Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

Shear-cut rings
These are useless

• Non saw-cut rings - These don't pass the jewelry test. It doesn't make sense, or cents. The upside is the time savings. The ends are so deformed that they will never line up anyway, so no need to waste time on good closures. But literally, a few more pennies get saw-cut rings.
• Tacoed rings - It might be the first or last ring(s) in a coil or mangled by the cutter. The out-of-roundedness may be the least of its problems.
• Chad rings - These have hanging or protruding pieces of metal which can be dangerous, never mind unsightly. If the ring is OK otherwise then remove (file, sand, cut) the chad. That hanging metal came from somewhere; there may be a ring with a missing chunk. All pinch- and shear-cut have this to some degree. Saw-cut rings can show this, too.
• 'C' rings - Covering two possible scenarios, they have been opened too much. One vaguely looks like the letter 'C' (radially expanded, like Pacman opening his mouth). Laterally (twisted), it resembles a loose helix.
  NOTE: Sometimes a ring has to be opened so much it seems "damaged" in the process.
• Nicks, gouges, scratches, voids - Damage happens in unlikely ways. A section of wire could be heavily scratched or discolored. Pliers could bang into virgin coil.
• Cosmetic - Paint chips off. Plating wears away. Anodized rings fade and are often cut after coloring so the uncolored edges are painfully obvious. Super-bright colors...well, there's a reason the marketplace is flooded.
• Design - Ring and wire sizes have a dramatic effect. Weaves like Jens Pind Linkages have strict A.R. requirements. In general, too loose and the weave won't display properly, too tight and it might bind, too flimsy and it won't hold up. A Half-Persian 9-in-1 made of unsoldered 1" inner diameter rings with 0.5mm dead soft 0.999 silver wire will fall apart before it even has a chance to fail.

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