| Wrapped Loop Bead and Clasp |
From "DIY Crafts"
episode DIC-231 |
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Materials: 20-gauge (0.8mm) half-hard round wire
14mm or larger round bead
Chain nose pliers
Flush cutters
Round nose pliers
Beads - Using a piece of wire that is about 6-1/2" long, bend the first 3" over into a nice sharp 90-degree angle with the chain nose pliers. Think of this bend (figure A) as "sacred" -- you don't want to ever lose it.
- Hold the round nose pliers about 1/4" away from the bend. Hold the wire pointing towards you and your plier hand facing palm outward. Tilt your head sideways so that you are looking down at the points of your round nose pliers. Start to loop the wire up and over by rolling the pliers away from you. Be sure that the wire and pliers are perpendicular to each other. You'll stop looking at a very specific moment. Imagine that the look is complete. If it is "centered" over the wire, stop bending. If continued rolling would pull out the sacred bend, stop bending.
- Maintain your hold with the pliers in the half loop but let go of the wire with your other hand. Grasp the tail end of the wire with your other hand. Continue to pull the tail onto the pliers, behind the half-loop, until the loop is completely formed and the tail end continues out perpendicular to the piece of wire.
- Holding the chain nose pliers in your non-dominant hand with the nose pointing straight out in front of you, grasp the loop. The long piece of wire you'll be wrapping should be perpendicular to the pliers and the tail end you pulled around the pliers to form the loop should be pointing straight out away from you. Holding the loop firmly in your pliers, begin pulling the tail end around the other end. Make sure that both the piece of wire you are wrapping with and the piece of wire you are wrapping around are perpendicular (figure B) to each other. This will ensure nice tight wraps.
- Try to avoid "pushing" the wire onto itself with your index finger. Rather, "pull" the wire from as far away as you can hold onto it. If you put a small bend in the end of the wire you are pulling, you will have more leverage.
- After you've pulled 3 or 4 wraps, snip the tail of the wire off with flush cutters as close as you can to the shaft of wire you've been wrapping it onto. Tweak/crimp the tail down lightly onto the shaft with your chain nose pliers (figure C).
- String a bead onto the shaft of wire that ends in the wrapped loop. Grasp the wire near the tip of your chain nose pliers right up against the bead. Make a nice sharp 90-degree bend (figure D) onto the top of your pliers.
- Make a wrapped loop as in steps 2-4. The last wrap should end up right against the bead. You can adjust the number of wraps you make by changing the length of wire from the bend to the bead. To make more wraps, place the tip farther away from the bead. Snip off the tail as close as you can to the bead. Tweak/crimp the tail onto the shaft right up against the bead.
- For the next bead, make the first loop and wrap and stop when you have made the second loop but before you wrap it.
- String the tail end of the wire of the loop into one loop of the completed unit. Pull it all the way on until the two loops are interconnected.
- Hold the unwrapped loop flat in your chain nose pliers the same as before, but be sure you aren't crushing either of the loops. The loop on the completed unit hangs off to your non-dominant-hand side of the pliers, and the shaft of the wire you're going to wrap is on the other (figure E).
- Now finish wrapping the shaft up to the bead as before, snip, tweak, and you're done. Continue until you've completed the necessary number of beads for your project.
Wire Hook and Clasp: The Hook - Start with a 6" piece of wire, pulled as straight as you can make it.
- Using your chain nose pliers, bend the first 2" into a nice, sharp 90-degree bend. With your fingers push the bend all the way closed to create a hairpin turn. Using your chain nose pliers, push the two sides together lightly, forcing them close near the top of the hairpin.
- Arrange the wire so that the hairpin is at the top (figure F), the shorter of the two ends of wire is on the right, and the longer end is on the left. Using round nose pliers, make a tiny "P" at the top of the hairpin -- bend both sides of the hairpin into this "P" using the very tip of your pliers and bending away from you.
- Now, turn the hairpin around so the tiny "P" is facing toward you. Grasp the hairpin about 1/4" down from the "P" with the widest part of your round nose pliers. Bend away from you until the back of the "P" meets what will be the inside of the clasp (figure G).
