How to Make a Chainmail Loom
Chainmail is the art of weaving metal rings together to make items such as shirts, sleeves and jewelry. Beginning chainmaillers often complain that the hardest part of learning to chainmail is holding the rings while they weave them together. A simple work-around for this issue is to use a chainmail loom. The loom holds the rings in place while you weave them together. The loom allows chainmaillers to pay more attention to the technique of weaving instead of keeping the rings from falling between their fingers.
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Things You'll Need
- 4-by-4 to 9-by-9-inch block of plywood
- Thin 2-inch wood finishing nails
- Hammer
- Pencil
- Ruler
Instructions
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1
Place the ruler flush against the edge of the plywood lengthwise. With the pencil resting next to the edge of the ruler, draw a line down the plywood. Place the farthest edge of the ruler against the line and draw another line lengthwise on the plywood. Repeat the process until you reach the other side of the block.
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2
Turn the plywood block 90 degrees so the lines drawn from Step 1 are horizontal. Repeat the process from Step 1. Once you've drawn all the lines, the plywood block should have a grid of 1-inch blocks covering it.
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3
Insert nails where the lines intersect. Tap the nails into the plywood block at each intersecting line. Leave between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of the nail above the surface of the block.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Use a pencil, not a pen. If the lines are crooked or slanted, you can erase the lines and redraw it.
Do not use too large a wood nail. Thicker nails will overlap the squares and throw off the 1-inch squares.
