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DIY Droopy Chain Necklace

chezlin

This week I'll be walking you through how to make a necklace with some drooping chains hanging down. This is an intermediate level project because part of the necklace will be fabricated by hammering the metal and drilling into it. Supply list for this project!

Cut the wire to 6 inches.

Bend the wire to make a gentle curve. You don't have to be super precise just yet.

Hammer the heck out of the wire to flatten it out. Every once in a while you need to reshape the curve in the wire

If you don't have access to a bench block or a jewelers hammer you could totally just use a hammer on concrete.

The bonus to this is that you get a pretty cool looking texture.

Once it's nice and flat, do your final shaping.

Round the ends with a file. You could totally get away with a metal nail file, here.

Make a mark on each end, and then one at the halfway point, then one 1/4ths of the way and then one 3/4ths of the way, so you end up with 5 marks, like so.

Use a center punch to make dents at each mark. If you don't have a center punch you could use a nail and hammer to tap a dent.

Use your dremel(I used a 1/32" bit) to drill holes at each mark. The dents you made in the previous step will prevent the bit from dancing around while you're trying to drill. Also, I have a flex shaft, which is basically just a fancy dremel, but a regular one works just fine.

File down the metal burs around each hole.

Time to cut the chain and gather the materials for the necklace~ You'll need: one 4 inch piece (attach the lobster clasp to this) three 5 inch pieces one 5 1/2 inch piece (attach the jump ring to this) one 10 inch piece one 24 inch piece (mark the halfway point with a marker) Also, I'll be referring to each hole as hole 1, hole 2, hole 3, hole 4 and hole 5, like shown in the photo.

Stick a jump ring into hole 5 and attach one 5" chain, then the 24" chain and then the 5 1/2" chain with the jump ring.

Stick a jump ring through hole 4 and then attach the 10" chain and the other two 5" chains.

Skip over hole 3, and now for the fun part! Stick a jump ring into hole 2. Take the other end of the 10" chain from hole 4 and attach to hole 2. Take the other end of the 5" chain from hole 5 and attach to hole 2. Take the other end of the 5" chain from hole 4 and attach to hole 2.

Take the other end of the 5" chain from hole 4 and attach to hole 1. Take the other end of the 24" chain from hole 5 and attach to hole 1. Attach the 4" chain with the lobster clasp to hole 1.

Finally, go back to hole 3 and attach the middle point of the 24" chain to the jump ring there.

And you're done!

Let me know what you think of this finished necklace! I quite like how it turned out!