Making Jump Rings (2) - Cutting Coiled Wire

In my last post, I talked about coiling wire as the first step of making jump rings. Once you have coiled wire, you need to continue the the second step, i.e. cutting it.

Just as making coiled wire, there are also many ways to cut the coil wire. Here some alternatives that I have tried:

1. Flush cutter

This is the simplest way, but wasting some of the material as flush cutter only make a flat cut in one side, so you have to cut again the other end of the wire to make it flat.

You can only cut one at a time. And it takes time to cut a long coil.

If I only need a few jump rings, I don't mind to do this way.

2. Jewelry saw

This is the way I prefer. I always cut it with an angle, so only 2-3 rings at a time. Not all at once. But it is much faster than using flush cutter. Also both ends are really flat, so perfect to close the ring. Less waste of material.

I lubricate the blade often to make it last longer.

To cut this way, you will need to hold the coil. I use 'watch repair tool' (watch bench table vise clamp) to hold it. If it's not long enough, I put mandrel of the same size of the coil diameter behind the coil so the clamp can hold it better and even. I found that when it's too short, it's difficult to use this clamp, then I hold the coil by my other hand.

Recently I search alternative way to hold the coiled wire. Some suggests to use 'coil cutting plier'. Looks so cool. But I have not had a chance to try yet.

I also found another tool that you can use to cut the coiled wire in more efficient way. Dremmel tool. I saw the video on how to use it. Again, I have not a chance to try.