Carol Dekle-Foss
I recently came across this tutorial on how to make jump rings by the extremely talented Joy Kruse. I call her technique the jump ring making hack! Very clever. Joy has mad jewelry skills! If you haven't ran into her designs yet, here is some of her recent work.
Her work is AMazing. Joy also teaches, so if you live near Wisconsin I would definitely check out one of her classes. I wish I could! Here is her teaching schedule.
I was very interested in trying Joy's technique, so I did a bit of research on the coil holder and ended up buying Kevin's 12 inch Koil Cutter base over at Potter's USA. He also sells a Koil Cutter Kit. I'm kicking myself for not getting that instead. He offers the arbor and blade separately, so I may purchase those later to have on hand.
Okay, to try Joy's technique, I first made a copper coil using my drill.
I then annealed and pickled the coil like she suggested, which really helped the cutting process go faster.
Joy recommends using cut off wheels, like these at Home Depot. I didn't have any, so to cut my jump rings, I used the above diamond cut off wheel that I had on hand.
All in all, I would call it a success! It took getting used to but I was able to cut quite a few jump rings using Joy's technique.
DISCLAIMER: If you are just learning the flex shaft or if you feel more comfortable with the blade guide, I would get the whole kit. Also, it might be a good idea to first try out the arbor and blade to get the hang of the process. Please use all safety precautions when using flex shaft, put hair up, no hanging jewelry, and don't forget to wear safety goggles!
Thank you so much Joy for letting me share your clever technique!
I wanted to add that we have officially opened our ceramic shop! To celebrate we are offering 20% off through the June 19th.
Thank you for reading!
4 comments:
I adore Joy's work!!! Jump rings are my LEAST favorite component to make. I still use an old fashioned jewelers saw, with my coil on a wooden mandrel. I have never used a cut off wheel....I am putting this setup on my wish list! Thanks for the tips!
I do to!!! She inspires me so much. I hate making jump rings manually. Ugh With the flex shaft it makes it so much easier!
When I was first learning to use my jewelers saw I loved to cut jumprings. Now it seems such a tedious task. I have seen a device like the koil kutter in use before. I think I need to add one to my studio. Thanks for sharing the links.
What a great learning experience, I will have to check out Joy's tutorials and see if I can learn too. It is awesome to see how many jump rings you were able to make, that is really awesome. How long did it take you to do this? Because that is a LOT of jump rings. Either way, it looks like a great success.
Brandi Bradley @ Rotax Metals
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