European 6 in 1
Japanese 12 in 2
Please note: This article was edited on November 11, 2006. It has come to my attention that a few people could not construct European 6 in 1 out of the 1/4", .063" stainless steel rings manufactured by The Ring Lord chainmail supplier. This has to do with the fact that their rings (which are machine-made) have an ID that is just small enough to make the weave not possible with this wire size. The rings I used for the basket sides have an exact ID of .274", giving them an AAR of approximately 4.3. I handwound the rings out of 1/4 hard 304 stainless steel wire acquired from The Ring Lord.
The purpose of this article is to provide a ring for ring pattern for a basic basket, and also to provide some additional information on chainmail baskets in general. The pattern provided is for one of the most simple chainmail basket styles. This article assumes you know how to construct the Japanese 6 in 1 (12 in 2), and European 6 in 1 weaves, and that you have a good knowledge of connecting different weaves together. Also, some knowledge on spring back (defined below), and its effects on weave densities is a good thing to have too.
Due to the sculptural properties of the basket this article is for, the ring sizes must be as close to exact as possible. I have provided a few suggestions for alternatives where possible, because I realize that not everyone has access to the resources needed to make certain ring sizes.
Spring back: The tendency of wire to uncoil when being wound into coils or springs, thus causing the resulting rings to end up with a slightly larger interior diameter than the size of the mandrel on which the wire is wound.
1070 rings total.
First, construct a piece of doubled Japanese 6 in 1 (Japanese 12 in 2) that looks like this:
The vertical rings are all the 9/64" rings. The horizontal rings are all 1/4" rings, except the ones marked in the picture, which are 5/16", .063"; and 3/16", .045".
Once this piece is made, the basket bottom is complete.
Next, construct a piece of European 6 in 1 that looks like this:
We construct this European 6 in 1 with 1/4", .063" 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:
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.
Now you will have a complete basket bottom and sides.
The next step is to connect the bottom to the sides using the 3/16", .045" rings.
Since the sides are 84 rings long, and the bottom is 24 rings around, this means that each bottom ring gets 3.5 side rings. So we alternate between 3 and 4. I have elected in this particular situation that the corner (3/16", .045"), and center (5/16", .063") rings of the basket bottom each get three rings on the Euro 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", .045" 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:
Once step five is finished, you will have a chainmail basket:
You can add trim to your basket to make it look nicer, or to tighten it up a bit if that is your wish. I added trim to the basket made in this article, it tightens the basket structure a little bit. Pictures can be found here: Basic 6 in 1 Basket (Basket 15).
Generally speaking, 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 doubled Japanese 6 in 1 (Japanese 12 in 2) weave to be most 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 rings: | Vertical rings: | 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 of the basket bottom, therefore it contains 122 vertical, and 312 horizontal rings resulting in a total of 434 rings.
The following table displays some specific ring sizes I have used for Japanese 12 in 2 basket bottoms, and the resulting diameter of the basket bottom: (The bolded entry is the one used in the pattern above).
| Vertical ring size: | Horizontal ring size: | Rings along side: | Resulting diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/32", .032" | 3/16, .036 | 6 | 3.0 inches |
| 9/64", .045" | 1/4", .063" | 5 | 3.375 inches |
| 9/64", .045" | 9/32", .063" | 5 | 3.5 inches |
| 9/64", .057" | 9/32", .057" | 5 | 3.5 inches |
| 9/64", .045" | 5/16", .063" | 5 | 4.0 inches |
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 on the corners, and middle of each side.
Why do we double all the rings in the Japanese 6 in 1 bottom? The reason is because if we don't, the horizontal rings have the tendency to want to slide under each other. Doubling all the rings makes the basket bottom much more stable.
You don't have to use Japanese 6 in 1 for a basket bottom, you can use expanding European 4 in 1 or 6 in 1, or anything else that works. This is something I would later explore further. Please see Advanced Maille Basketry for more information.
On a European 6 in 1-, or 8 in 1-sided basket, the more rows you add, the less flexible the weave becomes (to a certain ponit).
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.
Chainmail basketry is an art. I hope you found this tutorial useful and informative.