Originally Posted by
Dennis
Aim at about 16", or 40cm for a normal short chain.
Peole have different ways of making it. But first of all work closely over a large soldering board, because let go accidentally, chains have a life of their own and will slither away onto the floor.
Next if all links in a group are prefluxed you do not need to pickle frequently, but just go on working.You can make short sections at a time and join them later.They can be cooled rapidly just by placing on a large steel block.
If using pallions, single jump rings are most reliably closed lying on the board with the solder under the join, so that it cant escape.
Then for connecting, I prefer to hold up the connecting jump ring with small self closing tweezers and with the part to be soldered at the top.
Lastly, chains with jump rings all one size can be quite boring, so you might consider at least two sizes, for instance three or five the same and then one bigger. Also, oval links can break up the monotony, so the bigger ones could be stretched to oval by opening small round nosed pliers inside them. Dennis
Bookmarks