Chain Maille

Making chain maille is like knitting - repetitive, kind of mindless, something you can do without too much thinking - but then you look at what you've done and think, "Wow!" The patterns and variations are endless and a lot of them can be found on Maille International.
I love doing chain maille but I'm a rank beginner compared to some of the fantastic artisans out there. But because I'm a beginner, I'm picking up a few tips that make it much easier and wanted to share them with you. This is not a tutorial: my camera isn't good enough, I'm not good enough and you can find terrific tutes on The Beading Gem's site and Davidchain Jewelry, as well as some great books on the subject. This is for people who have read the tutorials and made a start.

From box chain

The chain I'm working on is a box chain, or Inca Puno chain. It's similar to the way a Byzantine chain is made, but with sets of four rings rather than six.

From box chain

Most tutorials I've seen tell you to use two sets of pliers to work the rings. I find that if you use one set in your dominant hand and can use your thumb and index finger of the non-dominant hand, you get a much better join with your rings, because you have a better feel when it snaps together and then you quickly run your finger or thumb over the join. If it's out at all or has a burr, you can do a quick pinch with the pliers, or sand a little as you go. Of course, this takes a little finger strength and the old arthritis does some complaining occasionally.
Toothpicks are another great tool for chain maille.

From box chain

I hang the chain, and push the toothpick to hold the first set of two rings.

From box chain

Then I hold the rings below the ones with the toothpick, pull out the pick, let those two rings fall outside the ones I'm holding, and put the pick in the set I'm holding.

From box chain

From box chain

Put your fingers on the first set that fell outside and hold them up, so that when you take the toothpick out of the second set, you can pry that set open slightly and see the tops of the set you're holding. Slide the toothpick through them.

From box chain

I've already got one open ring with two closed rings hanging from it, and the open ring will slide right by the toothpick. I'm holding the toothpick with one hand and inserting the ring with the pliers in my other hand.

From box chain

Once that ring is closed and smooth, I'll hang the chain so that the two rings I just put on hang down, and put, yes, a toothpick through them. You can see by the above picture that by doing this, the open ring you just put on is pretty lonesome looking and it's easy to put the second open ring on without going through part of the chain you shouldn't.
Putting the toothpick in each step seems like a lot of extra work and effort, but it really isn't. Just like a knitting needle, it's in and out very quickly once you get into the rhythm of the pattern, but it can save you a lot of time or grief in the end. You've figured out the pattern, your rings are all opened or closed, whichever you require in sets of four, you're just smoking, putting them together so fast and then you stop to admire the five or six inches already finished....and you see a spot where you've missed a ring, or passed it through the wrong ring...believe me, got THAT T-shirt! You can use a pick of any kind, but toothpicks are small enough not to get in the way and big enough to be able to grip. They separate each step of the pattern and that is so important when you've worked long enough at the fiddly little rings to be half blind. Using a pick makes the pattern look organized and your next step orderly, but try doing this chain or Persian or Byzantine without a tail (my paperclip) or a pick of some kind and you'll see just how disorganized all those little rings can get. But do it right and you'll have something wonderful that is all alliteration - smooth, slinky, supple, sinuous...have fun!