Chain
Mail Instructions
|
Some of the basic supplies you're
gonna need:
about a half mile of wire
a rod to wind the wire
around
needle nose and slide-lock plyers
thick work gloves
vice grips
wire cutters |
|
Once you have the supplies, take
the wire and clamp it to the rod with the vice grips. Once secured,
wind the wire around the rod, guiding the wire along with your gloved
hand. Once you get a nice coil, cut the end and remove the
spring-like coil from the rod. |
|
Starting from one end of the coil,
begin clipping off links. Make sure that the cuts are as close to
one another as possible, this will eliminate the gaps you will need to
close and cause a deformed link. |
|
To start the chain, you'll need to
decide on what kind of pattern you wish to make. The most basic is
the 4x1, though there are others such as the 6x1 and 8x1 as well.
These all are based on the same technique. |
|
With the 4-to-1 pattern, attach 4
links onto one link. |
|
Attach 3 more links, first looping
the center link through the top most links already attached. Close
the link and you should have a 3-2-3 chain started. Notice that the
links on each row lay the same way. |
|
Continue with the pattern until you
have a length of chain that will loosly surround the widest area you
wish to cover. Once you have a complete chain constructed, you are
ready to expand width wise. To do this attach two links from the
main chain and add two links to to open chain. |
|
To expand you attach an open link
to two links on the constructed side and one on the row you're
working on, then add one link to the other side. |
