Jump Ring cutting

**mizgeorge** · 03-09-2009, 07:34 AM

Hey Bernie,
It sounds very like you have a physical problem with either your arbour, or with your chuck. My blades spin perfectly in alignment, and I cut a LOT of coils before I need to change a blade. I did once have a problem, which was entirely my own fault when I'd cleaned the system and put the arbour back on incorrectly.

I hope Dave will sort this out for you - I've always found him a very helpful guy. The only other option I can think of would be to switch to a different drill type - have you considered changing to a foredom?

**Bernie** · 03-09-2009, 08:48 AM

Thanks Ben. It really is knackering half the rings. I'm getting anything from marks which for jewellery is a no no anyway to outright mangled metal.
I'll have a word around to see if I can find the right person. Annoying really but I used to work in an engineering factory with the best toolmakers you could imagine. There's irony.

I think it must be time to get "creative" but the timing is really rotten.

**Bernie** · 03-09-2009, 08:53 AM

Thanks George and apologies for baling out last night. Nearly 1am and had to be up for 6:30.
I've just ordered a couple of new arbors from Dave and I'll replace the old Dremel as well but like Ben says, I'll look for an engineered solution and see what I can find and if I get a good solution I'll let everyone know.

Checked your site out btw, very cool. great design and gorgeous jewellery.

**Emerald** · 03-09-2009, 09:04 AM

Go on then Bernie what do you make with all these jump rings or are they going to be for sale gis a clue lol

**Bernie** · 03-09-2009, 09:08 AM

Oh, OK. Link below.

www.lightwirejewellery.co.uk

**ps_bond** · 03-09-2009, 09:12 AM

I was just off costing a small lathe and slitting saw... A cheap lathe might not be all that its more expensive cousins are, but they're still better than nothing. If that were used as the basis for your engineered coil cutter, your total cost should still be less than £500 and you'd have a lathe for other things too - such as coil winding, making your own mandrels etc.

**Bernie** · 03-09-2009, 09:15 AM

Thanks Peter, that may well be the way to go. I'm definitely thinking along these lines now because the constant cost of spares and the waiting for stuff from the USA is somewhat annoying.

I had no idea when I started this it would balloon into engineering.

**CyberPaddy66** · 04-09-2009, 05:42 PM

I saw a rather good idea on you-tube a while back, a chap who make chain-mail (like I do as well btw) by hand used a cheap drill and mandrels to form the springs, these were then fed into tubes (of different sizes depending on the ring size) at a 45 degree angle downwards onto a dremel with a diamond cutting disk. The weight of the springs fed the cutting wheel and the rings flew out of the end of the tubes into a big box at a rate of knots.

I know this isn't going to help you in your limited time frame but it may be worth looking at for future use

**Bernie** · 04-09-2009, 07:47 PM

Thanks Paddy, that actually sounds brilliant.
Things have developed a little and Dave Arens is such a nice man. He's sending a couple of arbors out to me so I should be back up and cutting soon but this idea just sounds really clever. I'll see if I can find the video.

**mizgeorge** · 04-09-2009, 08:40 PM

Bernie, I've seen some of these setups - and they really are geared for large scale big stuff making - stainless steel and aluminium - not for precious metals. Apart from anything else the kerf is huge by comparison to the slotting saw you're using now. The metal wastage would also be pretty tear-jerking!

Dave is a nice guy isn't he