Japanese Dragonscale
Overview
After making both the Oriental Scale Unit and Inverted Oriental Scale Unit, I wanted to make the basis for those weaves, Japanese Dragonscale, as documented on M.A.I.L. by luther pendragon. This member of the European, Japanese and Helm weave families is a cool sheet made of two layers of Japanese 6-in-1 (sharing the same small rings) with a buffer layer of orbiting large rings. If you want to make this yourself, I recommend Corvus’ tutorial.
Materials
For the sample piece showcased in this post, I used two sizes of rings made by hand from 16 SWG Bright Aluminum wire purchased from The Ring Lord. The smaller rings have an ID of 5mm for an AR of 3.1. The larger rings have an ID of 10mm for an AR of 6.15.
Notes
Japanese Dragonscale can be a bit challenging to understand at first, but once you grasp the structure, it is not difficult to create. The weave has a beautiful and elegant appearance, featuring a simple, repeated geometric pattern. However, unless the small rings are locked in place from each vertex of the triangles they form, they may not hold their shape, which can slightly diminish the aesthetic appeal of smaller pieces. As a sheet weave, it is fairly stiff and not well suited for use as fabric. Still, this stiffness makes it ideal for other purposes, such as coasters, basket liners, panels in fabric projects or smaller segments used as charms or earrings. When learning the weave, it is helpful to go through the instructions slowly and experiment a bit to develop a solid understanding and learn how to generalize its construction. While Japanese Dragonscale is a beautiful weave with exciting applications, I recommend learning it only if you have patience or prior experience, as it can be hard to master.
Pictures
Flat
Flat: Angled
Flat: Profile
Vertical
Vertical: Profile
In Process
