How to make curb chains that hang flat/flush?

[ColinB]

I am attempting to make curb chains that can hang with all the links flush/ flat, as they will be used for earrings.

The first 2 photos are an example of a chain I did not make, which hangs flat and does not twist (my goal).
The third photo is an example of chain I've made, which twists when it is hung.

Any advice on how to achieve this flat hang? I've made many chains with various amounts of curb, and tried hammering them flat as well. All of which just end up twisting. Perhaps they need to be put through a rolling mill?

I am making these chains from scratch with silver wire FYI.

Please advise x

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[Dennis]

Hi Colin and welcome.
What you show in your first examples is flat curb chain. I have not made one as it is easy enough to buy, so I can only offer suggestions.

As you say, it could be put through a mill under tension, in tiny increments of pressure, or it could be pulled through a rectangular draw plate.

That said, the problem would not arise if you could settle for a style which is not twisted. Dennis.

[CJ57]

With such good quality chain available I wouldn’t bother making it either. I only make chains when the design is unusual and suited to the piece

[mizgeorge]

The flattened curbs have been hammered and then filed to flat. There are several youtube tutorials on this (mainly in hefty gold!)

If I were to want to use one (which I don't because I think they're particularly unattractive), I would just buy a machine made one in honesty.

How about a short piece of lie-flat maille? there are plenty of weaves that would do the job and look a lot more interesting!

[nicks creative stuff]

Hi Colin,
I make curb chains by twisting A basic chain under tension, I keep twisting until it suddenly appears to have a flat form. Unfortunately this is not enough if I stop here when it hangs it will always fall back to look uneven. To solve this I over twist the chain, I keep going until when released it falls back to a flat form… hope this helps… Nick

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_LgeGMfarf9BHtKU4lFUhQ?sub_confirmation=1

[josef1]

I have been trying to make these to, I think you need to roll and twist them flat then file. have a look on YouTube you will find lots of good videos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQrbSDAhqOZ/?utm_medium=copy_link

This is my attempt pre sanding and polishing, I cast the links and soldered them together its maybe not the correct way but its what I am confident with

[china]

If you wish to learn how to make curb chain have a look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GlY1pzvfqc
it is a 4 part series, although I am of the opinion of those above, these days unless you need some thing special, is not worth the time/bother to make any sort of chain.

[ColinB]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies thus far!

All of my designs are exclusively made of chains, so buying chains is simply not something I would consider. The hand made process is very important to me as I need complete control over the shape of my links for each design (and I really enjoy the process).
The Melissa Muir video series was quite good, but I have watched heaps of similar videos and none of them explicitly highlight which part of the process would make them hang flat.

Perhaps I was simply not twisting the curbs far enough, I will make some more attempts at this.