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One of the conveniences of working with wire when making jewelry is the ability to make many of your own jewelry components, such as making your own jump rings. While there’s nothing wrong with purchasing prefabricated jump rings, in fact it makes a lot of sense to do so, every once in a while, you may find it necessary to make your own. And, it is surprisingly easy to do. While there are a number of different methods for jump ring making, this one is probably the most low-tech. All you need are a few hand tools, a pencil, and some wire.
Materials and Equipment: Approx. 1 foot of 20-gauge half-hard round wire Flush-cut wire cutters Jeweler’s file 2 pair of flat-nosed pliers
Note: I have found that half-hard wire works best for jump rings because you need the wire to be fairly strong. However, in a pinch, you can use dead-soft, but I would suggest if you do so, that you work harden it afterwards by hitting it a few times with a rawhide mallet.
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Start by wrapping the wire around a pencil. This will determine the diameter of the finished jump rings. An average pencil is around 8 to 10mm in diameter. For smaller jump rings, use a thinner pencil or stop by your local hardware store and invest in some inexpensive wooden dowels in various sizes. Knitting needles also work really well for this. (jumpring1.jpg) |
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Continue to wrap the wire around the pencil until you have all the wire wrapped. Do your best to get the wrap tight so that each wrap is up against each other. (jumpring2.jpg) |
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Pull the wire off the pencil and you’ll see that you have what looks like a spring now. (jumpring3.jpg) |
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Take your wire cutters (flush cut is preferred so that you have the best chance of making a flat cut across the wire) and cut each ring on the spring individually, one at a time, until you work your way down the entire piece. (jumpring4.jpg) |
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You should have a bunch of rings. Obviously, the more wire your use the more rings you’ll make. (jumpring5.jpg) |
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The next step involves using a jeweler’s file. This is not the same type of file you might use for your nails. These are made specifically for jewelry making. Your regular emery board or nail file just won’t do the trick here. Using your jeweler’s file, file the end of each jump ring. You want the ends to be as flat as possible. It is best to file in one direction rather than go back and forth (that, at least, is the same for fingernails). (jumpring6.jpg) |
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Once you have filed the ends of the jump rings, use a pair of flat-nosed pliers, one in each hand, to close the jump ring. As you move one side of the jump ring towards you, move the other side away from you, and you’ll hear your jump ring “snap” into place as both ends meet. (jumpring7.jpg) |
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