Drop Forged Bracelet - Make Jewellery From Tools

I was browsing a cheap tool stall in a market, and came across a set of "drop forged" spanners for the price of a cup of coffee.

As I am sure you know, you get what you pay for when it comes to tools. I put them back on the rack, saying to myself; "That cheap, they'll bend around my hand before they shift a bolt!"

I paused, struck by the Maker Muse, and bought the spanners.

Step 1: What You Need

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

Archimedes

To turn a cheap spanner into a bracelet, all you need is a decent lever and somewhere to clamp the spanner.

I used my largest adjustable spanner, and my every-day vice.

Step 2: Bend

I started by clamping the spanner in the vice, fitting the adjustable spanner to the end, and then leaning.

There's no need to be brutal, and no point in moving quickly - moving steadily gives you a lot more control over the point and extent of the bend.

Feed the spanner through the vice a few millimetres at a time, and bend a bit more each time.

Step 3: Squeeze

I accidentally ended up with more of a circle than I wanted, but I found that putting the curved spanner in the vice, then closing it slowly, gave me some of the oval shape I was aiming for.

As you bend and squeeze, stop occasionally and try it on - it is surprisingly easy to close the gap at the end too tightly to fit over your wrist. The spanner is not so springy as normal jewellery, so not so easy to force into place if it's closed too tight.

Step 4: Wear

Once you have the curve just how you like it, all you have to do is wear it.

Which way round you wear it is up to you, just go with your personal taste, but I find that the bracelet has a nice heft to it, a pleasing weight as you go about your daily business.

Small spanners can be bent for kiddies (a friend's youngster is already wearing one), a larger spanner could become an armlet, and a huge one could become a torc, but I'd guess the larger one might take more bending than my workbench could stand (it creaked as I got to the end of this example).

Anyhoo, if you are inspired by this instructable, please, hit the "I Made It" button, and post a photo.