wire design basics book 2 - jewelry making with...

More Techniques and Designs for Beginner to Intermediate Jewelry Designers

Wire Design Basics Book 2

© 2003 Gary Helwig & WigJig (www.wigjig.com)

By Gary L. Helwig

Wire Design Basics Book 2by Gary Helwig


Organization:Starting with page 27, this book will be organized into sections starting with one or more pages teaching specific skills and fol-lowed by a project that uses those skills. The projects walk the reader through every step in making a piece of jewelry. When completed you should have several pairs of earrings, and a few bracelets or necklaces. What is more important is that you will have the skills to make new jewelry designs, using the techniques shown here.

Introduction:The purpose of this document is to expand on the information provided in the first book in this series, “Wire Design Basics.” In this book, we will address new skills and projects that use these skills. Every attempt will be made to provide information that is new and was not covered in “Wire Design Basics.”

This book presumes that the reader is comfortable with the skills and projects taught in “Wire Design Basics.” For those readers who haven’t reviewed “Wire Design Basics” lately, the first 26 pages of this book review the skills covered in that book. If you are com-fortable with the skills from “Wire Design Basics” you can jump directly to page 27. If you saved the pages of Wire Design Basics on your hard drive, you won’t need to save pages 3 through 26 of this book.

Supplies & Tools:The following supplies and tools are used in this document: 18 gauge wire, 20 gauge wire, 22 gauge wire, 24 gauge wire several head pin findings, several beads, and the following tools:o flush cuttero round nose pliers or round-flat plierso chain nose pliers (2)o Nylon Jaw Plierso Fine Step Jaw Pliers or Master Coilero WigJig Olympus or similar jig.

I strongly recommend that you begin the projects shown in this book using inexpensive copper practice wire. After making three of the pieces shown in copper, you should then graduate to more expensive wire for making the final, finished pieces. This recommendation applies to every design.

Paper Clip Ear-rings (free design from WigJig Uni-

versity)


How to Cut Wire Using the Flush Cutter (Review)

When cutting wire there are two concerns that must be considered. First, is a safety concern, in that the loose end of the cut wire can fly through the air when cut. Please be careful so that no one is injured by the loose end. Often, it is a good idea to wear safety goggles or glasses when cutting wire.

Second is both a safety and an aesthetic concern. Always cut the wire so that the dull side of the cut is on the finished piece. This reduces the amount of filing required and eliminates the possibility that a sharp wire segment could injure someone or that clothing could snag on the end of the wire.

When wire is cut with the flush cutter, one side of the wire after the cut will be sharp and the other side will be blunt or dull. See Figures 18 and 19 for pictures of the orientation of the flush cutter and the resulting blunt and sharp cut wire segments.

I suggest learning the skill of holding both sides of the wire in one hand while using the other hand to cut the wire with the flush cutter. This approach will minimize the possibility of the wire flying away and causing injury. For cutting wire close to the end, use the index finger on the hand holding the flush cutter to hold the short wire segment against the pliers. This prevents them from flying away. Finally, try to cut wire over a waste basket to catch the cut seg-ment.

Figure 18 Cutting Wire

Figure 19 The Cut Wire

Wire Design Basics Review

Caution!!

The small ends of wire that are cut may fly off after cutting. This can create an eye hazard. Please make sure to control both ends of the wire that is cut.

Beveled Side

Flat Side

Flat Side of Flush Cutter

Beveled Side

SharpBlunt

How to Straighten Wire (Review):

Introduction:Almost all wire is delivered in spools or coils. This means that before the wire is used, one must remove the natural curl in the wire that results from being coiled. Removing the natural curves in the wire is necessary to make consistent finished pieces. Almost every project covered in this book assumes that the reader has already removed the curl from the wire being used.

Removing the curl from wire is accomplished in one of two ways. Either the wire is repeat-edly pulled between your thumb and forefinger, with increasing pressure on the wire or the wire is pulled through the jaws of Nylon Jaw Pliers. While Nylon Jaw Pliers are not absolutely essential for a wire-worker, they are the next thing to essential. Use the jaws of the Nylon Jaw Pliers to straighten wire, including wire that has been kinked. It saves wear and tear on your fingers. Remember to grip the wire firmly in the jaws of the pliers, but not so firmly that you can not pull the wire through the jaws.

In some cases you may find that the wire is slippery and therefore it is hard to pull through the jaws of the pliers. In these cases, go ahead and make a loop in the wire (skill shown in succeeding pages) and grip the wire at this loop to allow pulling it through the jaws of the pliers.

Pulling the wire through the jaws of Nylon Jaw Pliers has the added benefit that it hardens the wire very slightly each time you do this. One way to partially harden wire is to pull it through the jaws of nylon jaw pliers thirty or forty times.

In summary, after you have cut any wire segment, the next step is always to straighten the wire.

It is assumed in all the projects in this book that the reader will per-form this step and is may not be explicitly mentioned otherwise!




How to Make a “P” Loop

Step One:Grasp the wire with round nose pliers, as shown in Figure 20. Bring the end of the wire to a position flush with the edge of the round nose pliers as shown in this figure.

Figure 20 Grasp the Wire

Figure 21A- Wrap the Wire Around the Pliers

Figure 21B- Wrap the Wire View 2

Figure 22 The Finished Loop

Step Two:Push the wire with your thumb up and over the round nose pliers until it rests against the opposite side of the pliers. Push with your thumb as close to the pliers as possible. You may need to open the pliers, move the wire and re-grasp the wire, then twist the pliers to fully close the loop.

Step Three:Remove from the pliers and inspect. The size of the loop is determined by how far down the pliers the loop is made. Closer to the tip makes a smaller loop, and further from the tip makes a larger loop.

The great majority of wire projects start with just this type of loop. A few start with another type of loop, called an eye loop. The following pages show how to make an eye loop.


Introduction:The basic loop shown at the bottom of this page is, while very simple, also very impor-tant. Most wire components begin and/or end with a simple loop. These instructions show how to make a simple loop that I call a “P” loop because of its shape.


Making an Eye Loop

Figure 23 Grasp the Loop

Figure 24 The Completed Eye Loop

Step Two:Grasp the loop with the tip of the round nose pliers as shown in Figure 23. While holding the wire in your non-dominant hand, and the round nose pliers in your dominant hand, twist the round nose pliers very slightly up or counter-clockwise. Figure 24 shows how the finished loop should look.

Twist pliers


Hold wire

Introduction:The eye loop is a modification to the simple “P” loop shown above. Aesthetically, the eye loop is more appealing because the loop is centered on the wire tail. The eye loop is also an important element to the finding called an “eye pin”.

Step One:Make a “P” loop using the instructions on the pre-vious page.


Opening & Closing a Loop (Review)


Figure 25 Open Loop

Figure 26 3/4 View Figure 27 Top View

Figure 28 Close Loop

Twist pliers

Introduction:Opening and closing loops without distorting the shape of the loop is an important skills that enables connecting one loop to another.

Step One:This is accomplished rather simply by grasping the loop as shown in Figure 25 with chain nose pliers and twisting the chain nose pliers, moving the tip up and the base down. Figure 26 and 27 show two views of opening a loop. In these views you can see how the loop is opened while retaining the round shape of the loop. You can also see that the loop is ready to have another loop, such as a bead dangle, or ear wire finding, connected.

Step Two:Closing the loop is accomplished by grasping the loop with the chain nose pliers as shown in Figure 26 and 27 and twisting in the opposite direction used to open the loop. In this case, the tip of the chain nose pliers is twisted down, while the base is twisted up. Figure 28 shows the closed loop, grasped in the chain nose pliers.

to opento open

In the next section, I will introduce another skill, making a bead dangle.

Figure 29 Bead Dangle

Figure 30 Sample Head Pin

Figure 31 Head Pin with Beads

Step One:Make a bead dangle following the instructions below. Each bead dangle requires one or more beads, and a head pin. The tools required to make the bead dangle are a flush cutter, chain nose pliers, and round nose pliers.

Step Two:Begin by threading the beads onto the head pin. An example of a head pin is shown in Figure 30. Figure 31 shows the same head pin with two beads.


Making a Bead Dangle (Review)


Introduction:A bead dangle is one or more beads hanging from a loop of wire. Figure 29 shows a picture of a bead dangle (Shown larger than actual scale). For a beginner, a bead dangle is an important component of many jewelry projects. In fact, a pair of earrings can be made from a pair of ear wire findings and a bead dangle hanging from each ear wire. Making a bead dangle is also a technique that can be used to hang beads from a chain or other jewelry component.

Figure 32 Grasp Head Pin

Figure 33 Bend Wire

Figure 34A View One Figure 34B View Two

Step Three:Grasp the head pin with chain nose pliers, or bent chain nose pliers. I like to use my non-dom-inant hand. (Right handed people hold the chain nose pliers in their left hand.) Using your chain nose pliers, grasp the head pin toward the tip of the pliers as shown in Figure 32. Hold the beads rather firmly against the base of the head pin.

Step Four:Using your thumb on your dominant hand, push the head pin to create a bend of approximately 80 degrees. (Almost a right angle.) Push with your thumb as close to the chain nose pliers as possible, and never at the tip of the head pin. Figure 33 shows the proper bend.

Step Five:Grasp the headpin using round nose pliers as close to this bend as possible while holding the round nose pliers in your non-dominant hand. Figure 34 A and B show two views of how to grasp on the long segment of the headpin, as close to the 80 degree bend as possible.


Wire Design Basics ReviewMaking a Bead Dangle (Continued)

Figure 35 Bend to Form Loop, Two Views

Figure 36 Reposition Wire

Figure 37 Closed Loop

Step Six:Pressing the wire with your thumb as close to the pliers as possible, bend the wire around the round nose pliers as shown in Figure 35.

Step Seven:Reposition the wire, as shown in Figure 36, to continue bending the wire into a closed loop.

Step Eight:Continue to push the wire with your thumb to complete the loop as shown in Figure 37. When completed, the wire tail should be perpendicular to the wire segment between the beads and the loop you have just completed. Adjust the loop so that the loop is centered above the segment holding the beads. This can be done by slightly twisting the round nose pliers (if necessary).

Push



Making a Bead Dangle (Continued)

Figure 38 Begin Wrap

Figure 39 Continue Wrap

Figure 40 Continue Wrap

Step Nine:Reposition the loop to a comfortable location on the round nose pliers, keeping the loop pressed down on the round nose pliers so that all parts of the loop touch the pliers. Continue to hold the round nose pliers in your non-dominant hand. Squeeze the pliers firmly, but use only the amount of pressure required to hold the wire without letting it move or slip. Now push down on the wire tail of the head-pin as shown in Figure 38, to begin wrapping the wire tail around the short wire segment above the beads. Again, push with your thumb close to the pliers. Keep the wire tail perpendicular to the rest of the head-pin.

Step Ten:Continue wrapping the wire, as shown in Figure 39. Keep the wire tail perpendicular to the wire segment between the beads and the loop while you push. Keep the wraps tightly together. If necessary, use bent chain nose pliers to assist in wrapping the wire around the neck.

Step Eleven:Continue wrapping the wire for roughly two to three full loops. When the wire tail becomes very short, you will need to use chain nose pliers to push the wire tail. Make the wraps tight against the center wire and spaced evenly. Try to keep the wire tail perpendicular to the center wire.

PushDown




Figure 41 Final Wrap

Figure 42 Cut the Wire Tail

Figure 43 Wire Tail

Step Twelve:Continue wrap until wire is almost snug against the beads, as shown in Figure 41.

