Introduction: A Faster Way of Making Chainmail
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About: Duct-tape fan (as you see in the picture), quite some knowledge of armour and weaponry, Dutch, Bilingual education. Please leave a comment, hit favorite, and if you feel like it, even follow me ;)
As I was making various chainmail things, shirts head protection and jewelry, I came up with a fast way of making chainmail. It requires some preparation, but the result is great. This instructable is quite short, as the technique isn't really difficult. I am not going to show how to make or cut the rings, I trust you know how to do that. The only thing you need to know is how to make european chainmail.
Step 1: Beginning the Weave
To start, you just use the european 4-1 weave. be sure to make an angle like in the picture. my suggestion is to start the top piece of 5 rows high, and go down on the left-hand-side at least 4 rings wide (the rows down depend on you plan). These dimensions can differ, but in my opininion this makes the easiest base to start with.
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If you start like this, you can go on with the technique described in the next steps.
NB: I recommend the rings to be bent open with the opening facing up and moving the left side towards you. This makes it way easier to weave.
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If you start like this, you can go on with the technique described in the next steps.
NB: I recommend the rings to be bent open with the opening facing up and moving the left side towards you. This makes it way easier to weave.
Step 2: Step 1: Preparing the Rings
First, you need to prepare the rings. divide the rings you have in two identical groups. One group is going to be opened, the other one is going to be closed.
I chose to use two groups of five, as an example. Now open five rings, make the opening a bit wide, that makes the weaving easier. I prefer to open the rings with the top-left side pointing to me (but that's your call).
Now close the other rings. Make sure they are neat, because you won't open or close them again.
After you've done this, you can move on to the next step.
I chose to use two groups of five, as an example. Now open five rings, make the opening a bit wide, that makes the weaving easier. I prefer to open the rings with the top-left side pointing to me (but that's your call).
Now close the other rings. Make sure they are neat, because you won't open or close them again.
After you've done this, you can move on to the next step.
Step 3: The Weaving (part 1)
Now that you've got your rings ready, put a closed ring onto an open ring. With this technique you always weave one open ring through four closed rings.
Now weave the open ring through one row first. In this example, I started on the right side, and moved to the left.
Now weave the open ring through one row first. In this example, I started on the right side, and moved to the left.
Step 4: The Weaving (part 2)
You've got one open ring attached to three closed rings. It is attached to the two rings above.
Now it's time to move downwards, weave the open ring through the ring below laying in the same direction.
Just close the ring and you see that you've woven two rings at once.
Now it's time to move downwards, weave the open ring through the ring below laying in the same direction.
Just close the ring and you see that you've woven two rings at once.
Step 5: Good Luck
I hope this instructable was usefull to you, I will be posting more about chainmail. Good luck with your build and if you feel like sending any pictures of your build, I would like to see them.