FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is it spelled "Forth" instead of "Fourth"?
A: The founder of Forth Armoury is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. In the society, his persona name is "Stephen of Forth Castle". He took my name from the group where he first joined the Society, the Shire of Forth Castle. A "Forth" is a body of water.

Q: How can I place an order?
A: Please check our Product Catalog to see the products we currently have in stock and for sale.

Q: Do you sell custom riveted maille garments?
A: Yes.  Please check the commissioned work progress page. If we are currently working on a project, that page will say so, as well as show you pictures of progress on that work. We do not accept commissions while we are currently working on one. In other words, we do not carry a "backlog" of orders. When we complete a commission, we will state it on the progress page and at that time we will consider new commissions. Be sure to check the page About Forth Armoury before you consider commissioning a work with us.

Q: How much does custom work cost?
A: Prices are dictated by the number of rings and the complexity of the garment.  As a guide, figure $.04 - $.07 per ring.  Please email me with specifics for a quote.

Q: Why is riveted maille so expensive?
A: Riveted maille is an extremely labor intensive item. The labor cost makes up such a huge percentage of the total cost that we could almost give the materials away for free and it would still be outrageously expensive. 

Q: What is so special about Forth Armoury riveted maille?
A: Please click here for a brief explanation.

Q: Can I get a riveted maille garment made out of stainless steel?
A: Not at this time. At this time we offer riveted maille only in low carbon steel. Most surviving authentic maille is made of wrought iron.  We consider modern low carbon steel to be an appropriate modern substitute. If you are considering a more authentic style of maille (riveted), we urge you to consider appropriate materials.  We can provide a galvanized finish on some items, if desired.

Q: Can I buy the tools to make my own riveted maille?
A: We sell a variety of do-it-yourself supplies, including a set of rivet-setting tongs, here.  We no longer sell punches or punch tongs.

Q: How long does it take to make a garment of riveted maille?
A: A good estimate is about 1 minute per riveted ring. So a coif, with, say, 5700 riveted rings in it, would take roughly 95 hours to complete.  A shirt with 25,000 riveted rings would take about 417 hours.

Q: Do you sell rings?
A: We sell ready-to-rivet rings here.

Q: Do you sell rivets?
A: We sell wedge rivets here.

Q: What size rings do you use?
A: The riveted rings are 3/8" ID, made of 18 GA wire. When flattened, these rings are approximately 1/32" thick. The solid rings are 3/8" ID, 1/2" OD, and 1/32" thick. 

Q: Can I get bigger or smaller rings?
A: Not at this time.

Q: How authentic is your riveted maille?
A: We believe our riveted maille is a fairly good representation of authentic riveted maille. However, it is not perfect. For one, because the rings are produced by modern machinery, there is a mechanical precision inherent in our maille that makes it look a little "too perfect". For example, our riveted rings are almost perfectly round. In authentic examples, this is almost never the case. When solid rings are used in authentic maille examples, it seems that forge welded rings are the most common, though punched examples are said to have been documented. Our solid rings are punched. For more on the authenticity of our rings, please see the page About Forth Armoury.

If you are looking for even more authentic reproductions of riveted maille, may we suggest you contact Erik Schmid, who produces some of the finest maille in the world today.

Q: How effective an armour is riveted maille?
A: Our armour is intended for use as costume only. However, authentic riveted maille was quite an effective defense against getting cut. You can see the results of some of my testing on our reproduction riveted maille here. We emphasize, however, that however protective our riveted maille may be, or authentic riveted maille was, for liability reasons we offer our maille for costume use only.