Cost effective production jump rings

Jewelry Discussion
1

I’m working on a line of sterling silver jewelry comprising of
different size jumprings (circles, squares, triangles, etc.), ranging
from 12g to 16g in sizes up to 2" diameter. I sell wholesale and am
looking for suggestions regarding the most cost effective way to
produce these rings. So far, I have been purchasing silver wire and
soldering, tumbling, polishing each individual jump ring. On a large
scale production, am I right to assume that casting the rings is
going to cost me a lot less in the long run? Or will the cost of
setting everything up for casting be too much? I’m probably will
have about 200 molds of different components. I am purchasing a
vulcanizer and plan to crank out the molds myself - saving me the
mold-making fee. Any suggestions on the fastest and least expensive
way to produce these rings would be appreciated.

Catherine

2

I can see a few potential problems here.

1 - cost of molds for something that simple
2 - LOTS of finishing labor cutting sprues, sanding mold lines, etc.
3- the rings will just NOT be as strong as ones made of wire

I would think you would be better off finding or making rods/bars
for wrapping them around to give consistent results and speed, and
keep doing it the way you are. Just try to organize the work in a
way to maximize production and invest in the necessary tools and
machinery to do it. Tumble finishing, solder filled wire are a
couple that come to mind. Good luck Jim