- Snip the shorter of the two ends of wire about 1/8" from the "P".
- Using the chain nose pliers, grasp the longer piece of wire so that the pliers are right up against the shorter piece. Bend the longer piece away from the shorter piece at a 90-degree angle (this is another sacred bend).
- Hold the clasp in your non-dominant hand so the longer piece you've just bent is pointing towards you, and hold the round nose pliers in your other hand with your palm facing out. Grasp the wire about 1/4" away from the bend. Start to loop the wire up and over by rolling the pliers away from you. Be sure the wire and pliers are perpendicular to each other. Stop looping when you can imagine that the loop is completed and it is centered over the wire. Now pull the wire the rest of the way around (figure H) onto the round nose pliers so you've completed a loop and the tail end of wire is perpendicular to the bottom of your clasp.
- Holding the chain nose pliers in your non-dominant hand, grasp the loop you just made, and wrap the tail end of wire around both pieces of wire in the clasp. Make three or four tight wraps, ending the last wrap flat on the inside of the clasp. Snip the tail off and tweak it down onto the clasp with your chain nose pliers.
Wire Hook and Clasp: The Eye (Web Exclusive -- no photos available) - Start with a 6" piece of wire, pulled more or less straight.
- Using your round nose pliers, grasp the wire 1/2" away from the top and bend it all the way around until the wire has crossed itself at a 135-degree angle.
- Holding the inside of the loop at the intersection, pull both ends down and out slightly so they become parallel to each other and the whole thing looks kind of like a cotter pin.
- Snip the shorter end of 1/4" from the bend.
- Using the chain nose pliers, grasp the longer piece of wire and slide your pliers right up against the shorter piece. Bend the longer piece away from the shorter piece at a 90-degree angle.
- Hold the eye so the longer piece you've just bent is pointing toward you and make a wrapped loop, just like the one described in Steps 8 and 9 of the hook section. This time, however, continue wrapping until you reach the beads where the two wires separate (probably 7 or 8 wraps).
- Snip the tail end of wire off, tweak the end of the last wrap down and you're done! Push the scroll down flat onto the side of the bead with your finger.
Tip: Most wirework can be polished with commercially available jewelry buffing pads. If you want to use a cleaning solution, be sure to test a spare piece of wire in the solution before dropping in any finished work Products: Wire tools, beads and supplies are probably available at your local bead shop or through The Bead Factory (see Resources, below).
RESOURCES :
All Wired Up
by Mark Lareau
Interweave Press Inc.
Website: interweave.com
Craft Wire (Artistic Wire)
Artistic Wire
Website: www.artisticwire.com
Wirework: Using Wire for Beautiful Home Decoration
Model: 1842153358
Author: Karin Hossack
(October, 2000)
Southwater Publishing (The Manning Partnership Ltd.-- Imprint of Anness Pub)
Phone: 0-1225-852727
Fax: 0-1225-85282
Beading Supplies (The Bead Factory)
The Bead Factory
Tacoma, WA 98406
Website: www.thebeadfactory.com
Creative Wire Jewelry
Model: 0823010449
Author: Kathy Peterson
(October, 2001)
Watson-Guptill Publications
Website: www.watsonguptill.com
Making Wire Jewelry: 60 Easy Projects in Silver, Copper & Brass
Model: 157990002X
Author: Helen Clegg and Mary Larom
(November, 1997)
Lark Books / Altamont Press
Website: www.larkbooks.com
Wire Magic
Model: 1581800894
Author: Michael Ball
(August, 2000)
F & W Publications Inc. (North Light and Betterway Books, Story Press, Popular Woodworking Books)
Website: www.fwpublications.com
Wonderful Wire Works: An Easy Decorative Craft
Model: 0806939435
Author: Mickey Baskett
(August, 2000)
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.
Website: www.sterlingpub.com
GUESTS :
Mark Lareau
2601 6th Ave.
Tacoma, WA 94709
Tollfree Phone: 888-500-BEAD
Website: www.thebeadfactory.com
Author
The Bead Factory
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