Can anybody recommend a good source of about making
chain mail? I’ve got a hankering to give it a try in silver or
gold. Thanks . -BK in AK
BK, I’ve recently become acquainted with a very enthusiastic group of
chain-maillers on The Ring Lord, a website that is maintained by a
group that also supplies rings of all sizes and materials. Here’s
their URL:
Click on “Discussion” to find folks who’ll be glad to help you out.
The reason I started hanging out there is that I found out they were
discussing my knotted chain and trying to decide if it could be
called “maille” or not, so I had to go straighten them out,
naturally. Turns out they’re a nice bunch, and they made me feel
pretty welcome. 
Loren
Dear BK, There are some wonderful resources for Chain Maille online.
Please use Google to search. Just one site will very generously give
many others for your perusal.
I have joined a list just to get unusual patterns for Chain Designs.
This is one address from my bookmarks
http://baronessbetha.tripod.com/wireweaving.htm
Many Chain Maille artists are in the Society for Anachronism, don’t
let that scare you off.
Good Luck
Teresa
Yup, How To Make Armor - Introduction by Arador
The base website is http://www.arador.com/
I know the Society of Creative Anacronism (SCA) days would pay off
grin.
David
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Check out Great Wire Jewelry: Projects & Techniques by Irene
Peterson. This book shows you how to make your own jump rings and
many chainmail patterns. It is great.
Brian Shafer
Can anybody recommend a good source of about making chain mail? I've got a hankering to give it a try in silver or gold. Thanks . -BK in AK
Where you at in AK? I’m in Ketchikan. There are bunches of sites
online (should have bookmarked them) that I came across researching
Viking info.
Chris
Oppi Untracht’s seminal Jewelry: Concepts and Technology does have
a section on chains and chainmail…also, there are numerous websites
giving a couple of approaches, scattered across the web (use any
search engine)
naturally, practice in the less expensive metals, especially at
first…
you can always contact me offlist if you have any further questions
(i make miniature chainmail–my rings are now 1.2mm in diameter–in
silver and copper)
Erhard
Hello BK in AK Take a look at this site
http://www.jeffdeboer.com/home.html . He is a local artist here in
Calgary and has made a name for himself in creating armor and chain
mail for cats and mice. Also chain mail ties and clothing. Very
creative.
Karen Bahr “the Rocklady” (@Rocklady)
K.I.S. Creations
May your gems always sparkle.
Hi Brent! Before you give it a try in silver or gold, you should try
it in a less expensive metal, like galvanized steel or aluminum…
After you get the hang of it, go ahead with silver and gold… Here
are a few good links:
http://www.chainmailconnection.com/
http://www.dcwireworks.com/
The second link is my personal favorite. Charles Decordene is very
helpful when you need additional about the subject, but
the site is quite complete, so you might not need to write him…
unless you have a new chain mail pattern to suggest 
… Hope this
helps!
Benoit Hamel
Brent, we live in AK also (sitka) and make silver chain mail. a good
site to check out is www.mailartisans.org. there are good
instructions on many different weaves. i would recommend practicing
with steel, as it can take a while to get the pattens down. if
you’re really into it and want to use silver or gold, get a jump
ring maker with various sized mandrels and an electric soldering
machine ( i like the Hot Spot from rio grande) it can be done without
soldering the rings, but unsoldered it’s not very durable. if you do
choose to use unsoldered silver, get the 1/2 hard wire from rio
grande and use at least 18 gauge. making chain mail is time
consuming but when you get the pattern it becomes very meditative,
and the possibilities for design are limitless. good luck. i will be
happy to answer any more questions you might have. By the way, where
in AK do you live? doug and sarah eclypso designs sitka AK
BK, Websites galore exist on the subject of chain mail and chain mail
making. Just go to GOOGLE and type in “chain mail”. Jerry in Kodiak
Hello BK., Here are some links to chainmaille discussion forums and
maille weave instruction pages to get you started:
www.chainmailleboard.com www.mailleartisans.org
www.dcwireworks.com/howto/howto.html
www.cs.hmc.edu/~cweisige/inst.html www.theringlord.com
Much of my work combines sterling silver or gold maille with
gemstones and fabricated elements. If you wish to buy rather than
make your own gold or sterling jump rings for weaving maille, I
recommend Spider of Spiderchain Jewelry. Her silver and gold jump
rings are perfectly round, saw-cut flush, polished, and she provides
excellent customer service. She has sterling silver and gold fill
jump rings in stock. You will need to custom order 14k rings. I
believe that Spider is an Orchid member:
www.spiderchain.com/rings/index.shtml
Anne M. Kelly
@Anne_M_Kelly
There are numberous web sites featuring chain maile such as .
http://www.theringlord.com/ or for something really different
http://inlays.maileofthedreamseeker.com/
http://www.chainmailconnection.com/ if you google it you will be
surprised at the number of hits you get.
In addition, a book called Great Wire Jewelry has some good basic
instructions.
Hi Brent, These are the two most informative sites I have found on
the web, both have extensive explanations and an exhaustive link page
that will give one more than any singularly obsessed person could
want/need to know about maille making. Good Luck !
http://www.spiderchain.com/index.shtml
http://www.angelfire.com/on3/chainman/
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Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modeling & Goldsmithing
http://www.aztec-net.com/~jdemand
This is a wonderful site for making chain maille.
http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/index.cgi
–Terri