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Many experienced chainmaillers don't even blink at a 20,000 or 40,000 ring project. An item such as a Coif (hood) may contain as many as 5,000 rings or as few as 600 depending on ringsize pattern, and weave. The picture below shows 6-in-1 weave which is stronger, and heavier than 4 in one, but takes about 1.7 times as many rings. Jewelry items like earrings usually contain less than 30 rings, beadmaille handflowers might have as few as 70 elements (rings and beads), ordinary maille handflowers will often have from 300 to 600 elements. Halters/bras will contain from 1,000 to 6,000 rings usually, but with dangling chains, dags (the triangles of maille hanging down), beadwork, bells, and other adornments may contain more than 10,000 elements. My weaving speed is around 300 rings per hour for larger rings, and less than 100/hour for some jewelry items. Some chainmailers claim speeds over 1,000 rings per hour.
Pliers used should either be padded, filed smooth, or when you can find them, there are smooth jaw plyers. I have padded the jaws of pliers with stickyback foam (needs to be replaced every few hours of use), filed the jaws smooth (very time consuming, and the resulting tool's handles close a bit closer than originally). Currently I purchase smooth jaw plyers (glass plyers work fine for lighter wire 16, 18, 20, 24 guage) and are cheaper than jewelers plyers, but the jaws are larger, making small rings difficult to work with. Square jaw jewelers plyers are my tool of choice for most projects,I have a few of these that are strong enough for 14 guage steel, 12 guage copper or brass, and 10 guage aluminum, yet small enough to use on 1/8" 24 guage wire. with just 2 pair of square jaw jewelers plyers, one pair round jaw, one diagonal cutter, I am able to complete 95% of the pieces I make.
There are many websites that describe the details of constructing various weaves, and I cannot recommend any one over another. Use any search engine and "chainmail patterns", "how to make chainmail", or "chainmaille construction" to get a few of these. many of them are linked to other chainmail construction sites. There are many different theories of which method(s) of weave are easiest. I tried several, and settled on the methods that I liked best, some are not as efficient, but better suited to me.
One of the sites that shows different weaves is http://knotwork.tripod.com/Tech/Weaves/WeaveTree.htm
There is a lot of trial and error that goes into becoming an artisan in any medium, but using prepared patterns and instructions will allow you to begin creating finished pieces immediately. Be prepared to spend a few hours in the creation of your first piece. Don't lose interest at the first sign of difficulty. it does get easier, faster, and smoother as you practice. Remember it took most of us many months, to learn to talk, and now see how simple that is.
You can email me at Moex@moex.9f.com
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