Step Thirteen:Cut the wire tail off using the flush cutter. Keep the flat side of the flush cutter toward the finished bead dangle so that the cut is smooth.

Step Fourteen:After the cut is completed there will be a very short wire tail, as shown in Figure 43.

Cut


Wire Design Basics ReviewMaking a Bead Dangle (Continued)

Figure 44 Tuck in Wire Tail

Figure 45 Inspect Piece

Figure 46 Bead Dangle

Step Fifteen:Tuck in the wire tail using the bent chain nose pliers as shown in Figure 44. This is done by squeezing the wire tail with the bent chain nose pliers and slightly twisting the chain nose pliers. Hold the bead dangle in round nose pliers while squeezing and twisting. In order to keep the loop in the dangle as round as possible, push the loop down the round nose pliers as far as possible so that all of the loop is in complete contact with one jaw of the pliers.

Step Sixteen:Inspect the finished piece.




In the next section of this document, I will show how to make a figure 8 connector. This is another skill that is very important as it allows us to connect one closed loop component to another closed loop component. The figure 8 connector also adds new ways to move for the connected components. This motion may make a pair of earrings more interest-ing.


Wire Design Basics ReviewHow to Make a Figure 8 Connector (Review)

Figure 47 Figure 8 Connector

Step One:Begin by making a “P” loop in a 1.5” piece of wire as shown in Figure 48 A, B & C.

Figure 48 A, B, & C Making a P Loop Using Round Nose Pliers.Step Two:Remove the loop from the pliers and grip the wire just below the loop as shown in Figure 49, at left. Try to grasp the piece in about the same place on the round nose pliers as you used for the ini-tial loop (the same distance from the tip of the pliers). This will ensure that both loops of the figure 8 connector will be the same size.

Figure 49 Grip the Wire Below the loop

Step Three:Push the wire with your thumb up and over the round nose pliers as shown in Figure 50. Push with your thumb as close to the pliers as possible.

PushWire

Figure 50 Push the Wire

Introduction:A figure 8 connector is an important component for connect-ing one closed loop component to another.



How to Make a Figure 8 Connector (Continued)

PushStep Four:Continue to push the wire until it stops against the jaws of the round nose pliers as shown in Figure 51.

Figure 51

Figure 52

Figure 53

Figure 54

Figure 55 Cut

Push

Figure 56 Figure 8

Step Five:Remove the wire from the pliers and reposition so that you can complete the second loop. The new position is shown in Figure 52.

Step Six:Grip the wire in the jaws of the pliers so that it doesn’t slip, and push the wire tail up to complete the second loop of the figure 8, as shown in Figure 53.

Step Seven:Remove the wire from the jaws of the pliers. It should look like the piece in Figure 54.

Step Eight:Cut the wire tail off the figure 8, as shown in Figure 55. Be sure to cut with the flat side of the Flush Cutter toward the finished figure 8. Close the finished figure 8 using chain nose pliers.

Step Nine:The finished figure 8 should appear as shown in Figure 56



Make a Chain using the Wrapped Bead Link

Figure 77

Figure 78

Figure 79

Figure 80A

Supplies/Tools Required:The following supplies and tools are required:

o Aabout 3’ of 22 or 24 gauge wire,o 1 Flush cutter,o 1 Round Nose or Round-Flat Pliers, ando 2 Chain Nose Pliers.

Desired Result:The “Wrapped Bead Link” is shown in Figure 78. The following steps will show how to make this link.

Step One:In a piece of 22 or 24 gauge wire at least 3.5 inches long, make an 80 degree bend using chain nose pliers, about 3/4 inch from one end of the wire. See Figure 79.

Step Two:Grasp the wire next to the bend with round nose pliers or with round-flat pliers, as shown in Figure 80 A & B.

80 Degrees

Push

Grasp at bend on short segment Figure 80B

ShortSegment

Bend

Introduction:This skill is one of the most important skills that a beginning wire-worker can learn. In fact, mastery of this skill is probably the defini-tion of an intermediate wire-worker.



Make a Chain using the Wrapped Bead Link (Continued)

Figure 81

Figure 82

Figure 83

Figure 85

Figure 84

Step Three:Using your thumb, push the short wire segment around the round nose pliers. When done, the wire should appear as shown in Figure 81.

Step Four:Reposition your grip on the wire to the position shown in Figure 82.

Step Five:Continue pushing the short segment around the round nose pliers until it is in the position shown in Figure 83. The short wire segment should be perpendicular to the longer wire tail (as shown).

Step Six:Remove the wire from the pliers. It should appear as shown in Figure 84

Step Seven:Thread this wire segment through the clasp, bead dangle, or other loop, as required. See Figure 85.

Wire Design Basics ReviewMake a Chain using the Wrapped Bead Link (Continued)

Figure 86

Figure 87

Figure 88

Figure 89

Step Eight:Grasp the loop that you are making with chain nose pliers as shown in Figure 86. Grasp the wire firmly, but not so tightly that you mark the wire.

Step Nine:While holding the wire with the chain nose pliers, push the short segment around the longer segment, as shown in Figure 87. Please note that the short segment goes on top of the long wire segment then is pushed down, to go under.

Step Ten:Continue wrapping the short wire segment around the longer wire segment as shown in Figures 88 and 89. Try to keep the short wire segment perpendicular to the long wire segment as you wrap. Try to make the wrap as tight and close together as possible.

Short WireSegment

Long WireSegment

As with all jewelry skills, this technique requires prac-tice. As always with new skills, practice this technique several times with inexpensive wire.

Wire connections made with this technique are very strong. With necklaces, I like to include a weak link in the chain to break in case the necklace gets caught on some-thing solid. I always want the chain to break instead of the neck of the wearer.




Figure 90

Figure 91

Figure 92

Figure 93

Figure 94

Step Eleven:Continue wrapping for about 2 and 1/2 loops. You may choose how many times to wrap the wire. I like 2 1/2 loops because with my chain nose pliers I am able to do 2 1/2 loops on both sides of the beads and this will hold the beads snug.

Step Twelve:Cut the end of the wire off as shown in Figure 90. Keep flat side of flush cutters toward the finished piece.

Cut

Figure 91 shows a distant view of the piece after the cut. While it doesn’t show in this figure, see a close up in Figure 92. This figure shows the very short wire tail left after the cut performed in Step Twelve.

Step Thirteen:Continue to grasp the wire as shown in Figure 93. Now, with a second chain nose pliers, squeeze and twist the wire to gently tuck in the short wire tail.

The finished wrap should look as shown in Figure 94. There should not be any loose wire. The round loop should be centered like an eye loop on the long wire segment. If the loop is not precisely centered, you can adjust the position of the loop by grasping the loop with one set of chain nose pliers and by grasping the wrapped segment with the other pair of chain nose pliers and twisting slightly. Squeeze & twist

At this point, one end of a wrapped bead link is completed. To com-plete the entire link, you need to add beads to the long wire segment, and complete the wrapped loop on the other end of the link. The fol-lowing instructions show how this is done.



Figure 95

Figure 96

Figure 97

Figure 98

Step Fourteen:Thread beads on the long wire segment as shown in Figure 95.

Step Fifteen:Grasp the long wire segment with chain nose pliers just above the beads. Keep the beads snug against the initial wrapped loop. Use the tip of the chain nose pliers, as this is the thinnest point on the pliers. The goal is that the initial wrap and this final wrap be the same size. See Figure 96 for how to grasp the piece.

Step Sixteen:As shown in Figure 97, bend the long wire segment to an angle of about 80 degrees. At this point, go back to step two and follow the instructions used to make the initial wrapped loop. Follow steps 2 through 14 as you continue to make links in a chain. Figure 98 shows the wrapped bead link, ready for connection to the next link in the chain.

80 degrees

Bend

Continue making links until the chain is com-pleted. For bracelets, I like to use 7 1/4 inches as my target length, although some people will require smaller bracelets and some will require larger. For necklaces I like lengths of 16, 18 and 24 inches long. Consider the length of the clasp that you have selected when planning your design.

Pliers shown in background

Connect the next link here

How to Make a Spiral



Introduction:A spiral is a relatively common decorative accessory to a jewelry piece. In fact, spirals were used in ancient jewelry made at least 3,000 years ago. Figure 101A and 101B show several spirals. The spirals shown in Figure 101B are based upon samples of spirals in Mesopotamian and Egyptian ancient jewelry, made about 2,000 BC. Spirals are attrac-tive wire accessories and can be made both by hand, or with assistance from Jig accessories discussed later in this section.

Figure 101A Spirals

Step One:The first step in making a spiral by hand is to use round nose pliers to make as small a loop as you can in a piece of wire about 3 inches long. The wire can be almost any gauge, but for beginners it is better to start with 18 or 20 gauge wire. If you have both, use the 20 gauge wire for making your first spiral. The one mandatory requirement is that the wire be soft instead of half-hard or hard. For this reason, Artistic Wire, copper, brass and soft silver or gold wire will work well. See Figures 20 through 22 for instructions on how to make the starting loop.

Step Two:Grasp the loop with chain nose pliers as shown in Figure 102. While holding the wire with the chain nose pliers, push the wire a very small amount in the direction shown. Figure 103 shows the wire position after completing the small push.

Figure 101B Spirals

Figure 102 Step 2

Figure 103 Step 3

Grasp

Push

After

Before

How to Make a Spiral (Continued):



Step Three:Grasp the wire, as shown in Figure 104 and continue pushing the wire in small increments (about 30 degrees of motion per grasp of the pliers). Continue moving the wire in the grasp of the chain nose pliers. The one secret in making a spiral is to move the wire in small increments. The wire should move only about 30 to 45 degrees at a time. Continue this process until the spiral is the size that you want and inspect the finished piece.

Figure 104 Step 4

Figure 105 Step 4 Contd.

Step Four:Leave enough of a tail to complete the connector required for this piece. As seen above, Figure 101A and B show several different ways to finish a spiral for incorporation into jewelry.

How to Make Earrings with a Spiral -- Beginners Project 4:



Figure 123 Step 2

Introduction:This project incorporates a spiral into a figure made on a WigJig. The shape made will be 1/2 of a Diamond, or as it is alternatively called, a tree. The design shown in these figures was made on the WigJig Cyclops. A very similar figure could be made on the WigJig Delphi, Olympus, Olympus-Lite or Electra. For the Delphi, Olympus, or Olympus-Lite the tree should be made using pegs on the 45 degree angle. For the Cyclops or Electra, I have chosen to make this figure with a 30 degree angle. See Figure 122 for two alternatives for making these earrings.

Tools and Materials:The tools required for this project are a WigJig Cyclops, Electra, Delphi, Olympus, or Olympus-Lite, round nose pliers, chain nose or bent chain nose pliers (2), a flush cutter, and nylon jaw pliers. The supplies required are one pair of ear wire findings, two 4 mm beads, and 20 inches of 20 gauge wire (preferably brightly colored wire like Niobium or Artistic Wire silver- plated copper wire.) The pictures shown below use the WigJig Cyclops. Figure 128 shows how to adapt this design to a WigJig Olympus, Olympus-Lite, WigJig Delphi, or Wild Wire jig.

Figure 122 Project 4

Step One:Cut and straighten two pieces of wire 8 inches long.

