Disclaimer: I will not be showing you exactly how to make this, I will show the weaves of the wire and how I cut out the leather, but the shapes of the leather I will not show. The purpose of this is to inspire you to make your own and not make an exact copy of mine.

I've looked on the internet and have seen all the incredible chainmail works, so I decided to try to make my own, so in this instructible I will be going through the steps that I took to make this, but first I would like to apologize for not making very many Ible's lately, I've been busy with my new job and this instructable, however After much time and effort I am finally done and have finally found the time to put it on this wonderful website.

The front chest plate I used a type of chainmail called kamuari, it is Japanese style chain mail that works best against the traditional Samari's sword (the katana).

the whole thing is held together by rectangular shaped piece of leather that attaches to the back section of the rings, to attach it i used sinew (string made from animal tendons) along with some left over rings from making the chainmail .

to give it some cool design i made a backplate that has two layers: an OD green pressed leather top (looks like alligator skin) and a thin aluminum layer behind the leather.

in the future i would like to add sleeves to this and make a hood for it, so stay tuned for that. be sure to vote for me in the contests that this is entered in, thank you. without further a due here is the steps that i took to make this awesome armor, i hope this inspires you to make your own.

Step 1:

The items i used are:

small rings (used for making chain mail) you can make these by winding steel or copper wire around a steel rod then cuting in a straight line down the center of it making the rings
some leather of variing colors
sinew
some of the tools you will need are - wire cutter, drill (if making the rings), scissors, a leather needle, and 2 needle nose pliers.

Step 2:

this is pretty easy to make all you need to do is make an exteremly long chain then connect them like in the photo shone.

Step 3:

when i got to the length of my torso i split the chain to each side allowing me to make a place for my head, then reconnected them after going the length i wanted.

Step 4:

in this step i measured, made, then attached the back to the front

Step 5:

in this next step I cut a large piece of brown leather and attached it to the back of the armor to make more like a vest. the pictures that I have are of the front and the back.

Step 6:

to make the back part i cut out the shape i wanted then gave it the alluinum piece. i did this 10 times to get the length that i wanted.

Step 7:

here i connected them all together using the leftover rings.

Step 8:

to finish it up i attached the back plate to the leather and the small amount of chain mail that is on the back.

Step 9:

here is a picture of me wearing it from the front. i hope you enjoyed looking at this little project that i've been working on this last month please be sure to vote for me, thank you.

Introduction: Chainmail and Leather Armor