HELP ON CUTTING 14 GAUGE 3/8" RINGS!!

Andrew de Marna · Post by **Andrew de Marna** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:20 pm

I have recently gone from 1/4" 16 gauge rings to 3/8 inch 14 gauge rings, and I am having trouble finding something to cut them with that makes a // cut or a ][ cut. I would be interested in the small cirrcular jewelers saw that goes on a drill, exept that i can't find the dang page again!!! :evil:

PLEASE HELP!!!

Josh W · Post by **Josh W** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:31 pm

End nippers?

Andrew de Marna · Post by **Andrew de Marna** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:34 pm

they make these type cuts, ><, not good enough. I want // or ][ .

Wilhelm zu Eltz-Kempenich · Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:53 pm

Ya need a saw to get // cuts on anything that thick. What material are you using? Aluminum might be a different story.

Thomas H · Post by **Thomas H** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:56 pm

azommin wrote:Ya need a saw to get // cuts on anything that thick. What material are you using? Aluminum might be a different story.

Sorry, that's just not true. The trick is to only cut a little way into the link and then snap it off. this gives flush ends, no muss, no fuss, if you will :-)

I use rings that size and this is how i've done it for two or so years with no problems other than the usual resharpening of my nips.

The Midnight Rust · Post by **The Midnight Rust** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:39 pm

I'm pretty sure that the little blades you mentioned only cut non-ferrous metals. I've never actually used one, but I'm pretty sure that you need a special guide to be able to cut with them too. I'd imagine any side to side movement would completely shatter a spinning blade that thin.

The only saw I know of that can cut steel that thick is the All Metals Saw, and it costs a lot of money. Like four hundred and fifty a lot.

At any rate, here's the page you were probably thinking of.

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplay ... ting+Tools

Kase Villand · Post by **Kase Villand** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:11 pm

Thomas is right. End Cutters are the way to go. A jeweler's saw will get a cleaner cut, and so will a dremel or other rotary tool with the right blade, but you'll take more time working and most likely go thru a lot of blades. Once you get the hang of twisting them off, you can get pretty good speed going.

Cut about 1/3 of the way thru the ring, then grip the ring with the end nippers directly across from the cutting point. The "bottom face" of the nippers will brace against the ring, and twisting the coil towards you will break it off nice and clean. You may get a little bit of roughness but closing the ring will smooth it out. I get better cuts with end nippers on 14ga rings than I do using aviation snips on 17ga.

The thing that takes the most practice to get the feel of is how much pressure to put on the ring while you're gripping it to twist it off... can't squeeze too hard or you'll mark the ring twice, but you have to hold it firmly.

Sounds crazy, but works.

polarbearforge · Post by **polarbearforge** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:28 pm

When I was still doing chain, I started with the jeweler's saw and dremel. I was mainly making jewelry anyway. When I needed more links, I built my own cutter.

The end cutters that give a // cut or a >< cut drive me up the wall. I do not like how it looks. On my <A href="http://www.polarbearforge.com/chainmail.htm">chain page</a> I listed two alternate ways. The one at the bottom was one that I made for my bandsaw. The second, at the top, is the first generation of my link cutter.

With 14 guage galvy at 3/8 inch diameter, I could cut a four foot section in under two minutes. I used to coil and cut 1/2 mile spools in less than two hours withouth pushing it. I usually went through 1 maybe 2 blades every 5 or 6 miles of wire. Stainless would wear the blades out quicker, but better blades and a coolant system help there.

Just before my interest in chain totally died, I build a second one (not pictured) that had variable speeds for different metals. I find that most people run the slitting saws way too fast.

Jamie

Josh W · Post by **Josh W** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:05 pm

The way Thomas and Kase describe is how I avoided the >< shaped ends when I made butted mail in high school. I made a whole shirt of 14ga 5/16" id that way. No trouble to it. I've never heard of anyone using a saw to cut their coils of links. That must be a pain...

Rev. George · Post by **Rev. George** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:13 pm

you can make a jig that lets you use a band saw or some such. but it's still not perfect or ideal.

