Cutting Chain Maille
Rings
A jewelers saw, flush cutting snips or a special electric saw can be used for cutting jump rings for use in woven jewelry.
Flush cutting snips leave a less noticeable burr on a cut ring than ordinary snips, but you will need to buy the best snips you can afford.
Burrs are difficult to remove, you cannot expect a perfectly flush join with links made this way.
An adjustable jewelers saw will slice coils and leave a very small gap in the coil. It can be difficult sometimes to hold the coil whilst you cut it.
There are now special pliers available that will hold a short coil whilst being sawn.
For ease of use and speed, purpose built power saws are the best choice. These machines will produce an excellent quality and quantity of links.
Power Saws
There are a number of saws powered by electric tools on the market today. I use a tool called a Jump Ringer Standard and a special coil winder to wind the wire onto the mandrel.
This tool can only be used with a jewellers flex shaft with a No. 30 handpiece. You need a motor that runs at approximately 20,000 RPM.
This saw can be powered by a Foredom flex shaft with a foot control.
A flex shaft is a very handy tool to have. You can cut, drill, grind, polish and power other tools with a flex shaft. A large range of accessories are available for this tool.
A tutorial on the use of the Jump Ringer slicing coils and coil winding can be found here.
Another power saw available is the KOIL KUTTER from Potter USA .This cutter will fit a Dremel Moto tool.
Also available is a model designed for the Foredom Flex Shaft.
Parts and accessories are readily available for these two models.
Potter manufacture a range of presses and dies for jewelry makers.
Visit here for an excellent tutorial on how to use the Koil Kutter
Both these saws come with blade holder, blade, saw guide and jig to hold the coils.
If you can purchase a coil winder it makes coil winding easy.
From my own experience I find that both the Jump Ringer and Koil Kutter work well, making ring production easy.
The blades are not designed for hard metals and should only be used on sterling silver or gold. Before cutting coils place some tooth picks or small dowels inside the coil to support it.
The blades are not designed for hard metals and should only be used on sterling silver or gold. Before cutting coils place some tooth picks or small dowels inside the coil to support it.
Always wear appropriate safety goggles when working with power tools.
It is useful to cut extra rings to make your weave about 1 inch longer, keep the extra piece as a starter chain for the next time you make the same design.
If you wish to experiment with your own weaves or you see some weaves with an AR (Aspect Ratio) notation please visit the Articles section at CGMaille Tutorials for an explanation of aspect ratio (AR).
Aspect ratio is very important when determining what ring sizes to select for your own jewelry designs. Not all weaves use the same ring size. Using the wrong size will result in either a loose weave or a weave that is too tight and inflexible.
YouTube has a number of videos about cutting jump rings using power saws,jewelers saws & snips. For those of you who wish to produce large quantities of rings look up the Ringinator on YouTube, not for the faint hearted.
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