Was: Bracelet repair question
Hi
Having an open link on a necklace or bracelet is the same lousy
school teaching that we just can’t seem to pound out of existence.
Where that ever came from… Maybe just an excuse to be lazy, I
don’t know.
Always thought / been told this was a safety/repair issue. if chain
is pulled link opens and no one chokes.
Bead/pearl necklaces that are knotted and finished with a pearl
clasp have no open links.
So can we get to the bottom of this. It only takes a few seconds to
solder the link closed so it is no big deal.
Also the best catches are toggle clasps IMHO and there is no open
link on them. Many variations on this style.
A disk with a cut out for the T section allows room for makers
marks.
Quick and easy to make and easy to do up.
Have we been sold another urban myth?
Very interested to see what others think and use.
Richard
best catches are toggle clasps IMHO and there is no open link
onthem.
College students sure love them, that’s for sure. There’san inherent
style and they are easily customized in millions of ways.
But… A great catch has two things going for it - positive
locking and a backup safety, of which toggle clasps have neither.
Tennis bracelets typically have a box catch and a safety eight of
some have a foldover safety with a pin. Snap, click! The other
simple catch is a hook and eyeand even with that the eye is supposed
to snap into the hook so it can’t just fall off. Toggles certainly
function but my gut, emotional feeling about them is that it’s like
flying off to London with all the doors in your house left unlocked.
Almost all the time nobody will walk up and try to turn the
doorknob.
Hi this post is for necklaces
A great catch has two things going for it - positive locking and a
backup safety, of which toggle clasps have neither.
not the ones I make. But after googling toggle clasps I see the
above point and agree.
I could not find a picture of the one I mean and don’t have one to
photograph at the moment so I will try and describe it.
Make a T from wire 1.5 mm dia. solder jumpring onto bottom of T.
Bend top of T up 90 degrees. Make a disk (1 mm thick) diameter the
same as the top of the T. Cut a slot into disk slightly wider than
wire but slightly less longer than the top of the T. Solder jumpring
on disk at one end of the disk in line with the slot.
Now the top of the T is angled and passed through slot and turned 90
degrees. Top of T runs across the slot. You now have a catch that is
easy to do up and will not come undone. Size of T and disk depend
upon size of necklace.
Richard