are somewhat easier to obtain than ferrous steels and the price of brass and aluminum are moving up as manufacturers select different materials to fill the gap. Further, The U.S. Government has imposed an import tax on steel brought into the USA to help keep less expensive foreign steel out and protect jobs. This tariff will be in place for 3 years.
Design Product News, an engineering trade paper ran a story this month on how Chinese auto manufacturers are now being allowed to compete for market share and to build cars for export and domestic use within China. According to DPN it was illegal for citizens of China to own a private vehicle. Up until 1995, this privilege was reserved for Government. Mix this relaxed law with inexpensive labour, hundreds of thousands of new Chinese engineers being trained every year, and I can see where all that offshore steel is going to be used. GM is currently the biggest player in China, with Volkswagen and AMC not far behind.
THE END RESULT
What does all this mean to the chain knitter? The Chain Mail Guy is going to spend more time looking under rocks and trees for the best deals on wire while maintaining the high quality of the rings and work very hard to keep prices from going up any time soon. I like offering the buy-4-get-1-free deal, I like offering free shipping over $60 CDN, and I'll work hard to keep these available. I knit with the same rings I sell, and I won't sell what I wouldn't work with. No matter what happens to the price, the quality will not drop because *I* won't work with low quality rings.
If you like making your own rings you might want to forget the Farm Supply stores and start visiting the local scrap yards. The manufacturing of steel is the bottleneck, not the supply of scrap. The price of finished product may be rising, but with less production capacity, scrap piles will be getting larger and the price of scrap steel should stabilize and perhaps fall until production can catch up again.
Precious metals are not affected by this news. Titanium, sterling silver, and gold are all available at their regular prices.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
Greetings, Link readers!
Last month I talked about the skyrocketing price of steel, this month I'm going to talk about how to make your own spool holder for wire coils that don't come on spools.
BIG GARBAGE DAY
Found Object Artists, Handyfolk and Salvage Pickers all look forward to Big Garbage Day. Some folks call it Spring Cleaning Day, some call it Recycling Weekend. Usually it's held in the spring, sometimes again in the fall, where for one special pickup the garbage trucks will take whatever you can give them unless it's liquid or radioactive. Halves of bicycles, washers and dryers that don't work, endless lines of barbecues, three-legged chairs, lawn mowers with bent crankshafts, and ten year-old computer parts as far as the eye can see.
This is better than Christmas! Why? You know what you're getting is something you can use, and everyone knows what you're giving away is crap.
Professional pickers will cruise Suburbia all night waiting for fresh pickings as each householder empties the contents of his garage, basement or front porch of stuff that Goodwill just won't come and take away. Apparently, the price obtained for the scrap value of a cast aluminum barbecue offsets the cost of the fuel spent finding it.
What can the chain knitter find on Big Garbage Day that is useful? Dryers that spin but don't heat make great tumblers for polishing finished pieces. Incomplete barbecues that with a little work can be turned into heat treatment furnaces. Dot matrix printers are an excellent source of precision mandrels for winding springs. Office chairs that still spin but are uncomfortable to sit in make great spool holders.
MAKING COILED WIRE SPOOL HOLDERS
After piling up my offering to my neigbours, I took one more look at everything I was parting with. One piece was an office chair salvaged during an office cleanout at a local business some years ago. The chair was dated at about 35 - 40 years old and had functional tilt, swivel and rolling wheels, but the seat padding was shot. The chair was uncomfortable.
In my search over the past month for better pricing on wire I found that some suppliers don't offer their wire on spools or reels, but on coils. These have a 12" paper or cardboard core and are banded with plastic ties to hold the whole thing together. Inexpensive for the supplier but tough to reel off without proper equipment.
As I was looking at that chair I was preparing to throw away, a light went on over my head. If I could get that cardboard-cored coil sitting on that chair, it would spin around real nice and spool off just fine as I wound it into springs.
The wooden frame seat and back of the chair was bolted to the swivel with four big screws. I removed those and took off the seat to reveal an X-shaped angle-iron support for the seat of the chair. I grabbed a sheet of plywood and cut it into a square, 24" on each side, and then shaved off the corners to make it an octagon. Knocking off the corners of the square would minimize the possibility of the wire catching on the corners of the wood as it unspooled.
