These weave came as a necessity more than an other. I needed a weave that could at one side expand and the other contract without folding in on itself and retaining both stability and look. The TabScales can sort of do this, but it’s not enough. The cool thing about this (and it gets more pronounced the larger it is) is that it expands naturally due to the larger rings used. This uses 16 ga 3/8 AR 5.3 Bright Aluminum Rings I purchase mine from TheRingLord. I chose Bright Aluminum to match properly with the aluminum can tabs.
- Difficulty: 5/5 – Once you get this down it’s second nature, but initially it is a very weird weave.
- Flexibility: 4/5 – It doesn’t bend outward that much, but is otherwise very flexible.
- Tabs per sq. ft: ~600
- 3/8 Rings per sq. ft: ~325
1. Lay 2 tabs back-to-back and a tab with 2 tabs on each half of the bottom.
2. Put a ring through the 2 back-to-back tabs.
3. Add the 3 ring set on top and close.
4. Then flip this over and place a ring through the 3 set.
5. Add another 2 ring set back-to-back and close.
6. Then through that 2 set add another ring.
7. And another 3 set.
8. Continue on for the length of the band.
9. Now add a ring from the jutting top and bottom tabs of 2 bands.
10. Add a single tab with the ring going through the band. (Make sure it faces the bad side towards you.)
11. Now add a 2 set back-to-back with the middle going through the ring, and close.
12. Now flip the whole thing and place a ring through the 2 set.
13. Add a single tab (shiny side facing you) with the ring going through the middle.
14. Now add the top tab of the lower band and the bottom tab of the upper band through that ring and close.
15. Flip again and place a ring through the 3 set.
16. Add another back-to-back 2 set and close.
17. Then simply continue on until the bands are closed.
18. Here is the weave fully spaced out (it looks nicer with a larger swatch, but since you can have 1 side be larger and the other be pushed together it fans out, while still looking natural.
