If i may ask u, why dont u just buy some leather to make scales? Second hand leather jackets or old transmission belts are just fine for for armour.
Well, my first tour in Iraq I brought pre-made maille rings to make armour with. A little way into the year I noticed that they were cutting down old power lines, and then just letting them sit there and rot. So I picked up the lines (I made sure both ends were disconnected), brought them home, stripped them and spun them into rings. I've made a maille coif out of what I think is copper (it may be bronze), a full hauberk out of steel and a great deal of jewelry, all from found wire.
I then started collecting random pieces of metal and chains and started weaving it into it's own suit. I call it "Junk-maille", which is probably much more funny to Americans. I don't know if the joke translates well. I suppose part of it is not having to pay for the leather, as I don't make very much money, but really that's secondary. There is just something about taking an item that is old and about to be destroyed and giving it new life, new joy, another chance at being useful. It is an amazing feeling taking something that noone wanted and making it desirable. I'll always remember the look on my friend's faces when they saw me vanish into my side of the room with these huge lengths of cable, only to appear a month or so later wearing maille. That alone would make it worth my time.
But just to make a cost comparison, I have nearly three hundred scales total, two hundred of them waxed, and just under one hundred punched. If I was to buy them pre-punched and cut, I would have spent roughly $600 so far. Just pre-cut, $200. By the time I'm done with this project, I'll have a $700 piece of armour that I only paid $20 for, and that's for the thread and binding.
Besides, I hate to cut up old jackets. My first motorcycle jacket cost me $20 and I still have it. I wouldn't want to deny someone else the joy of that first bit of leather that's all theirs!
