Stretch Chainmail Bracelet

This is my entry for the Instructables Gift Exchange. It is a standard 6-in-1 pattern, with every other column being rubber rather than aluminum rings. The unique thing about this bracelet is that there is no need for a clasp, which are hard to add to mail, and can be flimsy. 

The bracelet can be as narrow or as wide as you want, as long as it's a multiple of the ring width. Below you see 2 7 wides (the Silver, Blue, and Black; and the Silver, Blue and Green), and an 11 wide. 

The seven took me 3+ hours to complete, and the 11 about 5 hours. I usually do this while watching a movie or sports on TV, at night, or during the winter.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

Tools:

• Wide pliers x2
• Needle Nose pliers, preferable curved x2
• Cloth Measuring Tape
• Cups to hold rings (optional)

Materials:

• Rings (See step 4 for ring count)

There are multiple different sizes of rings you can get. These are 16 AWG (Gauge) ¹/₄" ID (Inner diameter) rings. I ordered mine from The Ring Lord.

Comments

[EGiR]

THANKYOU!!! It is so well made, i shall wear it with pride! I'm amazed at the care that has gone into it, and you've documented extremely well. it is quite bizarre watching the video and looking at the object on my wrist, now halfway across the map. I hope other people are as chuffed with their exchange as me.

[mrmucox]

Well... you're very welcome! I can't believe how much people are liking this! So many views and ratings!

[DIYourselfer]

great instructable, but i was just wondering where you can get the rings? if you know of any stores or websites where you could get hem that would be great

[LuminousObject]

He gave the link in the 'Tools and Materials' step. The Ring Lord

[mrmucox]

The ones shown are Anodized Aluminum and rubber, 16 AWG (16ga on the RingLord site), 1/4" ID. The anodized aluminum rings can be found here, and the rubber rings can be found here.

I suppose rubber washers and split metal washers could work, you just need to make sure they will mesh properly. If the rings have too small an ID, or too thick gauge (smaller AWG number), you'll never get the 6-in-1 pattern, but 4-in-1 would work too. Too large an ID or thin gauge (larger AWG number), and it will be loose and floppy. I guessed the sizes I would need to make this the first time, and got lucky. I could not do a 6-in-1 weave of all metal rings, as there is not enough room. The rubber rings are slightly deformed (stretched) in my bracelets, but you can't see it from the outside.

[Partatoes]

Love the tut. Man, you were right though, that last step took me forever.

[mrmucox]

Very nice job there! It looks perfect!

[Avian flames]

Steel rings are very simple to make. I used to make them by the thousands on weekend afternoons for my friends at school. Made a few dollars doing it too.

[Euphilia]

Is there any way to get the plasti-dip to stay on the tools longer? After about 15min of use the rubber comes of my tools and mars a ring. also, for either weave, you have to keep putting the aluminum rings on the last two previous rubber rings throughout the whole project, right?

[mrmucox]

If you're having that much trouble with the plasti-dip, maybe you should just by the tools that they sell with nylon jaws. I'm not sure I understand your second question, but every metal ring should have 3 rubber rings through it. So I suppose, yes, if using the row method, the previous 2 and one new rubber ring. If using the column method, on the completed side you would put out through 3, and the additional column would be through 2 and a new one. O hope this makes sense.

[Mrballeng]

I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this. 5/5 and followed.

[mrmucox]

Thanks! I've been meaning to try a few of your instructables too! I've got the tools, just need the time.

[Pola B.]

felicitaciones,estan my lindos.....Pola

[mitchblahman]

i know that this is probably really late but you can also just wrap the tips with a little bit of duct tape

[bastir]

Hi there!
This is great work! I absolutely love these bracelets - especially the blue-green-bright one you are making in this instructable. I'm wondering if I should try this and present it for christmas... But as I'm very acurate, I want to make sure that everything fits perfectly when I get the rings. The ringlord really has a wonderful assortment, but I'm worrying about the sizes right now. You said, that you used
"16 AWG (16ga on the RingLord site)",
but as I understand it (and you can read here), the 16ga is SWG which is the same as 14 AWG!

so could you please tell me the diameter of the wire?
16ga = 14 AWG = 16 SWG should be 0.0625'' = 1.6 mm
16 AWG = 18ga = 18 SWG = 0.048'' = 1.2 mm

thanks again for this great instructable!

