European Chainmail 4-in-1

by aenewcomb

1.5K236

Intro: European Chainmail 4-in-1

European 4-in-1 chainmail is the most common and one of the easiest weaves to learn. This tutorial will be going over how to make this weave in a fast and efficient way that will help save plenty of time in the long run. To start gather your jump rings. You only need one size for this weave so use whatever size your comfortable with!

STEP 1: Open and Close the Jump Rings

If you look at your jump rings you'll notice they are not fully closed or fully open. So before you start, open and close a bunch of the jump rings. At first you will need more closed rings then open rings but once you get the weave started the ratio will mostly be 1 to 1.

STEP 2: Starting

Take one open ring and add 4 closed rings. Close the open ring. The ring that was open will be the center ring. Spread the outside rings so there's two on each side of the center ring. Lay them so one is overlapping the other like shown in the picture.

STEP 3: Adding On

Take another open ring and slide it through two of the rings on one side of the weave as shown above.

STEP 4: Bottom Row Done

Place two more rings on the now open ring and close that ring. Right now it should look more like a chain but make sure to keep the rings in the right direction. Every other row should be going in the same direction.

STEP 5: Adding to the Top

Take an open ring and slide it through the upper left two rings in rows 1 and 3. The new open ring should be facing the first ring with the first ring overlapping the new one.

STEP 6: Make Sure to Lay Flat

Add two rings to the open ring and close it. Lay the two new rings so one is on each side of the previously open ring. The new rings should be overlapping the rings underneath.

STEP 7: Finishing the Block

Add another open ring like you did before but on the upper right hand side. Only this time the ring will go through three rings because of the previous step.

STEP 8: Finished?

Add one closed ring to the open ring and close the open ring. You now have a small bit of the weave completed!To continue onto this one just follow the previous steps as needed. Make the finished weave as big or as small as needed. This weave can be used to make bracelets, necklaces, gloves, and even shirts!!! Experiment with different sized rings and gauges for whatever project you decide to make.

6 Comments

PlaidPete 7 years ago

There are already ibles on this.

MakerIan 7 years ago

I've made chain before and I am not sure the links you show are strong enough at shirt size to not pull themselves open when walking around.

The actual armor was riveted.

This type of cut on the links >< can allow them to slip past each other as well. when I made my links I used a dremel cut off wheel. When I bought links I went with Stainless steel jump rings with a flat butting cut.

I havent bought anything from these guys in 15 years so I don't know if the pricing is competitive but I bought from these guys.

http://www.roscoinc.com/fishing-tackle/product-det...

aenewcomb 7 years ago

The rings shown in this tutorial are 1/4" 18ga galvanized steel. They're actually pretty small and I've made a wearable piece with bigger sized rings then this and its held. I usually make my own rings since a spool is about $4 and I get a decent amount of rings from that.

MakerIan 7 years ago

I forgot to add the parts with, Nice work and its good to see people still interested in crafts like this.

I have seen some amazing jewelry using mail techniques with different wire, like titanium which you can oxidize to beautiful rainbows.

tomatoskins 7 years ago

Very nice! What have you made with this technique?