Aspect Ratio

If you are going to make chainmaille as a hobby or business, you must understand aspect ratio! Aspect Ratio is the relationship between the inner diameter of your rings and the thickness ( or gauge) of your wire.

ID = inner diameter of your ring

WD = wire diameter

AR = aspect ratio

ID divided by WD equals AR

So for example our 1/4 16g ring has an aspect ratio of 4

ID: 1/4 = .25      WD: 16g = .0625    so   .25 / .0625 =   AR: 4

What this means is if you make a pattern you like but it is too big or small and you want to scale it up or down and keep the same look, you need to know the AR of the rings for that pattern. Most patterns have a suggested AR or have a minimum or maximum AR recommendation.

For example: if you made a byzantine pattern you ideally want a ring that has an AR of 3.2 - 3.5. Our 5/32 18g has an AR of 3.33 and our 7/32 16g has an AR of 3.5 both would make the pattern and look very similar but vastly different in size of final pattern.  One could be a necklace and the other a dog collar!

Example2: our 1/4 18g and 3/16 20g both have an AR of 5.35 and could make the same patterns with the same look just scaled to different sizes!