How to Open a Jump Ring

One of the first things you need to learn when starting out in jewelry making is how to open a jump ring.  Jump rings are important in beginner jewelry making because they are used quite a bit to join things together.  They join beads and bobbles, are used as extenders, and can also be used to create jewelry pieces when used together.\

Jump rings are an essential findings for your toolbox.  They not only do they hold things together, but you can also use many of them together to create your own chain.

You can get a jump ring closing tool that completes jump ring and chain mail projects quickly and easily. To use the tool, you simply grip the jump ring on opposite side of opening with needle-nose pliers, insert the open side of the jump ring into one of the closing tool slots and twist. The same motion opens and closes rings.

You don't need a special tool though to open and close jump rings.  You can do it manually, with the use of needle nose pliers.  Here are the steps:

1.  Use your round nose or flat nose pliers to grip the jump ring on both sides of the split.

2.  Move one plier towards you and the other away from you, in other words move your hands in opposite directions (forwards and backwards). Don’t pull it apart  from left to right or the round shape of the jump ring will be distorted.

3.  At this point, you can slide whatever you are planning to join onto the jump ring, whether it be a chain, earring wire, a toggle closer or even another jump ring. 

4.  Follow the same steps above for closing the jump ring. Grip both sides of the jump ring with your pliers again. Move the jump ring back into place by wiggling the ends back and forth. You will feel the ends sliding against each other. Your jump ring should be perfectly aligned when closed.

Opening an closing jump rings can be a little "fiddle-y" at first.  It can take some practice to do it perfectly, but if you keep working at it, it will soon become second nature.  Since jump rings are used so much in jewelry making, it is a good idea to practice and become really good at it.

With this blog post, I will leave it to you to practice a bit on your own.  In my next post, I will show you how to make a simple bracelet (very CUTE!) just with jump rings.  When you have mastered the art of manipulating jump rings, you will want to make a dozen or more of these cute bracelets in lots of colours and styles (because you can be creative with this technique).  See you next time... and happy jewelry making!  (Remember, practice!)

If you need a place to get beads and jewelry making supplies, try:

GemMall.com