DIY chain. Weaving chains

Viking knit is an ancient way of weaving a chain that does not require soldering of the links. The chain in this technique is woven from a long piece of wire, which is extended as needed.

The name can be translated into Russian roughly as “Viking knots” or “Viking weaving”. The technique received this name due to the fact that the first decoration of this type was found in a Viking burial. But then there were other, more ancient finds, and now it is believed that the technique originally came from the city of Trichipoli in India. I use this chain for antique style jewelry.

In order to weave a chain with your own hands, you need to stock up on:

thin wire (I use copper)
pencil
scissors
ruler

Weaving a chain with your own hands

First we need to prepare a base on which the very beginning of weaving will lie. To do this, cut a piece of wire about 40 cm and wrap it around the ruler 6 times.

Remove from the ruler, fix the loops by wrapping the free end of the wire around them.

Open the loops into a flower pattern, carefully so as not to wrinkle them.

We bend this “flower” around the pencil. We cut another piece of wire, about 70 cm long, and begin weaving. Leave a small free end and make a loop around one of the “petals”.

We make a second loop, stepping back one “petal” to the right. In the same way, we continue from top to bottom.

We make 4 more loops, and return again to the first “petal”. Now we need to move to the next row, for this we make the next loop, catching on the first loop of the previous row.

We continue to “loop”, each time clinging to the loops in the previous row, until a tip about 10–12 cm long remains.

Now you need to extend the end of the wire so that you can weave further. We cut off another piece and place it under one of the vertical rows of loops.

When we reach this place by weaving, we grab the new wire along with the loop of the previous row, this way it will be fixed. We walk another circle and again get to the place where the new wire sticks out. The most crucial moment: the new wire must be brought up to the left of the loop, and the old wire must be hooked to the right of the loop and taken down.

Take a close look at the photo, it's not that complicated. This is what it looks like when tightened.

In the next few circles we grab the old wire together with the loop of the previous row to fix it, and then cut it off.

Thus we continue weaving. When it seems enough, remove it from the pencil.

And now - focus! Gently, grasping the ends with your fingers, stretch the weave, and it is transformed.

To calculate the length of the finished chain, you just need to remember that it stretches approximately twice.
That's all, the chain is ready. You can detach it from the auxiliary loops and use it at your discretion.

Gold chains are beautiful jewelry, which is suitable not only for women, but also for men. Learning how to make a gold chain with your own hands is great idea for a craftsman who makes jewelry. A gold chain is a luxurious piece of jewelry that attracts the attention of people around you, and for a jeweler, chains provide a wide scope for the embodiment of fantasies and creativity.

It often happens that the chain breaks easily, although it does not look so fragile. It is impossible to even imagine that this chain can support the weight of a weight. Why does this happen? In this article we will try to understand and answer this question. To begin with, let’s take a general look at all the stages of making gold chains.

The jeweler takes a small bar of pure gold, which was obtained after refining. Separates the required amount and mixes it with the ligature. This is done to ensure that the gold chain is strong and durable. To obtain the necessary alloy for making a chain, you need to take 5.85 grams of pure gold, 2.92 grams of copper and 1.22 grams of silver.

We melt all these metals in a crucible, sprinkle with borax, and be sure to stir. The melting point is about 950 degrees. After hardening, the hot piece of metal is cooled in water and boiled in bleach. As a result, we get 10 grams of 585 gold alloy, which indicates the percentage of gold in the product.

The higher the purity, the higher the pure gold content, but the much softer the alloy. Impurities of other metals not only impart hardness and strength to gold, but also change its color. By replacing the ratio of metals that make up the ligature, the required color for the future decoration is selected.

To make a chain, we pour gold into a mold and get a gold rod about 5 mm thick. In order to make a chain from it, you now need to burn it and stretch it to the wire diameter, which depends on the mass of the future product.

To do this, it is necessary to pass our rod first through rollers, from a larger stream to a smaller one, and then through dies. When rolling on rollers, it is very important not to confuse the size of the strand, since if you put a gold rod into a strand of a smaller size, cracks will appear, and as a result, when pulled through dies, the wire will break and the future product will be of poor quality. When working with dies, it is necessary to lubricate the wire with the wax of a regular candle.

