Making Jump Rings

[Castle Mark]

Hi Folks, I'm a new member here. Hope you are all doing well.
I'm really loving making chain maille bracelets. It's very relaxing and it's even a way to sell my creations and bring in some cash.
Buying rings has presented itself as a daunting task. It seems that there are only two internet shops that offer a wide selection of sizes and colors. The price, however, really adds up when buying rings.
I have been watching videos about the Pepe Jump Ring Maker. The process seems to be fairly easy. After doing some math, the savings of making my own rings is considerable.
Couple of questions, if you don't mind?

Anyone here use the Pepe Tool?

Where is a reliable source to buy copper plated and anodized aluminum wire?

Thanks for your time. I look forward to communicating with all of you.

Thanks,
Castle Mark

 

[MrDeranged]

Welcome to the site. Unfortunately, I haven't used the Pepe tool so I can't help you there, but I have a few questions for you.

• Which internet shops have you checked?
• Are you currently mailling as a business or do you plan to in the future?
• How much maille do you make?
• Do you generally work in "non-standard" sizes?
• Would you consider yourself a high volume crafter?
• Did you consider the value of the time that would be "lost" making your own rings (coiling, cutting, deburring, cleaning) in your cost calculations?

Ring cutting equipment, whether Pepe or a Ringinator, is a sizable initial investment and there are continued maintenance costs to consider (blades, lubricant, wire, mandrels, etc.). I just want to make sure that you have as much information as possible when doing your math on the "savings" from making your own rings. Please, please don't forget about the time involved in making your own rings as well. Too many people don't consider "time" to have a value and I feel that is doing a disservice to oneself. After all, the time spent making rings could be spent making items to sell.

I'm going to tag Jenifer from steampunkgarage as I believe she has spoken about this topic before. Hopefully she'll chime in with her opinion

 

[Castle Mark]

Welcome to the site. Unfortunately, I haven't used the Pepe tool so I can't help you there, but I have a few questions for you.

• Which internet shops have you checked?
• Are you currently mailling as a business or do you plan to in the future?
• How much maille do you make?
• Do you generally work in "non-standard" sizes?
• Would you consider yourself a high volume crafter?
• Did you consider the value of the time that would be "lost" making your own rings (coiling, cutting, deburring, cleaning) in your cost calculations?

Ring cutting equipment, whether Pepe or a Ringinator, is a sizable initial investment and there are continued maintenance costs to consider (blades, lubricant, wire, mandrels, etc.). I just want to make sure that you have as much information as possible when doing your math on the "savings" from making your own rings. Please, please don't forget about the time involved in making your own rings as well. Too many people don't consider "time" to have a value and I feel that is doing a disservice to oneself. After all, the time spent making rings could be spent making items to sell.

I'm going to tag Jenifer from steampunkgarage as I believe she has spoken about this topic before. Hopefully she'll chime in with her opinion

• Which internet shops have you checked? So far I have bought rings from Weave Got Maille. Ringlord's website, in my opinion, is a navigation nightmare. I have checked others, but their offerings are limited.
• 
  
• Are you currently mailling as a business or do you plan to in the future? Yes, I am approaching retirement and will be making necklaces, bracelets and earrings to sell online and at craft fairs, etc. We currently have one room in the house that will be dededicated to the business for tax purposes.
• How much maille do you make? I currently produce bracelets and necklaces daily.
• Do you generally work in "non-standard" sizes? I don't use non-standard sizes.
• Would you consider yourself a high volume crafter? As we ramp up, my wife and I will both be making product to sell.
• Did you consider the value of the time that would be "lost" making your own rings (coiling, cutting, deburring, cleaning) in your cost calculations? I am currently not working. Even in this booming post Covid job market, employers will not hire a 63 year old person. We have lots of time to prepare for a retirement business. Weave Got Mail currently charges about 12 bucks for an ounce of aluminum rings. 54 bucks for an ounce of sterling silver, which will be our material of choice in addition to gold filled rings. After easy math, I can make an ounce of aluminum rings for about $2.00 and an ounce of sterling silver rings for more than half off the retail price.

