From a flat strip to something that fits

A cuff starts as a flat strip of sheet. How long it has to be depends on the wrist, how much room you want, how wide the opening is and how thick the sheet is – the metal on the outside of the bend stretches, the inside squeezes. A closed bangle has to go over the hand instead, and a wide one needs more room than a narrow one.

Braceletmaker works all of that out, draws the flat strip with its shape and its pierced pattern, and shows you in 3D how it is domed, hammered and formed on the mandrel – with the wrist inside it, so you can see the fit.

What it does

• The fit – an open cuff from the wrist, the room and the opening, or a closed bangle from the hand, with an oval inside and extra to file at the seam.
• The shape – the width in the middle and at the ends, an even, straight or soft taper, rounded, half-round, pointed or dovetail ends, and a plain, scalloped, wavy or zigzag edge.
• Doming and hammering – how much it is domed, a hammered or lined texture, and how much the hammering stretches the sheet.
• A pierced pattern – circles, drops, leaves, diamonds, triangles, stars, hearts or slots, in rows or scattered, and holes of your own drawn by hand or freehand, mirrored as you like.
• Checks – holes too near the edge or each other, too small to saw, too close to a soldered seam, and a fit that is too tight or too loose.
• Template, 1:1 – the strip with every hole and pilot point, over several sheets if it is long, a 50 mm ruler and a 10 mm square to check the print, and a forming gauge of the inside.
• Files – SVG to print, STL for a resin test, and your design saved as a file.

Beta

Braceletmaker is new. Check the first print against a ruler, and the strip round your wrist, before you cut.

Made for makers

Braceletmaker is part of Silversalen's tools for silversmiths and hobby makers, next to Piercemaker, Claspmaker, Linkmaker, Kintsugimaker, Filigreemaker, Facetmaker, Bezelmaker, Boxmaker, Conemaker, Signetmaker, Ringmaker, Chainmaker and Bench Mandrel.