After completing the stage of making gold wire, the process of weaving the chain itself begins. First of all, the resulting gold wire is twisted into a spiral of the required diameter, then from the spiral, using special scissors, we cut links for the future chain. We weave the resulting links into a chain of the required length and solder them using solder. Next comes the process of polishing and installing the lock.

Soldering thin circuits

What about thin chains? After all, small links cannot be soldered manually. What to do in this case?Usually thin chains are produced on special machines, in large jewelry factories and factories. To solder the links, the chains are coated with a special powder, which is a mixture of solder and flux.

This powder envelops the junction of each link, then the chains enter the muffle furnace, where the temperature ranges from 500-600 degrees. At this temperature, the gold itself simply glows while the solder melts, joining the joints. The chain is now strong and ready for further processing.

The strength of the soldered links can be checked. If everything was done correctly, all links of the chain are soldered, and the thickness of the wire is the same everywhere, then such a chain should withstand a weight exceeding its own weight by 750 times. Next comes the grinding process, after which the chains are cut to the required length and the fastener is attached.

The finished chain becomes less strong, as it has a weak link - the fastener. It is deliberately made weaker as a protective measure in case you get caught by the chain on something or someone wants to rip it off.

Soldering chain links is much more convenient if the solder is in the form of small plates. To do this, before soldering, we roll it out on rollers and cut it into small squares. During the soldering process, we first heat the more massive part of the product, but we must not overheat it, as it may melt.

It is necessary to catch the moment when to apply solder. Before soldering, the heated parts are coated with flux and borax. If everything is done correctly, and the soldering areas are sufficiently heated, then the soldering area itself will be covered with a film of flux. However, the soldering process does not end there.

It is necessary to carefully heat the soldering areas with a torch flame so as not to melt the parts. This should be done until the cadmium contained in the solder burns out. You can determine whether cadmium has burned out or not in the following way: you need to carefully look at the soldering site, which should be dull, the same as the parts being soldered.

In fact, from two separate parts a monolith is obtained that has the same composition, color and physical properties. At this point, the soldering process is completed, and you can proceed to further actions.

The first gold chains appeared in Mesopotamia and Ancient Greece. Gold chains symbolized wealth, power, nobility or divine origin.

Pure gold is too soft, its bright yellow the consumer does not always like it. Therefore, to ensure strength and the desired color, other metals called alloy are added to gold.

Silver gives gold a noble pale hue, copper gives it a reddish tone, and brass allows metals to melt faster than if gold and copper were melted separately. Depending on the amount of added alloy, an alloy of 14-18 carats of gold is obtained.

The mixture is melted at a temperature of 1010°C. To make 5,000 14-karat chains, simply melt three scoops of components.

After melting, the gold alloy is poured from the casting machine into a water-cooled mold. Water cools the metal to a temperature of 370°C, and it hardens. The precious metal is pressed into a round mold, giving it the shape of a rod, 2 meters long.

After cutting the gold rod in half, it is passed through what is called a "crimp rolling mill." He changes the cross-section of the rod from round to, for example, square, of the required size. This makes it easier to stretch the rod.

The rod is then passed through a rolling mill. Twelve rollers of the rolling mill stretch the rod into the thickness of spaghetti. At the exit, the rollers roll the gold rod into a 24-meter-long spiral. This spiral is sent to the furnace to soften the metal.

After this, the golden spiral is unrolled and pulled out to the state of wire, pulling it through a mill with dies made of industrial diamonds. To prevent overheating, the gold is poured with liquid lubricant. From the camp a precious metal comes out in the form of a thin gold wire.

The wire is wound onto a reel on which 3 km of wire is placed. Thirty-two, in this case, coils of gold wire are unwound and placed in a furnace, where the gold is softened even more.

One of the machines makes chains with so-called anchor weaving - it passes wire through a link and connects the ends, making a new link. The machine connects six hundred links per minute. The quality of the gold chain is checked in random order.

Another machine performs “Venetian weaving”. The gold wire is passed into a channel where mechanical clamps bend it around the mold, connecting it to the previous link.