Step Two:Using the procedures for the wrapped bead link, make a wrapped loop in one end of the wire. See Figure 77. I made this loop with only one wrap around the long wire segment. See Figure 123 for this beginning loop.

Step 3:Insert 9 pegs in the WigJig as shown in Figure 124

Figure 124 Step 3

Center Peg on Cyclops

Outside Row on Cyclops

How to Make Earrings with a Spiral -- Beginners Project 4 (Continued):



Step 4:Using the same approach that you employed to make the Dia-mond in Figures 60 through 64, place the loop on the initial peg, and wrap the wire around the pegs as shown in Figure 125.

Figure 125 Step 4

1

23

4

65

7 8

9Step 5:Remove the wire from the WigJig and gently flatten the piece using the nylon jaw pliers. (See Figure 70 and 71).

Step Six:Make a loop in the end of the wire tail and make a spiral around this loop. See Figures 102, 103, 104 and 105. When completed the piece should appear as shown in Figure 126.

Step Seven:Using the procedures shown in Figures 48 through 56, make a Figure 8 connector and connect the wire piece to the ear wire finding using this figure 8 connector. The finished earring should appear as shown in Figure 127.

Figure 126 Step 6

Figure 127 Step 7



A Question of Style -- or How to Choose a Jig that’s Right for You

In Beginner’s Project 4, we introduced a new earring design that can be made on any of several different jigs. The pictures in the prior section show this pattern made on the WigJig Cyclops. The pattern can be modified slightly to be made on the WigJig Olympus, Olympus-Lite, Delphi, or Electra. At this point, let’s discuss the differences in this wire component when made on each of the five potential jigs so that you can choose the jig, or jigs that are right for you.

First, the Wild Wire Jig, the WigJig Olympus and the WigJig Olympus-Lite, all have exactly the same hole pattern and would make this component exactly the same. These jigs also all use pegs that are 3/32 inch in diameter. All three of these jigs have holes based upon a square, spaced at 90 degrees and 45 degrees and separated from center to center by 1⁄4” in each row, with every other row off-set. The basic rows provide the angles of 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees. The offset rows allow you to add the angles of 45, 135, 225, and 315 degrees. These jigs are not capable of making other angles easily. The differences between these three jigs are that the Wild Wire uses plastic pegs and the WigJig Olympus-Lite is smaller than the WigJig Olympus. Figure 128 shows how the earrings in Beginner’s Project 4 can be adapted to the WigJig Olympus’s square peg pattern, using the 45 degree angle inherent in that jig. (The spiral in this figure was added after removing the wire from the jig.)

Next, we add to these jigs the WigJig Delphi, which is a smaller jig, uses the same pattern of rows and offset rows to make the angles of 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, and 315 degrees just like the Olympus family. The Delphi has metal pegs that are 1/16” in diameter, or 1/32” smaller than the Olympus pins. The significant difference in the Delphi is that the holes are spaced 1/5 of an inch apart or 0.2 inches from center to center. This means that any design modified from the Olympus to be made on the Delphi would be 80% of the size of the same design made on the Olympus. Stated another way, Delphi designs are 20% smaller than Olympus designs. In jewelry terms, the Olympus makes larger, bolder designs, while the Delphi makes the same designs but smaller and more delicate.

Figure 128 Pattern for Square Jig

1

2345

67





There are three significant advantages to a round jig over a square jig. First, the additional angles that are available, second, when you use a round jig, you can obviously make round figures in several different radii, and third, when using a round jig you can scale pieces, using an inner radius for a smaller pattern and an outer radius to make the same pattern but larger. The one drawback to the round jigs is that being newer, there aren’t as may free designs and patterns for the round jigs. The square jigs have been around longer and there are more books and patterns available for these jigs.

At this point we have addressed the advantages and disadvantages of square jigs. There are also two relatively new jigs that are based upon a round pattern instead of square. The WigJig Cyclops and the WigJig Electra use this round pattern because it allows incorporation of many additional angles. In fact, both of these jigs incorporate angles in 7.5 degree increments for a full 360 degrees. This allows designers to make objects that use the very common angles of 15 degrees, 30 degrees 45 degrees and 60 degrees as well as all of the other increments of 7.5 degrees. The WigJig Electra is the same size as the WigJig Olympus and uses the same 3/32” pegs. The WigJig Cyclops is smaller than the Olympus, but larger than the Delphi and uses the same 1/16” pegs as the WigJig Delphi. Similar to the Olympus versus the Delphi, the Electra makes larger, bolder wire components, while the Cyclops makes smaller and more delicate components.

It is not merely a choice of the Delphi or the Olympus to. There is a significant virtue in having both the Olympus and the Delphi. When making necklace/bracelet, bracelet/earring, or necklace/earring jewelry sets, it is almost always a good idea to make a wire component for the necklace or bracelet on the Olympus matched with the same component made on the Delphi to be incorporated into the earrings. This adds style to handmade jewelry and makes it look more sophisticated.


Accessories for your Jig

© 2003 Gary Helwig & WigJig @ www.wigjig.com

In “Wire Design Basics” (book 1), we discussed our first accessory for your jig -- the Spiral Maker. With this accessory we are able to make spirals. In that book we did not discuss a second function of the Spiral Maker in that we can use the Spiral Maker as a large peg to make larger rounded shapes. We call the accessory that performs this function a Super Peg and have several special sets of Super Pegs. WigJig Super Pegs come in both round and square shapes in a wide variety of sizes. Small Round Super Pegs are the most com-monly used and come in the diameters of 3/16”, 1/4”, 5/16”, 3/8”, 7/16”, and 1/2”. Large Round Super Pegs come in three different diameters: 5/8”, 3/4”, and 7/8”. Small Square Super Pegs come in 1/4”, 5/16”, and 3/8”, while Large Square Super Pegs come in 1/2”, 5/8”, and 3/4” sizes.

Super Pegs are made out of both plastic and aluminum and are shaped like a mushroom. The stem of the mushroom is the peg that fits into a hole on your jig, with the top of the mushroom being the shape that you will wrap the wire around. All Super Pegs come with one of two peg sizes -- pegs sized to fit on the Olympus, Olympus-Lite, Electra, or Wild-Wire, or pegs sized to fit the WigJig Delphi or Cyclops.

We use Super Pegs wherever we need a rounded shape instead of an angular shape. A good example of the need for a rounded shape is an ear wire finding. Making the rounded part of the ear wire that goes through the ear is very difficult when just using regular metal pegs, but by contrast, when a Super Peg is used, it is very easy to make professional qual-ity ear wires in a variety of styles. In a following section, we will show how we use Small Round Super Pegs to make ear wires.

One final accessory for your jig are extra metal pegs. Extra pegs may be required when you are making a large and complex pattern, or as sometimes happens, when some of your pegs get lost. Please be sure to purchase the pegs that are sized for your jig as they come in two sizes. Pegs for the Delphi and Cyclops are the same size and will not work well on the Olympus, Olympus-Lite. Electra or Wild-Wire. Pegs for the Olympus, Olympus-Lite and Electra are the same size as the plastic pegs for the Wild Wire, but do not have the collar that the plastic pegs for the Wild Wire need.

In the following pages, we will show wire patterns using both regular pegs and Super Pegs to make findings. We will also show how the same pattern can be made with slight modifi-cations on any of the jigs discussed in this book. In the remaining sections of this book, we will show how each pattern can be modified to work on any of the jigs, within the limita-tions of the jig.

How to Make Findings -- Jump Rings

© 2003Gary Helwig & WigJig @ www.wigjig.com


The first question in making findings is why? It is a valid question. Given that your time is valuable, why would you want to make findings that you can purchase at relatively inex-pensive prices? There are several reasons for making rather than buying findings. The first reason is that findings may not be available for the colored wire that you are using. Head pins and jump rings are not readily available in colored wire. Second, the style of the findings that you can purchase may not match your needs. Findings are made to satisfy the largest percentage of customers but are absolutely not one size fits all. I frequently find that I prefer findings that I make, because I make them in unique styles that both compli-ment the jewelry I am making and help distinguish my pieces as custom made. This makes them easier to sell for higher prices. Finally, the last reason for making your own findings is the one I find happens to me most often -- I need one and I’m currently out of what I need.

In the next few pages I will try to show some simple techniques for making findings and will end this section with a project that uses some of these skills. The findings that we will cover are jump rings, head pins and ear wires. We have covered how to make eye pins and figure 8 connectors in earlier pages. Clasps are a little more complicated to make and will be left to one of the last sections of this book.

Introduction:

Tools and Materials:In order to make a jump ring, you need about 2-3 inches of wire in 16, 18, or 20 gauge, a Mas-ter Coiler or step jaw pliers, and a pair of Flush Cutters. You may also want to use loop closing pliers or Bent Closing Pliers (my favorite) to help close the jump ring once it is made.

Figure 129 Coil on Master Coiler

Figure 130 Finished Coil

The steps in making a jump ring are only slightly different from the steps in making a loop in the wire. First, cut the end of the wire flat (blunt) using the Flush Cutter, and begin making a loop around one of the graduated steps in the Master Coiler. See figure 129. Continue wrapping the wire around the step in the Master Coiler to make a coil as shown in Figure 130. Remove the coil from the Master Coiler and cut the wire into individual jump rings, making sure to leave the blunt end of the cut wire on the finished jump ring. See Figure 131 (next page).

Directions:

How to Make Findings -- Jump Rings (Continued)



Figure 131 Cutting the Jump Ring from the coil.

Figure 132 Jump RingAfter Cutting

The jump rings you just made should be round. One tip for using jump rings is to squeeze a finished jump ring in Loop Closing Pliers or Bent Closing Pliers to make them slightly oval, with the opening of the ring at the zero degree position when the axis of the oval is 90 degrees to 270 degrees. In less complex terms, this means that the opening of the jump ring is on the side and not on one of the ends of the oval. This makes it natural for the jump ring to align itself so that the pressure from the jewelry will fall on the wire and not on the opening of the jump ring. Begin this step by closing the jump rings with chain nose pliers. See Figure 133 and 134 for an example of squeezing the jump ring into an oval shape. Please note that it only needs to be slightly oval, don’t squeeze too hard.

With gold, gold-filled, or sterling silver wire, jump rings may be closed and hardened with a chasing hammer and anvil. This will make them stronger and may preclude the need to make them oval. With colored wire it may not be a good idea to hammer the wire, so making the jump rings slightly oval is prob-ably the best solution with colored wire.

Tips on Using Jump Rings:

Figure 133 Squeeze the Jump Ring to

make it slightly oval

Figure 134 The Finished Jump Ring

After making the first jump ring, you will then need to cut the sharp end of the wire off the finished coil to begin making your next jump ring. Remember when cutting wire to keep the flat side of the flush cutter toward the finished piece as we discussed previously. Figure 132 shows the finished jump rings ready to be used.

How to Make Findings -- Head Pins



Introduction:I don’t have a secret method for making a head pin identical to the purchased finding head pin. To make the pin head of the head pin requires a special stamping machine that is expensive and not worth considering. My approach is to form a decorative wire figure at the end of a wire segment about 2-3 inches long.This decorative wire piece can be a spiral made as discussed previously, a Figure 8 also made as discussed previously, or even a simple loop. All of these techniques were discussed previously, the figures are just modified to leave a 2 inch wire tail which becomes the head pin.

