How to Make an Anticlastic Bracelet

What makes a bracelet anticlastic is the way it bends. It encircles the wrist, but not as a flat or convex band like other cuff bracelets. Instead, the anticlastic bracelet is concave all the way around, flaring out away from the arm on both the top and the bottom edges. To forge this type of bracelet, you will need a variety of specialized metalsmithing and jewelry-making tools, as well as the metal of your choice.

Instructions

1

Take the measurements for the size of bracelet you wish to make. Cut out a template for the anticlastic bracelet using cardboard and the wrist measurements you have taken: One template might be 6 inches in length and 3 inches in width, with rounded ends and a gap of 1 inch between the ends.

2

Glue the template to the piece of metal and saw around it. File the edges until smooth.

3

Note where on the bracelet mandrel you would like the circumference of the bracelet. Lock the bracelet mandrel into a vise to hold it steady while you shape the bracelet with a rawhide mallet to conform to the shape of the mandrel at the designated circumference.

4

Form the concave portion of the anticlastic bracelet by placing it in a nylon stake with pre-made grooves to hold onto the bracelet. Hit the bracelet with a nylon cross peen hammer all along the center so that you form a kind of trench.

5

Place the bracelet on a steel block and hit the topmost edge of the bracelet with a planishing hammer to push the inside edge outward, forming a curled lip all around the bracelet. Reverse the bracelet and repeat on the other edge. Remember that the anticlastic bracelet will not only be curved around the wrist, but curved on its surface so that the width of the bracelet caves in in the middle all along the bracelet's length.