If the links are a strong enough gage of wire (18, 20) it should be fine to just close the links. I just completed a bracelet using 18 wire, w/ no soldering and no problems.
Yes but if you were shot with an arrow… wouldn’t you want that
extra strength that soldering offers? I know when I was shot with an
arrow it just barely made it through my chain and poked me, next
time I think I’m going step it up to plate mail!
I asked a similar question some time ago. The advice I chose to
follow is that if the weight of the piece won’t be supported on a
single link at any point, solder isn’t absolutely essential. It’s a
good idea to test-wear the design to figure out where the weak
points are, though. Just be sensible about it and it should be
fine.
I strongly suggest upgrading your market product to silver or higher
value. I’m powerfully aware that the jewelry maille weavers
littering every online auction house are in a cut-throat price
slashing competition that’s devalued the skill to under five dollars
an hour after material cost. You need to have something that
-looks- more valuable than the tired base metal designs that have
been copied unto living death.
I have made many chain maille pieces in sterling silver and gold,
bracelets, neck collars and chain. I have drawn my own conclusion
that in Sterling Silver, the labor of soldering the chain maille
does not justify the saleable value of the goods, so I don’t solder
the sterling pieces (usually they are prototypes anyhow).
But in the case of my 14k gold pieces, I solder them all, every ring.
One neck collar took me six hours to solder. But, for the value of
the work of winding and cutting the rings myself as well as linking
them all to create a truly original design of chain maille, I opted
to solder it. The last thing I would want is a customer who complains
about rings that catch or open up, especially on an expensive piece
of jewelry. I never compromise quality.
truth is every link used to be pined together witha metal rivet, try
that a thousand times and other work will look easy!
Ringman
lol hello there I had to reply to the shot with an arrow
I have only made armor not jewelry chain and the point (no pun
intended) is to let you survive nobody said it wouldn’t hurt lol but
yeah get plate and be extra careful in picking a gorget that protects
the sides of you neck when you move if you are using ‘live’ steel
and ammo.
Leather under collar and plate gorget make good bed fellows.
Teri
America’s Only Cameo Artist
www.cameoartist.com
As a person who doesn't make chain mail, but likes it a whole bunch... I would say SOLDER THOSE RINGS!
Hear, hear! I’m surprised no one has made a bigger deal of the
aesthetic difference between soldered and un-soldered links.
Years ago I bought my “significant other” a sterling byzantine chain
bracelet for our anniversary. She loved the chain but hated that it
would snag some of her clothes or even her hair on a bad day. I
examined the chain closely and the workmanship in it was fine, it’s
just that the links where twisted closed and left that way. She
eventually stopped wearing it much to our mutual disappointment.
A few years later when our finances had improved somewhat I wandered
into a fairly high-endish artisan jewellery shop in Chicago and saw a
very similar bracelet to the now abandoned one. Just out of curiosity
I took a close look at it and was delighted to see that each and
every link had been fused shut. I looked at the price tag and was
rather less delighted since it was many times higher than what I’d
paid for the other bracelet even though the two were virtually
identical. I knew enough about jewellery by then to know that the
price tag reflected the labours involved not the metal it contained.
Nevertheless I left the shop without the bracelet thinking myself a
frugal shopper and, as it happened, I ended up stopping nearby for
dinner.
Of course I couldn’t get that new bracelet out of my head. I loved
that the maker had taken the time to do the job right but, no, best
not to dwell on it too much. When I finished what turned out to be an
unusually satisfying dinner I went for a stroll in the evening rain
and, of course, found myself standing in front of that same shop and
in a window display was that same bracelet. I stood there in the
evening rain thinking about it for a few more minutes before I walked
into the shop and pulled out my wallet.
That was over a decade ago. Since then my SO and I have parted ways
but I know for a fact she still wears that second bracelet. I’m not
sure why but I’ve always found that particular purchase deeply
satisfying and many times I have silently saluted the efforts of the
maker and their willingness to charge accordingly.
