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Insipid Oyster posted:I'm not sure if this is the right thread for it, but... I've played around with making small/jewellery pieces of mail as well as some chain designs; I'm not greatly experienced, but I've passed the 'where do I even start with this?' hump. One of the better websites I found was this one: http://www.mailleartisans.org/ , the articles are useful and there are a lot of pattern tutorials. In regards to supplies, the work in that particular picture is made of steel wire, which is generally bought from hardware stores. I personally use Artistic Wire, which is colour coated copper wire, because I like the pretty colours, copper wire is nice and easy to work with, and I tend towards the beading-jewellery side of mailmaking, rather than the dungeonmaster side. I buy that from beading supply/craft stores. Its up to you which one you decide to use. In terms of tools, you'll want to find rods to make the rings around, cutters, plus a variety of pliers depending on what you want to make and how klutzy you are. For rods, I tend to use things like pens or pencils, but that's because I can just grab em and start. I personally use full size aviation snips to cut my rings; I started off with pinch cutters but the way the faces meet gets tiring after a while; don't feel obligated to buy a new or expensive pair of snips though especially if you're starting off. As for pliers, you'll want the ones about the size of your hand for jewellery, beading or electronics work, not the giganto ones. Using the terminology in this article (http://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.cgi?key=2484) the two I use most are the hook-nose and chain-nose pliers, with needle-noses coming fourth. Third place is a type of plier you rarely see outside of beading called nylon jaw pliers, where the tool surface is replaced with giant blocks of plastic. This allows you to grip the project firmly, but doesn't mark the metal. These are handy for closing rings and finishing work. You can buy these from either hardware stores, beading supply, craft or jewellery supply stores; they're all about the same, except for the super expensive jewellery ones. So, where to start? Read the articles on that website, brush up on terminology, pick a simple design (European 4-in-1 is always a good place to start) and go from there. Its a surprisingly cheap hobby for the amount of time it occupies and the fact you get a (potentially usable) product at the end.
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Sep 10, 2010 11:06
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 18:44 |
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