Maille Supplies
In my maille making experience, actually making the armor is not that difficult. Sure it takes patience, know-how, and concerted amounts of time. However, once you’ve got the general idea down, making maille is quite easy.
However, finding all the necessary supplies to make maille was rather difficult. Having to price materials out takes time. Fortunately for you, I’ve already done all the hard work. What follows is a summary of where an what to buy when making riveted maille.
Wire Sources:
WINNER: Innovation Specialists
WINNER: Parawire
LOSER: The Ring Lord
LOSER: The Local Hardware Store
I use 16 SWG 0.06” Dia. Bare steel low carbon annealed wire. This wire comes about 90 feet to the pound. Meaning that a shirt that weighs 25 pounds will have 2250 feet of wire – about half a mile. I say this to make a point about one of my biggest pet peeves related to maille armor.
I have read too many how-to articles on maille where the person starts out by saying that they bought 100 ft of galvanized steel wire from the local hardware store. First, using galvanized wire is stupid for so many reasons. It’s dirty and leaves a powdery film on everything, the wire looks wrong for the period, and if you are going to anneal or normalize the wire in any way the fumes put of from the burning zinc are toxic.
But galvanized wire aside, the worst part is that people actually buy wire in these small quantities. At my local Tractor Supply Co. I can buy 200 feet of blackened bare steel wire for $9.50 USD. Using the hypothetical numbers provided above, a 25 pound shirt would require 11.25 such purchases totaling 106.87. To get 40 lbs of wire (a good amount of wire to work with in my opinion) would cost $171. Bottom line: BUY IN BULK!
But where to buy? Well, most people suggest going to The Ring Lord for maille supplies. However, The Ring Lord has discontinued selling their mild steel wire. Unless you are ordering over 100 pounds, they no longer sell mild steel. Instead, they only sell galvanized because materials for chainmaille have "evolved," whatever that means. However, even when TRL sold mild steel, they were more expensive than other bulk suppliers. I’ve found that unless you are buying jewelry grade wire, they are too expensive – especially when shipping from Canada is factored in. As of October of 2013, the remaining stock of steel wire from The Ring Lord is about 2.30 per pound before bulk discount. The bulk discount is based on the amount purchased but bottoms out at $1.53 per pound. 40 lbs of wire would cost $61.00. The Ring Lord also charges for spooling the wire which would add another $3.00 onto the purchase.
For this hypothetical purchase, shipping would cost $39.10 USD to ship to my address in Youngstown, Ohio. 40 lbs of armor would cost almost $100. That’s a huge savings compared to buying small lengths of wire from a hardware store, but it’s not the best out there.
I ended up going with a wire supplier from Illinois called Innovation Specialists. Their mild annealed steel 16 GA wire was about $1.10 per pound and did not include a spool fee. Shipping was also significantly cheaper at about $15 for 40 pounds. However, what I really liked about Innovation Specialists was that they worked with me on my purchase. I called for a quote and they made sure that they got me a low carbon annealed steel wire that suited my purposes. Unfortunately, their website is terrible and you need to call or email to find out what is in stock and to get a current quote. I have made three or four orders with them over the years and each time they have been great to work with. They've even asked me to send them pictures of my stuff when I'm done. on my latest purchase, I bought 14, 16, and 18 gauge wire and they did not let me down.
Now, you might be thinking, “well, ok, so your place is a little cheaper, but you’ve only saved about $40.” That’s true, if you assume only one purchase. However, maille, like most hobbies, has a way of consuming more and more of your time. What started as a desire to make one shirt quickly grew into a favorite pass-time. I am now on my third spool of 40 lb. wire. If I would have purchased from the Ring Lord, it would have cost $309 versus the $177 I've actually paid. It is for this reason that the Ring Lord is only a runner up for wire suppliers. Also note that 120 pounds from Innovation Specialist only just exceeds the local hardware store price for 40 pounds of wire.
Cost Breakdown for 40 lbs. of 16 GA Wire
Innovation Specialists The Ring Lord Local Hardware Store
Wire: $1.10/lb $1.53/lb $9.50/200 ft.
Shipping: $15 $39 $0
Spool charge: $0 $3.00 $0
TOTAL: $59 $103.20 $171
Another site to consider, especially for brass or copper wire is called Parawire. I bought one pound of brass for my trim from them and it was less expensive than what I would have paid from TRL. Again, TRL is good for smaller gauges and precut rings, but 16 gauge brass was too expensive from them. So I went with parawire instead and would do so again. I got a good quality brass wire for about $15 including shipping.
