Making Chain

The fabrication of chain is a labor of love - very tedious but very rewarding. The following photos show some of the steps involved in handmade loop-in-loop chain. This is a two-way single pattern alternating 24 karat yellow gold in one direction and fine silver (99% pure silver) in the other.

The two-way-single pattern means that the rings are woven intwo different directions (two-way) and each ring is added to just one of the previous ones. In contrast, in a two-way double pattern each ring is passed through the previous two rings - resulting in a denser pattern with a larger diameter. In multi-directional patterns, the weaving is done in more than one direction.

It all starts with wire. Wire is formed into rings by making a spiral on a wooden dowel or metal rod (mandrel). The spiral is cut along one side, releasing many open rings. The rings are then manually closed with pliers or fingers, then the joint on each ring is fused shut. The result is many individual round rings or loops. Loop-in-loop chain is easiest to fabricate using pure silver or gold, both of which allow easy and clean fusing so that the original seam is not detectable.

	To make a 2-way-single loop-in-loop chain, the next step is to form each ring into oblong links, with one end slightly open. The rings will be "knitted" together by inserting the narrow end of one into the open end of another.
The following photos show how the gold and silver rings were knitted together. Each ring started out squished, then once inserted into the chain the ring is opened up using a scribe (the pointy tool) to accommodate the next ring.

The chain is not done until it is stretched and compressed to its final shape. Because the wire has been worked by bending and opening, it is necessary to anneal the chain by heating it to a dull glow before the final shaping process or the rings might break. The following photos show the chain after annealing but before completion - note the loosely woven links in a squarish outside chain circumference. To compress the chain it is either hammered with a rawhide mallet or drawn through successively smaller holes in a wooden board (a draw plate). The chain in these images will lengthen by about 30% after the final shaping process.

This is the final chain with a clasp attached. Note that the chain circumference has become more rounded and the links are compressed and elongated.