Making rings for chainmail by use of the 'Score & Break' Method

This method of making rings for chain mail is an alternative to the "traditional" use of the mini bolt cutters and uses a simple electrical side cutter to not cut but score or mark the place the consequent break will occur.
The 'Score and Break' method does not require a lot of force since no actual cutting is taking place.
If well practised you can make your rings without very much effort and without straining your hands and forearms.

The "cut" using the 'Score and Break' method is much more straight and clean and is much more suited for making butted chain mail.
Where (bolt)cutting rings from the coils leaves a v-shaped cut the score and break method leaves a straight cut and makes for a flush seem between the butted ends of the rings.
This results in a much more smooth operation chain mail garment with very little snagging on the gambeson or garment of choice underneath.

I have ground down the beak/tip of the side cutter to be able to go further inside the coil to able to use less force while scoring.
The closer the to be scored ring can be placed towards the pivot point of the cutter the less force is required to end up with a good and deep enough score or nick.

The idea for the 'Score and Break' method is certainly not mine. I got the inspiration from a gentlemen know on Youtube as Insomn.
The video to his explantation of his findings regarding ring separation techniques can be found among my chainmail video n my Rumble account page.

Explaining what I am doing in this video:
Firstly I insert the modified ground down beak of the side cutter into the coil, place the cutting surfaces closed against the edge of the previously created end of the coil.
Next I press lightly to nick or score the coil. Then I place the top jaw of the cutter between the previous end and the new nick and the lower jaw between the last en next coil and press down on the jaws to twist the ring sideways. In most cases the ring will have broken away or is ready to be rotated away very easily but sometimes (if the score was not deep or pronounced enought it can be neccesary to rotate the coil and repeat the squeezing and breaking to free the ring from the coil. Practise will detemrine the amount of force will be required to be enough to have the ring break away on the first squezzing it sideways.
In this video I show you the procedure (repeatedly) using the second squeeze (which you may find you are doing for the first few dozen or so rings) but as said, you may get a feel for how much force is needed to have the ring break free on the first sideways squeeze.

In this video I use 1,6 mm wide SG2 mig welding wire (the kind everybody uses to weld your garden variety sheetmetal and light construction steel (box)sections and angle iron. The wire is the thickest available on spools, the larger wires (1,8 mm and up) are sold as rods of 3-5 feet which are not really suited for chainmail manufacture (in regard to making garments that is).

Hopefully this text and the video will help you trying this method.

best regards.