Re: new members here:) {long}

Cyril,

So the rings of the chainmail are 3/16 material? And you wind this
around some sort of mandrel? (what is the diameter of this mandrel?)
Then you use bolt cutters to split the helix into rings, correct?

I would think that wire EDM would be a good choice, since it will not
be much affected by material hardness, and leave minimal to no
burring. If you could set up a holder block which held MANY
mandrel/coils vertically around its periphery, with each coil being
as tall as the EDM machine allowed, the time per ring might not be
too bad... This holder block would also be made using the wire edm
process. To cut the rings from the coils held in the block, the EDM
would be programmed to cut through the first coil until the rings are
freed, then move "over" to the next coil position, etc. Does this
make sense?

The gotcha that I can see using this technique will be the possible
tendency for the rings, once cut, to "turn" on the mandrel and foul
the EDM wire (since it is likely that at least some of the rings in
any given "stack"/coil will be cut before others). The re-threading
capability of modern wire EDM's will help, but I'd guess that the EDM
owner will not think kindly of this type of problem.

So, maybe it would kill two birds at once to make the mandrels NON-
circular... The right "oval" shape will prevent the rings from
turning once cut, AND will mean that the material "lost" by the cut
(kerf) can be "squeezed out" when the rings are assembled into mail,
leaving perfectly circular rings. And once you have taken this
approach, slitting saws could replace the EDM, since kerf width is
accounted for. But I'm thinking EDM might still win the economics
category...

Using a spring winding setup on a lathe (over the mandrels), then to
the EDM, would make this part of the job go pretty quickly. The next
step of automatically assembling the rings into mail seems much more
problematic to me.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Ballendo

P.S. Are you striving for historical accuracy? Have you looked to the
makers of the "chain-mail" type shark suits for divers?

P.P.S. I've just visualised a setup in/for a bandsaw: In this setup,
the mandrels are held "leaning back"(about 30-45°) from the blade
(again in a sort of support block, but with only one "hole" for a
single wire/mandrel. The mandrel is "pulled free"(upward) of the
first few rotations of the helix so that the blade can cut the rings
free without damaging the mandrel. As the helix is pushed "downward",
the rings will be cut continuously from the coil, and a parts
catcher/diverter tray could make this a fairly quick procedure as
well. Burrs could be taken care of in a vibratory finisher.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "turksfixit" <turksfixit@h...> wrote:
> Hello my name is Cyril, my dad is Turk, we just came across this
> group last night. My dad and i have several projects going, and tho
> the cnc stuff is his thing more than mine, his hobby and mine,
> Chainmail armour, have crossed:) He is working on a cnc for his zip
> drive. has built it from ground up. slow going,,taken about a year.
> Well he wants his next one to be a tad bit more fancy. Like a cnc
> plasma cutter:) so we will be posting more qustions for help in what
> directions we need to go for informations:)
>
> But I though yall might have sone insite into to help with some
> design ideas for something.
>
>
>
> Like I said I make chainmail armour. (Like the shirts that kinghts,
> thousands of little rings interwoven. It is a long process of making
> the rings since a shirt can take 25,000 - 40,000 rings. Right now I
> cut 3/16' 316L welding rods that have been wraped into a coil (think
> of a spring with all the right touching.) I then use 8 in bolt
> cutters to cut each ring. Now the ultimate goal is a machine that
> will weave sheets of the chainmail. But for now we are just working
> on cutting then quickly.
>
> Here are a few design criteria:
>
> metal taken away from the ring must be minimal. so rings are as
round
> as possible.
>
> nice clean cuts. people have to wear it and burs cut:)
>
> as fast a possible.
>
> must be quiet. i don't live with my dad, live in an apartment so i
> have to keep the noise down.
>
> as small as possible.
>
>
> Here is what we have tried so far.
> Hi speed grinding: burned the alot of the other metals i use and gap
> too big.
>
> Bandsaw blades. (home desinged machine to cut the rings) gap is too
> big. because the spring the bandsaw had to be made upsidedown.
blades
> are prone to breaking because the cetching on the rings and binding
> up.
>
> Jeweler's saw blades. too much noise, not enough cutting power for
> tougher metals.
>
> Things we are investigating:
> Plasma cutting.
> Laser cutting.
> EMD Cutting.
>
>
>
> So if any of yall have any ideas on a cutting process that might
> work, any input would be appreciated.
>
> Cyril