Cheers,
Trevor F.
with snow in the geraniums in The City of Light
I am wondering what the convention is for chain mail used in items of jewellery - wether it should be soldered or if its okay to just close the jump rings tightly and leave it at that. I had assumed that the only really correct way was to solder every single link.
Hi,
Generally the question could go either way dependant upon the
thickness of your metal. I personally would solder anything below a
16 guage/1.3 mil- but I really don’t like open links and their lack
of concrete permance. I like to know that my joints are solid
rather than sending them out there into the world and wondering.
Of course, I also like soldering, it is my favourite part of he
process. Though… I made a chainmail necklace last year that took
about 6-7 hours of soldering and I admit I found the 5th- 6th- hour
of soldering little links a bit tedious. It is just very important
to solder half of the links before hand and only solder joining
links after it has been put together- it saves way more time than
you would think.
For soldering the links, try paste solder with the flux already in the paste; makes the job go more quickly. For gold, there is no choice. Soldered only, you do not want any thing to catch on a link and come apart. You can also use a thinner wire when making the links if they will be soldered, thus saving money on the cost of the raw materials.
Just a though – has anyone tried to use chain wire for making chain
mail? This has a solder core and is used in automatic chain making
machines.
I suspect, though, that it would only be available in reels that
would make up a lot of chain mail.
Bill Bedford
has anyone tried to use chain wire for making chain mail? This has a solder core and is used in automatic chain making machines.
It’s available from Rio, but in limited sizes, only 18g, 20g and
22g.
Sojourner
where has this strange French version 'maille' come from? Why not use our own language?
Ian, I’ve wondered this myself - personally, I find “maille” a little
pretentious, but I honestly think that “maille”-makers have adopted
this term to avoid confusion with “chain mail” - that is, chain
letters. If you Google" chain mail," you’ll get as many hits for
annoying chain letters and e-mails as you will actual chain-making or
chain-selling sites. I like “chainmail” myself, or “ring-mail,”
which, alas, is rarely used.
As for riveted links, they are stronger than simple butted joints,
but they can still be popped open with enough force. I’ve seen mail
in museum displays with riveted rings that have been forced open
through various types of stress, especially along the edges of the
mail garments. (Maybe they got sat on and squashed?) It’s quite
possible soldered links would also open up under the same abuse.
Any way you join 'em, though, I doubt that any ring-mail would be of
much use against the “bodkin” arrowheads that were developed to
counter this defense; these were slender, stiletto-like warheads
that were about 4"to 5" long. When fired from a stout bow or
crossbow, these would go right through just about any mail, and at
close range, most plate armor as well.
But, if all you have to fear are friends weilding forks, why not
give riveted mail a try? You can get pre-flattened, pre-punched
rings, complete with rivets, at
[No affiliation, but I’ve plugged 'em before and I’ll probably plug
'em again. Be sure to check out the amazing things they’ve done with
scales and see if it doesn’t give you a jewelry idea or two!]
Have fun!
Jessee Smith
www.silverspotstudio.com
Cincinnati, Ohio
Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, and I apologize for the
outburst. My little enterprise is shaping up to be more of an
expensive hobby than a business, and I’m a bit hypersensitive to
discouragement.
The only trouble I’ve really had with snags or durability issues
seems to be with the one or two pieces I made using 22ga rings,
which just don’t seem to have the necessary strength at that ring
size. As the 22ga rings leave me aesthetically cold in any case,
that shouldn’t be an issue. In the spring I hope to build a small
tumbler so that my work can be properly burnished and work hardened
rather than given a shake in a jar of BB’s and soapy water. I’m
hoping that will resolve any residual snag issues. -If- I ever get
so far as working with gold and platinum, I’ll be certain to put in
the extra effort of soldering once I can command a fair price
without turning off customers.
Hi Michael,
In the spring I hope to build a small tumbler so that my work can be properly burnished and work hardened rather than given a shake in a jar of BB's and soapy water.
Building your own equipment can be fun & instructive. However
sometimes the cost of a home-brew tool exceeds the cost of a
commercially available unit.
