Tony's Chain/Scale Maille Class News

[Mandaris]

well folk another class has come and gone and we even got to meet some new people! the pendants came out great and we ended up having some extra parts. afterwards we went over box weave, tool care, closures, and shortcuts. in all i think it went very well and im quite stoked about it.

COMING SOON:
Basics: my next beginner’s class on 08FEB19 in the CONFERENCE ROOM will cover basics from definition of common terms on up through proper techniques and tool selection and maintenance.
Flowers: for my next project class if i can finish it in time i intend to teach scale flowers and show off my beauty and the beast rose if not i have a request for a modified helm chain pendant that ill have to do a bit of research on

potential classes that require outside participation and interest checks
looking further into the future we are a few steps closer to our copper patina class, and i am looking into cheap kits for a few more classes from professional artisans around the country that they will be able to walk you through

[Sarah_Hustwit]

I’m looking forward to class tomorrow! Is there anything special I should bring?

[Mandaris]

I’m doing flowers tonight and you don’t need to bring anything if you want though you can bring any project you are currently working on and/or might want help with after that you could bring scales and rings if you have them (the parts list is somewhere on the thread)

[Mandaris]

So tonight we worked on flowers (TheRingLord.com sells a nice tutorial on double and triple layer flowers and i highly recommend it) then a little HP 4-1, E 4-1, scalemaille, and straps. so lots of ground covered and everyone walked away with some swell souvenirs and ideas.

my next class will be on 08MAR19 and will be a basics class covering european 4 in 1 (E 4-1) both sheet and ribbon and if we have extra time ill teach a few other weaves and a capture.

as always if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

[Mandaris]

we had a swell class and actually managed to make a LOT of progress. first we tackled E4-1 sheet, then E4-1 ribbon, and finally HP3-1 that turned our E4-1 ribbon into a weave called Alligator back. I had a very swell time and after the class i even got to stick around and nerd out for an hour or so with random folk.

oh yea and BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! we finally polished off our second big bulk bag of rings and the new one has arrived. for those of you that are curious that means that in the last two years my classes have used ~18,000 rings!!! (or ~6lbs of aluminium or ~1,500 inches of wire assuming i did the math right)

[Mandaris]

found a cool thing here thought id share

[Mandaris]

so tonight’s project to work on was requested by Linda Dallas. (a weave called Viperscale hopefully pictured below) and had a swell time figuring it out and making seed pieces. For the kit and tutorial that Ms. Dallas purchased you may find it on Joshua Dilliberto’s website. For the next project class we have a request for Vertebrae (hopefuly also pictured below and also available from joshua as a kit and or tutorial) if no one has a project they need help with and we will be doing it at a remote location on the 26th of April. the next class will be the beginners class at the makerspace at our normal time in our normal place on the 12th of April. In that class we will be covering a weave called Bee Stings.

Now i was asked to provide a parts list for the three weaves i was just talking about so im gonna put that right here before i forget:

Viperscale
will work with any single ring size with an Aspect Ratio(AR) of ~5.5-6.
For our class tonight we used some rings i happened to have on hand from The Ring Lord(TRL) they were 16swg 3/8" saw cut Annodized Aluminum(AA) rings with an AR of 6.3

Vertebrae
Three different sized rings, AR 6.2 for the large ring, and AR 4 for the nested ring and AR 4 for the small ring. (although with the finger ring sizes listed it’s more like AR 6, 4, and 3, so some wiggle room on either side is ok and its better to go slightly high than too low).
Finger fing: 20g 3/16", 20g 1/8", 20g 3/32"
Bracelet: 18g 9/32", 18g 3/16", 20g 1/8"

Bee Stings
theres no need to buy any parts or tools for this as rings will be provided as part of the beginer’s class. With that said however the rings i supply will be 16swg 5/16" machine cut Bright Aluminium(BA) from TRL with an AR of 5.2

as always if there are any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to mention them here or you can PM me.

Viperscale (made prior to the class with the same rings available in class)

Vertebrae (i traded for this one some years back in VA at a convention for a rather bulky galvanized steel bracelet so i dont remember the ring data for it)

[sayjoanna]

Thanks for the list! Very helpful.

[Mandaris]

No problem! Thanks for your interest and please let me know if you have any further questions big or small XD

[Mandaris]

Another class has come and gone and a swell time was had by all we covered bee stings as planned then shifted to E4-1 sheet and ribbon, HP3-1 (as a component of Alligator Back), and gave a brief run down of scale. saw a couple new faces which im super excited about.

the next class will be the project based class that will be happening at my house on the 26th (see class listing for address) per request and the parts list listed above we will be covering project based questions and then the vertebrae weave

future classes
May 3rd will be the next beginners class and we will be covering box weave
May 24th project class hopefully at my place again but we will see how this upcoming class goes the back up topic has not yet been decided for this class but im leaning toward Helm weaves but we will see how it goes and ill of course post more info as i figure it out.

[Mandaris]

!!!-UPDATE-!!!
i have just been informed that im a bit of a dummy and listed the two project based classes (april 26th and may 24th) that will be happening at my place incorrectly. as a result the listings are being deleted and i will have to resubmit them. practically speaking this means if you have already signed up for one or both you will need to sign up again once the new listing is up. sorry for the inconvenience.

[jordang]

Question: for an absolute beginner who wants to come prepared to class, what type of metal/wire do you recommend purchasing for the class this Friday?