Next, I grabbed an unopened coil of wire and set in on the plywood, ensuring it was centered by measuring from each outside edge to the coil, and drew a circle on the plywood inside the coil. I removed the coil and cut four 2X4's, 12" long, and screwed them to the plywood base protruding at right angles from the plywood, forming an "X" inside the circle I drew. The 2X4 ends were not cut at right angles, and angled slightly inward to allow the spool to be set over the 2X4's easily and seat on the plywood.
Last, I bolted the plywood to the swivel of the chair and set the coil on the plywood and gave it a spin. It ran true. After cutting the straps on the coil I started winding springs, and found that the whole setup worked fairly well. The coil peels off in a horizontal instad of a vertical plane which I'm used to, but this I can learn to deal with. The whole thing is on wheels so when it's time to put away my toys I don't have to lift 60 lbs. of steel. I may have to file a flat spot onto one or more of the casters so that the whole thing stays put when I'm winding springs. I may have to put some friction on the swivel as well, since the thing tends to keep spinning after I stop pulling on the wire.
One other drawback to this new tool is that once the wire is on the holder and the straps are cut, the wire has to stay there until it's all gone. There is no easy way to get a half-coil of wire off the holder. This is a minimal drawback. Broken office chairs are free for the taking on Big Garbage Day, and I can make as many of these holders as I need, one for each type of wire.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
LINK BACK ISSUES ONLINE
Finally I've dug up all the back issues of Link from September 2001 and posted them to www.chainmailguy.com in the Free Stuff section. There you'll find lots of info, tips & tricks on winding, cleaning, treating, and handling wire, and info on various specials I've run, including the details on the Free Knitting Rings program which is still available. It was quite a treat for me to re-read all that stuff; a nostalgic look back at what I was researching three years ago in order to make better chain.
PICTURE DAY
It's time for more pictures! I need some for the website, and a stock portfolio for the Canada Arts Council. If you'd like to model my wares and have fun doing it, contact me at and we'll arrange a time.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
NEW DRESS PICTURES COMING
I've had this wonderful dress in my head for the past few months, and I couldn't get it out. Last year I created the Chain Mail Corset which can be seen in the Naughty section of www.chainmailguy.com, and it's been received very well by the public. Because there is no boning or stays to pinch or poke, it's more comfortable than a regular corset. It does require some help getting into it, but helping an attractive young lady get dressed is part of the fun!
One small problem that seems to plague my corsets is that when worn over a shirt or other clothing, they tend to shift downward and occasionally need to be adjusted up again over the course of a day. Another is that they stop at the waist and don't offer the modesty of an Empire waistline which covers the belly. Because of the way the corset is knitted, I couldn't think of a way to elegantly offer the modesty of an Empire cut.
Now I can.
The answer lies in a custom knitted skirt that extends from the bottom of the corset. The skirt is large enough to step into, and the wearer's hips hold the corset in place. The lacing is the trick. There's extra skirt at the back of the dress which allows the dress to slip over the wearer's hips, and the lacing defines the line between the waist and hip, as well as forming the upper body in a beautiful shape.
The very first one is currently wearable and my model tells me it's more confortable than even my chain corset because the hips are holding up the piece instead of the lacing. This means it doesn't have to be laced so tight to stay in place. Because of the work the rings have to do, this piece is made from stainless steel with brazed rings at the lacing points. The extra weight is not a factor because it's all sitting on the hips. Pricing will start at about $300 for the corset dress, and go to about $600. My corsets range from $125 - $250. Look for pictures soon in the Naughty section as well as the Women's wear.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
Greetings, Link readers!
GREAT TIMES AT THE LONDON CELTIC FESTIVAL
What a wonderful event this was! Great music, bands, lots of people, sunny day, and fresh food available at the Covent Garden Market. This was arguably the best show I've done this year. The people I met were great. Since the festival was run in conjuntion withthe WCJA jousting across the street at the John Labatt Center, the fit was perfect. The folks coming out of the JLC would hear the music and come on over to investigate. The kids would see chain mail and know what it was, because they'd just seen knights fighting in it. We had great fun getting people to try on my wares and generally enjoying the entire weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday we shared the vendor's area with the local growers who usually set up for Farmer's Market. The added fresh food made the weekend that much more of a festival, adding to the marketplace quite nicely.
