Doug5150

The acetone will get the chain totally, completely clean in 30 seconds.
And the acetone itself evaporates pretty fast as well, when you take the chain out of the acetone.
You wouldn't use it in the ultrasonic cleaner, you just put it in a jar and dunk the chain in the jar.

There may be another problem tho:
Most roller chains are normally carbon steel, not stainless... So they may rust when placed in contact with skin, that sweats moisture and salt.

There is stainless-steel roller chain made, but it is much more expensive than the carbon steel stuff.

At McMaster-Carr, part # 6264K85 is half-inch pitch, 5/16" wide roller chain and costs $18.73 a foot.
Beneath that is some that has 1/4"-wide rollers, but it costs $28 a foot.

To view all their offerings,
At McMaster-Carr, go to "roller chain" and then select "corrosion resistant ANSI roller chain".

Doug5150

Ya know, stainless may not work here.... Stainless is really susceptible to salt corrosion too, but at least initially it's much less visible than carbon steel. She could try wearing a piece for a while and see how it goes.

Beyond that, the one thing that would certainly work would be to electroplate carbon-steel links yourself with gold or platinum.

You'd still need to clean the carbon steel parts with a real, actual (flammable!) solvent, like acetone or ispropyl alcohol.
And I dunno much about electroplating really, but I know it can be done at home.... ?

Good luck.

mlaps

Thanks for the feedback. She's been making bracelets out of new chain for over a year now, and they seem to hold up well enough. That's the only bracelet she has that she wears almost daily and it hasn't worn down at all. But I think there is an understanding/expectation that these will eventually rust a bit and that's OK.

I'm going to have her try the acetone first since that is an easy thing to try and we have some old chain to experiment on. But if she decides to go the ultrasonic cleaner route, any suggestions on a model? There's a big range of prices starting at $25 and working up to $200 or more. I'm thinking the cheaper models are meant more for infrequent household use and probably wouldn't hold up to regular abuse, but also not sure how high end she would need to go.

lightspree

2.5 Liter Ultrasonic Cleaner

https://m.harborfreight.com/25-liter-...ner-63256.html

There are quite a few reviews and discussions of this unit online, as well as videos. The consensus seems to be that it's a good unit and a very good value.

You can get 20% off any day with online coupons. Occasionally you can find 25% off coupons.

If it will be used a lot the extended warranty may be worth it.

Sealing the junction where the metal tray meets the plastic sounds like a good move [edit: this may or may not apply to the current 2.5 liter cleaner].

mlaps

Thanks!

Doug5150

Also if you go on aliexpress and search for "motorcycle chain bracelet", they have them already silver and gold-plated, for around $8 - $9 plus shipping.

It's not real motorcycle or bicycle chain, but that may not matter. If she's just using the side-plates, you could take one totally apart and you'd get about 30 side-plates for the $9 price,,,, 30 cents each. I would dare say that you probably could not plate them as cheap as that, yourself.

Some of the lighter-weight bracelets in this style only cost $3 each. China wins again.