Solid Ring Sources:
Washers:
WINNER: Minneapolis Washer & Stamping
RUNNER UP: Cannon Gasket Co.
LOSER: Seastrom Mfg.
For those maille purists out there who want to make a truly accurate reproduction suit with alternating riveted and solid rings, I have good news. You can obtain 20,000 custom washers for under $300. If that sounds like a lot to you, you haven’t seen to more expensive suppliers yet.
I got quotes from about a dozen US washer manufacturers to try to price out whether I wanted to hand stamp my washers from sheet metal or whether I wanted to just buy the washers. After pricing out sheet metal I decided to buy the washers. You'll see why in a minute.
Anyway, Minneapolis Washer quoted me a bare steel hot rolled washer with a thickness of 0.05 (17GA), an ID of 0.30” and an OD of 0.43” at $13.75 per thousand. At that price, it would cost about $275 plus shipping for 20,000 washers.
Cannon Gasket quoted me a similar price at $14.00 per thousand.
Other than those two, most other companies quoted me nearly double that price or simply said that they couldn't make me washers in those dimensions at all. I only specifically mention Seastrom Mfg. as a loser in this list because of an article on M.A.I.L, “Making Roman-Like Riveted Maille” by Neuralmancer.
In that article, which is excellent by the way, the author explained that he obtained his solid rings from Seastrom. Seastrom’s prices, however, are among the highest I found. For a similar dimension washer from Seastrom, the cost per thousand is $28.00 and would cost over $700 for 25,000 rings.
Sheet Metal:
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer on where to obtain sheet metal for punching solid rings or for use in making plate armor. This is for several reasons. Although you can find places online that sell the desired quantities of sheet metal at reasonable prices (about $100-150), the price to ship that much sheet metal costs more than the metal itself. This is both because of the sheer weight of that much sheet metal and also because it would have to be in extremely large sizes, like two 60x120, to get a decent bulk price. The second problem is one of local suppliers. I live in Youngstown, Ohio, the former heart of the steel industry. I thought this would be a good thing and make finding sheet metal easy. However, most of the suppliers I talk to aren't interested in selling me $100 worth of sheet metal. Instead, their minimum order is 10,000 pounds. Even lower end suppliers tend to want to sell to contractors who are buying a full pallet rather than a couple of sheets.
Finally, all of the small scale suppliers I have found charge too much for hand punching 20,000 rings to be worth while. The reason for this is based on the prices I provided above for the washers. If I can get all of my washers for under $300 with no personal time invested, I’m not going to pay $200 for sheet metal, then buy specialized tools, then construct a specialized punching jig, and then spend countless hours punching rings. It's not that I don't want to do it as historically as possible, it's just that the math makes that difficult.
Because of these considerations, I don’t have any good answer on where to buy enough sheet metal for a serious undertaking. I will say that your best option is either to find someplace local or to find a place within an hour or two and pick it up yourself rather than pay to ship it.
However, finding all the necessary supplies to make maille was rather difficult. Having to price materials out takes time. Fortunately for you, I’ve already done all the hard work. What follows is a summary of where an what to buy when making riveted maille.
Wire Sources:
WINNER: Innovation Specialists
WINNER: Parawire
LOSER: The Ring Lord
LOSER: The Local Hardware Store
I use 16 SWG 0.06” Dia. Bare steel low carbon annealed wire. This wire comes about 90 feet to the pound. Meaning that a shirt that weighs 25 pounds will have 2250 feet of wire – about half a mile. I say this to make a point about one of my biggest pet peeves related to maille armor.
I have read too many how-to articles on maille where the person starts out by saying that they bought 100 ft of galvanized steel wire from the local hardware store. First, using galvanized wire is stupid for so many reasons. It’s dirty and leaves a powdery film on everything, the wire looks wrong for the period, and if you are going to anneal or normalize the wire in any way the fumes put of from the burning zinc are toxic.
But galvanized wire aside, the worst part is that people actually buy wire in these small quantities. At my local Tractor Supply Co. I can buy 200 feet of blackened bare steel wire for $9.50 USD. Using the hypothetical numbers provided above, a 25 pound shirt would require 11.25 such purchases totaling 106.87. To get 40 lbs of wire (a good amount of wire to work with in my opinion) would cost $171. Bottom line: BUY IN BULK!
