Today I dismantled both girdle sections and rounded all the sharp corners (52 of those) and ground, hammered, and/or filed all the rough edges (lots of those from tin snips). I also smoothed out a few rough edges on the brass tabs and slots.
Corners were snipped off, then a dremel or file was used to clean up the fine corners and the aforementioned rough edges. Steel wool was used to rub along the finished edges to take off any remaining wire edges / coarseness.
I also started riveting the slotted side of the girdle plates. I am cheating a bit on these rivets since they mostly don't show. Inside of making each rivet by hand from copper wire (as I have done for the decorative brass plates and hinges), I am using galvanised roofing nails. These have the advantage of being less work and including their own washer - the nail head. Once cut off and peened, their origin is only visible from the inside of the armour, which is not a concern for me.
I have not attached the topmost girdle band since I want to fine-tune the hooks and rivet those on first.
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