There are two basic reasons why you would want to make a head pin rather than purchase one. The first reason is that you might want to use colored wire and there are no commer-cial head pins made with the colored wire. The second reason that you would want to make a head pin is style. You might want to finish a piece of jewelry in a unique style that is not available in commercially manufactured ear wires. The directions below show several style alternatives that will work with colored wire, or with sterling silver, copper, or gold-filled wire.

Directions:There is nothing complicated about making a head pin. Just make a spiral, Figure 8, or eye loop in a piece of wire about 3 inches long. In essence, we are making an eye-pin with a very small loop and using it as a head pin. In the same way, you can make a spiral, or a figure 8 and use them to become the head of the head pin. As an alterna-tive, you can bend the wire tail of the figure 8 so that the wire tail is perpendicular to the plane of the figure 8. Please see figure 135 for samples of head pins made in colored wire. As you can see, these head pins are functional in that they will keep a bead from falling off the head pin and can also add style, or design pizzazz to a piece of jew-elry. With gold, gold-filled, silver or copper wire, you can also make a head pin by hammering the end of the wire until it flattens sufficiently to hold a bead, then cutting off the end at an approrpi-ate length. Making a loop with this flattened wire (Using the Master Coiler Pliers) produces a figure that I call a “Scroll” and is a very attractive way to make a head pin.

Figure 135 Head Pins In Figure 135 we show from left to right a head pin made with a spiral, a head pin made with a loop, a head pin made with a figure 8 and on the far right a head pin made with a figure 8 perpendicular to the plane of the wire tail. The head pin on the far right does not show well because the camera is looking at the side of the figure 8.

How to Make Findings: Ear Wires



Introduction:Ear wires are a very common finding which are usually purchased. The best reason for making ear wires is style. Anyone can use a purchased ear wire, and the result is pretty vanilla. By making your own ear wires you can customize the design so that the finished earrings are truly distinctive and unique. It adds pizzazz to your design and makes the finished piece more marketable. The next reason is availability. You can always make ear wires, but sometimes it is not convenient to purchase exactly what you need.

There is one caution in making ear wires. Do not make ear wires for pierced ears out of any wire other than Gold, Gold Filled, Sterling Silver, or Stainless Steel. Colored wire is not appropriate for ear wires. There are things in the dye in colored wire that do not belong inside the human body. The coating on colored wire is designed to protect the wearer from these chemicals and this protection works fine outside the body. It is not worth the risk that this coating may be compromised inside pierced ears.

One of the ear wire patterns that I will show you (see Figure 122) is slightly larger than normal ear wires. This is intentional because it helps to keep the earrings from getting lost. Most of the earring patterns made using the techniques shown in this book, make earrings that are lighter than commercial ear rings. Commercial earrings generally use cast metal components and are therefore rather heavy by comparison. With the normal ear wire, gravity is the only thing holding the earring on. When the earring is lighter there is less gravity holding the ear wire on and the earrings can sometimes come off. This is the reason that the ear wire patterns shown here are larger than commercial findings. Please consider this when designing your own earrings.

The two ear wire patterns that are shown both use the wrapped loop technique that we demonstrated earlier for making bead dangles. These patterns can be simplified by replac-ing the wrapped loop with a conventional eye loop.

Tools and Materials:To make an ear wire, you will need round nose pliers, chain nose or bent-chain nose pliers, a flush cutter, two four inch pieces of proper 20 gauge wire (preferably half-hard gold, gold-filled, Sterling Silver, or Stainless Steel), two small beads (2 to 4 mm), a jig with two metal pegs and one 5/16” Super Peg and a bur cup. Nylon jaw pliers and a chasing hammer and anvil are recommended but not absolutely required. Half-hard wire tends to work better than soft wire, but is not mandatory. In the figures that follow, patterns are provided for this ear wire on the WigJig Olympus, the WigJig Delphi and the WigJig Cyclops. These patterns can be easily adapted to another jig.

Directions:Step One. Begin with a 3-4 inch piece of safe 20 gauge wire. As always, straighten the wire using nylon jaw pliers or your fingers. With half-hard wire, you will not be able to get it perfectly straight. Using a technique similar to making a bead dangle on a head pin (Page 10), grasp the wire about 3/4” from the end using your chain nose pliers. We are going to make a wrapped loop as one end of an ear wire. Bend the wire over at an angle of 80 degrees. While holding the wire with the long segment vertical and the short segment roughly horizontal, grasp the wire on the short segment with your round nose pliers. Wrap the short wire segment around the jaw of the round nose pliers and complete the wrapped loop with about two wraps aroung the long wire segment.

How to Make Findings: Ear Wires (Continued)



At this point, you should have a piece of wire about 2 1/2 inches long with a wrapped loop on one end. See Figure 136, below, for a sample of what the wire should look like before performing the wrapped loop and Figure 137 for what it will look like after the wrapped loop. It is important that you make the loop large enough to fit over one of the regular metal pegs for the jig you are using; but not much larger. For the Wild Wire, or WigJig Olympus, this means making a larger loop to fit over the larger peg for this jig. These directions assume you are comfortable with making a wrapped loop. This is a skill that was demonstrated earlier. If the wrapped loop doesn’t work for you make an eye loop instead.

Grasp here with round nose pliers

Figure 136 Wire Before the Wrapped Loop

Figure 137 Wire After the Wrapped Loop



Wire Design Basics

Step Two. Thread a 2, 3 or 4mm bead onto the long wire tail and push it flush against the wrapped loop as shown in Figure 138. Grasp the wire tail as shown in Figure 139, holding the bead tightly against the wrapped loop with the tip of your round nose pliers bend the wire over to a 90 degree angle as shown in Figure 140. In this case, I used round nose pliers to grasp the wire because they had a finer tip than my chain nose pliers. If you have chain nose or bent chain nose pliers with a fine tip, I would use them rather than the round nose pliers shown below. The angle made is very impor-tant because it is this angle that holds the bead permanently in place. Be careful not to push against the glass bead as it can break. Solid, round, metal beads are frequently used instead of glass. I have used glass crystal because is distinguishes this ear wire as hand made. Please note that there is a slight curl remaining in the wire in Figure 140 this curl is up -- I pushed against the curl.

Figure 138 Add Bead

Figure 139 Grasp Wire Near Bead and Bend

Figure 140 Bend Wire 90 Degrees

Push




Figure 141 Place Wire on Jig

Figure 142 Wrap Wire

Step Three. Place two metal pegs and one 5/16” Super Peg on the Jig and position the wire on one metal peg as shown in Figure 141. For the WigJig Cyclops, the Super Peg is in the center hole of the jig.

For the WigJig Olympus, the WildWire Jig and for the WigJig Delphi, I will provide patterns at the end of this section. Please see Figures 148 and 149.

This peg pattern is ideal for right handed individu-als who will hold the wire in their dominant hand. If you are left handed make your pegs in a mirror image.

Step 1

Step 2

Hold

Step Four. Bend the wire around the pegs. Bending the wire around the pegs is a two step process. As shown in Figure 142, a right hander should hold the wire tightly against the Super Peg with their left thumb, while bending the wire around the Super Peg using their right hand. In step 1, bend the wire beyond the bottom peg, so that when you let go, the wire relaxes back to just barely touch the peg. Now in step 2, push the wire against the bottom peg to bend it back approxi-mately 30 degrees as shown. Do not remove the wire from the jig when done, we use the jig to help us measure where to cut the wire tail.

Step Five. Cut the wire to length. Figure 143 on the fol-lowing page shows how we align the flush cutter with a row on the jig to determine where to cut the end of the ear wire. Remember to keep the flat side of the flush cutter toward the finished piece as shown and cut both ear wires at the same place on the jig. Consistency is important in making profes-sional quality jewelry.

Closer Peg

Further Peg

Super Peg

Figure 143 Use the holes in the jig to help measure your cut

Figure 144 Remove from Jig




Step Six. Remove the ear wire from the jig and gently finish the piece with either nylon jaw pliers and/or your fingers to flatten the piece into the final shape you desire. At this point, use the Bur Cup to round the cut end of the ear wire. It should be completely smooth to the touch when finished. Figure 144 shows what the finished ear wire should look like.

Step Seven. It is recommend at this point that you set the rounded part of this ear wire by hardening it with a chasing hammer and anvil. Be absolutely certain that do not hammer the glass bead. . Try to hold the piece with the bead off the anvil, with only the top of the ear wire resting flat on the anvil. The arrows in Figure 145 show approximately where you should hammer. Figure 146 shows how to hold while hammering. Use many small taps rather than one or two larger pounds with the chasing hammer. The goal is to slightly deform (flat-ten) the wire. You should be able to see this slight deformation. In effect you are creating an “I” beam here.

Figure 145 Where to hammer

Figure 146 How to

hold while hammering



Wire Design Basics

Figure 147Hardened

Loop

Figure 147 shows how small the deformation appears in order to lock the rounded shape into the ear wire. Notice that the top portion is just barely, but noticeably flattened. You will be able to feel that this round shape is significantly stiffer after successfully hardening it. This is a finished, custom ear wire.

Figure 148 Delphi Pattern

Figure 149 Olympus Pattern

Figure 148 and 149 show the peg pat-tern used to make this ear wire on the WigJig Delphi and the WigJig Olympus or Wild Wire Jig respectively.

The following pages will describe the steps to make a locking back ear wire that will not come off acci-dentally. The materials and tools requied will be the same as for the “French” style ear wire that we just completed with one exception. You will need a larger Super Peg than the 5/16” one that we used above. A 3/8” Super Peg is recommended for this ear wire design.




Tools and Materials:To make the locking back ear wire, you will need round nose pliers, chain nose or bent-chain nose pliers, a flush cutter, two four inch pieces of safe 20 gauge wire (gold, gold-filled, Sterling Silver, or Stainless Steel), two small beads (2 to 4 mm), a jig with two metal pegs and one 3/8” Super Peg and a bur cup. Nylon jaw pliers and a chasing hammer and anvil are recommended but not absolutely required. Half-hard wire tends to work better than soft wire. In the figures below, I provide patterns for making this ear wire on the WigJig Olympus, the WigJig Delphi and the WigJig Cyclops. My personal preference for this project is the WigJig Delphi.

Directions:Step One. Begin by straightening two 4 inch pieces of ear-safe wire. With half-hard wire you will not be able to get it perfectly straight. Try to incorporate the natural curl of the wire into the finished piece by bending loops with the natural curl and not against it. I do this by determining where my loops will be and position the wire as you work it so that the finished piece will be with the natural curl of the wire. For this project, hold the wire hori-zontally, with the natural curl curving up. Then grasp the wire with the chain nose pliers about 1 1/2 inches from one end of the wire. Push the short 1 1/2 inch segment down to form an angle of about 80 degrees with the longer wire tail. Using the procedures described above, form a wrapped loop in the end of the wire. Complete the wrapped loop with two turns of wire around the wire tail. This will leave a short wire segment of about 3/4 inch long. Do not cut this wire tail. See Figure 150 for a picture of the wire at this point. In this figure, you should notice that the wire tail points in the same direction as the natural curl in the wire. Please note that if you are going to use the WigJig Olympus, Olympus-Lite or Wild Wire Jig for this project, you will need to make the loop large enough to fit over the larger metal pegs for these jigs. At this point you can add a 2mm to 4mm bead to the wire.