[Mandaris]

well good news/bad news

Good news: the bar for preparedness is set rather low. all you need to bring is yourself everything else will be provided. there is a recommended donation of $2 for consumables however this is entirely voluntary
with that said if you are wanting to purchase your own supplies/materials the rings i use in my beginner’s classes is 18SWG 5/16" machine cut bright aluminium rings from theringlord.com.
if you are asking about turning your own rings any size with an aspect ratio of around 5 will work best. (AR=inner diameter of the ring devided by the wire diameter)

Bad news: because of a scheduling mixup i am going to have to cancel the class on the 3rd as i will be out of the country for a week. ill be sending an email to everyone that signed up to make sure they know but unfortunately the next beginner’s class will not be until june however if you have a specific project in mind or just wanna come pick the brains of folk please feel free to drop by the off site class on the 24th.

Welcome to DMS!

[Mandaris]

UPDATE!!!

unfortunately due to scheduling shenanigans i am going to have to cancel the class on the 3rd. keep practicing, hit up mailleartisans.org and check out the free tutorials, and ill see everyone on the 24th for the project class as scheduled. my apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Mandaris]

CLASS NEWS:

so the next class is going to be a beginner’s class on friday 14JUN19 at 8pm in the interactive classroom and ill be covering as much material as i can get though. the reason for this is that in the coming months ive got a lot of things happening so unfortunately wont have the free time i need to present a properly prepared class. accordingly this will be the last class i teach for a while but i will still be available through this thread or facebook to answer questions, give suggestions, or just chat about chainmaille. i will continue to post here pics of things i might happen to work on and when i can once again start classes this thread and the events callendar will be the first places that news will appear. id like to thank you all for attending my classes over the last 2ish years and i look forward to returning with new things to teach.

Additionally someone misplaced a pink handled set of pliers at my place after the last project class. just wanted to say they are safe and ill be bringing them to my next class against the hope that the owner will claim them. if not i will be leaving them with the jewelry dept’s tools.

[Mandaris]

First off as requested here is a vid for how to easily start Half Persian four in one (HP 4-1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL4t81YwGLM

now lets get down to the update we had a swell class last night

• We covered a LOT of ground: sources, definitions, basics, box weave (both flip and stitch methods), European four in one (E 4-1) both ribbon and sheet, bee stings, and finally HP 4-1

• Got to meet some new folk that already had some project ideas! im super excited to have so many folk interested in my hobby and look forward to what the group could become. i was even stopped on my way out so someone could tell me how swell they thought my class was. (head slowly inflates XD)

• figured out the path forward for the class so this is a good news for everyone and kinda bad news for me a little but i want to let everyone know whats going on: as previously mentioned i am not going to have much free time in the coming months and will not be able to devote the time i normally put in practicing weaves, learning new methods, and learning new weaves to teach. rather than stress out and degrade the quality of my class i have decided to take a bit of a break. now i will still try to teach and attend the classes as much as i can but i expect a full return not to happen until the beginning of next year. but wait didnt i just say that there will still be classes to attend? Linda Dallas, Rose Smith, and John K. have decided they would like to continue the class in my absence. (XD very very excited about that as it means that our local mailling community really is growing) i will still be available through this thread and facebook for questions and advice and i will be assisting them however i can. it is my sincere hope that you all will attend the new classes if only for the differing perspectives. as always there is no wrong way to go about making chainmaille just ways that work and ways that educate. see ya when i see ya and in the mean time have all my fun for me XD

[Sarah_Hustwit]

We had a fun and challenging class last night! Thanks to everyone who came out! We’ll get the info posted shortly.

Thanks @Lindajdallas for taking the lead this week

I turned what was supposed to be a bracelet into a necklace, and I love it!

[Lindajdallas]

Thanks everyone for coming. This was a fun class. Multiple teaches rock! John, Sarah and Rose made this a magnificent class. From the feedback, this went well. Based on the time feedback, we will continue the class on Friday ,
but move it back to 7:30. Class limit will still be 10. Pliers were a challenge. Makerspace didn’t have enough for everyone, so we made do with makerspace pliers.

I wish I would have taken photos of everyone’s bracelets. They all came out lovely.

And Sarah, your necklace is awesome!!!

[friendswithdogs]

It was such a fun class! Here’s how my bracelet turned out.

If we want to purchase our own set of pliers, what kinds do you suggest and where should we get them? I’m looking forward to learning more.

(I wasn’t the only one who liked it. Here’s my cat making it difficult to get a good picture in:

)

[Lindajdallas]

Your bracelet is awesome…and love the cat.

The xurons will make it easier. I copied what Tony recommends and what I hat last night:

Recomended Tools (~$15/ea + S&H):

Xuron Short Flat Nose Pliers KX483 - this is a short nose pair of pliers with a square tip its small enough to work on small rings or in tight spaces but wide enough to work with larger rings in a wide variety of gauges from 14-24 SWG comfortably over all this
is a versatile tool well suited for the largest range of applications whats more Xuron has a stupendous customer service record and a history of modifications based on customer input

Xuron Bent Nose Pliers KX486 - this pair also has short jaws but these have a 90 degree bend i have become very fond of i have used the same pair for 4-5 years and they are still serving me well these should work on everything from 14-24 SWG again in a large
range of sizes and is possibly the second most versatile tool i have behind the short nose pliers listed above