Occasionally the rings were simply butted closed, without rivets. While the galvanization protects against rust, especially during construction, it should be removed when the shirt is done, for a more authentic appearance. Battery acid has been used, but rolling the mail in a barrel of sand should also work. An alternative to winding and cutting wire for rings is to buy 20 to 30 pounds of small washers, half normal and half split. This is more costly but much quicker, and the flat cross-section of he rings may be more authentic than round wire.
Butted rings are perfectly acceptable, but riveted mail is available from several suppliers.
The shoulder doubling, shaped like a square-bottomed U, is attached to the back by a single row of rings. Riveted to the center of the chest is a pair of S-shaped hooks of iron or brass, which hook onto a button or stud on each flap. For auxiliary cavalry and some officers, the shoulder doubling is more of a circular cape, joined to the body around the neckhole. At some point in the later first century most auxiliaries began to wear shortsleeved mailshirts without shoulder doublings, though the doubling is still seen on legionaries on the Trajanic Adamklissi monument. Since mail naturally conforms to the body, any hamata will fit a number of different-sized people, even without tailoring.