-+G

Adriano · Post by **Adriano** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:48 am

14 gauge with a 3/8" ID seems almost the standard SCA butted mail. I use a Dremel with a heavy-duty fiberglass cutting wheel. (Actually, killed my Dremel and bought a knockoff at Target; several different companies make the same kind of rotary tool now.)

Caution: if you use a rotary tool, make sure you wear safety goggles and a filter mask -- you'll produce quite a bit of burnt metal dust.

polarbearforge · Post by **polarbearforge** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:21 am

Actually the bandsaw method worked quite well. I usually had two partial links in the whole coil, the first one and the last one. It was very methodic. Very little material removed and wonderful flush ][ cuts.

With the exception of the link cutter I built later on (built it in my head first while cutting links on the bandsaw) the bandsaw method is about # 3 in terms of ideal. #2 was the link cutter that I had built before. #1 only exists on paper. I have it drawn up, but will probably never build it. It coiled the wire and then fed the coil into the cutter automatically. If I ever get interested in maille again, I'll build it, otherwise it'll probably stay stuffed away in a drawer.

Jamie

Konstantin the Red · Post by **Konstantin the Red** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:27 am

For something that isn't jewelry -- i.e., it's a large project like a shirt -- I just butt the >< cuts with the points overlapping, so the facets of the cut butt face to face. The link goes slightly out of round, but then this was very typical of riveted mail armor also. Since mail features huge tolerances anyway, it never presents a problem. I think the join is almost surprisingly tidy.

Of course, about the time you advance to riveted links, the link cuts drop to secondary importance.

William of Otterton · Post by **William of Otterton** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:58 am

The few guys who've talked about it extensively on TRL use a drill press with a variable speed control. Use a nice low speed for hard metals. Tack on an arbour with a small saw blade and you're off to cut. Add in a small pump to recirculate water over the cutting process and you're set.

It's been discussed at length on TRL under a few threads. Search for saw-cut rings and/or drill press.

GdS

Mad Matt · Post by **Mad Matt** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:34 pm

Aviation snips work. But you've gotta modify them. cut the blades down to about half the length. Then grind the bottom blade down so that it will fit into your coil. Be very sure not to let the blades heat up at all when doing any of the above or you'll ruin the temper. Basically dunk them in cold water very often while you're doin it.

Archie Zietman · Post by **Archie Zietman** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:36 pm

cold chisel?

TPeterson · Post by **TPeterson** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:10 am

I use "Wire Rope Cutters" for all 14ga rings and Aviation Snips for 16ga. Both distort the rings in a similar fashion. Both also create cuts like this "//". The "Wire Rope Cutters" are about $10.00 with lifetime warranty. Only problem I have with them, can only "cleanly" cut one ring at a time. Can cut up to 3 at a time, but cuts not the best.

Lord Thomas the Black · Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:21 am

I use end nippers on all of my mail, using the "score and break" method, and I get perfectly smooth joins every time.

Jacob · Post by **Jacob** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:19 am

I use Wiss aviation snips. They make a little dent before shearing parallel, but I have not found that to be a problem. Wiss makes various models. What you want is the M5 notching shears. They are short, small jawed, straight cutting shears (exactly what Matt recommended without the cutting and grinding). I believe they are rated for 16ga sheet. Stick the jaws in as far as they go and cut 4+ links at a time. I use them for all of my mail, including the suit I made of 3/8" 14ga. I just started making rings for riveted mail using them, too.

Andrew de Marna · Post by **Andrew de Marna** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:01 pm

very nice.....hmmmmm...OH!, WHAT?? oh hey...i think i'll look into those m5 bulldog snips, sounds like what I need. Thanks for all the coments everyone :!:

Mike F · Post by **Mike F** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:22 pm

My experience in heavy maille and kusazuri:

Cold chisel is hard to get done well. Period. It works, but it's rough.

I agree completely on the nick and break theory. It works great.

I've done demel, and it throws of a hellish amount of dust, burns through blades if you don't use the lightest touch, and isn't much faster than nippers.

If you spend more time to build a rig, it can be faster, of course, but the clippers seem the way to go. That's my experience, of course, your milage may vary.

mordreth · Post by **mordreth** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:16 pm

Klein 7 or 8 inch ferrous metal diagonal cutting pliers
If you position the cutters properly you bet a very nice clean cut