How to make chain links uniform? Tooling question.

[atlas]

Hi,

First post on the forum and was wondering if someone could assist me. I have been searching for a specific bit of kit that i "think" makes all the the links in a chain uniform. I have attached a picture from a youtube video and was wondering if someone could tell me what this tool is called and if i am correct in what it does. 

Thanks so much
Dan

Attachments:

[caeterle]

Hi Dan and welcome to the forum

I have never seen something like the thing in the video. Do you mean jump rings for chainmaille? I know there are machines for that from our predecessor forum, but don't remember which one exactly was described.
I found a video with one which doesn't look like this, though.

[atlas]

Nov 11, 2022 2:36:19 GMT -6 caeterle said:

Hi Dan and welcome to the forum

I have never seen something like the thing in the video. Do you mean jump rings for chainmaille? I know there are machines for that from our predecessor forum, but don't remember which one exactly was described.
I found a video with one which doesn't look like this, though.

Hey thanks for your swift response. I "think" what it does is let's say if you make a jewelry chain with drop rings and it's all but completed you would feed it through this machine and it would make all the drop links in this completed chain even and uniform. I am looking into making jewelry for fun and I was trying to price up all the equipment I would need and this seems like something I would use if it does what I think it does .

[caeterle]

Ah, okay. Yeah, sorry, I wish I could help with this one, but that's something I have never needed. Hopefully one of the others will chime in.

[DawninCal]

Welcome, Dan.

Sorry, I'm no help either as I'm not familiar with such a tool. I make my links by hand and I could see where a machine like this would come in very handy. Best of luck finding an answer to your question. Please let us know what you find out.



Dawn

[atlas]

Nov 11, 2022 15:42:50 GMT -6 DawninCal said:

Welcome, Dan.

Sorry, I'm no help either as I'm not familiar with such a tool. I make my links by hand and I could see where a machine like this would come in very handy. Best of luck finding an answer to your question. Please let us know what you find out.



Dawn

Hi Dawn,

Just a little update after hours of searching through comments and using google translate on various youtube videos i found the best answer i could. This machine is an old jewellery crafting device that was almost exclusively used in Ukraine and other countries from that region and it simply called a sizing machine. You cannot seem to buy them anymore so the only way to get one would be to custom make it, people tend to use larger draw plates for the same purpose to feed through completed chains, they also seem to use some sort of mechanical advantage and a vice to pull it through as i think doing it by hand would be to hard.


Well that was a fun adventure. Hope if anyone else stumbles across this post this answer will prove useful. .


Thanks again
Dan

[caeterle]

How interesting! Thank you for sharing, Dan!

[DawninCal]

I think that was a great bit of jewelry making history. Thanks, Dan!



Dawn

[Irith-Rita]

I used to make fine silver fox tail chains once. The drow plate device I used to make the chain even was this one:



It is much simpler than the Ukranian device. The draw vice with the holes is available at jeweler's shops and internet sites, and has holes in various sizes. It is held with a vise attached to your work table. You have to heat the chainmail to soften it so it will go easier through a hole in the gadget. You first draw it through the largest hole, then to improve it - through the second largest hole and so on, until you get the result you want.

Perhaps this may help you.

I copied the photograph from Alan Revere's excellent book on "prefessional Goldsmithing", as I could not find anything better on you tube.

[caeterle]

I have used a hardwood draw plate for my wire crochet, knit and (few) Viking knit ropes, without a vise, but that's because the copper wire I use is not that thick and therefore the wooden one works well.

[Irith-Rita]

Cat, thank you for letting me know it is called a "draw vice" in English.

Now I also know one can get them made of wood.

[caeterle]

You can, but of course the metal one is much sturdier than wood, even if it's hardwood. On the other hand, the wooden one worked even with my coated colored wires, a metal one would probably have been too hard on them.

[Irith-Rita]

I believe you are right Cat. They could scrape of the color. also the metal one is probably heavier.