 

[EvaJ]

This is a thread about making jump rings. I am an amateur and have problems making jump rings with ID*s for which I don't have the required mandrel. For example a jump ring with ID 3.6 mm or 3,1 mm. I have tried to cover the 3,5 mm mandrel, or 3 mm mandrel, with one layer of painters masking tape. That adjusts the thickness, but the tape is not slippery, and I can't get the spiral off the mandrel. I use a jeweller's saw to cut the rings. But if I can't push the spiral upwards to the slot at the end of the mandrel, then I can't saw them. I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to solve the problem, ruined both rings and mandrel, and had to throw it all away.
How do you adjust a mandrel's thickness to make jump rings of exceptional ID sizes?
Grateful for any suggestions

 

[dorothyroeder]

Hi Folks, I'm a new member here. Hope you are all doing well.
I'm really loving making chain maille bracelets. It's very relaxing and it's even a way to sell my creations and bring in some cash.
Buying rings has presented itself as a daunting task. It seems that there are only two internet shops that offer a wide selection of sizes and colors. The price, however, really adds up when buying rings.
I have been watching videos about the Pepe Jump Ring Maker. The process seems to be fairly easy. After doing some math, the savings of making my own rings is considerable.
Couple of questions, if you don't mind?

Anyone here use the Pepe Tool?

Where is a reliable source to buy copper plated and anodized aluminum wire?

Thanks for your time. I look forward to communicating with all of you.

Thanks,
Castle Mark

I don't make jump rings but I can tell you what others with experience with making jump rings say. First, you have to anodize rings after cutting as coiling damages the finish and anodizing is a very toxic process. It seems to be a craft all on its own, taking a lot of experience to get the increasingly larger range of colors now available, so not advisable. TRL has the best prices with Metal Designs a close second with the discount of Canadian dollars many think their quality is better. ChainmailJoe has great prices on 1lb quantities with an increasing range of color choices. Their quality is as good as the others.

The confusion with the TRL site is probably due to the vast number of choices. there is a lot of scrolling to get to size 18 5/32 of anodized aluminum because they list the larger sizes first and go down. For each size there are the old machine cut rings being discontinued then the saw cut, then square wire, twisted and matte with all the colors listed for each. You eventually get used the how much scrolling to do. I find their system more logical than MD's which has separate pages for new and old colors.

I would say a tumbler is more important. Rotary and vibratory later.

 

[moaatt]

I am very interested in having the ability to make whatever ring sizes I want instead of having to order rings every time I want a new size. I have done some basic research regarding making rings myself and I would appreciate any input that people might have in case there are any major oversights.

Requirements

• Coil Winding Method
  • For this you need a collection of mandrels to wrap the wire around(these determine the inner diameter of the rings you make.
  • You also need a way to grip and rotate your mandrels. Depending on your needs this could be done manually or with a drill.
• Coil Cutting Method
  • At the high end(expensive but good, fast, semi easy) there are tools like a ringinator though I am not looking at them as they are more than what I need.
  • At the lower end for good smooth cuts you can get a jeweler's saw which has fairly cheap blades though this is a slow cutting method.
  • Also at the lower end if you can accept less smooth cuts you can buy wire cutters which are faster than using a jewler's saw.

Optional Items

• Measuring Tool
  • In order to ensure that the rings are the size you intend(due to springback on the mandrel) I thought that it might be good to have calipers to measure created rings for consistency.
• Ring Shiner
  • You can use a tumbler for most rings to make them shinier.

If people have suggestions for what tools can fill these gaps at the low end of the price range I would gladly accept them.

 

[silverknitter]

This is a thread about making jump rings. I am an amateur and have problems making jump rings with ID*s for which I don't have the required mandrel. For example a jump ring with ID 3.6 mm or 3,1 mm. I have tried to cover the 3,5 mm mandrel, or 3 mm mandrel, with one layer of painters masking tape. That adjusts the thickness, but the tape is not slippery, and I can't get the spiral off the mandrel. I use a jeweller's saw to cut the rings. But if I can't push the spiral upwards to the slot at the end of the mandrel, then I can't saw them. I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to solve the problem, ruined both rings and mandrel, and had to throw it all away.

I am sorry for your loss.
I coil my own rings and my approach is: firstly I try the ringsize close to the required size. Surprisingly many weaves are quite forgiving.
I also tamper with my mandrels (knitting needles) with masking tape. One has to be very careful when coiling. No pressure on the wire! Then it can be released quite well from the mandrel. It also helps to do a shorter coil.
Normally I coil the whole length of the knitting needle, saw what I need and store the rest, so I am very much in favor for long coils. But when the metal of the mandrel is covered it is better to keep the coil short. Also I don't want to be burdened with too many rings/coils in unusual sizes as I have limited storage space.

 

[Bobbie]

I have been hearing that the ringanator is a good system and sometime you can find these used,