Oven Blueing Chain Mail

After degreasing the mail shirt, I let it air out for about 2 hours and started to preheat the oven. It seemed impossible to remove all the grime with mineral spirits, so I decided to risk a soapy water bath using my trusty 5 gallon bucket. Much to my relief, after 2 or 3 water-soap-swish cycles, the water started running clear. I rinsed the mail 4 or 5 times until there were no more bubbles in the rinse water, then transferred to a towel for a quick dry.

Moments later the mail was in the oven. I figured the mail would be difficult to heat evenly through-out, and therefore color unevenly if not careful, and I was right...

I set the oven to 375F (75F below my desired temp) and let the chain mail come up to temp for 30 minutes before progressing to 450F. I had planned on rotating and flipping the mail every 10 minutes, but we had unexpected guests and I let the mail sit in the oven at 450F for an hour. Big mistake! Most of the mail turned out perfectly with a nice golden-orange hue, but the links around the neck and some others on the back obviously hit somewhere near 525F due to uneven oven heating, and turned to a dark purple color. The rings are very small and those exposed to the exterior will heat up quickly.

In a panic I pulled the mail out and quenched in water. I was able to partially repair the darkened links by using a fine buffing dremmel attachment to knock the links back to their starting state. At this point the mail shirt looked like crap.

I put the mail back into the oven, this time at 450F, and watched them carefully. The blued links did not darken any more, and those I had buffed darkened, unevenly, though not as bad. Finally, I quenched the mail shirt in an oil/water bath of about 4 gallons total, dried on a towel for a few minutes then placed back in the oven at 200F to remove the water. I am happier with the result than I was with the plain mail shirt, so I'm going to call this a success.

In the future, I would heat the oven to 415F and turn the mail shirt shirt often, every 5 to 10 minutes, by taking the shirt out of the oven (using oven mitts), place into a large metal bucket, refold and then reposition in the oven. Go slow!

Be warned: ovens may not heat evenly. If you have a convection oven, good on you. If not, be very careful about areas near the top and sides reaching +50F the median temperature.

Note: I noticed a very small amount of corrosion on about 20 links. I should be able to clean this up quickly with a dremmel & jewelers cloth polishing mandrel. In light of this finding, I would advise quenching in 100% vegetable oil.

Embellished Mail Shirt

This mail shirt is an incredibly cool "canvas" for my next project. Mail was used from the time of the Romans through the Renaissance. The mail pictured here is not quite historically accurate because the rings are round instead of flat, and the rings are butted together instead of riveted (or welded) for added strength. The rings are 16 gauge, round wire, zinc plated, with 8mm inner diameter.
I had planned on lining the edges with leather or suede, and doing some Celtic, Saxon or Viking knot work using real leather cord. The leather could be folded over the edges and stitched through the rings. The mail is zinc coated to prevent rust but it should still be kept oiled, so I'm not sure how leather will work out with that. Maybe black or very dark brown leather, with a slightly lighter cord for the knot work?
I'm not quite sure what to do with this piece so I'm looking for comments, thoughts and suggestions.