Knothead,
I am only now learning to braid and knowhere near where you are in my abiltiy but I do use ramol rein on a daily basis, so I will only try to answer your question on the usabilty of your reins.
Reins with a legth of 48" will always be used with chains, their is no basic length for rein chains, they are made from 6" to 14" long, This all depends on the riders arm length and the length of the horses neck. Reins of 52" or 54" length are normaly not used with chains.
The number of knots and their whight are personal perferance of the rider but all knots should be place in the lower 1/3thr. of the reins.
I hope this helps.
LM