Is handling galvanized steel dangerous?

Question

I'm just now getting into making chain mail. Galvanized steel is the easiest material to find at my local hardware stores. I know to wash my hands after handling it, but if I were to craft it into something to wear, be it jewelry or a full suit, would it be bad for my health? There's no welding or heating of any sort, only cutting and bending.

Answer 1

most likely

i think so but that is my opinion

Answer 2

There's no problem with steel as long as you're not doing any torch cutting, welding or brazing and then its mostly from the heat and fumes.

You should clean it with mineral spirits to get any sort of manufacturing residue off of it just to be safe. I think they might use some kind of oil during the shaping at the factory. Clean it again after you've finished your fabrication. I use a drop of machine oil on my hacksaw blades to make the cutting easier.

One thing to remember if you're doing any kind of mechanical cutting or grinding, you need to keep hitting it with cool water to keep the heat from changing the metal. It can happen faster than you might think. Even using a grinding wheel can do it.

Use eye protection and some kind of gloves. There's nothing like that smell of burnt meat when you realize that you just removed your own finger prints on a piece of hot metal. Even a Dremel tool can put fragments into your eyes.

For Chain Mail you only have to wrap the wire around a rod like a spring then cut it into links so you probably just need safety glasses. A buddy of mine made his using lock-washers they're already cut and they make a cool mythril kind of looking shine when you're done. The real anachronists said he wasn't being true to the craft though.

Good Luck.