Mandrels - Making Jump Rings

All along I have been limited in the sizes of rings I could make because I was using my little multi-pliers from Wal-Mart. While these are great as an inexpensive starter tool, they are not suitable for making a large variety of ring sizes. I had started using the wrong ends of drill bits to make rings since they come in many sizes. My brother, genius that he is, asked why I didn't buy this set of punches that Lee Valley has. The answer to that was quite simple.. not being the machinist that he is, I wasn't aware of their existence. One could ask, "Why didn't you just buy some actual mandrels made specifically for this purpose?" The answer to that is also simple.. because I'm cheap. :D. As it turns out we were heading to the city to check out the Home Show, so we stopped in at the Lee Valley shop as well. Once I saw the set of punches I knew he was right, they were exactly what I needed. About 4 inches long, I can make fairly long coils, but they're still small enough not to take up too much space. They are graduated in increments of 1/64 inch, and best of all, the whole set was only about $12 plus tax. This is less expensive than buying the same number and size range of jewellery specific mandrels, plus they have better portability.

Now for soft, small wire I can simply hold the punch in one hand and wrap the wire round it with the other, but the hand holding the mandrel cramps pretty easily that way, so my Dad went poking around the basement and came up with this tap handle (don't ask me what it's really for because I can't remember what a tap is, only that it has some connection to a dye, whatever that is).
So then we put the mandrel in the tap handle along with the end of the wire and close the handle down to hold the wire and mandrel in place. Next we simply coil the wire round the mandrel, taking care to keep the wraps close together to get nice neat coils, as this affects the uniformity of the rings. As an aside, I have recently been working with bronze from The Ring Lord.I have found this wire to be quite springy, and difficult for my weak fingers to keep a grip on, so after losing my grip and getting whipped with the wire a couple of times I found that putting the free end of the wire in a vice and turning the mandrel, instead of holding the mandrel still and moving the wire, is a safer way of making the coils. It's also a good idea once you finish coiling the wire to ease the mandrel back off a little before letting go, so the tension doesn't release all at once. Note that the spring-back in this sort of wire will result in coils with a somewhat larger diameter than the mandrel it's made on, so it will be necessary to use a mandrel somewhat smaller than the desired size of the rings.

Once we have our coil we need to cut it into rings. This can be done two ways. I snip cut a lot of my rings because it's easy to carry my cutters around if I'm working away from home (say, making chains while manning a table at the flea market). For a less visible, more professional looking cut, however, you'll want to saw cut them, typically with a jeweller's saw like the one shown (I wouldn't try this on steel though, it'll just ruin the blades, I'm not sure about bronze). I haven't a price on this just off-hand, as I use my father's when I need it. I believe he purchased his at Mountain Gems


To cut the rings we put the coil on a little wooden dowel to help keep it steady, with a notch in the end of the dowel to serve as a guide for the saw blade. Some folks who make a lot of rings use motorized cutting tools, but that requires a more complex set-up and extra safety precautions. Plus, hand cutting can be done easily at the kitchen table, so you can keep working even when you have visitors :D.

Euro 4-1 and spin-offs.

So far I have only learned a few chainmaille weaves, partly because I was primarily into wire wrapping rather than maille, and secondarily because I took a break from jewellery over the summer. The second weave I learned was European 4 in 1 (I know, usually it's the first :D, but I really liked Byzantine!). Aside from the rings I occasionally make with it, I found I could incorporate it quite well into pieces that really weren't chainmaille at all. This necklace is an example of where I made sections of beaded wire with loops at the end which I connected using the Euro 4-1 style just as if they were rings.

Seen here is a more traditional use of this weave in this copper finger ring. Not so traditional is my method of adding the bead. I have seen cases of the ring being made, and then a bead simply being attached over top of the maille. I wanted the bead to be part of the ring itself, so I threaded it on a short piece of wire and made a loop in each end. Then I took each end of the Euro 4-1 band and attached it to those rings. I may not be the only person to have thought of this, but so far I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Finally, this last piece is a choker consisting of "S" shaped links which I also connected using the Euro 4-1 style, and then accented it with some gunmetal coloured beads. The band narrows to a single chain at the back so that the size is adjustable. It is one of my personal favorites.

For Beginner Jewellery Hobbyists

As a babe in the woods of jewellery design, I have a couple of suggestions for anyone just starting out. Don't go overboard buying a bunch of professional quality tools and materials until you know you're going to stick it out. Of course this works for any endeavor, but making jewellery can get quite expensive if you let it. And you don't want to get stuck with this stuff if you decide it is not for you. As an example, I met a woman who tried her hand at wire wrapping. She started out using sterling silver and gold wire, and was disappointed when her early pieces didn't work out as she hoped. On top of wasting some expensive materials, she also decided wire wrapping wasn't for her, and ended up stuck with the remaining materials. Of course she may find a use, or be able to sell them, but it's doubtful she will get back her full investment.

So, you ask, what do you suggest?

I started out wrapping mostly just using my fingers and very soft polymer coated craft wire (you can find it at Wal-Mart for around $10 CDN, less if you find it on sale). I wasted some for sure, but it didn't hurt so much when it wasn't terribly expensive. After some successes, I found I needed tools to progress further. Again, I started with the basics. Not to sound like a Wal-Mart advert, but they sell a very useful little pair of pliers, which in fact I still use. These pliers are a combination tool; round nose at the tip, flat in the middle, and a wire cutter at the base.

If you will be doing chainmaille, you can also make coils of rings on these pliers; using 20Ga wire they make perfect size rings for doing European 4-1 or Byzantine. However, you will need a couple of other tools: a) a separate pair of wire snips with a good point that will fit inside your coils to cut them into rings, and a second pair of flat or chain nose pliers to assist in opening and closing rings:

These few inexpensive tools should get you off to a good start in your jewellery making endeavors without putting a huge dent in your pocketbook. If you manage to outgrow them and still want to make jewellery, then you can start spending your money on the fancy stuff. Mountain Gems and The Ring Lord are a couple of good places to start when you decide to add tools. I would also consider looking for some items at Lee Valley; although they are not specifically jewellery or chainmaille oriented, they have quite a variety of useful, good tools.