If you have any thoughts on the ideal gauge of wire to make such a
chain I'd appreciate it.
First off, if you’re having trouble finding oval nails, you can
always do it the old fashioned way - put two round mandrels
together, either by solder or just clamp them in a vise. Here are a
couple of links about wire dimensions - it’s called the “Aspect
Ratio” - the relationship between wire size and circle diameter -
You’re making me work, Helen
The ratio John is referring to is called the Aspect ratio, or AR. It
is the relationship between the wire thickness and the inner diameter
of the ring. Often it is calculated using the diameter of the mandrel
the wire is wound around, but given the differences among tempers of
sterling silver and among different metals, in- cluding Argentium,
it’s always a good idea to test a short length of it before
committing to make or acquire a large number of rings for a project.
More info on aspect ratio is available at www.urbanmaille.com and www.spiderchain.com. Spider of Spiderchain has made DVD’s and they
are very good. Aislyn’s tutorials from her site are also very good. I
have made plenty of chains from their instructions.
I have soldered only some (less than 50 %) links in my chainmaille
chains.