Help with jump rings

To get a good closure, you just have to practice, practice and more practice. I always suggest to buy some cheap jump rings and practice with them. You want to hold them in your pliers ( I prefer to hold them with the pliers at an angle down the sides of the ring and the tips of the pliers near the opening as in the picture) and lightly pull your left hand towards you and the right away from you to open and to close just reverse the direction.

Try to twist jump rings open rather than pull them apart. It will be much easier to twist them shut.

@Skeels, that's what I do. I still have chain slip through despite doing that and waiting until it clicks.

How thick it the wire you are using to make the jump rings?

@Skeels I am just buying whatever pre-made crap at Michaels. Don't know the gauge. I have used small ones and medium size ones.

Good question @cabibbo, I have the same trouble too - even with store bought jewellery. I've considered soldering the rings closed - has anyone tried that?

I would buy wire and make my own... Wrap the wire around a stick the size you want and cut off with a piercing saw... I can do a little step by step if you like. You can then make all sorts the size you prefer and the thickness to match your work. All you will need is a stick and piercing saw!

@catmorley this is shameful self promotion of my first book.. out next month: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldering-Jewellers-Rebecca-Skeels/dp/1785002740/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489852339&sr=8-1&keywords=rebecca+skeels

Out next month. Order yours now by The Crowood Press https://t.co/gSHcoUNwqw @Skeels please share. http://www.crowood.com/details.asp?isbn=9781785002748&t=Soldering-for-Jewellers

What I usually do is use two jump rings. That way the stress is distributed between the two rings and any chance of the jump rings becoming stretched or otherwise working themselves apart is greatly reduced.
There is also such a thing as a split jump ring (basically the same thing as a keychain, just jump-ring size). I have never had anything come off of one of these before, but I find that split jump rings can be pretty difficult to work with.

The two jump rings probably looks nicer than one too, good idea.
if you are making your own, try square wire, triangle wire, textures wire etc, to suite your designs!

it looks like the beads that are hanging down are on headpins. all you would have to do is fill them with the seed beads then use round nose pliers to round the end and then attach to the other part

I switched to using split rings instead of jump rings.