A mate of mine made some the same way, using split washers from Screwfix, he said it was a real PITA trying to force them open when putting it together.
I had a go a few years back, trying to make a lightweight version using aluminium wire. That was pretty easy, just wind it around a metal rod to make a long spiral, then just cut down the length to make the individual links. Still a slow process though..I managed about a square foot an afternoon.
