Tangentially, I was just wondering what the time investment is for mail as opposed to plate armor. Plate needs to be individually fitted, which I'm sure is time

Tangentially, I was just wondering what the time investment is for mail as opposed to plate armor. Plate needs to be individually fitted, which I'm sure is time-consuming, but mail takes ages to attach and (ideally) weld or rivet each individual link. On the other hand, practically anyone can turn wire into passable mail with a bit of practice, so it could be farmed out to apprentices and assistants; it's not difficult, just laborious. Plate presumably demanded the more valuable time of a fully-trained smith.