Use A Coil Winder To Wind Jump
Ring Coils For Cutting

Winding Jump Ring Coils

Use a coil winder to make wire coils for cutting into chain maille jewelry jump rings.

There are a number of winders on the market using a drill chuck to hold the jump ring mandrel.

They are simple to use, the mandrel is placed in the chuck jaws and tightened. If the mandrel has a slot in it the wire is placed in the slot and as the handle is turned the coil will be wound towards the drill chuck.

If the mandrel has no slot hold the wire in the chuck with the mandrel, as you begin to turn the handle the coil will be wound away from the chuck and towards the end of the mandrel.

Wind the coils slowly letting the wire run across the ball of your thumb keeping pressure on the wire as you wind the handle and making sure that the coils do not spread apart.

I like the wire to come off the top of the mandrel rather than from underneath.

The winder can be either bolted to a bench or clamped to the bench with a “C” clamp.

If you are going to use a power cutter such as the Jump Ringer system or Koil Kutter to cut the coils push some wooden skewers or dowels inside the coils to support them during the cutting process.

There are some small power operating coil winders on the market which also work well.

Mandrels

Steel mandrels are the best for this rather than wooden dowels.

Mandrels are available in metric and inch sizes. Square, oval, diamond and triangular shapes can also be purchased.

If you are using a power cutter you will need to purchase special jigs to hold the non round coils whilst cutting.

Some mandrels will have a slot in the end to hold the wire. Other mandrels do not have a slot and the wire is held in the drill chuck.