Okay, so I finally got around to playing with those rondo rings I had lying around. Been meaning to do this for ages, just never seemed to find the time, you know how it goes.
Getting Started
First thing, I dumped the whole bag out on my workbench. Gotta say, they looked kinda neat all jumbled up. They’re just simple metal rings, nothing too fancy, but felt solid. I wiped a few down, just to get any dust off. Didn’t need much, really. Grabbed some thin wire and my trusty pliers, figured that’s all I’d need to connect them.
Figuring Things Out
So, I started just trying to link them together. My first idea was to make a simple chain. It was a bit fiddly, gotta admit. The rings kept slipping in the pliers. Spent a good ten minutes just trying to get two rings linked neatly with a small piece of wire.
- Tried holding the ring steady with one pair of pliers.
- Used another pair to wrap the wire.
- Realized I needed smaller, finer wire than I initially grabbed. Swapped that out.
Yeah, that thinner wire worked much better. Made it easier to wrap tightly around the points where the rings met. Less bulky looking too.
Making the Pattern
Once I got the hang of linking them, I decided not just to make a chain, but to try arranging them flat into a sort of circular pattern, like a coaster or a small mat. I laid them out on a piece of board first, just to see how they’d fit. Moved them around a bit until I liked the look. Decided on a central ring with six rings around it.
Then came the connecting part again. Same process: hold, wrap, tighten. It got repetitive, linking each outer ring to the center one, and then linking the outer rings to each other where they touched. Kinda reminded me of the name, ‘rondo’, like repeating a theme. Just kept going, ring by ring, connection by connection.
Finishing Up
Took maybe an hour, hour and a half, working steadily. Once all the connections were made, I went back over them, tucking in any sharp wire ends with the pliers. Didn’t want anyone snagging a finger on it. Gave the whole thing a gentle wipe-down again.
And that was pretty much it. Stood back and looked at the little ring mat thing I made. Simple stuff, really. Nothing groundbreaking. But it felt good to actually do something with those rings instead of just letting them sit in a bag. It looks kinda cool on my desk, holding my coffee mug now. Yeah, a decent afternoon project, turned out alright.