But where to buy? Well, most people suggest going to The Ring Lord for maille supplies. However, The Ring Lord has discontinued selling their mild steel wire. Unless you are ordering over 100 pounds, they no longer sell mild steel. Instead, they only sell galvanized because materials for chainmaille have "evolved," whatever that means. However, even when TRL sold mild steel, they were more expensive than other bulk suppliers. I’ve found that unless you are buying jewelry grade wire, they are too expensive – especially when shipping from Canada is factored in. As of October of 2013, the remaining stock of steel wire from The Ring Lord is about 2.30 per pound before bulk discount. The bulk discount is based on the amount purchased but bottoms out at $1.53 per pound. 40 lbs of wire would cost $61.00. The Ring Lord also charges for spooling the wire which would add another $3.00 onto the purchase.
For this hypothetical purchase, shipping would cost $39.10 USD to ship to my address in Youngstown, Ohio. 40 lbs of armor would cost almost $100. That’s a huge savings compared to buying small lengths of wire from a hardware store, but it’s not the best out there.
I ended up going with a wire supplier from Illinois called Innovation Specialists. Their mild annealed steel 16 GA wire was about $1.10 per pound and did not include a spool fee. Shipping was also significantly cheaper at about $15 for 40 pounds. However, what I really liked about Innovation Specialists was that they worked with me on my purchase. I called for a quote and they made sure that they got me a low carbon annealed steel wire that suited my purposes. Unfortunately, their website is terrible and you need to call or email to find out what is in stock and to get a current quote. I have made three or four orders with them over the years and each time they have been great to work with. They've even asked me to send them pictures of my stuff when I'm done. on my latest purchase, I bought 14, 16, and 18 gauge wire and they did not let me down.
Now, you might be thinking, “well, ok, so your place is a little cheaper, but you’ve only saved about $40.” That’s true, if you assume only one purchase. However, maille, like most hobbies, has a way of consuming more and more of your time. What started as a desire to make one shirt quickly grew into a favorite pass-time. I am now on my third spool of 40 lb. wire. If I would have purchased from the Ring Lord, it would have cost $309 versus the $177 I've actually paid. It is for this reason that the Ring Lord is only a runner up for wire suppliers. Also note that 120 pounds from Innovation Specialist only just exceeds the local hardware store price for 40 pounds of wire.
Cost Breakdown for 40 lbs. of 16 GA Wire
Innovation Specialists The Ring Lord Local Hardware Store
Wire: $1.10/lb $1.53/lb $9.50/200 ft.
Shipping: $15 $39 $0
Spool charge: $0 $3.00 $0
TOTAL: $59 $103.20 $171
Another site to consider, especially for brass or copper wire is called Parawire. I bought one pound of brass for my trim from them and it was less expensive than what I would have paid from TRL. Again, TRL is good for smaller gauges and precut rings, but 16 gauge brass was too expensive from them. So I went with parawire instead and would do so again. I got a good quality brass wire for about $15 including shipping.
Solid Ring Sources:
Washers:
WINNER: Minneapolis Washer & Stamping
RUNNER UP: Cannon Gasket Co.
LOSER: Seastrom Mfg.
For those maille purists out there who want to make a truly accurate reproduction suit with alternating riveted and solid rings, I have good news. You can obtain 20,000 custom washers for under $300. If that sounds like a lot to you, you haven’t seen to more expensive suppliers yet.
I got quotes from about a dozen US washer manufacturers to try to price out whether I wanted to hand stamp my washers from sheet metal or whether I wanted to just buy the washers. After pricing out sheet metal I decided to buy the washers. You'll see why in a minute.
Anyway, Minneapolis Washer quoted me a bare steel hot rolled washer with a thickness of 0.05 (17GA), an ID of 0.30” and an OD of 0.43” at $13.75 per thousand. At that price, it would cost about $275 plus shipping for 20,000 washers.
Cannon Gasket quoted me a similar price at $14.00 per thousand.
Other than those two, most other companies quoted me nearly double that price or simply said that they couldn't make me washers in those dimensions at all. I only specifically mention Seastrom Mfg. as a loser in this list because of an article on M.A.I.L, “Making Roman-Like Riveted Maille” by Neuralmancer.
