I've just made my first bracelet using a kit I bought on maillequeen. And I might be addicted already! I hadn't considered making my own rings until tonight really...

Anyway, what would be worthwhile kit to buy to make my own rings? What can I expect to pay? Should I buy a tumbler?

Also, can anyone recommend pliers? I was using my standard jewellery ones and whilst I sanded them down, they were still a bit rough. I found a spot of masking tape prevented them marking but got slippy. Are nylon jaw pliers any better than metal?

Where's best to buy silver/gold wire? What metals are easiest/hardest to work with?

Thanks
Sus, x

not sure you can buy a whole kit to get you making rings but a koil kutter that attchies to your dremel is good, i love mine, a tumbler is a yes too

here's a link to a tutorial on using a koil kutter, it'll explain how it works better than i can

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If you wanted to get the whole lot - jump ringer, flexshaft, mandrels, tumbler etc, you're looking at a couple or three hundred pounds. You can get it down to about £150 if you already have a dremel and get a kk, but it's still quite an investment, and you need to be pretty sure it's what you want to do! A tumbler is a must have if you are bulk cutting rings.

However, you can get a perfectly good jewellers saw and a pack of 144 blades for under a tenner on ebay, use knitting needles as mandrels and hand cut your rings - I did it this way for quite a while - though I did end up buying rings for anything I needed to do in a hurry! You can get away with hand filing sawn rings too, though a tumbler makes a big difference both to the rings (polishing and hardening them) and to polishing the finished piece as well.

Pliers are another investment I'm afraid. You can use a mid-range set (beadsmith ergonomic, beadstrom etc) quite happily for a long time - though you may want some tool magic or plasti-dip to coat them. If you're going to do a lot of wirework, though, you'll probably end up wanting to get some Lindstroms or Swanstroms. Again, these are not cheap (at least £30 a pair), though you can save a bit if you import them from the US.

As for metals - I'd start by learning everything you can with copper. A fraction of the price and very easy to learn with.

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is a great source for bulk copper wire.

hth
george

Thanks. I think I'll maybe buy ready made rings for a wee while and see how I get on. I think I'll definitely get some new pliers though - that plasti dip stuff sounds good, must investigate that as some of my older pliers might do the job very well with that.

Sus,x

I haven't used plasti dip, but have tried tool magic, which does cushion the rings well. The very first maille I ever did I used it on my pliers. It really did help prevent tool marks, because when I was a newbie chain mailler I definitely had the death grip. It does peel off quite quickly though. And 2 thin coats are better than one thick one. If you are going to buy new pliers, I agree with George, Lindstroms are fabulous. Swanstrom are good too. Lindstroms are my plier of choice. I love them. I do have Swanstrom and CK as well, but always reach for the Lindstroms.

Edited to say that you can usually find a Lindstrom bargain on ebay.com