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<< back to faq AWG - American Wire Gauge. A numbering system that tends to be used for non-ferrous (meaning not containing iron) metals. This is what is traditionally used for sterling silver and copper. It's always best to ask your suppliers directly about the exact stats on their rings. g, ga, or gu - Wire Gauge. Gauges are basically arbitrarily assigned numbers designating the thickness of the wire used to make the jump ring. Gauge systems differ according to the metal - 16g steel is different from 16g sterling (see AWG & SWG). The main thing to remember about gauges is that the higher the number, the thinner the wire. Most armor chainmaille is 12g - 16g. Jewelry tends to be 16g - 22g. Micromaille is 22g - 24g (and even thinner, for the hard-core micromaillers!). ID - Inner Diameter of jump ring. Typically given in millimeters or fractional inches. Best measured using calipers (to account for springback) when jump ring is closed. Jump Ring This is where it all starts: the basic ring from which traditional maille is created. Kerf The width of cut made by a saw through the jump rings. A thick saws yields a ring with a large kerf, and thin saws create rings with minimal kerf. OD - Outer Diameter of Jump Ring. Traditionally given in millimeters or decimal inches. Best measured using calipers when jump ring is closed. Springback When raw wire is wrapped around a mandrel, it "relaxes" a bit after being coiled because it prefers to stay a straight piece of wire. This relaxing is known as springback. Different metals have different springback. For example, a stainless steel jump ring wrapped around a 5/16 inch mandrel is significantly larger than a sterling jump ring wrapped around the same mandrel. This is because steel is tougher, and it springs back more. The same metal in different gauges wrapped around the same mandrel will yield different IDs, because springback differs depending on the gauge. Note also that different suppliers have different methods of wrapping, resulting in different springbacks even if wire gauge and metal is the same. Springback affects aspect ratio, so be sure to take springback into account when ordering rings. SWG - Standard Wire Gauge Also known as Imperial Wire Gauge. A numbering system often used for ferrous (meaning containing iron) metals. Stainless steel usually has SWG numbers. It's always best to ask your suppliers directly about the exact stats on their rings. Split Ring Similar to a jump ring, split rings are most commonly used for key rings. A split ring has a slit going the long way around its circumference, rather than the split cutting the short way through the wire. If you were to tug apart the ends of a split ring, it would resemble a very small spring. WD - Wire Diameter of jump ring. Most commonly given in gauges, but since gauges are inconsistent (see g, AWG & SWG), many maillers prefer to give WD in millimeters or decimal inches. Weave Acronyms DS - Dragonscale, a complicated European weave. GSG - GSG is a Persian weave by Buddha. Named for the Great Southern Gathering where the weave was perfected. HP - Half Persian. Usually seen as HP4-1 or HP3-1, etc. for Half Persian 4-in-1 and Half Persian 3-in-1. FP - Full Persian. Often written as FP6-1 for Full Persian 6-in-1. |