Figure 150 3/4” Wire Tail

Wire Tail




Step Two. For the WigJig Delphi, the two bottom metal pegs need to be spaced two holes apart in the same horizontal row of holes. The large 3/8 inch Super Peg should be spaced above the empty hole between the two metal pegs and placed in the third hole up from the empty hole in the same column of holes. Figure 151 shows the peg placement on the WigJig Delphi for making this ear wire. The wire in this Figure is positioned for a right-handed indi-vidual to complete the piece. If you are left-handed, the wire should be on the opposite metal peg (Peg 3), with the wire tail pointing to the left (mirror image) instead of to the right as shown in this figure. At this point, a right hander would hold the wire on Peg 1 with their left thumb and grasp the wire near the top, above the Super Peg and bend it around the Super Peg (Peg 2). This is a two step bend. First bend around Peg 2 and inside Peg 3. Bend the wire far enough so that when you stop applying force to the wire, it relaxes back to just barely touch Peg 3. Then in the second step, bend the wire against Peg 3 to create an angle of about 30 degrees. See Figure 152.

Peg 1

Peg 2

Peg 3

Figure 151 Peg Pattern

Figure 152 Wire on Jig

Step Three. After you have completed both bend-ing steps, the wire should appear as shown in Fig-ure 152. At this point remove the wire from the jig and cut the end off approximately 3/16 inch from the bend at Peg 3. Using a Cup Bur, round both ends of the wire so that they are completely smooth to the touch.

Step Four. Now grasp the short, horizontal wire segment connecting to the wrapped loop with your round nose pliers, and make a shephard’s hook -- exactly 1/2 of a loop. See Figure 153 (next page) for an example of a completed locking back ear wire, and note the shephard’s hook.

Peg 1

Peg 2

Peg 3


© 2003 Gary Helwig & WigJIg @ www.wigjig.com


Figure 153 Shephard’s Hook Figure 154 Harden

Figure 155 How to Hammer

Shephard’sHook

Harden

Step Six. The final step in making these ear wires is optional though recommended -- to harden the rounded portion of the ear wire (See Figure 154) by hammering the ear wire on an anvil as shown in Figure 155. Hammer the wire with the ear wire open or un-locked. This will add life to the spring in the wire, making it lock more securely.

There are several ways to customize this ear wire design. The first and most obvious is that you could add a crystal bead before you put the wire on the jig as shown in Fig-ure 151. Use a 4mm crystal bead in the same color as the bead to be used in the earring dangle. The second design modification is that you could use a different size Super Peg (Peg 2) and move it closer or further by one hole from peg 1 and 3. This would make the ear wire slightly more delicate or bolder according to whether you went smaller or larger.

Patterns for making this ear wire on the WigJig Olympus/Olympus Lite or Wild Wire, and on the WigJig Cyclops are provided in the following page.


© 2003 Gary Helwig & WigJIg @ www.wigjig.com


Figure 156 Lock Back Ear Wire Pattern on

WigJig Olympus

Figure 157 Lock Back Ear Wire On

WigJig Cyclops

Figure 156 shows the peg pattern for making the lock back ear wire on the WigJig Olympus, Olympus-Lite, or Wild Wire Jig. For this pat-tern we use two regular, metal pegs for the Olympus along with one 3/8” Super Peg. The instructions for making these ear wires on the Olympus are identical to those for the Delphi, provided above. The finished ear wire will be slightly larger than the ear wire made on the WigJig Delphi. The metal pegs for the Olympus are larger than the pegs for the Delphi so the beginning wrapped loop, shown in Figure 150 above, must be significantly larger to allow it to fit over the larger pegs.

The pattern for the lock back ear wires on the WigJig Cyclops is shown in Figure 157. Because the holes in the WigJig Cyclops are spaced so closely together near the cen-ter of the jig, it allows more design options. The Super Peg can be easily moved up or down one or two holes to change the design of this ear wire to accommodate your personal tastes. This simple pattern helps to demonstrate the flex-ibility of the WigJig Cyclops.

In the following pages we will use the skills we have learned to make several simple earrings. Once these projects are completed we will move on to some more advanced designs.

Begin by making two ear wires using the steps described in the prior pages. Using the left-over wire, make two jump rings about medium size (roughly 5mm). Cut the jewelry chain into two pieces about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long each (exactly the same size for both). Thread the large bead or beads on the head-pin and begin making a wrapped bead dangle as described in an early section of this book. Before beginning the wrap to close the bead dangle remove the head-pin and bead from the round nose pliers and thread the last loop of the chain onto the loop just made in the bead dangle.

Now grasp the loop in the bead dangle with chain nose or bent chain nose pliers and hold it firmly while you complete the wrap to finish the bead dangle. This step is very similar to making a wrapped bead link chain as discussed previously. At this point we should have two completed ear wires, two jump rings, and two bead dangles attached to chain segments. The final step is to open the jump ring and connect the each ear wire to a segment of chain & bead dangle. After closing the jump ring, the finished earring should appear like the one shown in Figure 158.

Beginner’s Project 5: Earrings with Custom Made Ear Wires



Figure 158Project 5

Introduction:This is a simple project using wire, chain, a commercial head-pin, and one or more beads. It involves making a custom made ear wire, a bead dangle, a jump ring and connecting the bead dangle to the chain, jump ring, and ear wire to complete the earring. This design can be easily modified to con-nect two beads to a slightly longer section of chain as another decorative alternative. With the longer chain, you can choose whether you connect the jump ring to the middle of the chain, or slightly off-center to have the two beads hanging at a different length. You will find that this simple pattern, whether made with a locking back ear-wire, or an open loop ear-wire (some-times called a “French” ear-wire) is very attractive and marketable.

Tools and Materials:To make this earring, you need round nose pliers, chain nose or bent chain nose pliers, a flush cutter and a jig with a Super Peg to make the ear wire. You will also need a head-pin, some jewelry chain about 2 inches long and 2 to 4 beads. (Two gold filled 3mm beads and two faceted, crystal tear-drop beads about 10 mm long were used in Figure 158.) The small beads in the ear wire can be as large as 4mm and can be crystal beads to match the larg-er beads in the dangle. In addition, you will need about 10 to 12 inches of 20 gauge precious metal wire, preferably half-hard. Please remember that ear wires must be made in precious metal wire to protect the wearer from pos-sibly harmful chemicals.

A hammer and anvil, nylon jaw pliers, and loop closing pliers are recom-mended but not absolutely required. Directions:

Figure 159AProject 6

Beginner’s Project 6: Earrings with Custom Made Head Pin



Introduction:

Tools and Materials:

Directions:

The next project we will undertake is to make another simple earring, using a head-pin that you make. After mastering this project we will graduate to some more advanced projects using the skills we have learned to this point.

This project requires the same set of tools we used in the prior project. Since we make our own head-pin for this project the materials are different. To make this project you need about 10 inches of half-hard precious metal wire and about 8 inches of soft wire. Since the soft wire is to make the head-pin, you can use any type of wire that satisfies your artistic desires. Colored Artistic Wire is perfectably acceptable. You will also need about eight beads in various sizes. I used two 4mm crystal bicone beads, four 6mm crystal bicone beads and two round metal 3mm beads.

Step One. Make two ear wires out of half-hard precious metal wire and make two jump rings. Use the techniques described in the preceeding sections.

Step Two. Using the soft wire, cut and straighten two 4 inch segments. In one end of each segment make a small spiral. Use the size of your beads to determine the size of the spiral. If you use 6mm beads, make a spiral 6mm in diameter. Bend the wire tail from the spiral to make a head pin.

Step Three. Thread your combination of beads onto this head-pin and make a wrapped bead dangle.

Step Four. The final step is to open the jump ring and connect the ear wire to the bead dangle. A figure 8 connec-tor can be substituted for the jump ring should you desire. The finished piece should appear similar to Figure 159.

Figure 159B

Project 6

Jump Ring

Wrapped Bead Loop

Ear Wire

Head Pin

Figure 160Project 7

Beginner’s Project 7: Chain Mail Earrings



Introduction:


Directions:

At this point you have the skills to make a wide variety of earrings. The pair that we will make in this project are called Chain Mail earrings because they are linked segments of wire, roughly similar to chain mail. These earrings are made using simple skills, but do require patience. They are not difficult, but time consuming to make because of all the components that must be made and connected in the proper orientation. I used 10 different figure 8 connectors to make one of these earrings. If you don’t have the patience to spend 30 minutes making one earring, skip this project. If your style is delicate, you should also skip this proj-ect. A finished earring is approximately 3 1/2 inches from top to bottom.

Figure 161 Peg Pattern

Step One. Make the components. There are eight different types of wire components that go into this earring. As I said above there are 10 Figure 8 connectors. There are two bead dangles per earring. There are two ear wires, and four horizontal metal components to the chain mail. There is also one jump ring in each earring. Figure 161 shows the peg placement on the WigJig Cyclops that I used to make the ear wire and 4 horizontal metal components of the chain mail. I used the Master Coiler Pliers or Fine Step Jaw Pliers on the smallest size step to make the begin-ning and ending loops for the top horizontal segment, the 4 hole (Continued next page)

In addition to the normal set of tools described in the above projects, I used a Master Coiler or step jaw pliers to make the beginning loop and ending loop for each segment and for the beginning loop of the figure 8 connectors. This is optional. Round nose pliers would work instead, but by using the step jaw pliers I increased my consistency. Each loop is exactly the same size. The materials I used were 10 inches of half-hard precious metal wire for the ear wire I made, plus about 20 inches of wire for the chain mail. This wire can be either half-hard or soft, though I personally prefer half-hard. I also used four head pins and four beads (6mm bicone crystal beads are shown in the picture).

Ear Wire

Top horizontal segment

4 hole segment

3 holesegment

2 holesegment

Beginner’s Project 7: Chain Mail Earrings (Continued)



Here is how to begin. First, make a custom ear wire using the pattern shown at the top of Figure 161. This pattern is used to minimize the length of the earrings, since the chain mail earrings are somewhat long. This ear wire does not have any beads which reduces the size of the ear wire. Remove the ear wire from the jig but do not wrap the loop closed. It is im-portant to wait before closing the wrapped loop in the ear wire because this loop is wrapped closed after inserting the middle loop in the top horizontal segment into the loop in the ear wire. This is done to minimize the length of the earring since it eliminates the need for a connector between the ear wire and the top horizontal segment. Please see Figure 160 so that you can visualize how the ear wire and the top horizontal segment are directly attached to one another. Please note that the two bead dangles are added as the very last step.

Now make the four wire segments on the jig as shown in Figure 161 -- the top horizontal segment, the four hole segment, the three hole segment and the two hole segment. As de-scribed in the previous page, you can make the starting loop and ending loop on the step jaw pliers to make them exactly the same size. This makes the finished product more con-sistent. If you don’t have step jaw pliers, use round nose pliers instead.

There is a one hole horizontal segment to the chain mail. It is a jump ring that is made us-ing the step jaw pliers’ smallest step. Make this jump ring and 10 figure 8 connectors. Try to make all of the loops in the figure 8 connectors exactly the same size as the loop in the jump ring. Make 10 Figure 8 connectors this size.

Step Two. Now to assemble the chain mail. First, attach the middle loop in the top hori-zontal segment onto the loop in the ear wire. Now grasp the loop in the ear wire with chain nose or bent chain nose pliers and wrap the loop closed. Cut off any excess wire and tuck in the residual wire tail. (If you are using commercial ear wires, attach the ear wire to the middle loop of the top horizontal connector.) At this point, you have your ear wire with the top horizontal segment hanging from it.

segment, the 3 hole segment, the 2 hole segment and the jump ring. The starting loop was made on the step jaw pliers. That loop was placed over one of the pegs on the jig and the wire was wrapped to the ending loop. At that point, bend the wire about 60 degrees around the ending peg, and removed the wire from the jig. Complete the final loop for the segment using the step jaw pliers.

