Learning Chain Maille

I posted a bunch of additional pictures of my recent chain maille projects on my flickr account.

The set Chain Maille I made seems to show most of the recent.

The best piece I've made at this point is a necklace that is JPL3 (Jens Pinder Linkage 3). It was not easy to learn (the first 4 inches had to be tossed once I got the hang of it). The rings are from chainweavers.com. They sell specially sized rings for JPL3 because standard sizes can slip by each other. They're a little less than 5mm outer diameter, and less than 3mm inner (18 gauge wire). It took about 40 hours to make 17 inches. And the last night I had to finish it (for my friend Stacey's birthday) was an all nighter. Then I found out I had 90 minutes to get it to her because it was the only time her manager said she was available today. So it was a quick drop off of the kid at school and then a run to Burlington. But for her reaction it was worth it.

OK, I strayed.

Finding Instructions

Start with simple weaves. Byzantine is good. European 4-in-1 is another good one. Concentrate on how you open the rings (twist them, don't pull them open). Make sure to apply tension to the close so they stay closed. This takes practice.

Getting Instructions

www.mailleartisans.org is a good site with loads of weaves. But they vary in quality. Alot.

I have bought a lot of instruction sets from Chainweavers, BlueBuddha.com, www.culturejewelry.com (excellent overall, and include WMV slides), and Dylon Whyte's Etsy shop. He's got great Persian 3 in 1 instructions that include how to close rubber/aluminum bracelets.

Finding Rings

Don't bother to make your own rings. And stay away from stainless steel. They're hard as hell to bend and will ruin pliers. Instead use bright aluminum. It's cheep, and nice for learning because you can get different colors useful for learning some weaves. And you can also buy round plastic shower rings. I find that useful for learning weaves too. Or showing someone.

My favorite suppliers (be sure to mention me!)

• Bright Aluminum rings I buy from Utopia Armoury on Etsy

  . Excellent prices and the quality is great. BlueBuddha has them as shiny, but Bill is a small supplier and even cheaper. Plus he's a great guy and makes really cool stuff (think chain maille bikinis that are street legal!)

   

• Anodized rings (colored aluminum), Enameled copper, jewelers brass, copper, and Niobium I get from 

  BlueBuddha.com

  . The colors are vibrant and the service is excellent. Tell them I sent you (I get nothing, but I want them to know I appreciate them).

• If you're in Canada, try The Ring Lord

  . Lots of options. Also the only place I know of to get glow in the dark silicone rings (at a major price mind you).

• Fire Mountain Gems

  also sells Oh! Rings, which are rubber rings that are in different sizes and thicknesses. They're pretty cheap. Stay away for rings though. They're good for ear wires if you're making earrings though.

• If you want precious metals,  Chainweavers is the place to get them. Prices are as reasonable as you can expect for precious metals, and they have researched ring sizes very well. They're helpful. They have the elusive Argenentium. This is probably the coolest metal I've found. It's got the same amount of silver it in it as sterling silver. But rather than an alloy with copper and other metals, it is alloyed with Germainium. By doing this the silver will never tarnish. You pay about 15% more than Sterling, but it's worthy it.  They also have some kits and some instructions that are quite decent. They're also the only place I've found with Argentium clasps. Why make a non-tarnish bracelet or necklace to have the clasp tarnish?

Tools

You need two flat nose pliers. For some weaves a pair of needle nose are useful (with JPL3 it was a necessity to weave the rings, and then I used the flat nose pliers to close them. If you want great pliers by Lindstrom. If you can't afford them (about $40 each), make sure you make the inside of the pliers absolutely smooth either with high grade sandpaper or a Dremel buffer. It makes less scratches. I've also used silicone with minimal succes. Others use Tool Magic which is a dip that puts a soft (replaceable, and you'll need to) film on the pliers. Buff and sand first. Trust me. Even the Lindstrom. I picked mine up from ArtBeads.com, but ChainWeavers sells Wubbers which aren't bad if smoothed.

Pliers, baggies (for ring storage) and Sharpies (for labelling the bags, I do it with a slip of paper) is all you really need. But some things are handy.

Calipers are useful because almost everyone uses slightly different sizes for there wire, even if they say 16 guage. For example 16 guage is 1mm. But at Blue Buddha it is 1.15mm. That makes some weaves impossible.

I've not tried using magnifying optics yet (I just got a pair) to close the rings more flushly. I use my finger nail to make sure that they rings are closed perfectly flat.

I think good lighting is also key. I use a Petra headlamp. But with some colors and shiny rings, it's too bright. It's what I have to use considering my OCD, but you may do better with different lighting.

Aspect Ratio

This is key. It's the internal diameter divided by the thickness of the ring. It is what determines if a weave will work. Learn it.

Patience

Be patience. It's hard to get started. Buy some 5/32" rings from Utopia Armoury and try Byzantine.

Good luck!

Measuring for a bracelet

When I make a bracelet for a friend it's important that I get an accurate measurement to start.

The measurement should be taken flat against the skin, not tight, but with no slack either. I allow for that when I make the bracelet. Once I know the wrist diameter I make a paper tube the same diameter and fit the bracelet to that.

So, here is how to measure (assuming you don't have a flexible cloth measuring tape).

Step 1

This is easiest done by ripping a straight strip from an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper, long ways. 

Click for a bigger image.

Step 2

Put a mark on the one end of the paper (sorry for the blurry photo). I also tend to put a direction marker, but it seems pointless.

Click for a bigger image.

Step 3

Line the paper up ready to wrap around your wrist. The direction arrow I added shows the direction to wrap the paper.

Click for a bigger image.

Step 4

Wrap the paper around your wrist. Again, make it snug, but not tight. The goal is to overlap the paper such that you can see the edge (or edge mark if you added one). The picture below shows my hairy wrist with the paper wrapped around it and you can see the mark.

Click for a bigger image.

Step 5

Add a mark where the paper overlaps with the edge. Again I used a directional mark to remind me of the way that I've wound this. In the case of my 7"+ wrist, not an issue. But women's wrists are typically 6 1/1" (the standard) and I've seen smaller. It can be confusing which of the edge to measure from if you've skipped the marking of the original edge.

Click for a bigger image.

Step 6

Unwrap the paper and lay it out flat. It should be obvious which area needs to be measured when using the directional marks.

Click for a bigger image.

Step 7 

Measure between the lines. In this case the measurement is 7 3/16" 

Click for a bigger image.

Step 8

There is no Step 8. Overall it's pretty simple and even more so if you have a flexible measuring tape. Even a metal measuring tape will usually work, although you'll want to use the 2nd or 3rd inch in as the starting point (and remember to subtract that value).

Remember, snug against the skin. The fake paper wrist is what I use to make sure it fits OK.

This is an article more for friends than anybody. It's something I can point them to so I can be sure to get proper measurements when making them bracelets.

Some examples of my work...

Stretchy bracelet for my daughter in UVM colors

2 color Byzantine weave bracelet, a birthday gift for a Monster

Red hair clip - gift for an ex-Monster

Byzantine weave earrings (This was the first time I've worked with Niobium rather than Aluminum.) and an aluminum Byzantine necklace with some spacers. Both were for for a friend's birthday.

Matching Byzantine bracelet and earrings for a friend to wear to a wedding.

A really fuzzy picture of the first piece of chain maille jewelry I did and gave away to a friend.

I've done a bunch more than this, but these are the pieces I'm really proud of. I've not shown anything much of the Persian, European 4 in 1, or Box that I've been playing with. In time I might.