Greetings, LINK Readers!

Today I'll tell you about changes at www.chainmailguy.com, a new trick I've learned, a bit of research on Nitrile rings, and confirm rumours of a new wire in stock.


NEW LOOK AT WWW.CHAINMAILGUY.COM

I made use of the few days off at Christmas and New Years and tidied up around chainmailguy.com. The site is now easier to navigate, with all the navigation buttons always accessible from the left side. When I first set up the site 6 years ago, frame pages were not common, and not all browsers upported them. Today, all but the oldest browsers can suppoort frames, so I've implemented them to make navigation easier. All the back-issues of LINK are now easy to get to. There is some good stuff in there, check it out. The specials listed in back-issues of LINK are no longer available, but the tips and stories are still relevant and entertaining.

The Rings & Tools section now has the decimal inch, decimal metric, and gauge sizes of all the rings. I still wind mostly in decimal inch sizes, but with the decimal metric size of the same ring listed, it makes conversion and selection dead easy.

I still have to clean up the Gallery and make it navigable, but there are some cool pieces there to give you ideas you can steal and make better. Take a look around and let me know what you think.



NEW RING PRICING

I've been hunting for better pricing on wire for some time, and as of 2007 have made some new, less greedy friends. The price of the galvanized rings have dropped from $18.50 per bag of 500 to $9.75 per bag of 500 - nearly half. The pricing for nearly all rings under 1/4" (6.4mm) dia. has dropped to the same level. Thse are all in the Rings & Tools section.


NEW TRICKS FOR WINDING TINY RINGS

Today I was prepareing an order for some small rings and was again frustrated with my winder. I wind my wire into springs then cut them. I use a U-shaped wooden holder for the mandrel, and attach a hand drill to the end of the mandrel to speed the winding of the spring. This works great for rings over 1.4", but not so great for smaller sizes. After the spring is would, I have to cut the wire, pull the mandrel and drill back, slide off the spring, and repeat the process. In the course of winding, I have to let go of the drill to cut thespring loose from the madrel and hold the end of the loose wire so it doesn't spring off in any old direction. This leaves the heavy drill hanging off the mandrel and for an 1/8" mandrel, this means bending the mandrel. A bent mandrel is difficult to work with, and requires that it be bent back before winding the next spring.

In a brief moment of clarity I looked up and saw beams and pipes hanging from the ceiling, right over my workspace. I grabbed some spare single-knit cable chain and a bungee cord. I wrapped the bungee cord around the drill, slung the chain over the appropriate pipe, and suspended the drill at the exact height required to allow the drill to sit perfectly when I removed my hands from it. No more bent mandrels, and much faster winding since I no longer have to straighten them before each spring.


NITRILE RUBBER RESEARCH

When I first started experimenting with rubber rings, I had certain criteria in mind. They had to be durable, wear resistant, and resistant to things found on skin like oils and saltwater, and not cause trouble for folks with latex allergies. Nitrile was the answer. It's what tap washers are made from. It has proven wear resistance, age resistance, and works with any number of chemicals and oils. The comparison charts for Nitrile, however, say it's not great when exposed to UV radiation.

I have a UV lamp for erasing electronic memory, and it put's out a full day's sunshine in 5 minutes. I put several rings under the lamp and let them soak up the rays, checking them every 8 hours for degradation. After 48 hours in this abusive environment they started to have a bit of a rough feel to them, but still wouldn't break under human stress tests.

The result is that Nitrile rings will withstand being in full sun for 576 straight days before showing signs of age. If you sunbathe in California every weekend, you'll wear out your Nitrile and titanium bikini in about 5 1/2 years by baking in the sun.


NEW #304 STAINLESS RINGS AVAILABLE

I have a new supplier for stainless steel. I can now offer #304 stainless rings in 1/16" dia. wire at substantially less than the price of #316L rings. #316L has a high nickel content and a higher abrasion resistance thn #304. it's also the stuff you need if you want to make hypo-allergenic chain mail. #316 is surgical stainless. #304 is what your sink is made from. It's a common stainless steel with very good abrasion properties, and you'll be hard-pressed to wear it out. It's 3/4 hard, and works about the sme as the #316L but for nearly half the cost. The new #304 rings are in the Rings & tools section.


WHERE I'LL BE

This month I have no events, I'm going to stay home and play with my new stainless wire.


Jerry Penner
The chain Mail Guy
www.chainmailguy.com
 

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