Beginner’s Project 7: Chain Mail Earrings (Continued)Wire Design Basics Book 2

Step Six. We are now ready to hang the jump ring, or the one hole segment of the chain mail. Hang one figure 8 connector from the bottom of each loop of the two hole connector. At this point it is probably easier to open the jump ring and hang it from each of the two figure 8 connectors rather than opening both figure 8 connectors. Close the jump ring. At this point the chain mail is completed and should hang in a smooth “V” shape from the ear wire. Check for the proper orientation of all segments. Compare against Figure 160.

Step Seven. The final step is to hang a bead dangle from the jump ring and from the mid-dle loop in the top horizontal segment. Use a commercial head pin to make both bead dan-gles. The beads shown are 6mm bicone, faceted crystal beads. The beads must be rather small since there is not a lot of room between the top horizontal segment and the four hole segment. If you choose to use a larger bead dangle, you might have to eliminate the dangle hanging from the top horizontal segment.

Alternatives. This design can be readily adapted to any square hole pattern jig by merely placing the pegs in a row, with either four, three or two pegs in a row. The top horizontal segment is made with two pegs in one row spaced symmetrically around the third peg, one row up.

There is one alternative design that you may wish to consider. You can modify this design to make it shorter by eliminating the four hole row from the earrings and modifying the top horizontal segment to be smaller to match the length of the three hole segment. This is easy to do on the WigJig Cyclops, but may be more difficult on a square hole pattern jig.


Step Three. Open one side of two figure 8 connectors and hang them from each outside loop in the top horizontal connector. Close the two figure 8 connectors. Now open the bot-tom of these two figure 8 connectors and hang the 4 hole horizontal segment from them. Attach one figure 8 connector to the top of each of the outside loops in the 4 hole segment. Be sure to hang the 4 hole segment so that the horizontal piece is at the top and the loops hang down. See Figure 160 for the proper orientation. Don’t be surprised if this takes a few tries. When you have it hanging correctly, close both figure 8 connectors. Have pa-tience! Once you master this step, everything else is easy.

Step Four. Now perform the same process for the 3 hole horizontal segment. Add one figure 8 connectors to the bottom of each of the outside loops of the 4 hole segment. Open the bottom loop of the two figure 8 connectors and hang the 3 hole segment in the proper orientation. Close the two figure 8 connectors.

Step Five. Now do the same thing for the 2 hole segment.

Beginner’s Project 7: Chain Mail Earrings (Continued)Wire Design Basics Book 2


If you had the patience to follow all these steps and make two chain mail earrings, you are no longer a beginner. Consider yourself an Intermediate Wire Worker and prepare an ap-propriate certificate to hang on your wall.

Now that you are an Intermediate Wire Worker, we will try some slightly more difficult ear-ring designs. There are no new skills to learn, we just use the skills you already know in a different way.

Intermediate Project 8: Wrapped Triangle Earrings.



Figure 162 Front

Figure 162 Side

Introduction:


Directions:

This project uses a new technique to finish a wire com-ponent made on the jig. These earrings are finished by wrapping the wire around itself to form a tight, strong finished piece that will not come apart. This technique has many applications and will be used in the next sev-eral earring projects.

This is a project for someone with intermediate skills. It is more difficult than the prior projects in this book and for this reason it is important to make several practice pieces before trying to make the finished piece. Begin with inexpensive practice wire before graduating to the final wire.

This project is easier to make in half-hard wire than it is in soft wire. Since most practice wire is dead soft,

The finished earrings, including the custom made ear wires take about 20 inches of half-hard gold-filled or sterling silver wire, four commercial head pins, four 6mm crystal bicone beads and four 2.5mm round metal beads. The WigJig Cyclops was used to make the pattern, although this pattern could be adapted to any of the jigs. See Figure 172 for how to adapt this design to a jig with a square hole pattern.

Figure 163 Wrapped Loop

Step One. Begin this project by cutting and straightening a piece of wire 6 inches long. Make a small wrapped loop in the end of the wire as shown in Figure 163. Use only slightly more than one wrap to make this loop. The loop must fit over a peg for the jig you are us-ing.

this means that it will be more difficult to make the prac-tice pieces than the final piece in half-hard gold-filled or sterling silver wire. Do not become frustrated if the first few pieces you make aren’t the best.

Intermediate Project 8: Wrapped Triangle Earrings (Continued)



Step Two. Position the pegs on the jig as shown in Figure 164. Peg 2 is in the center hole in the Cyclops. Peg 1 is in the second row out from the center. Pegs 3 and 4 are in the 6th row from the center, with each spaced 30 degrees off the axis formed by peg 1 and 2.

Step Three. Place the loop you just made in the wire on peg one, again as shown in Figure 164. Figure 164 Place loop on Peg 1

1 2

3

4

1

2

3

4Bend

Figure 165 Grasp Wire

Step Four. Grasp the wire with bent chain nose pliers between pegs 1 and 2 about 1/8 inch away from peg 2, as shown in Figure 165. Bend the wire about 60 degrees down as shown by the arrow in Figure 165. When completed the wire should appear as shown in Figure 166.

1 2

3

4

Figure 166 Wire After Bend

Intermediate Project 8: Wrapped Triangle Earrings (Continued).



Figure 167 Grasp With Round Nose

Pliers

Step Five. Remove the wire from the jig and grasp the wire at the bend with round nose pliers. See Figure 167. Bend the wire back about 90 degrees from its current position. The purpose for this step is to manually create a bend in the wire around peg 2, as shown in Fig-ure 168. This is important so that the finished piece will be symmetrical. After completing the bend, place the wire on the jig as shown in Figure 168.

Step Six. We are now ready to wrap the wire around the pegs to form the triangle shape. From the position shown in Figure 168, bend the wire up and around peg 3, forming a loop around this peg. Continue to bend until the wire relaxes against the left side of peg 4. You will probably need to bend it slightly beyond peg 4, so that the wire just touches the left side of peg 4 when relaxed.

Step Seven. Remove the wire from the jig and place the loop that we just made on peg 3, over peg 4, thereby flipping the piece over. This step is necessary to make the finished piece as symmetrical as possible. While practicing you can skip this step to see the difference it makes in the final piece.

1 2

3

4Push

Figure 168 Place Wire on Jig




1

2

34

Figure 169 Wire on Jig

Step Eight. After flipping the wire over, continue to wrap the wire around peg three, making another loop and finish by bending the wire around peg two. See Figure 169 for a sample of what the wire should look like before you remove it from the jig. Please note that the initial bend we made in the wire should now make sense, since we want the wire symmetri-cally around peg two.

Step Nine. Remove the wire from the jig and grasp it with bent chain nose pliers as shown in Figure 170. Hold the wire firmly so that it will not slip. Try to grasp the wire so that the triangle is as symetrical as possible. Now comes the hard part. With the loose wire tail on top of the rest of the piece, push down on the wire tail and wrap it around the wire segment that went between pegs 1 and 2. Wrap tightly and do not let the shape of the triangle change by letting the wire slip in the chain nose pliers.

Figure 170 Remove from Jig

This is the step where half-hard wire makes it much easier. Soft wire does not want to wrap tightly, so you have to hold it tightly so that the wraps are tight against the wire segment from pegs 1 to 2. With half-hard wire this step will be easier.

Complete the wrap and cut any residual wire. Tuck in the small wire tail after the cut with chain nose pliers. See Figure 171 for a close-up of what the wrap should look like when completed.

Figure 171 Finished Wrap

Wrap

Initial Loop

Step 10. To finish these earrings, I made a custom ear wire, and connected it to the triangle component I just made before wrapping the loop of the ear wire closed. The final step is to attach two bead dangles, one to each of the bottom corner loops of the triangle. Here I used a 6mm bicone, faceted crystal bead and a 2.5 mm round metal bead on a head pin for each bead dangle. The finished earrings are shown in Figure 162. As an alternative you could connect the ear wire to the earring body with a jump ring or figure 8 connector.





Figure 172 shows how to adapt this design to a WigJig Delphi. The same adaptation will work on the WigJig Olympus or Wild Wire by counting the holes and posi-tioning the pegs.

Let us now review some tips and techniques on how to make wire components in the most consistent manner. First, remember above all to keep the wire straight while working with it. With soft wire this is more difficult and much more important. If you have to, stop, remove the wire from the jig and straighten it with nylon jaw pliers before continuing. Also remember that it is easier to keep the wire straight if you hold the wire in one hand and move the jig with the other.

Next let’s talk about using our tools properly to be con-sistent. The size of a loop is determined by how far down the jaws of your round nose pliers you hold the wire. Be

sure to hold the wire at the same place in your pliers for both earrings. Also adapt the size of your loops to the size requirements for your piece. The initial loop shown in Figure 163 should be small. It should just fit over the peg in the jig that you are using. If it doesn’t fit over the peg it is too small. If it fits loosely, it is too big. By contrast, the loops you make for the bead dangles should be large. We want the beads to move easily, so make larger loops here. Where you grasp the wire on your chain nose pliers determines the length of the unbent segment. This makes a short segment between the loop in the bead dangle and the beads. For the earrings shown here, I grasped the wire near the handle of the bent chain nose pliers and this made a longer segment between the beads and the loop. By grasping the wire at the same place on the pliers every time, I made this segment the same length for all four bead dangles.




Figure 173 Side Figure 173 Front

Now let’s discuss some options for modifying the design of these earrings. In Figure 173, I took the same earrings and added a 4mm crystal bicone bead in the middle of the triangle, hanging from the loop in the wire made by peg 2. This adds in-terest and complexity to this earring design. I like the result, but I must note that doing this requires patience. Make the loop to hold this 4mm bead quite a bit larger than the loops for the other four bead dangles. Longer

Dangle

With the WigJig Cyclops you have many options to modify this design by moving a peg or two. Once you are comfortable with this technique, I recommend moving peg 1 closer to peg 2 by one hole. This makes the wire segment between 1 and 2 shorter and improves the design of the earrings, but is more difficult to perform. You can also move pegs 3 and 4 each one peg in any direction and create an entirely new design. Finally, you can add another peg between pegs 3 and 4 to form another loop. Add this peg on the extension of the segment between pegs 1 and 2, the centerline of the triangle. Making these kind of modifications is easily possible on a round jig and rather diffficult on a square hole pattern jig.

Intermediate Project 9: Wrapped Diamond Earrings



Introduction:


Directions:

Figure 173 Side

Now that we have completed Project 8 we are ready for a slightly more complex pair of ear-rings as we build on the skills we have learned. These earrings employ the exact same skills we used in Project 8 with a slightly more complex pattern. Figure 173 shows the front and side views for Project 9, the Wrapped Diamond Earring. If you were successful in completing Project 8, you will find that Project 9 is easy. If you had difficulties with Project 8, you are not ready for Project 9. The Wrapped Tri-angle design is easier to make and one should practice this design until you are relatively proficient before moving on to this slightly more difficult design. Figure 173 Front

The finished earrings, including the custom made ear wires take about 20 inches of half-hard gold-filled or sterling silver wire, six commercial head pins, six 6mm crystal bicone beads and two 4mm crystal beads. I used the WigJig Cyclops to make the pattern, although this pattern could be adapted to any of the jigs. See Figure 176 for how to adapt this design to a jig with a square hole pattern. There were no new tools used to make these earrings.