At the end of it all, the organizers auctioned off a set cardboard lobby cutouts of the three main characters from Lord of the Rings. These cutouts were used all weekend to promote and dress up the festival, and the lot of them were purchased individually by one guy, who got them for about $110 for the lot. What a deal!
Look for this event next year!
PRICES DROPPING
The hanging candle holders have now dropped in price from $32.00 CDN ea. to $24.00 CDN ea., with a much wider variety available. As time permits, I'll post more on the website, but for now if you'd like to see what I have, either come & see me at the Fergus Scottish Festival this weekend, or e-mail me at and I'll send you photos of what I currently have available.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
Greetings, Link readers!
This month I'm going to tell you about some specials and price reductions, as well as the highlights of the Fergus Scottish Festival, as I remember them.
FREGUS SCOTTISH FESTIVAL WAS GREAT
What a weekend! I met wonderful folks all weekend, helped attractive young ladies try on expensive clothes, and my own S.O. bought me a coveted ticket to the Scotch Nosing on Saturday as a belated birthday present. Six single malts plus one blended, none available for purchase. Dimmed lights and candles at the tables, a little food, and some musical and dramatic entertainment to help round out the experience. It was a wonderful 2 hour "taste drive" of some scotches I'd never try by myself.
The security has been visibly stepped up this year in response to last year's thefts. More volunteers and police were roaming day and night, aiding in the reduction of rowdiness and increasing the overall politeness of the crowd. One drunk goofball thought he would try his hand at shoplifting from me.
Didn't work.
Each vendor watches the others around him as well as his own booth and will come to the aid of another when necessary, rather like the Hanseatic League in Germany. The Hanseatic League was a group of merchants who banded together to sail their ships in convoys, helping to thwart attacks from pirates. The members of this League also traded their wares in shops beside each other in merchant towns like Hildescheim in Germany, which still exists today. The Hanseatic League was also responsible for standardizing the purity of silver so that it could be universally used as money. That standard is Sterling Silver, or 92.5% silver, 7.5% other metals.
TITANIUM BAGS GET BIGGER
Now get 25% more when you order titanium knitting rings. Bags that used to contain 100 rings for $18.50 CDN (about $13.70 USD) now contain 125 rings for the same price. The buy-4-get-1-free deal still applies, as does the free colouring option.
TITANIUM NOW AVAILABLE IN PINK
Yep, bright pink, bright purple and some interesting yellows popped out when I was experimenting with my anodizer this week. As time permits, I'll be posting new pictures of all the colours on the website. For now, I can e-mail you a picture of bright pink at your request. When ordering, indicate colour TI-64 as your choice.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
This month I'm going to tell you about rumours on what's happening soon.
SWITCHING SUPPLIERS FOR STAINLESS STEEL WIRE
I recently switched suppliers for stainless and found that if I buy from a mill here in Canada, I can get significant price reductions. The new guy that I found is only a few towns over, so shipping is just a matter of me driving over with my pickup truck and coming home with my headlights pointed at the sky. Since I live within an hour of Hamilton, Canada's best-known steel-town, I expected that I would find a mill in the area that would be able to supply my stainless wire needs within a relatively close area. What I didn't expect was that my new supplier doesn't get their raw unformed wire from a Canadian source, it's from Ireland! Imagine that - Wire shipped in from Ireland and drawn in Canada is cheaper than ore dug , processed and shipped from the USA. This is just one more example of why I knit and why I don't work in economics.
RUMOUR MILL
The Chain Mail Guy has been invited to participate in a fashion show in Toronto, hosted by Dark Vanity (www.darkvanity.com), a goth e-zine. The theme for the Nov. 28th show is "A Christmas Kink". The show & sale will be held at The Savage Garden nightclub in Toronto. The e-zine is published online 4 times/year, and the next issue is in conjunction with the fashion show. I'l be interviewed as a Feature Fashion Designer for the upcoming issue, and I'll have my various fashions available for purchase at the show as well.
I've been itching to do another fashion show, and in November I'll scratch that itch. For more details visit the Dark Vanity website.
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
This month I'll tell you about what's happening at the website.