[mrmucox]

Whatever I used in the instructable, is what The Ring Lord site states, didn't realize there was a difference.

[sakrow]

What kind of rings do you use? I didn't find that kind of ring. so i bought washers, dunno, will it work?

[Partatoes]

he said go to theringlord.com for the rings

[jademyst13]

I can't WAIT to try this I want to get into making chainmail so badly and this looks awesome!!

[sakrow]

Thanks, when i was looking for them in stores i just said "Have you got ring like in the game sonic just aluminum and with different colors" lol... Thanks, you really helped me

[tulinablessingabraham]

thankyou, just wanted it!!

[sosogood313]

Hi, Can you tell us approximately how many rings will be needed? I understand that this will vary depending on ring size, but if you can ballpark the amount, that'd be great. Thanks!

[mrmucox]

See Step 4

[Urhotus]

Would anyone happen to know a site like The Ring Lord in Europe? Lord's shipping fees here are quite high...

[crystol]

i want to make sure of something. I have an 8 cm wrist so i would need around 170 per bracelet correct?

[mrmucox]

You better re-measure. If you had an 8cm wrist, your wrist would be about the size of a quarter. This measurement is the circumference around your wrist, not the width. See the photo below, and make sure you are using cm and not inches like the photo below:


Photo by Tenuki Handcrafts and used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License

[crystol]

i forgot to acount for the fact that my measuring tape goes one two three four five six seven eight nine TEN one two three four five six seven eight nine TWENTY so yes i have an 18 cm wrist, can i ask about how many you tink it will take per bracelet?

[mrmucox]

For an 18cm wrist, you will need ~54 rings per column, so, for example, if you were making a 7 column like in the instructable, you would need 54*4 = 216 metal rings, and 54*3 = 162 rubber rings. You'll definitely need to buy extras though, in case you mar a metal ring or tear a rubber ring. Good luck in making one, and post a picture when you finish.

[crystol]

Thanks. I have to order some rings now. This will be excellent! Thanks for the amazing instructable!

[leonardml]

Great instructable; well made and explained. Especially liked the music added to the video. Kudos!

[metalgrannie]

Where do you get the rubber rings??? Thanks in advance. And thanks for great instructions . . . . .

[mrmucox]

The answer to your question is right in front of you! But seriously, as I put on the materials Step, and as LuminousObject reiterated, I got them at The Ring Lord

[metalgrannie]

Thanks. I knew about The Ring Lord, but I didn't know they carried rubber rings.

[occisio]

Have you considered using surgical tubing to tip your pliers? I use it on my tools when I need to protect delicate finnishes.

[mrmucox]

I suppose that could work, but I wanted this to be as small as possible, as it can be quite tight to even get the tools in there, esp. working on joining the ends. Tubing might make them too awkward to work with. Thanks for the suggestion.

[john henry]

awesome!!!

[mrmath]

Two questions for you: 1) If you weren't gifting this, but instead selling it, what would you ask for one? I'm curious about that, as it seams you put a ton of work into each one. 2) How comfortable are they to wear, assuming you make it big enough to go around the wrist without squeezing? They seem awfully wide. Thanks.

[mrmucox]

Here are your answers:

1. Let's see, about $10 for the rings, $35/hr labor, $3 shipping, carry the two, ... $120. Actually, I never really thought about it, as I never planned to sell them. I've seen a 3 column on Etsy for $10 - $15, so a 7 would be about $20 - $30?
2. If you make it the proper size, they are very comfortable. The seven I can wear all the time, including to bed. The eleven is just a tad to wide for me, and probably a ring too short, possibly if t had one more row it would be comfortable. The problem I have with them, is I have a job that involved siting at a computer all day, and the rubber rings tend to stick to table and mouse pad making it hard to mouse.
3. As for your third quest... Oh, wait, you didn't have a third question. OK, then, I'll give an anecdote. The black rings, that I ordered at the same time as all the others, leave back marks anywhere they tend to rest, hence the reason I didn't use them in this project. They would have looked awesome with the silver and blue. The other colors do not exhibit the same traits.

[scoochmaroo]

This is one of the most awesome and original things I"ve seen in a long time.
Well done!

[mrmucox]

Thanks! I wish I could take complete credit, but I saw them, I believe, on Etsy, and had to make my own.