1

2

3

4

5

Step One. Arrange five pegs as shown in Figure 174. Cut and straighten two pieces of wire 5 1/2 inches long. Using the same techniques as for the Wrapped Triangle Earrings, make a wrapped loop in this wire. The completed wrapped loop should have only 1 1/4 turns around the wire segment between pegs 1 and 2. Make the loop small so that it just fits over the peg for the jig you are using.

Step Two. Using the steps shown in Figures 165 through 168, make the inital bend around peg 2 by hand. The wire should look like Figure 174 when you are ready to begin wrapping the piece.

Step Three. Now place the beginning loop over peg 1 and proceed to bend the wire up and around peg 3. (continued next page)

Figure 174 Pattern for Right Handers

Intermediate Project 9: Wrapped Diamond Earrings (Continued)

© 2002 WigJIg @ www.wigjig.com


Figure 175 Earring Body on Jig

1

2

3

4

5

firmly. (See Figure 170 for how to hold this wire.) Pro-ceed to wrap the wire around the wire segment that formerly went between pegs 1 and 2. Continue to wrap until you completely wrap the wire segment between pegs 1 and 2.

Step Six. At this point you are ready to add your bead dangles to the loops made around pegs 3, 4, and 5. Use larger loops for the wrapped loop that holds your bead dangle to the loop in the earring body we just made. Once this is done, connect your completed earring body to your ear wire either by a jump ring, a figure 8 connector, or via opening the ear wire and connecting it directly. I prefer directly connecting the earring body to the ear wire since it preserves the orientation I want for the finished piece and limits the vertical extend of this earring, which I prefer from a style perspective. Figure 177 shows how the finished earring should look.

Figure 176 Pattern for WigJig Delphi

Figure 176 shows how to adapt this design to a WigJig Delphi. The same pattern can be adapted for the WigJig Olympus, Olympus-Lite or Wild Wire jig by counting the holes from Figure 176.

Remember to hold the wire straight in your dominant hand and move the jig with your other hand. Continue to bend the wire until it just relaxes against peg 4. Now bend the wire around peg 4, until the wire tail just relaxes against peg 5. At this point, remove the wire from the jig and turn it over. The loop formed on Peg 3 should now rest on Peg 5. Complete the piece by wrap-ping the wire around peg 3 and back to peg 2. Wrap the wire around peg 2 and stop. At this point the wire should look like Figure 175. Step Four. After removing the wire from the jig, grasp each of the loops with nylon jaw pliers and squeeze to set the design in the wire.

Step Five. Now with your bent chain nose pliers, grab the wire where it wrapped around peg 2 and hold it

Intermediate Project 9: Wrapped Diamond Earrings (Continued)



Figure 178Rolex Style

Figure 179Rolex Style

Figure 178 and 179 show two other alternatives for finishing this earring. This is a technique that I call Rolex Style because of the combina-tion of gold and silver that you see, similar to the watch band on a Rolex. This is an advanced technique. When you are very comfortable with making Wrapped Triangle and Wrapped Diamond Earrings, you can attempt this tech-nique. The wraps are accomplished with very fine wire, either 24 or 26 gauge.

Wraps

Figure 177 Side Figure 177 Front

Ear Wire

Earring Body

There are several options for modifying this design. In Figure 177, I show a modification where a 4mm crystal bead dangle is added, hanging from the loop made by Peg 2. As with the Wrapped Triangle Earrings, this is more difficult to accomplish than an ordinary bead dangle, but with patience and using a very large wrapped loop to hang the bead, it can be done. I think it adds to the finished piece and recommend trying it.

Intermediate Project 10: Sidewinder Earrings with Spiral



Introduction:


Directions:

Project 10 is a pair of earrings that I call Sidewinder with Spiral, because of the similarity of the wire design to the rattlesnake in the Southwest. This pair of earrings is rather easy to make by comparison with the prior two projects.

This design uses the same tools as our prior projects. It requires about 20 inches of 22 gauge soft wire and if you make your own ear wires eight addi-tional inches of 20 gauge half hard wire. Two 6mm crystal bicone beads and two round 2.5mm metal beads were used for the ear wires. This design was made on the WigJig Cyclops, but patterns for the WigJig Delphi or other jig with a square hole pattern are provided at the end.

Figure 180


Begin by cutting and straightening two 8 inch pieces of 22 gauge soft wire. Make a wrapped loop in the end of the wire, large enough to fit over the peg on the jig you are using. Place this loop over peg one, as shown in Figure 181, and wrap the wire around the pegs in turn. When you are done, the wire should appear as shown in Figure 181. At this point, remove the wire from the jig. Using the wire tail, make a spiral with the excess wire. Finish the spiral under the center of this Side-winder wire component. Using your hand, finish this piece by moving the loops together to tighten-up the finished piece. At this point you can harden the finished Sidewinder by tapping it repeatedly on an anvil with a chasing hammer.

Make an ear wire and close the loop on the ear wire. Connect the ear wire to the Sidewinder earring body with a wrapped bead link. Use the 6mm crystal bead in the wrapped bead link.

When completed the finished earring should appear as shown in Figure 180.

1

46

23

7

5

Intermediate Project 10: Sidewinder Earrings with Spiral(Continued)



Figure 182 Delphi Pat-tern

Figure 182 shows how to adapt this design for a square peg pattern jig, the WigJig Delphi. By counting the pegs the same pattern can be adapted to the WigJig Olympus, Olympus-Lite or Wild Wire jigs.

This earring can be modified in many ways. One way I suggest is to consider using 4mm crystal beads instead of the 6 mm crystal beads that I used. This design also works well with most any small bead.

On the WigJig Cyclops this design was made using a 15 degree pattern. The design could be modified to any pattern in 7.5 degree increments. Either a 22.5 degree or a 30 degree pattern would also work well. For this earring, I chose delicate, so I went with a smaller angle.

Intermediate Project 11 Candelabra Earrings

© 2002 WigJIg @ www.wigjig.com


Introduction:


Directions:

These are a very popular pair of earrings. They use the skills we have practiced with Projects 8 and 9 and make a pair of earrings that get noticed. They are not easy to make, but if you completed Projects 8 and 9, you should be able to complete these. It is just a little more of the same skills. This is our last earring project.

This project uses one tool that we have not used before. It is called a Spacer Press and consists of a simple plastic tube with a diam-eter of about 3/16 inch. The Spacer Press is used because these pegs are so close together that you can not use your fingers to push the

Figure 183 Side

Figure 183 Front

wire down as you wrap it around a peg. As an alternative to a Spacer Press you can use a 1/8 inch dowel.

This project uses about 26 inches of 20 gauge wire, ten 6mm crystal beads, ten head pins, ten 2mm round metal beads and two 2.5 mm round metal beads if you make the ear wires.


Step One. Cut and straighten a 6 1/2 inch piece of 20 gauge wire. Half-hard wire will work the best. Begin by making a wrapped loop in one end of this wire. Make the loop large enough to fit over the peg for the jig you use. Cut off the wire tail and tuck in the residual wire.

Step Two. Just as we did for the Wrapped Triangle and for the Wrapped Diamond, we need to make the curve in the wire around peg 2 by hand. This is done as shown previously in Figures 165 through 168.

1

2

4 3

5

6

7

10

9

811

This project was made on the WigJig Cyclops. Figure 186 shows how to adapt this design for the WigJig Delphi.

Figure 185 Direction of Wraps

Intermediate Project 11: Candelabra Earrings (Continued)



As always, please practice this piece at least three times in inexpensive practice wire before making the final, finished piece.

As with our earlier projects, there are several alterna-tives that can be considered when making these ear-rings. One alternative is to move Peg 1 down one hole to shorten the segment between Peg 1 and 2. This may make the earrings more esthetically pleasing. An-other alternative is to wrap the outside loops with fine gauge wire similar to the Rolex Style that we showed in Project 9. You can also consider hanging a small bead dangle using a 4mm crystal bead from the loop formed by Peg 2. You may also add a bead to the wire between peg 1 and 2 before you begin to make the loop around peg 2 by hand. The final alternative to

Figure 186 Peg Pattern for WigJig Delphi

Figure 186 shows an adaptation of this design for the WigJig Delphi, or other square hole pattern jig. Please note that this is a modified design and not the same as the original design on the Cyclops. The design from the Cyclops could not be adapted peg for peg onto a square hole pattern jig.

35

6

78

4

1

2

9

10

Step Three. When this loop around peg 2 is done, place the initial loop over peg 1 and position the wire so that the wire tail passes on the left side of peg 3 as shown in Figure 184. Wrap the wire around the pegs in the order shown. See also Figure 185 to help determine which direction to wrap the wire.

Step Four. Finish the piece by wrapping the wire around the wire segment between peg 1 and 2. See Figure 183 for a sample of what the finished earring body should look like. At this point, you add five bead dangles to each of the bottom loops in the earring body. Fin-ish by connecting the earring body to an ear wire.

consider is making a custom ear wire with a 4mm crystal bead to match the 6mm crystals in the bead dangles at the bottom.

Intermediate Project 11: Candelabra Earrings (Continued)



In some ways the piece in figure 186 is easier to make than the original design on the WigJig Cyclops. The design in Figure 186 can be adapted to the Cyclops by removing pegs 4 and 10 from the pattern shown in Figure 184.

Intermediate Project 12: Necklace with Handmade Yoke



Introduction:


This project uses the same skills we used to make bracelets and earrings, but this time instead of making an earring body, we will make a yoke to hang a watch from a necklace. In general a yoke is a piece of wire that is roughly “Y” shaped and is used to connect a heavy bead or large dangle to the center of a necklace. See figure 187 A and B for a sample of the necklace we will make. Figure 188 shows a close-up of the yoke to be made.

This project uses the same tools as the previous projects. The materials include sixteen 8mm pearls or glass pearls, thirty-two Bali-Style 8mm Bead Caps, thirty-two 4mm round silver beads, one lobster claw clasp, one split ring finding, six inches of 18 gauge sterling silver half-hard, round wire, about forty inches of 22 gauge sterling silver half-hard, round wire, and one small silver-tone pocket

Figure 187A Project 12

Figure 187B Project 12Figure 188 Close-up

of Yoke

Yoke

style watch. Directions are provided for making this piece using a WigJig Cyclops. At the end, we show how to use a WigJig Delphi, or square hole pattern jig instead.

Intermediate Project 12: Necklace with Handmade Yoke (Continued)



Directions:Let’s begin this project by making the yoke. This step is almost identi-cal to the earrings we made in Proj-ect 8. Start by making a wrapped loop in a 6 inch piece of 18 gauge wire. At this point, add one 4mm sterling silver round bead to the wire (not shown in Figure 189) This bead goes on the wire segment between pegs 1 and 2 as close to peg 1 as possible. Place this loop over Peg 1 and position the wire so that you can estimate where to start making the initial loop around peg 2 manually. Using your chain nose or bent chain nose pliers, bend the wire at about a 75 degree angle away from peg 2.