When it comes to tumblers for chain, one of the least expensive
places to get a vibratory tumbler is a shooting sports store. The
folks who reload their own ammo use them for polishing the brass
before reloading.
Dave
Continue from:
I am wondering what the convention is for chain mail used in items of jewellery - wether it should be soldered or if its okay to just close the jump rings tightly and leave it at that.
If closed properly the rings tension holds them in place no need for
solder
America’s Only Cameo Artist
www.cameoartist.com
Hi,
I am wondering what the convention is for chain mail used in items of jewellery - whether it should be soldered or if its okay to just close the jump rings tightly and leave it at that.
Generally, items made in a ‘chain maille (4 in 1) pattern’ don’t
need to be soldered. This is especially true if the piece is about
4 rows wide or wider… Any force exerted on the piece is spread out
over all the links & it’s effect on any one link is reduced. A
lot also depends on the gauge & temper of the wire the links are
made from. If the wire is of a half or full hard temper & 24 gauge
or heavier, soldering is probably not needed; assuming all the links
are closed flush & tight. However if you want a really ‘quality’
piece go for soldered links.
Dave
Hi Loren,
I’m still rather new here. I just finished my first barrel link Chainmaille bracelet out of 18 ga copper wire and out of curiosity searched “to solder or not to solder”. Although this post is old, I just wanted to say how much I love your guarantee! As much as the OCD in me would love to solder every single link of every chain, it would be extremely time consuming especially for a beginner like myself without special soldering tools such as a jewelry welder. I think your suggestion to offer not soldered at a lower price and soldered at a much higher price is a great way to go. Some people will be happy to pay the lower price.
Anyway, I realize you were answering someone else but you also answered my same question so thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on the subject.
Cheers,
Tammy 
FWIW, if you are not going to solder the links you should make them from something less likely to deform or open than copper. No matter how much you try to work harden it copper remains pretty soft, so unsoldered copper links will readily deform.
You can buy polished, spring-tempered bronze wire from McMaster-Carr for only a bit more than copper. BTW, 18ga is 0.40"
You can get copper to about 3/4 hard using a toaster oven @ 500 F for about half an hour. (I got this from an old Rio catalogue) This also works with silver. I coated my stuff with an alcohol - boric acid barrier; unless I was looking for oxide colouring. Age hardening is a standard industrial technique and you can find the appropriate times and temperatures for most metals with a bit of research.
Umm… no, I don’t think so. Pure copper, as well as pure sìlver, pure gold, etc., do not age harden. Age hardening requires a second metal, such as the copper in sterling, to migrate to, and recrystallize at, the crystal boundaries instead of being mixed with the silver. This drastically reduces the amount of deformation, such as stretching, that those boundaries can do, accounting for the increased hardness. In pure metals, there is no second metal to separate out of solution and migrate to and reçrystallize at the crystal boundaries. Now, there may be industrial copper alloys that have such additional metals, making age hardening possible. But they would normally be sold with some indication of that alloy.
Now, pure metals CAN be heat treated to get some hardening, be heatìng hot enough to get the primary metal to stàrt to recrystallize with crystals growing in size. This requires a hotter temperature than normal annealing, which only is hot enough to get the strains from work hardening to recrystallize into smaller crystals. This is quite above the temperature a toaster oven can reach, at least with silver. And generally, the increase in hardness is slight. And if the metal started out with work hardening, that would be lost at the temps needed to grow crystal size, so the end result would be metal only slightly harder than fully annealed, and with the loss in strength that the larger grain size would cause…
Peter Rowe
Peter…Thanks for always adding the why to the how. If you can recommend a metallurgy for metalsmiths reference that I can read and try to understand it would be appreciated…Rob
I was at a show this weekend and there was an artist there with copper chainmaille bracelets. I asked her if they were soldered and she said heavens no, they would be very difficult to do and, as a result, very expensive. Made me wonder if anyone solders them with a pulse arc welder…Rob