Help! Tiny Jump Rings / O-Rings Breaking
by Nonie Noordman.
(Oregon)
I am working on small drop stones on a bar of heavier wire. I have to use very small o rings / jump rings…gold plated and silver plated.
How do you make the o rings last longer than the first wear without breaking apart?
They are really too small to solder. Help!
Nonie Noordman
A Brand New Touch
Hi Nonie, would it be possible to use a thin gauge of half-hard wire to make wire-wrapped briolette bails (tutorial) instead of using o-rings to attach the small drop stones?
I think I read somewhere about using a drop of glue (like E6000) at the ring’s seam.
Hi Nonie, are you opening the rings correctly? they should be opened by twisting with two pairs of pliers, then the next ring or whatever inserted and the ring twisted back. Make sure that the ring is tight so the ends touch each other. If you are opening them by just pulling the two ends apart they will never regain the original strength of the wire. Another thing you can do is to gently hammer the jump ring so it is work hardened, if they are too small to hammer you can hold the join with pliers and just squeeze a few times. A drop of superglue or e6000 on the join would help too. I would apply this with a toothpick so you only get a very small amount on the join. Hope this helps, Suzy.
Hi Nonie, Suzy is right. Hold with two pair of pliers and twist the two ends back and forth just past each other a couple times then back to where they meet. This will work harden the wire. Hammering will also help harden. If they are really small, hold the ring with bent nose needle pliers and tap the end of the pliers with the hammer. You don’t have to hit it very hard, just a few taps will do. Good luck.
You might want to go with stainless steel jump rings. If they are too small to solder I believe they will be too hard to harden via hammering. The perk of stainless is they don’t tarnish.