It was my goal to have two new stainless steel chains using the 316 steel ready this week. When making a pattern you have to keep the inner circle of a link in mind and this changes depending on the gauge or thickness of the wire used.
So when you are assembling a pattern what you have is one link locking into perfect mathmatical harmony with its neighbor so the pattern is held in place. The result is a firm but flexible piece for jewelry.
When you hand cut links to test a pattern the size ratio is thrown off. When you officially coil and cut the wire, sometimes it is thrown off ever so slightly if you are not careful. However, ever so slightly is more than enough of a variance to break the mathematical harmony of any pattern. It could end up too tight or too loose. Sometimes you think you have it down and realize you have to go back to formula.
That is exactly what happened so far. I cut three rounds of metal this weekend and enough of the material to build initial stock. So about 20 hours of labor and both patterns are too tight.
So now I have to find a use for the material I cut and start over again once new blades come in so I can produce again.
When considering the cost of some products we sell, I wanted to share some of the madness we work through to get a new product to pass our quality standards to give it our stamp to say it is worthy to offer to you. So, time to dust myself off, and back to the drawing board.
Regards,
Corban Majere