Torsade Necklace Keeps its Shape

I have been making multi-strand necklaces and would like to begin
making torsade (twisted) version, but I would like to make sure that
the necklace would not unravel and would keep its twist. Does anyone
have any advice about how to make a torsade necklace that will keep
its shape? I don’t want to make a braided necklace, I would like to
make one that has twists.I hope that my description of the type of
necklace that I would like to make is clear. Thanks in advance to
anyone who responds.

Hi

I would like to make sure that the necklace would not unravel and
would keep its twist. Does anyone have any advice about how to make
a torsade necklace that will keep its shape? I don't want to make a
braided necklace,. 

Sorry, I have been thinking on this for a couple of days and can’t
come up with anything other than to braid or weave in some way. Here
is the website of someone who does very interesting work with
braiding www.dacsbeads.com Click on products and then gallery and
about halfway down the page are some cool-looking multi-strand neck
pieces. Hope this helps to give inspiration anyway

Good Luck
Kim

... I would like to make sure that the necklace would not
unravel and would keep its twist. Does anyone have any advice
about how to make a torsade necklace that will keep its shape?...

The person who wears the necklace twists it before putting it on. To
keep it from unraveling while being worn, it’s best to keep the
torsade short, 16 inches or so. If it’s much longer than that (on a
medium size woman), the strands may start to separate.

This is how I was taught to make a torsade:

Make an odd number of strands – all the same length – one inch
longer than the finished length of the necklace (the twist will take
up at least an inch).

Put strands in this order, based on their weight:

– medium weight
– lightest weight
– heaviest strand always in the middle
– lightest weight
– medium weight

Also, design it so the beads nest into each other - for example, put
a big bead on one strand that will fit neatly into two little beads
on the strands next to it. That helps them all stay in place.

The torsade can have more strands, but needs at least five. If you
distribute the weight of the strands correctly and it’s the proper
length, the strands will stay twisted while being worn. To keep it
simple while learning, use a five-ring clasp so you can attach the
ends of each strand to their own ring.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Debra,
in NYC

I missed the original question so what I am working with is: I
would like to make sure that the necklace would not unravel and
would keep its twist. Does anyone have any advice about how to
make a torsade necklace that will keep its shape? I don't want to
make a braided necklace,. 

I have made ropes out of fine chain and I have made cord out of fine
strands of silver wire using the same technique. I learned this as a
boy in the Cub Scouts.

When you look at any twisted rope, the individual strands have the
opposite twist to the larger cord. If the strands are made of smaller
strands, again the direction of twist is reversed.

So, making a twisted cord out of wire requires that the individual
strands of equal length be given a twist while keeping them under
contant tension and parallel to one another. Once the required
amount of over-twist has been stored in the strands, the tension is
slowly released while allowing one end of the bundle to rotate. As
the end rotates, the over-twist locks the strands together creating
the desired rope.

As I mentioned, I have occasionally used this same method to make
rope out of fine chains. We used to get a necklaces from a company
that used too fine a chain on their product but who would not sell
us just the drops. So I ended up with a bunch of very fine silver
cable. I took about 12 of them and hooked them together on one end.
I carefully put in the necessary twist in each by counting the number
of times I rotated it individually. Then I attached the free ends
together. When I held it up, it immediately formed a beautiful thick
twisted cord.

There are machines designed to make the twisting and rotating. I use
one made out of two plasticans and a few paper clips. (I’m very low
tech some times.) You can see several variations on how they are
made by doing a google search for -rope making machine-.

I hope I have not confused the issue too badly. Take a look at the
rope making machines and it may become more clear.

Peace,
Francis Kisner

Have a look at a piece of rope (or cable). The three “strands” (each
of multiple smaller strands or individual fibers) are held together
by a counter twisting method. For example, each of the three strands
are twisted counter clockwise then laid together and twisted
clockwise. The final CW twisting allows a relaxation of the initial
CCW twist of the components. If you can fit this concept into you’re
construction it may help. Solutions to problems can come from the
strangest places! Good luck.

Dr. Mac