Jewelry Making: How to Attach O Rings
O rings are round metal, plastic, fabric or glass circles with open centers used in a variety of jewelry designs. Unlike jump rings, another round metal circle used to make jewelry, O rings are closed circles; you cannot open the O ring to attach it to link chains, charms and other O rings. O rings are available in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses; attaching one to another is not difficult, but requires specific jewelry-making tools and materials. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Ruler
- O rings
- Jump rings with slits
- Round nose pliers
- Dowel
- 22-gauge wire
- Wire cutters
Instructions
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Attaching O Rings
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1
Measure the thickness of the O ring rim to determine the size jump ring needed to attach it to your jewelry design. The open center of a jump ring needs to fit loosely over one side of the O ring. O rings can be several inches wide around the rim, so you will need special jump rings sized to fit.
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2
Select a jump ring with slits that fits over the rim of the O ring. The jump ring should also be wide enough to fit over the jewelry finding you are attaching the O ring to. If you are attaching two large O rings together, you may need to make your own jump rings.
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3
Hold the jump ring on one side of the slit with round nose jewelry pliers. Hold the ring on the other side of the slit with your fingers or another pair of jewelry pliers. Twist the round nose pliers one way while holding the other side of the ring steady. This will open the jump ring.
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4
Slide the opening of the jump ring over the O ring and over the jewelry finding. Hold the jump ring the same way as in Step 3 and twist the ring closed.
Making Jump Rings for O Rings
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5
Measure the rim thickness of both O rings that you plan to attach together. Add the two measurements together to determine the jump ring size. For example, if one O ring measures 1 inch across the rim and the other measures 2 inches, you will need a jump ring that measures at least 3 inches--longer if you prefer a loose connection.
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6
Cut a 1-foot length of 22-gauge jewelry wire. Make sure that both ends of the wire are cut straight across, not angled. This length of wire should make several jump rings; alter the wire length depending on the size and number of rings that you need.
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7
Wrap the length of wire around a dowel that is at least as thick as the rim thickness of the two O rings. In the example from Step 1, the dowel diameter should be at least 3 inches. Remove the wrapped wire from the dowel.
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8
Position the wire cutters at the top of the first wire ring on the spiral where the end meets the wire. Make a straight cut to remove the first ring from the wire. This is your first jump ring.
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9
Continue to cut the remaining rings from the spiral using straight cuts. Turn the wire cutters facing the opposite direction for each cut to ensure that the ends are straight.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit color rings image by Sergey Galushko from Fotolia.com
