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The roundmaille weave can be considered to be an extension of the box chain weave. It is essentially a strip of European 4 in 1 three rows wide connected to itself on the edges. The roundmaille chain tends to be quite heavy and thick, although with smaller ring sizes it can be very delicate. The weave works well in any ring combination that works for European 4 in 1, although it tends to look better with fairly dense ring sizes. Two good combinations are 3/16" ID 18 gauge wire, and 1/4" ID 16 gauge wire.

As roundmaille is an extension of box chain, there is an extension of the byzantine chain called Turkish Roundmaille. This variant can be made by repeating the fourth step in this weave; the extra rings will act as spacers and create the reversal effect that is shown in the byzantine weave.

Step 1: Create a chain with three sets of two links connected by two single links, as shown.

step1

Step 2: Turn the chain into a loop by adding one more ring.

step2

Step 3: Add a ring passing through one of the inner rings on each of two of the pairs. Add two more rings around the circle.

step3

Step 4: Three more rings, to connect to the rings you added in the previous step. Notice that they go on the inside of the chain, not the outside. In essence, you are locking in a set of folded back rings, like in the box chain. If you wish to make Turkish Roundmaille, add three more rings to the three rings added in this step.

step4

Step 5: And once again, go around the chain with three more rings.

step5

That's about it. Repeat steps four and five to lengthen the chain. If you feel like trying speedweaving this weave, the rings in step four can be added as closed rings instead of open rings, but notice that two closed rings will go with the first open ring. The second open ring adds one closed ring and passes through one of the closed rings already added. The third adds no closed rings.


Finished Roundmaille chain:
step6
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All items on this site are copyright 2002 Chris Weisiger (a.k.a. Derakon). That's right - I made everything on this site. Reproduction of any of my work in whole or in part requires my express consent.