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Hi,
When I introduced myself to the forum I mentioned that my partner had bought a Koil Kutter for my birthday. It has now arrived, as has the copper wire I ordered for practice. However I am a little 'scared' of starting as I am not a professional jeweller and have no experience of winding and cutting large amounts of wire. Any tips to get me started and over my trepidation will be gratefully received.
Linda [-o<
Hi Linda
Take a look here: HowTo Use a Koil Kutter it's a really good tutorial if you aren't sure where to start.
That says it all, Lucinda, but I'm wondering about ear plugs. Does it have a scary scream? Dennis.
Haha! No Dennis, it's not that loud. You need to protect your eyes, but your ears ought to be fine!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
Hi Linda,
I've not had my kutter long and it does take a bit of getting used to and you may go through a lot of copper! lol One thing that does help me is to put masking tape on the coil to stop the rings jumping about. How will you be winding the wire, are you using a drill?
Kind regards
Anita
Anita - masking tape is not a good way of holding the rings in place - and you'll make a mess of your blade far faster that way. If you don't want loose rings after you've cut, just thread a bit of shirring elastic or stretch magic loosely through the coil and tie the ends together before you cut. Your rings will then be nicely held together on one string. I do think they take a little longer to deburr in the tumbler with this technique though.
Hello to All
At the moment I cut my rings using a saw. I would be very interested in a cutter but would like someone to answer a couple of questions..
Are there any other makes of cutter or is Koi the only one?
Are they available in this country or will I have to source them from the US?
Thanks in anticipation
Shawn.
There are various types of cutter around, including two types of jump finger and the pepe system which I've seen at Sutton Tools here in the UK. Only the koil kutter works with an existing dremel or proxxon rather than a boredom though. I have two cutting systems and still prefer to cut all my rings by hand - and that often runs into thousands a week.
(and my phone desperately wanted to call it a mould mutter.....)
Hi everyone...I was a frequent poster here many lifetimes ago...Solunar Silver Studio no longer exists as I have had to spend my time as a full time carer.
I have a quick question which I hope someone could give me a little guidance on. I have been doing chainmaille for a few months, as therapy since my husband died, and am now thinking of a koil kutter from Potters USA as so much of my time in now spent in sawing! Money is tight and although I can afford the cutter, scare stories about the customs charges has scared me off a bit as I can't afford to spend double the amount! Can anyone give me an idea of what it might cost to ship it over here or a shrewd guestimate?
Thanks in anticipation,
Barbara
With the Knew Concept saw guide (which has arrived at last) my total bill from Parcel Farce was £63 if that helps.
Hi Barbara and welcome back.
I don't do maille, but if you read through past threads you will gather that hand cutting with a saw gives cleaner edges. Note particularly what George says, because she's an expert.
Regards, Dennis.
Is it just me of does that tool look like it would be pretty easy to make yourself anyway?
Probably, but any rotary tool sharp enough to cut metal needs to be firmly held and out of the way of fingers, because it will want to judder and jump.
Hi Barbara and welcome back. Sorry to hear your bad news.
If you're looking for jump rings for chain maille, I can thoroughly recommend George's rings. They're so clean and shiny with no burrs. So much better than any I've ever bought elsewhere.
Thanks for all your comments. I am making quite a lot of bracelets, pendants and earrings Carole and have a couple of outlets with steady sales so I do use a lot of rings...one of my pieces (Labyrinth weave) uses just over 300! I am winding and cutting my own (with a jeweller's saw) which gives me great scope in having plenty of different sizes (God bless the knitting needle!!) in different wire gauges and metals and obviously it is cheaper than purchasing them and paying postage. It was just a thought, as I was sawing through my morning coils, that I could spend minutes rather than hours doing this if I had some kind of cutter. I already have a Dremel so the Koil Kutter looked like a good option. I just blanch at the thought of the added customs charge! To anyone that owns one...is this cutter really useless and not up to the job? And - just as an afterthought...does anyone this side of the pond have a (Dremel) Koil Kutter that they don't want any more for sale......;) !!!Attachment 6974
I like my Koil Kutter and would not be without it, but it is one of the originals and the newer ones are said to be less good. I have difficulty holding the coil when cutting with a saw so only use that method for small numbers of rings.
Just over 300 rings does not sound a lot, one of my collars used more than 1440.