WEBSITE UPDATES
www.chainmailguy.com is in the middle of getting a good housecleaning. The Accessories section is now devoted only to stuff other than clothes, but not DIY kits. The DIY kits have their own section under Rings & Tools where all the kits have PayPal buttons added to them.
I've also listed the JP Creative Titanium anodizer that I've been promising for months. This unit offers the best price/performance of any artist-use anodizer on the market. If you need to anodize titanium or niobium jewelry, metal art, or knife pieces up to 20 sq. inches in area, this is the unit for you. The nearest competing unit is offered by www.reactivemetals.com, and comes to about $600 CDN, not including shipping. The JP Creative unit retails for $348.00 CDN, and includes a 1 year warranty, instruction book, wire leads, a stainless steel cathode, and enough concentrated anodizing solution to get you started. Price also includes shipping. Too see this unit, visit www.chainmailguy.com/rings&tools.htm
The bears have been selling lately, and most of the ones you have seen in the Accessories section are no longer available. More are coming. As they are made, they will appear on the website.
The clickable words in the header bar are now larger for easier use. Less squinting for you!
THE JEWELLERY SECTION
I've been playing with the King Chain pattern for a number of years, and making some nice things in sterling silver with it. The pattern looks quite intricate and detailed, but boggles the eye. I've added colour to the mix by using red enameled copper wire in strategic places in the knit and it makes the whole thing look more striking. The price also comes down since fewer of the rings are sterling silver.
Price for an 8" King Chain bracelet in sterling silver is $64.00 CDN, about $51.20 USD.
Price for an 8" King Chain bracelet in sterling silver and red enameled copper is $45.00 CDN or about $36.00 USD.
You can check these out at http://www.chainmailguy.com/jewelry.htm
RUMOURS ARE TRUE
The Chain Mail Guy has been invited to participate in a fashion show in Toronto, hosted by Dark Vanity (www.darkvanity.com), a goth e-zine. The theme for the Nov. 28th show is "A Christmas Kink". The show & sale will be held at The Savage Garden nightclub in Toronto. The e-zine is published online 4 times/year, and the next issue is in conjunction with the fashion show. I'l be interviewed as a Feature Fashion Designer for the upcoming issue, and I'll have my various fashions available for purchase at the show as well. More info can be had by contacting Robert Barker at ikaris@ikarisgothic.com
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
Dec. 2004
Greetings, Link readers!
This month I'm going to tell you a little about the Dark Vanity fashion show at the Savage Garden, and the screaming good deals available for December.
FASHION SHOW DETAILS
It was a long day but well worth it. The Savage Garden was packed, the people were great, the outfits from all the designers looked fantastic, and everything came together seamlessly. For pictures, see http://www.darkvanity.com.
As far a nightclubs go, Savage Garden is a bit small, an upstairs venue that's long and narrow. The dance floor at one end, the seating & pool tables at the other end, and the bar in the middle. A tiny stage is directly across from the bar. For this show the runway cut across the dance floor to the tiny stage. Giveaways and door prizes ran all night between the various designer shows. I wish I had better pictures, but my friend Joseph Szilvagyi got great shots of everyone. If you need a photographer, he does great work for reasonable prices. His portfolio can be found at http://www.szilvagyi.com
I also met a fellow who showed me his chain bracelet. It featured rubber o-rings alternating with metal to allow expansion of the bracelet eliminating the need for a clasp. Since he bought it he got so many compliments on it he requested pricing from me for these things, intending to sell them at his studio in Toronto. I can make them for the price range he's looking for if I use stainless steel. This will look fabulous, contrasting the black of the rubber rings with the bright stainless rings, and the give of rubber with the stiffness of steel. Hmmm..... purple titanium & black rubber....
SCREAMING GOOD DEALS
Most retailers will wait until after Christmas to offer you their best deals, but I've got a couple that just can't wait.
Titanium Anodizers:
The TIA-100 from JP Creative has dropped in price from $348.00 CDN to $248.00 CDN. This works out to about $198.40 USD and includes shipping, one year warranty, and everything you need to start anodizing titanium except the titanium. This makes a great Christmas gift for the knifemaker, jeweller, or chain knitter who wants to anodize their own material into dazzling colour. This can be seen at http://www.chainmailguy.com/rings&tools.htm#TIA-100
Jerry Penner
The Chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
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