Using chainmail for case window!

[archmaille]

Ok, so I was thinking of "what mod could I do" with limited resources very few tools and being quite new to the computer moding community I was looking for the perfect idea for myself. I finally decided on taking the two skills that I can proudly say I'm quite efficient at and make a PC mod out of it that is most definitely me.

I have yet to decide on the exact chainmail style but I do have a Case picked out that by Thursday (payday) I should have ordered. I'll be going with the Lian-Li PC70 a VERY big case that's just perfect for this Mod. My first notion for the chainmail was a Euro 4 in 1 chainmail pattern (I'll include pictures I know not many people know chainmail patterns and names as well as I do) that idea went out the window very quickly as 4 in 1 chainmail is much too open of a patern for some of the stuff that I would like. Then I thought of the idea of a 6 in 1 pattern, though, this pattern is too tight. What I've settled on (or I think so, at the moment atleast) is a 4 in 1 with a kings maille shield in the middle in white with either a lion as would of been on richard the lionhearts shields or just a red cross.

The reason I say that any pattern could be too tight is that I want to include a 3 120mm fan radiator on the top of the case with 3 Orion fans to accompany it. The AC powered fans move a good 131cfm each!! So they need somewhere to breathe from.

anyways, here are the pictures to give an idea of what is to be done.

Euro 4 in 1
http://www.kclanparty.org/images/chain41.jpg

I don't have a pic of kings maille but it is basically 4 in 1 doubled up to be 8 in 2 chainmail, it's the same density as the following 6 in 1 pattern.

Euro 6 in 1 (side note this is a chainmail byrnie, sleeveless shirt, that I made a few years ago and contains 23,000 rings taking me 3 months to finish)
http://www.kclanparty.org/images/hauberk.jpg

[xmastree]

Great idea. Go for it! I've never seen that before, and like you say, it's most definately you.

I suspect you'll need to keep vibrations to an absolute minimum though, does that stuff rattle much?

Unique.

What happened, the shirt became too small for you? :rolleyes:

[archmaille]

haha yeah, I don't fit in that thing anymore, but I actually ended up selling that shirt.

I suspect it will rattle, actually didn't think about that before! But it shouldn't be a big problem. I'm going to be using Aluminum rings and many of them will be plastic coated (how I'll do the colored inlays)... either way I don't think I'll mind even if it is loud, it will be something that no one else has :D

[OvRiDe]

Killer idea.. I am really looking forward to seeing the progress on this. VERY original..

[Slug Toy]

wow, thats one heck of a job. i was pondering about something similar, but i have my own endeavours to worry about, but now i suppose ill get to see what i could have been toying with.

im very impressed that you stuck with that 23,000-ring project for 3 months. i made a few small chainmail things with aluminum back in high school, and even though i have a lot of patience, i couldnt stand doing that. that stuff doesnt require too much moving around, and i kept falling asleep.

anyways, yes, great idea. and then you shall do platemail out of copper sheets. maybe ill do that, it would make a nice luvre mechanism...

[archmaille]

Well I hope to have some progress on this as soon as 3 weeks from now! I don't even have the case ordered yet, but luckily I did have a half-mile of aluminum wire so I've begun the chainmail.

At first I will probably just have the chainmail sheet done in all 4 in 1, then a few weeks from then order some white and red rings for the inlay and take apart some of that sheet for the inlay. Once I get that done I'll start gathering components, probably just up my system a little and use it. Then finally I will start to tackle the water cooling, afterwards I was thinking about using some "round" chainmail techniques to manage all the cables/hoses in the case so even when the side is off there will be a lot of chainmail showing :D I will post pictures somewhere here on the forum with my progress, my Digital Camera is pretty crappy so you'll have to bear with the images unless I can borrow one from elsewhere (The pics I posted earlier weren't taken w/ my camera, the second was at a photo studio for my senior pics).


anyways, yes, great idea. and then you shall do platemail out of copper sheets. maybe ill do that, it would make a nice luvre mechanism...

haha yeah! platemail is pretty cool, but it works best with japanese patterns. The original idea for this one was that I would take some of the aluminum cut from the side and make a shield out of it and work it into the chainmail, but with the angles I wanted for the shield it just wasn't going to be possible.

Anyways, thanks for the support! I'm getting excited about starting this project now!

[Rankenphile]

What a great idea! I can't wait to see how it comes out.

Take pictures of the process - especially of making the chainmail itself. Very few of us have ever undertaken a project like that, and seeing yours in progress would certainly teach us a lot!

[Cevinzol]

Oh god serious flashback!
I have a chain mail byrnie in my closet that I made 15 years ago. I made mine out of 17 guage galvanized fence wire but the links were a little too big so I bulked up the front by making an argyle king mail pattern with brass wire. Never counted the rings, instead I guaged my progress by how much it weighed (15 lbs.in the end). Kept it in my truck one winter and used it as traction to get out of a icy parking spot once.