In that article, which is excellent by the way, the author explained that he obtained his solid rings from Seastrom. Seastrom’s prices, however, are among the highest I found. For a similar dimension washer from Seastrom, the cost per thousand is $28.00 and would cost over $700 for 25,000 rings.
Sheet Metal:
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer on where to obtain sheet metal for punching solid rings or for use in making plate armor. This is for several reasons. Although you can find places online that sell the desired quantities of sheet metal at reasonable prices (about $100-150), the price to ship that much sheet metal costs more than the metal itself. This is both because of the sheer weight of that much sheet metal and also because it would have to be in extremely large sizes, like two 60x120, to get a decent bulk price. The second problem is one of local suppliers. I live in Youngstown, Ohio, the former heart of the steel industry. I thought this would be a good thing and make finding sheet metal easy. However, most of the suppliers I talk to aren't interested in selling me $100 worth of sheet metal. Instead, their minimum order is 10,000 pounds. Even lower end suppliers tend to want to sell to contractors who are buying a full pallet rather than a couple of sheets.
Finally, all of the small scale suppliers I have found charge too much for hand punching 20,000 rings to be worth while. The reason for this is based on the prices I provided above for the washers. If I can get all of my washers for under $300 with no personal time invested, I’m not going to pay $200 for sheet metal, then buy specialized tools, then construct a specialized punching jig, and then spend countless hours punching rings. It's not that I don't want to do it as historically as possible, it's just that the math makes that difficult.
Because of these considerations, I don’t have any good answer on where to buy enough sheet metal for a serious undertaking. I will say that your best option is either to find someplace local or to find a place within an hour or two and pick it up yourself rather than pay to ship it.
Tools:
Rather than try to give pricing on all the best tools, I will merely give some of my thoughts and ruminations on the best tools to use for riveting maille.
Pliers:
I really like using a pair of straight pliers in conjunction with a pair of bent nose pliers in my dominant hand. I feel that this gives better leverage in opening and closing the links. I would also recommend using pliers without teeth so as to avoid marring the rings. Even steel will pick up scratches from toothed pliers.
Cutters:
I simply use a pair of diagonal side cutters. I don’t love them, but I also think that they give a pretty good cut with minimal effort. Whether you use a bolt cuter or a diagonal side cutter is merely a matter of preference because both will give a similar cut. However, using shears is not recommended in my opinion because it will create an edge that is uncharacteristically smooth. I feel that a smooth cut looks “wrong” as it is too neat. Moreover, there is no need to have a perfectly smooth cut because the ends of the rings will be flattened and riveted.
Forge/Heat Source:
The forge or heat source you will use to soften your rings before flattening is a matter of matter of personal preference and the space in which you work. Many people use propane torches and will heat a few hundred or thousand rings at a time with it. Such torches are easily obtained for anywhere from $15 to hundreds of dollars. The link provided is a cheaper model. If you use a torch to heat treat the rings, you will be normalizing the metal. See the metallurgy page for a deeper discussion
However, I personally prefer heating the rings in large batches with charcoal and a shopvac. By adding air to the charcoal, you can get it hot enough to bring the rings up to temperature but allows the rings to cool very slowly by leaving them close to the heat source, but not directly in the flame. HOWEVER, be careful not to leave the rings in the direct heat too long as it is possible to liquify them. In my first test batch I threw some rings in and left them there for about 5 minutes and they completely liquified.
The benefit to heating in a forge, even a makeshift forge, is that it allows for true annealing of the rings which leads to softer metal. To me, softer metal is always a good thing because we are working with mild steel with a carbon content of between .05% and .3% while iron would have had a nearly nonexistent carbon content and was thus much more malleable.
Anvil/Flattening:
Strictly speaking, all you need is a hard, stable, metal surface on which to flatten the rings. The anvil need not be very large – 5-10 pounds would do.
I would caution people from buying a cast iron anvil. As described at Anvil Fire, such anvils are junk and not even capable of withstanding hammer blows. Unfortunately, most commercially available anvils I’ve seen (I’m talking to you Harbour Freight) are cast iron.
However, you can buy a relatively cheap anvil at local auctions or on ebay. The general rule of thumb (I’m told by my father-in-law) is to pay about a dollar per pound of anvil. From auctions on ebay, you can buy an antique converted railroad track anvil for about $20-35 plus another $20 or so in shipping.
