Bangle hinges

[enigma]

Im just in the process of making some, its all going well in that Ive cut 3 sections of tube and soldered them , two on one side and the centre one on the other and they are lined up with a pin through atm.
Im just worried I may mess the rivet up, any tips?
Thanks in advance

[Faith]

Hi Sarah,

I've only tried to rivet once, so I practiced first just riveting with a spare tiny bit of tube and wire. I found that helpful to see it how worked and figure out how much wire I needed to make a nice mushroom

Faith

[Dennis]

The secret is to have a pin with quite a snug fit Sarah, either by drawing down wire, or by annealing and stretching. That process will gradually reduce the diameter and keep it straight. If your bangle is silver, it might be worth using 9ct white for the wire.

Next make a head at one end. My method is to make a small ball and cut half of it off.
The end of each knuckle can be slightly countersunk with a round burr, so that the heads vanish when complete.

Sharpen the wire end to insert it and eventually pull it through completely with pliers. Then cut off the end leaving just a little more protruding in mm than the diameter of the wire.,

Rest the head end on a steel block and tap very lightly and patiently on the other end with a small riveting hammer. Nothing will happen at first, but gradually a head will form in the countersunk hole. Finally file the ends flush.

Alternatively you can leave the ends showing and finish them with cup burrs. As you said, making the second head is where things can go wrong, so it is worth wasting a short bit of tubing say in a chenier clamp, and some wire, to practice. Dennis.

[enigma]

Brilliant thank you both!
The bangle is silver Dennis, the tube Ive used is also silver and only 2mm tube, do you think it will be strong enough?
I have some gold I can use for the pins.
Thank you so much for all that detail, I shall be sure to follow it to the latter

[CJ57]

You've done the hardest part Sarah! As Dennis said rest the end on a steel block and I use a square or round ended setting tool or the like and then you can splay the surface out moving the tool to tidy it. I love riveting and use it for all sorts.

[Dennis]

The bangle is silver Dennis, the tube Ive used is also silver and only 2mm tube, do you think it will be strong enough?

Ideally it would be joint tubing, which has thicker walls. Dennis.

[enigma]

Thanks Caroline, Ive been putting off hinges for a long time, anything remotely mechanical is rather daunting for me lol.

I haven't heard of joint tubing Dennis, thank you, I will have a look for some.

[CJ57]

Thanks Caroline, Ive been putting off hinges for a long time, anything remotely mechanical is rather daunting for me lol.

I haven't heard of joint tubing Dennis, thank you, I will have a look for some.

I can't say my last hinges were a great success, too much solder but my rivet was excellent

You can get joint tubing from Cookson I think, that was maybe my other problem but it wasn't weight bearing like a bangle. Maybe I should challenge myself again, what kind of catch are you going to do Sarah, that would be my next problem?

[Dennis]

Joint tubing is just tubing with thicker walls, so that it won't stretch as easily with repeated use.
The ones from Cookson might be on the large side for you, but Euro Mounts and Findings have two smaller ones: BST22 and BST24. However the arithmetic for their sizing does not seem to add up. Dennis.

[enigma]

Thanks Dennis.
Yes the Cookson ones are all too thick.
Ive done the tube sections now so tempted to leave them and hope they are ok., do you think thats asking for trouble ?
The bangle is quite light at 1.5mm thick by 6mm wide.
Ive done a slot catch Caroline with a small ball on a tiny peg that slots through a hole then pushes along into a smaller hole.
Im going to also put a safety chain on it although actually it seems really secure.
I was intending to not use a hinge tbh but its such a stretch of the metal to open over a wrist if its to then be closed snug.
I still haven't done the rivet, just been finishing the rest of the soldering jobs on the bracelet today so was planning to do it tomorrow.