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Basic European 6 in 1 / Japanese 12 in 2 Chainmail Basket Pattern
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Basic European 6 in 1 / Japanese 12 in 2 Chainmail Basket Pattern
Article © MAIL User: Chainmailbasket_com
Introduction:
The purpose of this article is to provide a ring for ring pattern for a basic basket, and also to provide some information on chainmail baskets. The pattern provided is for one of the most simple chainmail basket styles. This article assumes you know how to construct the Japanese 12 in 2, and European 6 in 1 weaves. Due to the sculptural properties of the basket this article is for, the ring sizes should be as close to exact as possible.
Materials needed:
686 .063" (16 SWG / 1.6mm) 1/4" (6.35mm) stainless steel rings.
-588 are for the basket sides.
-98 are for the horizontal rings on the basket bottom.
-Important: You can use a different material, but there must be enough springback for the rings have an AR of 4.3. Materials with not enough springback will not allow this.
312 .048" (18 SWG / 1.22mm) 5/32" (4mm) stainless steel rings
-these will be the vertical rings on the basket bottom.
12 .063" (16 SWG / 1.6mm) 5/16" (8mm) stainless steel rings.
-for helping to make the basket bottom round instead of hexagonal.
60 .048" (18 SWG / 1.22mm) 3/16" (4.75mm) stainless steel rings.
-12 are for helping to make the basket bottom round instead of hexagonal.
-48 are for connecting the basket sides to the basket bottom.
1070 rings total.
Pattern:
Step 1: First, construct a piece of Japanese 12 in 2 that looks like this:
The vertical rings are all the 5/32" rings. The horizontal rings are all 1/4" rings, except the ones marked in the picture, which are .063" 5/16" and .048" 3/16".
Once this piece is made, the basket bottom is complete.
Step 2: Next, construct a piece of European 6 in 1 that looks like this:
We construct this European 6 in 1 with .063" 1/4" rings. The piece is 84 rings long in the longest row and is 7 rows wide. The rows will now have 84, 82, 80, 78, 76, 74, and 72 rings, and the ends are angled like this:
Step 3: Now we will sew up the ends so that we end up with a continuous strip of European 6 in 1 seven rows wide:
To do this, you simply continue the 6 in 1 weave to fill the gap.
Step 4: Now you will have a completed basket bottom and sides.
Step 5: The next step is to connect the bottom to the sides using the .048" 3/16" rings.
Since the sides are 84 rings long, and the bottom is 24 rings around its perimeter, this means that each bottom ring gets 3.5 side rings (84 / 24 = 3.5). I have decided in this particular situation that the corner (.048" 3/16"), and center (.063" 5/16") rings of the basket bottom each get three rings on the European 6 in 1 side, and that the 1/4" rings each get 4 rings. You may decide to connect the pieces in a different way which is ok.
The blue and red rings in the following diagram are the 3/16", .048 rings that we use to connect the side to the bottom:
The following pictures show the attaching of the basket bottom to the sides.
The basket will start to take shape after awhile:
Step 6: Once step five is finished, you will have a complete chainmail basket:
Optionally, you can add trim to your basket.
Basket Bottom Information
As sakredchao mentioned in his Basic Maille Basketry article, a flat weave that can be made into a circle is best for the basket bottom in most cases. I have found the Japanese 12 in 2 weave to be very beneficial for this application.
The following table displays a little bit of statistical information on using Japanese 12 in 2 for basket bottoms and how many rings you will need:
| Number of rings along... | Ring counts: | ||||
| Side: | Middle: | Perimeter: | Horizontal | Vertical | Total |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | 7*2 = 14 | 10*2 = 20 | 34 |
| 3 | 5 | 12 | 19*2 = 38 | 42*2 = 84 | 126 |
| 4 | 7 | 18 | 37*2 = 74 | 90*2 = 180 | 254 |
| 5 | 9 | 24 | 61*2 = 122 | 156*2 = 312 | 434 |
| 6 | 11 | 30 | 91*2 = 182 | 240*2 = 480 | 662 |
| 7 | 13 | 36 | 127*2 = 254 | 342*2 = 684 | 938 |
| 8 | 15 | 42 | 169*2 = 338 | 462*2 = 924 | 1262 |
Notes about the above table: the * 2 part refers to doubling the Japanese 6 in 1 weave to a 12 in 2 weave.
For example, in the basket pattern presented above, there are 5 rings along each side, so the basket bottom contains 122 vertical, and 312 horizontal rings resulting in a total of 434 rings.
Chainmail Basket Observations:
If an odd number of rings are used along the side of the basket bottom in a Japanese 12 in 2 bottom, it is a little bit easier to make the bottom round by using different ring sizes, such as what was demonstrated in this tutorial.
Doubling all the rings, rather than using Japanese 6 in 1 makes the basket bottom much more stable.
You don't have to use Japanese 12 in 2 for a basket bottom, you can use expanding European 4 in 1 or 6 in 1, or anything else that works.
On a European 6 in 1-, or 8 in 1-sided basket, the more rows you add, the more stable the basket sides become (to a certain point).
Depending on what you're going to be putting in the basket, you might want to make sure the chainmail 'holes' in the basket bottom are not too big.
In Closing:
Chainmail basketry is an art. I hope you found this tutorial useful, and informative.
Have a look at lorraine's first chainmail basket based on this pattern:
Side
Bottom
Original URL: http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=115
