Today’s project was not glamorous. It was making useful components for other stuff. Specifically, sterling silver jump rings.
Wait, can’t you buy those? Yes you can, but I’d rather not. I like making my own, not least because it’s a useful skill to have. As long as I have wire I can make whatever jump rings I need.
What do I do with them? For one thing, I make chains out of them that I then use to make bracelets and necklaces. See my gallery page for some examples! I also use them for the ends of chains where you attach the clasp, and in general anywhere I need to connect two things together.
The process to make the jump rings is simple but requires care. The first step is winding wire around a dowel of the desired size, and it needs to be tight. Today I used 18g sterling wire around a 4mm brass tube. That coil then comes off the dowel and gets annealed with the torch. Then back on the dowel to get tightened up again, to ensure the results are uniform. After that, I use my Jump Ringer to cut right down one side and end up with usable rings. At least in theory, right? Turns out the saw blade in my Jump Ringer is pretty trashed, and left burs on the first coil I cut. They can be filed off, BUT. So I ordered a new saw blade and when it gets here I’ll cut the rest of the coils I made today.
