While I don’t really do that much chain mail, being more into knots,
I’ve been playing around with it some more lately. One of the
biggest problems I had with a weave called “Half Persian 4 in 1” was
holding the rings in place while adding new ones. I guess it’s
somewhat my fault, since I like working with small rings, but I came
up with a method that might be useful to others who find it
frustrating when the rings go every which way while your other hand
is too busy to catch them. 
There are several pictures here:
I fabricated it from a strip of brass, but I think it might be
easier to get a piece of brass tubing the size of the rings and cut
away sections to let the other rings go in, as long as provision is
made to get the whole thing back out again once the chain section is
complete.
Loren