Construction of collar and shackles

Wanda said some people are interested in construction details for
a steel collar and manacles that I made to confine her.

The collar is made from heavy flat steel strips one inch wide and
about 1/8 inch thick.  These are available in most hardware stores
in lengths of 36 inches.  You will also need a small hinge and a
hasp and staple for each article; I recommend the thin brass ones
which are designed for jewelry boxes and such; they are easy to
work with and to bend into the shape of the shackle, yet strong
enough to confine most subs securely.  Finally, you will need some
rivets to fasten the hinge, hasp, and staple to the shackle.  I used
3/32-inch "pop" rivets; these can be "set" using only a hammer.

While you are at the hardware store, you might want to pick up one
or more small padlocks.  Quite sturdy and reasonably ornamental
laminated locks are available as small as 1/2 inch wide.

The tools you will need are a drill with a "high speed" (metal
working) bit slightly larger than your rivets, a hack saw, a hammer,
and a curved hammering surface, such as an anvil.  A vise is also
helpful to hold the work for drilling or bending, but is not
absolutely necessary.  Another optional tool is a heavy-duty
soldering iron and some acid-core solder.

The collar is easier to make than the shackles because it doesn't
require as much precision shaping.  Measure around the neck
with a tape measure, and add one to three inches to the value you
get, depending upon how snug you want the collar to be.  Wanda likes
a very snug collar, but I have known other women who felt a little
panicky if the collar fit too snugly.  Adding two inches to the
circumference of the neck will give you a fairly loose collar with
about a finger's breadth of "play" between the collar and the neck
(as recommended by J. Norman).  This makes for a comfortable
"sleeping collar".

Cut a strip of steel to the length you came up with, then cut it in
half.  Now comes the hard part.  You must hammer or otherwise form
the two steel strips into approximate semicircles so that they conform
to the general shape of the sub's neck and meet each other smoothly
at both ends.  Necks are not perfectly circular, of course, so if you
are making a snug collar you will probably have to spend a good bit of
time getting the shape right (on the other hand, this fitting process
can be an enjoyable time for both of you).

When you have the strips correctly shaped, bend the hinge and hasp to
conform to the outside of the collar where the strips join and mark the
holes for drilling (I like the hinge in the back and the hasp in the
front, but some people prefer the opposite arrangement).  Drill the
mounting holes in the collar, and mount the hinge, hasp, and staple
with rivets, inserting the rivets from the outside and hammering them
out on the inside.  After securing the rivets, I like to apply a coat
of solder over them on the inside of the collar using a heavy-duty
soldering iron.  This will make the collar more secure as well as
smoothing any roughness which might irritate the slave's neck.  For
additional comfort, glue strips of felt around the inside of the collar.

The collar can be simply locked around the sub's neck, the tiny lock
dangling prettily at the base of the throat, or a chain can be passed
through the lock, confining him/her.  Use care when closing the collar
on the slave's throat, lest the closing metal pinch.

The shackles are made similarly, though the process of fitting the
steel strips to the wrists and ankles becomes considerably more
difficult, since you MUST have a fairly snug fit.

 
I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask for additional information
if needed.