Go back to the main page

Turkish Roundmaille is a variant on the roundmaille chain, much as Byzantine is a variant on box chain. In fact, techniques used in Turkish Roundmaille can be applied to Byzantine, and vice versa (that's how I got my technique for speedweaving Byzantine). You can make Box by taking a ribbon chain of Euro 4-1 and closing it up on itself. Likewise you can make Roundmaille by taking a five-wide ribbon chain and sewing it up on itself. Then Byzantine is made by taking the Box units and spacing them out, and Turkish Round is made by taking the Roundmaille units and spacing them out. Of course, there are more efficient techniques for achieving either Byzantine or Turkish Round, such as are described on this page. Turkish Round forms a heavy, but intricate chain which is useful for jewelery. Because of its weight, it makes a better necklace than a bracelet, unless you use unusually small rings.

Speaking of ring sizes, some recommended sizes for Turkish roundmaille include 1/4" ID 16 gauge, 3/16" ID 18 gauge, and 1/8" ID 20 gauge. Each of these ring sizes can be stepped up by one gauge (e.g. 1/4" ID 14 gauge) for a much stiffer chain if so desired. 1/4" ID 14 gauge makes a very nice keychain.

Step one: Make a 2-1-2-1-2 chain, as shown.

Step 1

Step two: Connect the ends of the chain with a single ring.

Step 2

Step three: Add a ring through two of the inner silver rings. Add two more rings so that each inner silver ring passes through two brass rings.

Step 3

Step four: Add three rings through the brass rings in the same fashion as the brass rings passed through the silver in the previous step.

Step 4

Step five: As in step four, add three more rings. However, allow them to "fall back" on the rest of the chain.

Step 5

Step six: Lock in the previous three rings. Each ring add should pass through two copper rings. Make certain that the brass rings are on the inside of the silver rings, not the outside. This step locks in a unit of Turkish roundmaille

Step 6

That's all there is to it. Repeat steps four through six to lengthen the chain. Good luck!

Step 7

Go back to the main page

All items on this site are copyright 2002 Chris Weisiger (a.k.a. Derakon). That's right - I made everything on this site. Reproduction of any of my work i\ n whole or in part requires my express consent.