Re: blacksmithing worth it?
First off, this shirt is butted chainmail; meaning the rings is cut so the two ends meet and "butt-up" against one another. Admittably, this is the "weakest" form of chainmail. Don't let that mis-lead you, the tensile strength of the wire I used is over 1400fp... you could not damage it without a tool.
You can also rivet chainmail by cutting the rings so the two ends overlap, hammer the joint flat, punch a hole through it and then hammer a small piece of steel through the hole. This is riveted chainmail, and using this painstaking process the smiths of old crafted mail shirts. I only started making it this way because I have a 250 ton press now at my disposal. This is very strong chainmail
And of course you can weld the rings closed. Obviously the strongest mail around. Now that I have a wonderful Tig Welder at the shop I work at, I'm trying my hand at this.
Fuck... When you talk about something you love...
I made this shirt with 14ga stainless steel (wire diameter of .08") and the rings are 5/16" ID. I have tested patches of this "material" (like a foot square of completed chainmail) with various weapons - Wood Axe, Battle Axe, Gladius, Machette, Katana and Spear with a large balsa wood block as a backing (Using a piece of hardwood wouldn't be very realistic as flesh is softer then wood)
With the heavy swinging weapons, the chainmail actually suffers very little damage. A few rings might be bent, and maybe a couple more might open up enought that, given time they would fall out of the pattern. Most of the force of the blow is absorbed by the wood underneath (or if you were wearing it, your body)
Shorter swords, if thrusted, can pentrate the shirt. Sometimes surprisingly easily. A swing is likely to glance off the mail, with the force behind the blow akin to that of a metal pipe or baseball bat.
The Katana was the only sword I have seen actually "cut" through the chainmail. Enough force was focused at the point of impact that it mangled rings at it cut into the balsa wood. Granted, the wielder of the Katana was one of my martial arts instructors... So someone with less training would probably not do as much.
The spear thrusted through almost every time. Chainmail has little protection against thin pointy things. The further the point of a weapon can travel through the mesh of chainmail before being impeeded by the rings; the deeper the penetration into the body and the less force it takes to spread the links apart.
And whatever you do, never believe chainmail will offer any protection against a bullet. One word - Shrapnel
So to answer you question with a short version -
If you hit me full force with the blade of a halberd in the ribcage, you would probably break the ribs that you hit, maybe drive one of them into a lung. You would probably knock me back and to the ground very hurt, and if the ribs you broke were on my weapon side, most likely defenseless. But I would probably still be in one piece
In the gut, You would drive the wind out of me, knock me back and probably cause some internal beleeding if you hit hard enough. There would be a big bruise but the skin would most likely be uncut. If you want to get an idea of how it would feel, get 6-8 foot staff with a 1x1" strip of wood nailed onto the side of the staff (like a blade) and have a friend swing it as hard as he can into your unprotected gut.
In the arm. Arm is broken, simple as that.
Man that ended up being a HUGE post.