How can I...

[flordeluz]

Hello everybody
I need some advice from you people

How can i bend a stainless steel (304) wire rod (3 mm) in order to create a perfect loop? I bought a pair of round nose pliers but still it is very hard to do the job by hand.. any suggestion?
Do you know any place where i can get another pair of big round nose pliers in the UK? It seems a very difficult item to find around, I had to buy the ones I've got online but the shop has only the 16 cm long, I am looking for bigger sizes (let's say 23 cm)

thanks in advance

 

[Hitch]

How big do you want the loop to be? SS wire will be quite hard to bend with just pliers....

 

[flordeluz]

I need to create different sizes of loops from 1 cm to 2 cm

 

[JimM]

Never used stainless nor I have I tried this so no idea if it will work but...

could you put a 1cm dia bar in a vice, tack one end of the wire rod to it and bend it round the bar a few times like a spring. Then run a thin cutting disc along the spring to separate it into rings. Gently press the rings in the vice to strighten them out ??

 

[astro_al]

Do it like a jeweller makes chain links.

Find a suitable diameter object (eg steel bar, round tool handle, etc etc) and wrap a few turns of wire around it. If you're after a specific diameter you'll have to account for some springback, maybe, so do a bit of experimenting with various diameters.

The first and last loops will be incomplete, but all the ones in between will be whole circles. So if you need a lot, its most efficient to get the all out of one 'wrap'.

Then you just cut all the loops apart by running a slitting saw down the length of the winding you've made (leave it on the round bar for this bit) An air cut-off saw might work for this. Then you just weld / solder / braze each one to close it up.

3mm into 10mm circles is a bit full on, but certainly do-able.

Cheers, Al.

PS - sorry, I was posting at the same time as the comment above!

PPS to do the different sizes, use a mandrel that is tapered - this will give you rings of increasing diameter.

 

[steve nunn]

do a search on you tube for chainmail, that method would porbably work
steve