What I ended up doing was taking an old I-beam from my father-in-law. As I said above, the anvil need not be shaped like an anvil, it merely needs to be hard and stable. A simple railroad track or steel I-beam serves this purpose wonderfully.
Another good option is to buy a jewelers bench block anvil. They are basically just a thick block of metal. You can find them on Amazon for about $20.
In addition to the anvil itself, it will be helpful to mount the anvil onto a solid, stable surface. a workbench will work if it is sturdy enough. I personally use a large tree stump. Traditionally, this is what a blacksmith would have used -- and for good reason. The stump helps to absorb the blow to the anvil, making it somewhat quieter and also prevents the anvil from moving when you strike.
Punching Tool:
This is by far the hardest tool to obtain. As far as I know, there is no commercially available punching tool that will withstand the constant use. Rather, your best bet is to obtain a good hard pair of slip joint pliers, drill a hole through the head and then mount an appropriate sized, hardened drill bit.
If you don't have the skill or equipment to make a modified punch tong, you can use a hammer and pin punch. If you do this, you will get a similar result as a punch tong. You will need a punch about 1/16" (1.5mm), a hammer, and a shallow depression of some sort to receive the punch. One option is to mount a bolt in an anvil's hardy hole, in a vice, or in a piece of wood and use the depression in the bolt hole to receive the punch.
Still, another option is to use a sheet metal punch and to grind down the punch with a dremel tool to allow it to act as a pierce punch rather than a hole punch. I use a knock-off Roper-Whitney No.5 Jr. style punch manufactured by Nieko. You can go to my How to Make a Riveted Maille Pierce Punch page for more info.
Setting Tongs:
Setting tongs can be modified by filing down a pair of end nippers or linesmen pliers. You will likely need to grind down the jaws to remove any teeth and then bore holes in the jaws for setting and peening the rivets. You can read more about how to do this at my How to Make Riveted Maille Setting Tongs page. You can also buy a pair of setting tongs designed for whether you are making round or wedge shaped rivets from the Kult of Athena. I believe that the shipping on these is what convinced me to make my own. I also believe that you need to grind down a peening indentation and that the tongs only come with a large indent for setting the rivet.
Hammer:
A small metal (as in hammer meant for metal rather than wood) hammer will suffice. You only need a two to three pound hammer at most for flattening the rings. This is a matter of personal preference in my opinion. I use a three pound ball peen hammer.
Dremel Tool and Bits:
This tool is the minimum necessary tooling you will need to grind and modify your punches and setting tongs. There are other tools like a bench grinder or proper drill that might be easier to use. However, not having access to these tools. I used what I had. A dremel can be obtained for as little as $30 and Widget Supply sells various bits and grinding stones that you can use. I bought a grinding stone and a set of diamond tipped drilling bits and felt I had everything I needed to modify my tools. Widget Supply sells very affordable dremel bits. At Sears, just one bit cost $7.00 and I bought 6 bits total for under $10.00 from Widget Supply. They also sell very cheap but sturdy toothless pliers.
Rather than try to give pricing on all the best tools, I will merely give some of my thoughts and ruminations on the best tools to use for riveting maille.
Pliers:
I really like using a pair of straight pliers in conjunction with a pair of bent nose pliers in my dominant hand. I feel that this gives better leverage in opening and closing the links. I would also recommend using pliers without teeth so as to avoid marring the rings. Even steel will pick up scratches from toothed pliers.
Cutters:
I simply use a pair of diagonal side cutters. I don’t love them, but I also think that they give a pretty good cut with minimal effort. Whether you use a bolt cuter or a diagonal side cutter is merely a matter of preference because both will give a similar cut. However, using shears is not recommended in my opinion because it will create an edge that is uncharacteristically smooth. I feel that a smooth cut looks “wrong” as it is too neat. Moreover, there is no need to have a perfectly smooth cut because the ends of the rings will be flattened and riveted.
Forge/Heat Source:
The forge or heat source you will use to soften your rings before flattening is a matter of matter of personal preference and the space in which you work. Many people use propane torches and will heat a few hundred or thousand rings at a time with it. Such torches are easily obtained for anywhere from $15 to hundreds of dollars. The link provided is a cheaper model. If you use a torch to heat treat the rings, you will be normalizing the metal. See the metallurgy page for a deeper discussion
However, I personally prefer heating the rings in large batches with charcoal and a shopvac. By adding air to the charcoal, you can get it hot enough to bring the rings up to temperature but allows the rings to cool very slowly by leaving them close to the heat source, but not directly in the flame. HOWEVER, be careful not to leave the rings in the direct heat too long as it is possible to liquify them. In my first test batch I threw some rings in and left them there for about 5 minutes and they completely liquified.