To create a spider weave, the machine passes gold wire through five links at once. The next machine performs weaving in the “tegaro” style - first the machine makes three short links, which it twists and clamps in series, after which the manipulator moves the gold links to another machine, where it adds one long link to them. The manipulator then carries the gold links back, where he adds three more short links.

The simplest "rope weaving" is made by passing gold wire through two links and closing it.

Finished gold chains are coated with a powder that prevents sticking in the next stage of manufacturing, where they are heated to 815°C. The heat activates the soldering agent added when the metal is melted, which solders the ends of the links.

The machine then welds the locks to the ends of the chain. Finally, the chains are successively soaked in four containers of chemicals that remove any contamination. They are then electrolytically coated with a thin layer of gold, which gives them more shine.

After checking the quality, a tag indicating the sample is attached to the lock, and the chains are ready to be sent to jewelry shop to decorate you.

A variety of jewelry, such as beads and chains, will complement any outfit in an original way. Oh, did you know that you can make a chain with your own hands? This approach will help you not only save significantly on accessories, but also get a unique piece of jewelry that has no analogues among your friends. So, now we will look in detail at several methods on how to make a chain.

How to make a chain of wire with beads?

Prepare:

wire,
beads or beads,
hook.

We bend the wire, making a small loop out of it, and thread a hook into it. We grab the wire from below using a hook and pull it up. Then we pull it into the loop that you already made at the very beginning.

Now, in exactly the same way, we stretch another loop, and, picking up the wire from below, pull it into the air loop. So we continue to make loop after loop. And, in the end, you should get a chain consisting of homogeneous air loops. You choose the length yourself, to your taste. If you want to get a three-dimensional chain, then make several more chains using this technology and connect them to each other.

Now it's time to decorate the resulting wire chain with beads. We suggest making a pendant from beads in the shape of a flower - there are no limits to your imagination.

How to make a chain with your own hands?

Prepare:

steel, brass or copper wire,
carnations,
tablet,
wire cutters,
skin,
file,
forceps.

In order for the metal to be softer and more pliable, it must be heated. We hammer cloves into the prepared board with a diamond shape, so that the result is back side their tips were visible, at least 1 centimeter. The way you arrange the nails will determine the subsequent shape of the individual chain links.

Using round-nose pliers, bend a link from the wire so that it has the shape of the letter S. Remove excess wire using wire cutters. Now remove the resulting link from the nails. For greater strength, squeeze the rings with tongs. We will connect the original curly links with rings. Making rings is very simple - wrap a wire around a pencil and cut off each turn with wire cutters.

In conclusion, all we have to do is process all the rings and original links of our chain using sandpaper and a file. This must be done so that there are no burrs left on the wire, which will unpleasantly scratch the skin and cling to clothing. If necessary, align all the elements of the chain using a small hammer and connect them into a single whole.

There are many other, more labor-intensive ways to make a chain, but they require certain skills and knowledge. Therefore, if you decide to make jewelry for yourself for the first time, we recommend that you resort to the above methods.

If you want to wear an exclusive and original version jewelry, then it is not at all necessary to buy them. It is quite possible to create such decorations with your own hands. So, if you set out to make a chain yourself, then you will have to apply some skill and use some skills to create a beautiful and original thing. In this article we will look at how to make a chain of wire with your own hands.

Viking knit technique

Viking knit is an ancient method of weaving a chain that does not require soldering of the links. In this case, the chain is made from a long piece of gimp, which can always be extended as needed.

Important! This name is translated into Russian as “Viking knots” or “Viking weaving”. This weaving technique got its name because the first piece of jewelry of this type was found in archaeological burials, which belonged to the ancient Vikings. After this discovery there were others that turned out to be even more ancient. However, it is now believed that this weaving technique was originally mastered in the city of Trichipoli, which is located in India.

Such a chain can be made as an antique-style decoration. In this case, to create an antique decoration, you need to prepare the following items:

thin wire, as a rule, it is best to use copper;
pencil;
scissors;
ruler.

