Question: Is the a bracelet fixture?

[Chujybear]

I often do cuff bracelets, and sometimes bangles.
For cuffs I carve most of it flat, but always sort of touch it up in the round. Or if im doung any chasing i will do it in the round. Goes without saying with closed bangles. I use various bits of chunks of wood and pitch to hold things..
Just wondering if there is a fixture (like ring genie, or the various setting fixtures) for bracelets?
Any that people have made? I'm thinking a U with a pin that goes through the top skewering the mandril that the bracelet is fixed to. Couple washers... Some sort of mechanism to lock it.

??

Thank you.

 

[Marrinan]

If you take a piece of rubber, say a hard rubber ball that is larger than your formed bracelet you can make a nice expandable fixture:
*slab the ball or other semi hard rubber ( for 3/4 inch bracelet) 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick
*cut to shape of bent bracelet
*cut to 2 pieces of metal at least 1/16 of an inch thick. I make mine about a 1/4 inch smaller than the rubber.
*Place one piece of metal on each side of rubber and drill 1/4 holes through the lot.

The idea is that you are making an expanding stopper. You can buy them at plumbing supply houses for pipe stoppers. when you place bolts through them and tighten they expand and tighten on the bracelet. I have done this on a lot of tube type engraving jobs. When you can't get to both sides to tighten use carriage bolts. Works on cups and mugs too. Just use a stopper or ball that fits inside and setup to be able to make it expand. Fred

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

The only bangle bracelet holder I know of is the one sold by Lacy West Jewelry Tools: Bracelet Holder

 

[dlilazteca]

If you take a piece of rubber, say a hard rubber ball that is larger than your formed bracelet you can make a nice expandable fixture:
*slab the ball or other semi hard rubber ( for 3/4 inch bracelet) 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick
*cut to shape of bent bracelet
*cut to 2 pieces of metal at least 1/16 of an inch thick. I make mine about a 1/4 inch smaller than the rubber.
*Place one piece of metal on each side of rubber and drill 1/4 holes through the lot.

The idea is that you are making an expanding stopper. You can buy them at plumbing supply houses for pipe stoppers. when you place bolts through them and tighten they expand and tighten on the bracelet. I have done this on a lot of tube type engraving jobs. When you can't get to both sides to tighten use carriage bolts. Works on cups and mugs too. Just use a stopper or ball that fits inside and setup to be able to make it expand. Fred

Marrinan

Thank you, is there a way you could make a YouTube video? Or a picture tutorial?

Carlos De La O III

 

[Brian Marshall]

The one Doc shows is made for setting diamonds in tennis bracelets - not bangles...

Might possibly work on very narrow cuff bracelets for engraving - but probably not worth the fight?

Jura also makes one for cuffs/bangles.


Brian

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Here's the one made by Jura that Brian mentioned. It looks like a person could rig something up like this themselves.

 

[Chujybear]

Thanks everybody.
I'm going to make something and was aiming at something like the Jura.
Looks like it's a modified ring holder.
I don't know why I didn't think of the rubber ball. That's just how I fix rings. Tho a little more elaborate.

 

[Aaron Nelson]

I use a thick dowel a bit longer than the bracelet width and goop a lot of green setters-pitch on it so that holds the bracelet, kinda like that cool looking contraption in the picture above. On wide bracelets I use the ring holder inserts on my block. Keep your fingers wet so the pitch doesn't stick to them, and let it cool as you build up pitch so it's not all melted at once. The through dowel is like an axel in a wheel, and stops my vice from just cracking the pitch when I tighten things up.

 

[atexascowboy2011]

I use a cutoff piece of grubbing hoe handle. About a 3" long piece. Fasten the bracelet to the wood with bondo or thermolock which fills in the concave back for great engraving. The handle is tapered like a mandrel and the further up the handle you go it works for various sized wrists. Torch it lightly to release. Plus, the wood absorbs the vibration.

 

[John P. Anderson]

I have several pieces of hard wood cut with a scroll saw in the cross section of the wrist that I use for forming and holding my bracelets after carving. Three block cover most sizes but I'll make more if needed. They have a tab left on the bottom for clamping in the vise. Cut a hole in the center for clamps to fit in.

I use them mostly for forming as I haven't found much need for touch up after forming.

John

 

[Chujybear]

John,
The tab you leave at the bottom. Is this where the gap in a cuff bracelet would be?

 

[atexascowboy2011]

How do you engrave all the way around the bracelet with "one" POC with a tab?

 

[John P. Anderson]

> The tab you leave at the bottom. Is this where the gap in a cuff bracelet would be?

My bad, it was early this a.m. when I read your post and I only caught the cuff portion and read over the bangle portion of your post. Having never carved a bangle I bow out with my foot in my mouth.

To answer the cuff portion, yes the tab is at the opening. I do make a lot of temporary jigs in all my building endeavors. A hoof rasp is great for quickly shaping wood and particle board blocks.

John

 

[Chujybear]

Not at all.
Good to hear the spectrum of what is done.
And tried and true is always a boon.

 

[John P. Anderson]

I like Fred Marrinan's idea. I live in the remants of a junkyard and semi truck fuel caps are close to what Fred describes. Maybe it's time I did a bangle.

 

[dogcatcher]

I don't engrave them, but I have a mandrel to hold 1.25" diameter brass and aluminum bands that go on duck calls. It is a turned piece of wood that fits a little lose on the band, then from the end drilled and tapped for a galvanized pipe plug. Then cut from the end into 8 segments, so it looks like a collet. As you screw in the pipe plug I expands and keeps the bands from slipping. You can look up expanding arbors to get an idea of what it looks like.

I also have another jig that does a compression onto the bands to keep them tight.