How to Make Cool Stainless Steel Jewellery

Hello Instructablers.

At my work we use 4mm stainless steel wire rope to suspend submersible water pumps down bore holes. We are frequently left with short lengths left-over that would usually be wasted. I used some of this left-over wire rope to make some cool bangles for my daughter.

In this i'ble I'll show how it's done so you can do it too. You'll be surprised how simple it is

I got my inspiration from manila rope quoits we used to play with as kids. I remember staring at one for a long time trying to figure out where the join was. It seemed very mysterious to me at the time.

You only need four things:

1. Wire rope. I use one strand of a 7 x 7 construction 4mm 304 grade stainless steel wire rope. That is a rope made up of seven strands which are each made up of seven stainless steel wires. You will need piece about 1200mm long.
2. Heat shrink tubing. This is normally used to seal joints in electric cables. I use a piece about 10mm wide by 15-20mm long.
3. Pliers or similar to cut the wire.
4. Heat source to heat the heat shrink tube.

The wire is made up of six strands twisted around one straight strand or king wire. We use one of the twisted strands to form a circle, twisted around itself six times to build a complete rope. It's not easy to describe but it's easy to do - the strands naturally sit where they need to.

The first step is to cut a length of wire rope at least six times as long at the circumference of the bangle you want to make. I'm aiming for about 200mm circumference so cut my rope to at least 1200mm long.

Next, remove one of the twisted strands from the rope. Just pick one out of the end and untwist it until it comes away.

Poke the strand through the piece of heat shrink tube.

Form the strand into a circle the size you want, and pass one end through the loop - just like the first step of tying shoe laces. If the loop is hanging down, the right hand end should pass over the left part and then back up through the loop. If it's correct the twists will fit together nicely. It should be obvious if it's right or wrong. If it looks ugly, just pull it apart and try again.

Now simply keep twisting the ends around the part that makes up the circle. You'll find that it will naturally sit where it should.

Each time you do a complete circle you will need to pass an end through the heat shrink.

After five laps it might look like the rope is complete, but you will find that another lap will slot in nicely and make the rope tighter and more solid.

When you have done six complete laps the rope should be nice and tight and neat.

Using pliers cut off the excess strand. Try to make the cuts in such a way as to minimise protrusion.

Position the heat shrink tube over the cut ends of strand and apply heat. A heat gun is usual, but I didn't have one so I used a candle. Be careful not to burn the tube. Take your time and heat it gently and you will soon see it shrink and tighten over the cut ends. This will stop them from unlaying and will prevent the sharp ends from poking you.

Let the heat shrink tube cool and harden, and give it a wipe to remove any soot.

Sit back and admire your work.

Of course this system can be adapted to use with any twisted strand rope. And the circles can be as large or small as you like. Also, heat shrink is available in lots of colours, but I only had black.

I made some with stainless steel nuts as beads. They had to be placed on the strand with the heat shrink tube right at the beginning.

I hope you have enjoyed my Instructable. If you have any questions please ask in the comments. And if you make one I'd love to see pictures.

If you like this you might like to see some of my other work in my Etsy Shop.