I was thinking about using some "round" chainmail techniques to manage all the cables/hoses in the case If you're thinking of sleeving the cables with chain tubes you'll have to be extra carefull to avoid shorts. Might want to use plastic pipe like they did in lord of the rings.

[archmaille]

haha!! that's pretty cool, do you know what size rings they were? I could probably get a good estimate of how many rings were involved by the weight and ring size.

That shirt is actually made of fencing wire, it's aluminum 16ga. 5/16 inch rings
the wire is generally used for grounding electric fences. The wire for which I will undertake a large portion of this project will also be fencing wire, aluminum again, 17ga. just an alternative to using galvy wire for electric fences.



If you're thinking of sleeving the cables with chain tubes you'll have to be extra carefull to avoid shorts. Might want to use plastic pipe like they did in lord of the rings.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, I also thought about shorting out stuff and figured I'd just use the rubber coated colored rings I'll be ordering. Using PVC pipe for the rings worked for the Orc armor in LOTR but would be way too bulky for sleeving cables.

I'll do what I can with progress pictures, here at first I will get some pictures of what is actually done with the chainmail and how it is made since I don't have anything else to work with as of yet.

[xmastree]

first I will get some pictures of what is actually done with the chainmail and how it is madethat would be nice, since apart from yourself, Slug Toy and Cevinzol, I doubt there are many of us who have a clue how chainmail is made. I suppose I could google for it, but since you probabyl know the best sites I'll ask you for the links instead. :rolleyes:

[Cevinzol]

I used a 1/4" mandrel in a power drill to make my springs. I couldn't use aluminum because wouldn't hold up under the beating it was going to get.

Just an FYI... I made my shirt like in your picture and got a ton of ribbing from the guys (and several girls for that matter) at the next SCA (http://www.sca.org/) fighter's practice. Everyone kept telling me I had the pattern turned 90 degrees. So I checked some historic photos in Stone's Glossary (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0517065878/103-1950246-9902255?v=glance&n=283155) and spent the next week fixing it.

I pretty much beat up my hands making mail and doing armor smithing. I have RMS (repetative motion syndrom) in my right wrist. My hand goes numb if I grip too hard or too long. If I do it again I'll get my rings pre-made from a place like this www.worthco.com (http://www.worthco.com/) they make split rings and jump rings out of stainless steel for fishing tackle.

[jdbnsn]

That is incredible! I would love to see a middle ages case! Go for it!

[archmaille]

if you want to purchase rings go to http://www.theringlord.com They're who I'll be purchasing my colored rings from. They've got great prices and a HUGE selection of all chainmail stuff!

I know that my ring patter was done "sideways" it was intentional! I have other shirts that were done "correctly" that shirt was made purely for looks and when you do the pattern as I did it causes the rings to pull tight against each other and provide a nice even look. Whereas doing the ring pattern the other way there are a few minuscule places where you can see through the pattern this one looks like a solid sheet.

Since I don't have any pictures of the process yet one place you can go to see some patterns and tutorials on how it is made go here http://www.mailleartisans.org/ probably the best site around for tutorials... though, I used to know of some 3d tutorial sites, I've not been to them in so long I don't know anymore.

[Cevinzol]

Oh that ringlord webpage is sweet.
Anodized titanium... hmmmm *drool* I would love to reinforce my cycle jacket with some of that in a dragon scale weave.
Oh man I need a cold shower.

[GT40_GearHead]

daamnnn nice one dude

[archmaille]

Oh that ringlord webpage is sweet.
Anodized titanium... hmmmm *drool* I would love to reinforce my cycle jacket with some of that in a dragon scale weave.
Oh man I need a cold shower.

Dude that would be awesome!!!!!!!! haha then if you DID crash you'd slide down the road leaving a trail of brightly colored sparks (when titanium burns it burns a BRIGHT white light). Anodized titanium would be nice, but for this computer case side I'll need 1.5 lbs and it's $65 a pound in the size I need!!!!!!!!!!

Of course the aluminum I'm getting is still $45 a lb, but aluminum being lighter than titanium I only need about .75 lbs for this project.

[nil8]

You might consider bracing the chainmail around your fans to bring the noise or movement down.

[archmaille]

I also wouldn't want the chainmail getting sucked into a fan... that wouldn't be any fun. For the most part I was thinking of just having the chainmail tight enough that wouldn't be a problem... not to say that it won't be. Bracing it actually came to my mind for another reason though, strength. I'm taking a 23x22" computer side panel and hacking out most of the center of it to be replaced with chainmail... so as it stands this is still an idea, many, many kinks to be worked out! Thanks for the suggestions, any tips or ideas are welcome as I'm still pretty new to the case modification crowd.