How to make a chain at home using the Viking knit technique:

First of all, it is necessary to prepare a base on which the very beginning of weaving the chain will be applied. To do this, you need to cut a piece of copper wire about 40 cm long and wrap it around a ruler 5-6 times.
After this, you need to remove the skein from the ruler, fix the loops, while wrapping the free end of the gimp around them.
Next, open the fixed loops into a “flower”. This procedure must be carried out very carefully so as not to accidentally crush our loops.
Then such a “flower” needs to be bent around a pencil.
Cut another piece of wire with a length of about 65-70 cm, and you can begin the weaving process. To do this, you need to leave a small free end of the wire and make a loop around one of the “petals”.
Then you need to make a second loop, stepping back one “petal” to the right. We continue in exactly the same way from top to bottom.
Next you need to make 4 more loops and return again to the first “petal”.
Now let's move on to the next row. In this case, you need to make the next loop, catching the first loop of the previous row.
We continue to knit, each time clinging to the loops of the previous row. We carry out this process until the remaining tip of the wire is about 10-15 cm.
Now you need to complete the procedure of increasing the gimp so that you can knit further. To do this, you need to cut off another piece and place it under a vertical row of loops.

Important! When, during the knitting process, we reach the area where the wire is built up, we need to grab the new wire along with the loop of the previous row for tight fixation.

We knit another circle, again approaching the area with new wire. Now you need to carry out the correct procedure: to do this, a new piece of wire must be brought up from the left side of the loop, and the old working wire must engage with right side from the loop and take it in the lower direction.
We knit the old copper thread on several knitting circles together with the loop of the previous row for fixation, after that we cut it off and continue weaving the wire chain with our own hands.
We continue to knit according to this principle. When you think the thread seems long enough, related product need to be removed from the pencil.

Important! To determine the length of the finished jewelry, you must remember that a knitted product can stretch approximately twice as much.

And now the most crucial moment: you need to grab the ends with your fingers, stretch the weave and see how it changes.

Knitting is completed, the decoration is ready! We disconnect it from the auxiliary loops and you can use it at your discretion.

If you purchase an ordinary metal crochet hook and soft wire, then with certain skills and dexterity, you can knit a decent chain of the required length. It is important that the thickness of the hook matches the thickness of the gimp.

The technique for knitting a wire chain is very simple:

When the first loop is made, the next one needs to be picked up with a hook and pulled through the previous loop.
Pull the threaded loop to the required length.
We repeat this procedure of pulling a loop out of a loop so many times until the product is the desired length.

Important! The thickness of the hook must correspond to the thickness of the wire. Otherwise:

If the hook turns out to be much thicker than the wire used, you will get huge holes.

If the hook is thinner than the wire used, the knitting process becomes more complicated, since the hook will not be able to properly grip the loops.

How to make a chain with your own hands? If you want to make a chain from brass, steel or copper, then the wire must first be annealed so that the metal becomes soft and pliable. For this:

Make a template in advance and use a wooden plank with four nails driven into it, with the points facing outward.
The nails, which are arranged in a diamond shape, determine the shape of the chain links.
When using the template, you need to bend the S-shaped links in a sequential order, since the tips of the loops should have an elongated shape.
The links of the chain are connected both directly to each other and using rings, which are made like winding the wire of a pencil, and each turn must be bitten off with wire cutters.

Important! Before connecting the chain links, they should be sanded and filed for safe use, as the burrs can scratch the skin or leave puffs on clothing.

You can also make your own chain from silver wire. The manufacturing technique is exactly the same as when creating jewelry from ordinary wire.

Weaving from individual rings

How to make a chain from wire:

First you need to cut the prepared wire into several small pieces that are about 5 cm long.
Then bend the ends and press them firmly with the flat part of the pliers. You should end up with a piece of wire whose round ends are curved.
Then we take the resulting piece of gimp with pliers at the middle point, bend it in half, while pressing one loop to the other.

Important! The pliers must be exactly in the center, otherwise the two loops will not be able to meet. The result is uneven links and the chain looks ugly.

After the two loops came together and the flat part of the pliers was pressed, one link was ready.
After this, you need to thread a piece of wire into the loops of the first link and repeat this procedure.

Important! The number of links determines the length finished product. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the length in advance and thus decide how many links you need for this decoration.

Video material

If at first you don’t succeed, then you can practice and you will succeed. And then you will begin to master more complex weaving techniques, creating more and more perfect and exquisite jewelry that will definitely attract attention to you, because there will simply be no analogues. And everything that looks interesting evokes genuine admiration.