Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Adventures Making Jump Rings




Being a novice, making good jump rings seemed an impossible task. I had no trouble winding copper wire in a coil, but trying to make perpendicular cuts on the coil with flush cutters was an impossibility since one side always had a point. After cutting the point, the rings were acceptable, but the ends did not fit invisibly. I tried sawing with a jewelers saw, but the blades kept breaking. After consulting the Rio catalogue I discovered the saw blades were the wrong size for the gauge wire I was attempting to saw.

My daughter in law, Elizabeth, gave me a Koil Kutter for Christmas. We experimented Christmas day and succeeded in making one good cut. After that we were not able to cut any coils. Since success was ellusive and two expensive saw blades were ruined, this month I decided to retrace every step. I ordered new saw blades. I purchased a Dremel 400XPR since I had been using a Black Decker rotary tool. I thought that possibly I needed more power. I reread Desiree's Desired Creations directions "How to: Koil Kutter with a Dremel" trying to follow each step precisely. Still success eluded me. I contacted Dave Arens the inventor. He was most helpful and able to tell me just what I was doing wrong-twisting my wrist slightly so that the saw guard was not staying flat on the coil holder enabling the saw blade to glide across the coil rather than cut through. Guess what! Instant success. The tool worked like a charm.


I have included some pictures of pieces made before the Koil Kutter. I am certain my next projects will be much better. Thank you to all the people who wrote such good reviews sharing their experiences and Desiree McCrorey with her excellent detailed instructions and pictures. Now I will feel confident making silver jump rings.
Maybe I am not such a dummie after all.


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1 comment:

  1. Your chain work is terrific! I really like your copper earrings.

    Making jump rings can be difficult--it's nice to see that someone else has had difficulty with the Koil Kutter though. I thought it was just me! It definitely has a learning curve.

    By the way, thanks so much for your comment on my blog! It means a lot to me to know that someone out there is actually reading it.

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