Soldering a Byzantine chain

Jewelry Discussion
1

I tried soldering a Byzantine chain and it drove me nuts. Links
stuck to links, or acted as heat sinks so the solder wouldn’t melt,
etc. The chain looked so bad I wouldn’t even give it away.

Do jewelers (as opposed to hobbyists) solder the links of a
Byzantine chain? The chains I’ve seen on the 'Net and at craft fairs
are not soldered.

Janet

2

Assuming the aspect ratio is well-considered, there should be no
need to solder a Byz chain. The whole point of chain maille (or
mail) is that no single jump ring takes the stress of the item, so
no solder is required. I have made Byzantines in many gauges and
sizes, all unsoldered, and have never had a single complaint about
the chain quality.

HTH

3

hand made byzantine chains are not usually soldered. The chain is
Adequately strong so that it will not come apart under normal wear.

howard siegel
laptique, ltd.

4

If the a chain made in the byzantine pattern is made from
appropriately sized & tempered round wire & links it doesn’t need
soldering to maintain it’s integrity. If the links are made from
twisted wire or some shape other than round, soldering will go along
way to reduce any sharp edges & prevent the links from opening.

Dave

5

Hi Ron,

Wow ! Don't ever burnish a byzantine chain !

Perhaps the poster meant ‘tumbling in steel shot’, which after all,
is another form of burnishing.

Dave

6 
Don't ever burnish a byzantine chain

If you’re referring to tumble-burnishing chains with stainless steel
media, I tumble sterling and gold-filled chains all the time and
I’ve never had a problem! I have a Raytech vibratory tumbler, mixed
stainless shot and I just add a squirt of blue Dawn and let it go.
The chains always come out super shiny and I’ve never had any
problems with tangling or binding.

Karen Tremblay
KaeLynn Jewelry Design
Timmins, ON
www.KaeLynnDesign.com