Figure 189 Yoke on Jig

Figure 190 Bead Link

1

2

345

Using your round nose pliers grasp the wire near the bend that you just made and bend the wire to make the partial bend around peg 2 as we did in the prior projects. Place the initial loop on peg 1 with the wire to the left of peg 2 and the wire tail resting against peg 3. Now wrap the wire around peg, 3 and 4 as shown in Figure 189. At this point you remove the piece from the jig and flip it over so that the loop made on Peg 3 is now on Peg 5, with the loop on Peg 4 still on Peg 4. Complete wrapping the wire so that the piece looks like Figure 189. Now remove the wire from the jig. Finish making the yoke by wrapping the wire tail around that wire segment that went between pegs 1 and 2. See Figure 188, above for a closer view of the completed yoke. Make the wire chain to connect on either side of the yoke using the wrapped bead link covered in the early portion of this book. The bead link is made up of one 4mm round sterling silver bead, one bead cap, a pearl, a bead cap and is finished by a 4mm round sterling silver bead. See Figure 190 for a close-up of this link. This chain needs to be about 30 inches long. 8 bead wrap links on either side of the yolk are needed. A short segment of chain about 3/16 inch long is used between each bead link.


Intermediate Project 12: Necklace with Handmade Yoke (Continued)


Directions (Continued):

This project can be modified in many ways. The wrapped bead link with the pearls could be replaced with faceted crystal beads to give an entirely new look. The yoke itself could be made larger by moving pegs 3, 4, and 5 one or more holes further from the center of the WigJig Cyclops. You could use 16 Gauge wire instead of 18 gauge wire to make the yoke bolder. As another option, Peg 4, and the loop aroung this peg could be eliminated. Finally, 20 Gauge wire could be used instead of 18 gauge wire to make the yoke more delicate. These are just a few of the options for making this necklace.

Figure 191 Clasp and Catch

Figure 191 shows how the lobster clasp is at-tached directly to the wrapped bead link, with the loop to connect to the clasp made as just a larger than normal loop in the wrapped bead link on the other side of the necklace. (See figure 191.)

Figure 192 shows how to make this yoke on a WigJig Delphi or other square patterned jig.



Final Skill -- How to make Findings: A Handmade ClaspWire Design Basics Book 2

Introduction:

In this section we will show one design for making a handmade clasp for a bracelet or neck-lace. This particular clasp is very strong getting this strength from wraping wire around itself. There are simpler styles of handmade clasps, but they are not as strong or perma-nent. This particular design was made on the WigJig Cyclops, but a pattern for making a similar design on the WigJig Delphi or other square pattern jig will be provided. You can view the finished clasp in Figure 193 below.

Along with making this particular clasp, a secondary skill will be shown -- how to add a guard chain to a bracelet. Guard chains are not required, but are recommended, especially when using magnetic clasps. Any bracelet made with quality materials deserves a guard chain, and they are not hard to do. You can see the guard chain in Figure 193.

This clasp can also be made in colored wire to compliment a project.


This clasp requires about 8 inches of 20 gauge wire preferably half-hard, although soft will do. I also used about 2 inches of a very fine chain to make the guard chain, and one split ring finding to attach the guard chain to the clasp.

This project was made on the WigJig Cyclops, but it uses a simple peg pattern that can be done on any jig with either a square or round peg pattern.

One 3/16 inch Super Peg and two regular pegs are required. A normal set of hand tools is also required, including round nose pliers, flush cutter, and bent chain nose pliers. This project can be completed without step jaw pliers, but the end result will be much better if you use the step jaw pliers. If you don’t have step jaw pliers, use round nose pliers instead.

Figure 193 Finished Clasp

Directions:

Step One: Cut and straighten an 8 inch piece of wire.

Step Two: Place the pegs in your jig according to the placement in Figure 194. (see the fol-lowing page.)


Final Skill -- How to make Findings: A Handmade Clasp (Continued)


Figure 194 Peg Placement for WigJig CyclopsStep Three: Using your round nose pliers make a loop on one end of the wire.

Step Four: Place the loop you just made on peg 1 of the jig and wrap the wire as shown in Figure 194. To make this piece you will need to wrap the wire around Super Peg 2 twice. The first wrap is counter-clockwise from peg 1, around peg 2 to peg 3. the second wrap is also counter-clockwise from peg 3, around peg 2, and to the left.

12

3

Figure 195 After twisting Loops

Step Five: Remove the wire from the Jig.

Step Six: Now we have to bend the two loops around peg 2 so that it looks like Figure 195. This is done by bending one clockwise and the other loop counter-clockwise. This can be done by hand. (Please note that in Figure 195 you are looking at the wire with the wire on edge. Your view is from peg 1 toward peg 2.)




Step Nine: Grasp the two loops that went around peg 2 with chain nose pliers so that you can bend the short wire segment that you just cut down to be in line with the wire segment that went to and from peg 3. See Figure 197 A and B for how the wire should look at this point.

Figure 196 How to Grasp

Step Seven: By hand squeeze the wire that went around peg 3 together so that the loop around peg 3 is smaller and tighter.

Step Eight: Cut off the wire segment with the loop about 1/4 inch above the wire segment that went to and from peg 3. The wire should now appear like Figure 196

Figure 197A: Wire After Bending

Figure 197B: Wire After Bending the Short Segment




Figure 198 After the Wrap

Figure 199 Grasp with the Step Jaw Pliers

30 degree bend

Step Ten: Now change your grip with your chain nose pliers and grip the two loops that you made around peg 2 as shown in Figure 197B. Hold firmly and wrap the long wire tail around the wire segment that went to/from peg 3. Wrap the wire around about six times. When the wrap is completed the piece should appear like Figure 198. Stop the wrap with the wire below the wire segment that went to and from peg 3 with the wire oriented as shown in Figure 198. Cut the wire tail. This will become the inside of the clasp and won’t show the cut end. Using chain nose pliers, tuck in the loose end.

Figure 200 Make the Hook

Step Twelve: Grasp the piece with the step jaw pliers as shown in Figure 199 and bend the wire to make a loop. Using the step jaw pliers allows you to make the bend the same in both sides of the wire. Round nose pliers will not work as well. Figure 200 shows what the piece looks like before removing from the step jaw pliers. The finished loop should almost touch the wire wrap at the 30 degree bend. See Figure 201 for a another view of the completed loop.

Step Eleven: Now we need to add a 30 degree bend in the end of the wire segment to and from peg 3. Grasp the segment 1/4 inch from the end with chain nose/bent chain nose pliers and bend it up only about 30 degrees. Figure 199 shows the wire after the 30 degree bend.




Step Thirteen: Now grasp the loop in the clasp with the largest increment of the step jaw pliers and bend the loop so that it is centered on the clasp. This process is just like taking a “P” loop and making it an Eye Loop. The finished product should look like Figure 202.

Figure 201 Center the Loop

Figure 202 The Finished Piece

To make the loop that this clasp connects to is very simple. You can connect this loop to a soldered jump ring finding that you purchase, or you can connect it to a larger loop that you make in a wrapped bead link. The latter is the approach that I prefer.

In the following pages we will do a project that incor-porates this clasp along with a guard chain to make a finished bracelet. This project will also provide a better explanation on how to form the loop that mates with this clasp.


Final Project: How to Make a Bracelet with a Handmade Clasp


Figure 202 Final Project

Introduction: This final project will incorporate the skills of making a hand made clasp with the wrapped bead link skills that we learned earlier. We will make a bracelet that is very strong, will wear well and yet looks handmade. If done well you may receive the backhanded compli-ment that I once received -- “What machine did you use to make this”. When the wraps in the clasp and in the wrapped bead link are done well, people can mistake this bracelet for one made by a machine.

Tools and Materials: This project uses the same tools as we used to make the hand made clasp. The materials are about 8 inches of 20 gauge half-hard wire, 15 inches of 22 or 24 gauge half-hard wire, 2 inches of fine chain and 6 inches of slightly heavier chain, six 8mm round beads and twelve 3mm round metal filled beads. In the bracelet shown above, gold-filled wire, chain and metal beads were used.

Directions:Step One: Using the 8 inches of 20 gauge half-hard wire, make a clasp using the steps described in the previous section.

Step Two: Using the 22 or 24 gauge half-hard wire, make a wrapped bead link chain, with the first loop in the chain connected to the clasp before it is wrapped closed. When making this initial loop, make it slightly larger than normal to allow extra room to go around the clasp. You should remember that you make a larger loop by holding the wire further from the tips on your round nose pliers. You can also add the guard chain to this first loop of the wrapped bead link by threading one link from the 2 inch fine chain onto this first loop in the wrapped bead link.

Step Three: After closing and wrapping the initial loop, add one 3mm metal bead, one 8mm round bead and a second 3mm round bead to the wire and make the loop for the other end of this wrapped bead link. Before wrapping this second loop closed, cut a 1/2 inch long segment from the 6 inch commercially manufactured chain and thread one link from that short chain segment onto the loop. I used a manufactured chain segment about 1/2 inch long. After adding the manufactured chain link, wrap the loop closed.

Step Four: Continue making wrapped bead links and adding chain segments until the bracelet is just about 7 to 7 1/4 inches long, ending in a wrapped bead link and not a chain segment. Make the last loop in the wrapped bead link as large as you can, because this loop becomes the catch for the clasp that we made in Step One. Before wrapping this final loop closed, add the end link from the guard chain to the loop. Once the guard chain is added, complete the wrap to finish this link. At this point the bracelet should be ready to wear.

Notes: You may have to adjust the length of the heavier gauge chain links to make the finished bracelet come out to between 7 and 7 1/2 inches long. To help make this happen, measure the length of the clasp and each combination of wrapped bead link and chain segment. Remember that you will have approximately 6 wrapped bead links and 5 chain segments in the finished barcelet. If you calculate that the bracelet will be too long or too short, try to add or remove links in the chain segments to make it come out correct. If your calculations show that you are off by an inch or more, consider adding or eliminating an entire wrapped bead link and chain segment combined. (Given the measurements used in this project, you should not be off by much.)

Figure 203 Finished Project Showing Guard Chain

Alternatives:

In Figure 203, you can see that I con-nected the gaurd chain directly to the clasp by a split ring finding. This is an alternative to connecting it to the wrapped bead link for the first bead and may be esthetically more pleasing.

You may want to use the same design to make a necklace to match. If you do, the guard chain should be elimi-nated. With a necklace you might want to add an additional wire com-ponent made on a jig to add decora-tive interest.


Final Project: How to Make a Bracelet with a Handmade Clasp (Continued)


Gauge Inches (“) Millimeters (mm)10 0.1019 2.5911 0.0907 2.3012 0.0808 2.0513 0.072 1.8314 0.0641 1.6315 0.0571 1.4516 0.0508 1.2917 0.0453 1.1518 0.0403 1.0219 0.0359 0.91220 0.032 0.81321 0.0285 0.72422 0.0253 0.64323 0.0226 0.57424 0.0201 0.51125 0.0179 0.45526 0.0159 0.40427 0.0142 0.36128 0.0126 0.32129 0.0113 0.28730 0.01 0.25431 0.0089 0.22632 0.008 0.20333 0.0071 0.17934 0.0063 0.16035 0.0056 0.14236 0.005 0.12737 0.0045 0.11438 0.004 0.10239 0.0035 0.08940 0.0031 0.079

Wire Gauges

Appendix

1 inch = 25.4 millimeters 1 millimeter = .03937 inches

Appendix II

Feet Per Ounce by Gauge

Gauge 14K Gold-Filled Round Sterling Silver Round10 2.16 1.8312 3.48 3.0014 5.48 4.6616 8.75 7.5018 13.80 1220 21.68 1921 29.60 2422 35.50 3124 55.50 48

wire design basics book 2 - jewelry making with...

Documents