Locke
February 4th, 2010, 04:22 AM
No, I am not referring to an email that you can send to at least 10 other people to watch Jesus do a little dance.
See, I have this problem, in that if any crafty idea occurs to me for more than 5 minutes, it becomes a little bit of an obsession until I finally manage to try it. Recently, that idea has been chainmail. So, naturally, I've been doing a bit of research.
To put it basically, it goes like this. You start by winding some wire around a mandrel and then cutting it so that you have rings. Then you do it again, and again, until you have a nice pile of rings. The ratio of the wire gauge to the inner diameter of the ring is referred to as the "aspect ratio" of the rings, and is important to several patterns as with to wide of an aspect ratio and the rings won't stand right, and to narrow of one and you won't be able to fit the rings into one another as planned.
The pattern by which you link the rings together is called the "weave." The most commonly used weave is European 4-in-1, which uses a single ring size, so called because the weave is started by placing 4 rings inside a single ring, forming a square-like shape. To expand to any side, you attach those two rings to another single ring, and then keep going by attaching two more rings to it. Thus, each ring is attached to four others, hence the name. There are a few variations to this weave, but you can easily tell how they're made from the names themselves: European 6 in 1, 8 in 1, 10 in 1, and 12 in 1. Thus far, I haven't seen anybody try a 14 in 1, but the 12 in 1 is also called "Emperor's Maille." Then there are completely different weaves, such as Japanese, Byzantine, Dragonscale, etc.
European 4-in-1
http://www.dragonmaille.com/assets/images/chain_mesh.jpg
Weaves aren't limited to being a fabric, either. Obviously, you can make chains, either with the 2 in 1 pattern we commonly think of with the word "chain," or more complex weaves such as 4 in 2 or box (a 4-in-1 weave folded around itself). Then there's also what's called a "unit," which is a weave that stands by itself, mostly as an ornamental thing which can be attached to other things. Then, there's a whole smattering of dimensional weaves which allow you to make 3-d objects.
Box Chain
http://www.chainmailbasket.com/images/weaves/box_01.jpg
Triumvirate Unit
http://www.chainmailbasket.com/images/weaves/triumvirate_01.jpg
Thus far, my favorite source website has been Chainmail Basket (http://www.chainmailbasket.com/). Browse to your heart's content.
You can do some searching, but apparently, there's an adult fetish for chainmail, so like everything else on the internet, you may encounter porn. Take care if the boss is around the corner.
Does anybody on the forums weave chainmail? Share!
See, I have this problem, in that if any crafty idea occurs to me for more than 5 minutes, it becomes a little bit of an obsession until I finally manage to try it. Recently, that idea has been chainmail. So, naturally, I've been doing a bit of research.
To put it basically, it goes like this. You start by winding some wire around a mandrel and then cutting it so that you have rings. Then you do it again, and again, until you have a nice pile of rings. The ratio of the wire gauge to the inner diameter of the ring is referred to as the "aspect ratio" of the rings, and is important to several patterns as with to wide of an aspect ratio and the rings won't stand right, and to narrow of one and you won't be able to fit the rings into one another as planned.
The pattern by which you link the rings together is called the "weave." The most commonly used weave is European 4-in-1, which uses a single ring size, so called because the weave is started by placing 4 rings inside a single ring, forming a square-like shape. To expand to any side, you attach those two rings to another single ring, and then keep going by attaching two more rings to it. Thus, each ring is attached to four others, hence the name. There are a few variations to this weave, but you can easily tell how they're made from the names themselves: European 6 in 1, 8 in 1, 10 in 1, and 12 in 1. Thus far, I haven't seen anybody try a 14 in 1, but the 12 in 1 is also called "Emperor's Maille." Then there are completely different weaves, such as Japanese, Byzantine, Dragonscale, etc.
European 4-in-1
http://www.dragonmaille.com/assets/images/chain_mesh.jpg
Weaves aren't limited to being a fabric, either. Obviously, you can make chains, either with the 2 in 1 pattern we commonly think of with the word "chain," or more complex weaves such as 4 in 2 or box (a 4-in-1 weave folded around itself). Then there's also what's called a "unit," which is a weave that stands by itself, mostly as an ornamental thing which can be attached to other things. Then, there's a whole smattering of dimensional weaves which allow you to make 3-d objects.
Box Chain
http://www.chainmailbasket.com/images/weaves/box_01.jpg
Triumvirate Unit
http://www.chainmailbasket.com/images/weaves/triumvirate_01.jpg
Thus far, my favorite source website has been Chainmail Basket (http://www.chainmailbasket.com/). Browse to your heart's content.
You can do some searching, but apparently, there's an adult fetish for chainmail, so like everything else on the internet, you may encounter porn. Take care if the boss is around the corner.
Does anybody on the forums weave chainmail? Share!