I have made jump rings the normal way that is taught in jewelry
classes, wrap the wire around a rod and using a sawframe, cut
along one side. I’m trying to make a significan number of these
rings though. It’s going to take forever and a day using this
method. I also tried using a mototool with the small cutoff
discs, but they wear down real fast.
Does anyone know of a good way to mass produce these? I know I
could buy them, but I’m the type that would rather make them
myself. How do these companies that sell millions of rings make
them?
I just bought a Koil Kutter from David Arens (he is on Orchid)-
great device for cutting jump rings- all you need is a flex shaft
with a #30 handpiece or a dremel- he makes a unit for each. It
really works well!
I’d love to get some info about the jump ring cutter. I bought
the one from Rio Grande several years ago, tried for 2 days to
get decent results, and quit. It (I) really chewed up the rings,
the coils didn’t stay in place, they jumped around, etc. Maybe I
was doing something drastically wrong, I don’t know. Is your
cutter on the same idea? David, if you are lurking, please let
me know, too. Thanks
There is a gadget called a jumpriger that wraps the rings for
you. You turn a handle. Then it has a special piece that holds
the rings and allows you to cut them with a little disc saw in
your flex shaft. It is very efficiant!!! However, a jumpringer
can be a little pricey… I saw one the other day at this site…it
is an auction page and you can probably get a great deal here:
I have “The Complete Jump Ringer” tool set from Rio Grande. It
consists of a coil winder that holds various sizes of round or
even oval mandrels. Then there is a coil holder/saw guide and saw
that attatches to a foredom. It has really come in handy! I make
lots of chains from scratch and I can quickly whip up piles of
jump rings with this tool set. It was a bit of an investment but
it has been worth it. With it I can quickly make any size jump
rings in any guage wire that I may need for a project. Hope that
helps!-Carrie Nunes
Lately I’ve been making loop and loop necklaces and have been
using a ton of jump rings. How you make them really depends on
the kind of metal you are using and what guage you are cutting.
I was working in 22 ga silver. After winding the wire into
coils, I used the scissors from a swiss army knife. The result
was about two hundred rings, flush cut in about three minutes.
I’m sure that any good fine blade scissors could do as well, as
long as the metal is thin and well annealed.
Of course, if you are trying to make a chain mail suit of armor,
that may be a different matter.
Does anyone know of a good way to mass produce these? I know I
could buy them, but I’m the type that would rather make them
myself. How do these companies that sell millions of rings make
them?
I’m a chain maker & make lots of jump rings in all sizes
(2mm-35mm, 28ga-10ga silver to 13 mm, 9 ga steel). I made about
100 rings using a vee block & jewelers saw & said, ‘There’s got
to be a better way’. I looked at the Jump Ringer & said ‘Too
expensive’; then made my own that fits a moto= r tool or
flexshaft handpiece. Been using the motor tool version ever since
(I don’t use it on the 9ga steel). It usually takes me less than
10 minutes to wind & cut (all with square ends) about 500 jump
rings.
For the 9 ga steel I use the same technique but some heavier
tooling. The result is the same; lots of rings with square cut
ends. Made about 13,000 for a chain mail haubert(sp?).
I also make a set of mandrels, 2- 13mm in 0.5mm steps & a couple
of other chainmakers tools.
Another trick I learned is to put masking tape around the coil,
and the cut the rings through the masking tape. It keeps to coil
from wriggling around.
Having made my part of chains, here is how I made the coils: Take
a piece of hardwood and make a long stopped sawcut into it with
the width of the cut about the diameter of your wire. Place the
wood in the vice and run the wire from below through the sawcut,
tighten the vice so the wire is slightly squeezed in the sawcut.
Now the funny thing: Take a power drill (the one you drill holes
into walls!) and chuck the mandrel and end of wire into it. Pull
tight the free end of the wire that hangs below the wood in the
vice so the mandrel lies on the wood parallel to the sawcut (and
the vice jaws). Push the trigger. Use low speed and experiment a
little not to get the wire wrapped back over the already made
coil. If this happens, tighten the vice more to give more drag
to the wire, there should always be some resistance against the
revolving force of the drill. When the wire starts to squeak,
just run your thumb and forefinger along the length below the
piece of wood to lubricate it (yes it is sufficient, even if you
have not eaten a big mac before). You could also perhaps use a
drawing plate instead of the wood, but I never tried that. The
whole thing will take you less time to do than to read it, once
you got the hang of it. For cutting, I’ve got no shortcut
(sorry), I had acces to a circular saw that was especially
manufactured for jewellery work and rather expensive (and
dangerous for this kind of work). Hope this is of use for you,
Markus
No. 1 I assume that you should have a few basic tools around the
shop; Vise, hand drills or electric drill, wood, etc.
As Markus, I use wood as a feeding system for the wire to make
the springs for the jump rings. I differ from his technique in
that I use soft woods (pine, fur,etc.) to make blocks out of
(4x4x1). You need two blocks with a bench vise. Place the wire
between the two and crush it to make a feed path and then loosen
to required drag. The blocks should be off set to create a nest
for the rod to travel accost while forming a spring (one block
is a half inch higher).
Rods are easy to find such as coat hanger that you can
straighten out or brazing rod, drill rod stock.
Drill a hole the end of the rod and put into a drill and form
the springs.
Now that you have spring that can be three foot long you must cut
them.
Take the same size rod and cut a channel in the end and about two
inches from the slot bend the rod at 45 degrees and the one above
bend again 45 degrees to form a gentle S shape. This help to
compress the spring when cutting against the bench pin.
If you going to do a lot a steel bench pin helps. Use a 4x2x.125"
sheet and screw one end to the bench and in the other cut a D
shape hole 1.5 mm from the edge. Compress the spring on to this
and cut with a saw frame.