Equipment

The coils are very much like springs. In fact, some people buy springs so that they can skip this part of the process entirely. We originally made coils by manually turning a steel rod while wrapping wire around the length. The very basic animation shows a mandrel setup which is fairly easy to put together from a rod and two blocks of wood. In the name of progress, we now use a drill press or lathe to spin the rod, but if you don't have one of those handy, this is an inexpensive way to get started.

The inside diameter (ID) of the links is actually the diameter of the rod that is used to spin the coils on. See the links page for more information on choosing the ID for your links.

Spinning

One end of the wire is inserted into a hole in the rod. The rod is then turned while wire is fed along the length. Letting go of the handle at this point is a bad idea (especially if you are working with spring steel). Leaving a small gap between the lays of the coil may make it easier to cut and puts less stress on the cutter tips. After a length is coiled, cut the wire and slide it off the rod. If you're making anything larger than a small jewelry piece, you'll have to coil quite a number of these spools in order to have enough links.