chainmaille - eye candy

[fantym1]

I do chainmaille, among other things ... but a photographer I'm not
Sometimes I sell; sometimes I give away
These are what I've made recently:
The 1st pic is Trizantine
The 2d pic is (2) Byzantine in square rings & a Helms (or Parallel)
Hope y'all enjoy!

 

[Bogart]

That first photo shows some impressive work.
Shine on

 

[maki2]

Get a small length of suede like cloth from the fabric store. Not too shiny, you need a matte finish that does not reflect. That alone will make a big improvement in the photos. Lovely jewelry deserves something more lux than a piece of crumpled brown paper.

 

[fantym1]

More eye candy L - R: Viper Basket, nickel + black enameled copper;   3 in 1 Half Persian 16ga, aluminum + jewellers brass;  3 in 1 HP 18ga, aluminum + copper

 

[tripper]

Those are beautiful! Where do you get the raw supplies and how do you learn it?

 

[fantym1]

Itripper: 
 I buy the rings from several different places: The Ring Lord, Metal Designz, Weave Got Maille & ChainMail Dude (.com) primarily, but there are others.
 They sell rings, kits of rings w/instructions & some sell the pliers (must be smooth jaw!) & other tools, but I bought a set @ Lowe's (Kobalt brand) that works well.
I found a couple of Dylan White's books (chainmaille jewelry instructions) @ a public library in a couple places. There's also instructions online, M.A.I.L.L.E. (org) has a Huge (overwhelming) amount. Do a search, as there's LOTS available. Some of the weaves are truly OMG & some sites deal primarily with making hauberks, coifs, bras & other non jewelry items. Can we say Rabbit Hole? Actually, it's more of a Warren.
A few weaves kits can also be found @ a Big Box hobby store.
The raw wire & winding tools take up too much space for OTR for me as I do other hobbies also, so I keep those tools in storage.
My intro to chainmaille was occupational therapy @ VA, relearning manual dexterity & hand-eye coordination, but it can be learned entirely on ur own.
I used to make curb chains & other fancy brightwork to sell @ horse shows/rodeos. I still make/sell jewelry. I'm currently working on protective collars for the puppers.
Hope this helps.

 

[Frood]

The raw wire & winding tools take up too much space for OTR for me as I do other hobbies also, so I keep those tools in storage.
...
My intro to chainmaille was occupational therapy @ VA, relearning manual dexterity & hand-eye coordination, but it can be learned entirely on ur own.

Have you considered a small cargo trailer just to use as your "workshop"? If you are selling your art then wouldn't the entire trailer technically be deductible as a business expense?

Don't want to derail this thread but it brings an interesting topic to mind. For those that run a business on the road (that produces a good, not just an IP/digital business) what kind of things do you do, any advice, and how how do the taxes and deductions work?

Love the chain-work by the way! Yet another rabbit hole for me to go down on YouTube...

Scott

 

[fantym1]

Frood: Glad U enjoyed the eye candy.

Have I considered a small cargo trailer to use as a workshop?
I had a workshop in my 1st bus (which was full sized), & in my stepvan. Those worked quite well, but it was '94 when I built that bus out. A cargo trailer isn't something I'm interested in nowadays.

"... For those that run a business on the road (that produces a good, not just an IP/digital business) what kind of things do you do, any advice, and how how do the taxes and deductions work?"

Good question. Might I suggest you ask it under the $$ Matters subhead?