Chain Link Calculator

Links = ⌊Finished length × 10 ÷ Link length⌋ — Chain can only be cut at a link. To reach 45 cm with 7 mm links, 450 ÷ 7 is 64.3, so you take 64 links — and 64 links measure 44.8 cm. There is no way to hit 45 cm exactly; the choice is between 44.8 cm and 45.5 cm at 65 links. Measure the link length by laying the chain along a ruler, counting ten links and dividing by ten: measure a single link and a 0.5 mm error multiplies by 64 into a 3 cm miss. Findings eat length as well — a clasp plus two jump rings is usually 15–20 mm, so subtract that from the finished length before running this. Regular chains such as cable and rope suit the arithmetic directly; on a repeating pattern such as figaro, enter the length of one full repeat (say one long link plus three short) instead.

With Finished length 45cm, Link length 7mm, the answer is Links 64.

Enter Finished length, Link length. The result recalculates as you type, and an empty box counts as zero.

Changing only Finished length (cm) moves the answer to Finished length (cm) 22.5 → Links 32 and Finished length (cm) 90 → Links 128. The table below lays out five steps.

Money is shown to the nearest whole unit, percentages to one decimal place and everything else to two. What you see is rounded; the calculation itself carries the unrounded value forward.

Once you know where to cut, how you cut matters: some links open and close again, others have to be severed. Soldered chain needs cutters, and the cut link is scrap, so the real length comes out one link short. For a chain carrying a heavy pendant the gauge matters more than the count — a light link opens under load and the pendant leaves. When two chains have to match, as on earrings, lay them side by side and count links rather than measuring each with a tape, which stretches differently every time.