Making a Byzantine Chain

Byzantine Chain

Materials:

• Wire 4'. 6" ~ 132cm 20 gauge 2.5mm ID (Inner Diameter)
  24 rings per 2cm (204 rings)
• Wire 3' 9" ~ 114cm 18 gauge 4.0mm ID (Inner Diameter)
  14 rings per 2cm (120 rings)
• Clasp
  

  Tools

  Chain nose pliers
  Flat nose pliers or Bent nose pliers
  Wire tie, or any lace
  Jewelers saw, or Flush cutters

Instructions:

You can make your own coils for jump rings using Bail making pliers.

Bail Making Pliers

Linked Rings 2-2-2 Chain 

Flipping the silver rings to the chain sides

1. Open widely the jump rings to be easy to link them
2.  Place a wire tie or a lace through two closed rings and twist the ends of the closed wire
3. Link an open ring through the two closed rings and close the ring. Link a second ring through the same path and close the ring
4. Link 2 more open rings to the chain and close them forming a 2-2-2 chain
5. Grasp the chain, and the wire tie in your non dominant hand and flip the two top rings (silver rings) to the sides of the chain facing down
6. Lift your fingertips away and pin the (silver rings) with your thumb and turn them to the outside of the chain, and push the flipped rings (silver rings) up a little to position against the sides 
7. Split the two top rings and insert and open ring between the top two rings and through both rings (silver rings) beneath them, then close the ring
8. Insert another open ring to the the same path beneath them (silver rings) and close the ring
   

   

   Splitting the two top rings

Inserting a Ring-beneath the silver rings to lock the pattern

Locking the pattern

 

Byzantine Chain Maille pattern

Repeating pattern to form 2-2-2 chain again

Byzantine Chain Maille

Which pliers should I use for Chain Maille jewelry?

Bail making pliers

Bail Making Pliers

Making wire coils of small or big inner diameters for jump rings for Chain Maille jewelry are very easy to form by wrapping wire around the jaws. These pliers are composed of two long cylindrical jaws with different diameters on each jaw of the pliers which allow you to form Jump Rings coils of 25 mm to 38 mm length in multiple sizes.

These bail making pliers has jaws sizes:

•  1.50 mm & 2.50 mm

•  4.00 mm & 6.00 mm 

• 7.00 mm & 9.00 mm

Opening and closing jump rings 

 Is one of the most basic and common techniques used in Chain Maille making.

• Flat nose pliers are used for thicker wire ( e.g. gauge 16 - 1. 32 mm, or gauge 14 -  1. 63 mm).
• Chain nose pliers are used for thinner wire (e.g. gauge 21 - 0.71 mm, or gauge 22 - 0.64 mm).

For better leverage to open or close jump rings it is better to use two pairs of pliers of the same type, or you can combine them, using the Flat nose pliers in your left hand and the Chain nose pliers in your right hand.

**Note: always pull the rings towards your body to open them, never pull them apart from side to side because they will get out of round shape, and to close them in the opposite way you will hear a clicking sound when you reach the ring ends.

Opening Jump Rings