How to Chainmail in 4 Simple Steps

I’m sure you’re well aware of chainmail, mostly seen in the form of armor or maybe from the Lord of the Rings movies. What you may not be aware of is that chainmail, also known as maille, chain mail, or chainmaille can make many other things other than amour. You can make jewelry (bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings), clothing (bikini tops, belts, shirts, ties), art, and much more from rings very small to quite large in stainless steel, aluminum, sterling silver, copper, bronze, and even gold. Chainmail is not just for armor today. Your age, education, or income don’t matter. All it takes is a willingness to learn a new skill and the patience to practice. In four simple steps I’ll show you the basics and how to get started today with little or no experience.

1. The Building Blocks of Chainmail – Rings

Almost all chainmail uses rings. Primarily rings of metal but they can also be found in plastic and rubber as well. A ring, or in the jewelry industry a jump ring, is simply a loop of wire forming a ring usually butted together. Wire is wrapped around a mandrel, a long metal rod, into a coil. The coil is then removed and the rings are individually cut off the coil.

There are four basic parts of a ring:

• Gauge – the diameter of the wire used to make a ring
• Inside Diameter (ID) – the distance across the inside of a ring excluding its gauge
• Aspect Ratio (AR) – the ID divided by the gauge, both in decimal form (e.g..25″ instead of 1/4″)
• Cut – type of cut produced when a ring is cut off a coil. Cuts are pinch, sheer, machine or saw cuts.

When referring to a ring, you only need to state two parts, gauge and inside diameter( ID). For example, if you need a 1/4″ ring that’s 18 gauge in the SWG system, the preferred method to specify the ring is 1/4″ – 18SWG. This gives you all the information you need to describe the ring.

Most people use this method to some degree whether they specify the gauge first or last or specify the gauge as a decimal in inches or millimeters. You have to be careful because a lot of people and web sites do not specify the gauge system or if they use a decimal, they don’t always specify if it’s in inches or millimeters. It’s best to purchase a cheap caliper and measure the wire’s thickness yourself and then lookup the appropriate gauge in decimal form if unsure.

Gauge is the thickness or diameter of a piece of wire. The smaller the gauge number, the thicker the wire or the wider the diameter. There are three main types of wire gauge measurements; British Imperial Standard (SWG), American or Brown and Sharp (AWG), and AWG Metric.

Inside diameter(ID) is the diameter of the ring measured on the inside from side to side when closed. The gauge of the wire is not part of the ID. If a project calls for a 5/16″ ring it means that the inside diameter of the ring, when measured across, is about 5/16″. About because most metals when coiled on a mandrel, and then taken off, “spring” back to some degree slightly widening the ID. The ring size is taken from the diameter of the mandrel used to coil the wire to make the rings and not the actual diameter after spring-back.

Aspect ratio is the ratio of the inner diameter divided by the gauge, in decimal form. Make sure both the inner diameter and gauge are in decimal form and both are specified in either inches or millimeters. This becomes a “dimensionless” number. It gives you a number that represents the gauge compared to the inside diameter which helps determine how to size up or down rings for a given project that was done in another ring size.

Cut is the type of cut produced on the ring when it’s cut from a coil. The pinch cut looks like this, ><. This type of cut is usually produced from hand tools such as a wire cutter. The shear cut produces a diagonal slice, //, but the ends don’t match up perfectly and sometimes the rings become deformed during the cut. A machine cut is made by a machine that’s made to coil and cut rings. The cut is usually a combination of the pinch and shear cut. The saw cut is made by a saw that cuts rings off. This is the best cut as the ends line up flush and produce the best closure of the ring. It’s also the most expensive type of ring to purchase.

Material of your rings is important. Most rings are metal and come in a vast selection including aluminum, stainless steel, gold or silver, titanium, and more. Your choice of ring material will depend upon your budget, the project you’re making, and availability. Bright aluminum is easy to work with while stainless steel can quickly wear your hands if unused to it.

Tools of the Trade – Pliers, Pliers, Pliers!

For the most part, the only tools you’ll need to weave rings are a pair of pliers. You’ll hold one in each hand to open and close rings along with weaving them into your project. The size and type of pliers depend on your preference, the size of the rings you’re using, the project, and the metal of the rings. Pliers come in a variety of types; flat nosed, flat angled nose, linesman, and others.

Each type serves a different purpose in chainmailling. Flat nosed are good for rings that should be scratched as little as possible like silver or gold. Linesman are great for beginner’s as they have teeth that help hold rings but can also scratch them. Flat angled nose pliers are great for small rings when making jewelry. Pliers also come in different sizes. For 1/4″ or larger ID rings, you might want to use a 6″ or 8″ pair of pliers but for smaller rings 4″ hobby pliers work well.

Buy or Make your Own Rings?

Obviously you need rings to chainmail. To purchase or make your own has always been a hot topic among chainmaillers. Making your own rings can be much cheaper but you have to buy the wire, coil it, then cut off each individual ring. This takes time and effort and often requires you to build your own coiling “jig”.

Or you can purchase pre-cut rings. It’s more expensive but it gives you the luxury to start chainmailling immediately without the bother or time of making and cutting your own rings. I highly recommend you start out purchasing rings if you’re new to chainmailling. Why? First, you can start immediately and most of us, when finding a new hobby, want to start quickly. And second, if you find chainmailling is not for you, you haven’t wasted your time, effort, or money making your own rings before you even get started mailling.