Making jump rings

I wanted to try and make my own sterling silver jump rings about 4-5mm.  What gauge wire should I use and any tips for making them.

[Metalman]

Our jumps run from 20ga. to 18 ga. over that size range.
The gauge, to some extent, is a design decision.  Imagine a 5 mm jump ring made with 12 ga wire - minature donut effect.
The limits are the durability of the ring and the application.
Question would include:  Are you/will you be soldering these jump rings?  Will they be used in earrings [light wear and abuse]  or bracelets  [very heavy wear and abuse]??
You can buy wire in soft [annealed], half hard and hard.  These refer to the amount of stiffness and/or hardness of the metal and are caused by the working of the metal. When you solder the jumps, you will anneal them, making them soft, so if soldering you may as well use soft wire to make them as it will be easier to work with.  If you will be using the jumps unsoldered, you will probably want to make them with half hard because it is stiffer and will get a little bit harder when you wind it for the jumps.  You ought to be able to come across further details and methods - pg 138 in Tim McCreight's 'The Complete Metalsmith'  has a section on jumps.
Send further questions

[grandmotherwind]

Hey.I would love to learn how to do this as well.Does it require special tools of any kind?

Grandmother Wind's Workshop

[Metalman]

Tools for jumps,  hmmmmm......
Well it depends on how many you want/need.  A jewelers saw or a flex shaft/dremel type tool with a cutting blade  and something to wrap your jumps around [steel rod the size you desire, a nail, a wooden dowell] - this will suffice for smaller amounts of jumps.
If you want alot of jumprings - 50 to 1000s, there are a range of tools, cutters,clamps, mandrels to look into - how much did you say you wanted to spend?
A web search "making jump rings" yeilded a number of instruction sheets and tools and equipment.
I still recommend The Complete Metalsmith as a resource.

[grandmotherwind]

Thanks so much for the tip.There is alot of great information on the web-I'll remember that.

grandmotherwind

http://grandmotherwind.com


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