The benefit to heating in a forge, even a makeshift forge, is that it allows for true annealing of the rings which leads to softer metal. To me, softer metal is always a good thing because we are working with mild steel with a carbon content of between .05% and .3% while iron would have had a nearly nonexistent carbon content and was thus much more malleable.
Anvil/Flattening:
Strictly speaking, all you need is a hard, stable, metal surface on which to flatten the rings. The anvil need not be very large – 5-10 pounds would do.
I would caution people from buying a cast iron anvil. As described at Anvil Fire, such anvils are junk and not even capable of withstanding hammer blows. Unfortunately, most commercially available anvils I’ve seen (I’m talking to you Harbour Freight) are cast iron.
However, you can buy a relatively cheap anvil at local auctions or on ebay. The general rule of thumb (I’m told by my father-in-law) is to pay about a dollar per pound of anvil. From auctions on ebay, you can buy an antique converted railroad track anvil for about $20-35 plus another $20 or so in shipping.
What I ended up doing was taking an old I-beam from my father-in-law. As I said above, the anvil need not be shaped like an anvil, it merely needs to be hard and stable. A simple railroad track or steel I-beam serves this purpose wonderfully.
Another good option is to buy a jewelers bench block anvil. They are basically just a thick block of metal. You can find them on Amazon for about $20.
In addition to the anvil itself, it will be helpful to mount the anvil onto a solid, stable surface. a workbench will work if it is sturdy enough. I personally use a large tree stump. Traditionally, this is what a blacksmith would have used -- and for good reason. The stump helps to absorb the blow to the anvil, making it somewhat quieter and also prevents the anvil from moving when you strike.
Punching Tool:
This is by far the hardest tool to obtain. As far as I know, there is no commercially available punching tool that will withstand the constant use. Rather, your best bet is to obtain a good hard pair of slip joint pliers, drill a hole through the head and then mount an appropriate sized, hardened drill bit.
If you don't have the skill or equipment to make a modified punch tong, you can use a hammer and pin punch. If you do this, you will get a similar result as a punch tong. You will need a punch about 1/16" (1.5mm), a hammer, and a shallow depression of some sort to receive the punch. One option is to mount a bolt in an anvil's hardy hole, in a vice, or in a piece of wood and use the depression in the bolt hole to receive the punch.
Still, another option is to use a sheet metal punch and to grind down the punch with a dremel tool to allow it to act as a pierce punch rather than a hole punch. I use a knock-off Roper-Whitney No.5 Jr. style punch manufactured by Nieko. You can go to my How to Make a Riveted Maille Pierce Punch page for more info.
Setting Tongs:
Setting tongs can be modified by filing down a pair of end nippers or linesmen pliers. You will likely need to grind down the jaws to remove any teeth and then bore holes in the jaws for setting and peening the rivets. You can read more about how to do this at my How to Make Riveted Maille Setting Tongs page. You can also buy a pair of setting tongs designed for whether you are making round or wedge shaped rivets from the Kult of Athena. I believe that the shipping on these is what convinced me to make my own. I also believe that you need to grind down a peening indentation and that the tongs only come with a large indent for setting the rivet.
Hammer:
A small metal (as in hammer meant for metal rather than wood) hammer will suffice. You only need a two to three pound hammer at most for flattening the rings. This is a matter of personal preference in my opinion. I use a three pound ball peen hammer.
Dremel Tool and Bits:
This tool is the minimum necessary tooling you will need to grind and modify your punches and setting tongs. There are other tools like a bench grinder or proper drill that might be easier to use. However, not having access to these tools. I used what I had. A dremel can be obtained for as little as $30 and Widget Supply sells various bits and grinding stones that you can use. I bought a grinding stone and a set of diamond tipped drilling bits and felt I had everything I needed to modify my tools. Widget Supply sells very affordable dremel bits. At Sears, just one bit cost $7.00 and I bought 6 bits total for under $10.00 from Widget Supply. They also sell very cheap but sturdy toothless pliers.