Chain Maille… for the modern warrior woman!
March 11, 2007Ok..so you’ve seen chain maille…you HAVE, really!
So now, you’re thinking…gee…how does she do that? Where did that come from?
Well.. I think most of us are at least vaguely familiar with the chain maille that was worn by knights to protect them in battle. Some of us may be familiar with the chain maille suits worn by divers to protect from shark bites….
The principles are the same, as are some of the construction details,…but….the results…are light years apart!
Chain making is an ancient art that can take on many forms. For this post, I will discuss the chains that I make using small rings made of various metals. Now..I obviously cannot give away ALL of my “secrets”…but want to make you aware of the basic process and the raw materials involved in making a piece of my art jewelry.
I begin my spending many hours (sometimes) researching the current spot price of silver and it’s recent price trends so that I can make my materials purchases at the best possible price point….(This is likely the MOST sedatingly boring aspect of the entire process…)
Once I have determined a good time to buy…I buy. Easy right?
What am I buying? Well…for chains, I begin with long pieces of wire (for the sake of this article, we will assume I am working in Sterling Silver). It comes to me wound in a very loose coil, usually many many feet long.
Before I can begin using this wire, I have to determine what weave I will be making and the AR (aspect ratio) needed to make it. Aspect Ratio is the ratio between the inner diameter of the rings used to weave and the diameter of the wire itself. Different weaves require different AR’s in order to work. So…for those who thought they would never use Math again after High School…ha! Here it is…in the artist’s world… alive and well!
So..now I know what I plan to make, and the AR needed to make it. The next step is to take a mandrel (any long “stick-like” rod that can be used to wind the wire around it) of the correct size and wind a long coil (approx. 4″ long) onto it. Some artists will use a power drill to accomplish this, but as I tend to be a bit accident prone, I wind all my coils literally by hand! I find I also have more control over the accuracy of the wind and the amount of “spring-back” of the coil when winding by hand.
Once I have a bunch (a technical term) of coils wound..I am ready to bring out the power tools! I use a specialized attachment on a Dremel that uses a fine jewelry saw blade to cut a straight cut all the way through the top of the coil. Once this is done, I am left with a pile of beautiful, perfectly cut rings! After cleaning, rinsing, and sorting, they are ready to weave into a beautiful chain!
Different weaves are done different ways….obviously…but they all have common steps. Each and every ring must be opened and then closed….one at a time…by hand (well…not exactly by hand…I use two pairs of pliers to achieve this! <wink>) Each ring is carefully place into position by me and then closed. Now mind you….some weaves are bit easier than others and some allow for closing some of the rings before being woven in, but in general, each and every ring must be opened and closed at some point…again…one at a time!
After at least a few hours of monotonous weaving (although it is my favorite part of the process…instant gratification watching this chain almost magically appear before my eyes!), I am ready to attach focal art glass made in my torch and kiln, beautiful gemstones, and touches of silver, handmade by artisans in Bali, into the design.
The end results are the unique jewelry art pieces you will find on my sites.
I hope you now have a greater appreciation for all of the hard, and sometimes tedious, work that goes into creating a chain and will be able to use this knowledge to aid you in making informed purchases of artisan jewelry.
Next week…. I will discuss the process that goes into making my Lampwork art glass and Fused art glass pieces! No power tools..but lots of fire and heat!
Until next time…
Lori B.
