Jewelry Lovers

Brass wire is an excellent medium for starting to create designs with metal before going on to use the more expensive silver wire. You can experiment with any wire you can find as most are suitable for making jewelry. In any case, it’s good practise and should something turn out particularly well, you can always copy it in silver.

Brass wire can be hard or soft. Either kind will do for making jewelry, but the soft wire will not retain its shape as well as the hard brass wire so, to counter this, you should use a slightly thicker diameter when working with soft wire.

Tools

Tools for working wire are very simple indeed, but it is wise to note that as you become more advanced in working with wire, the number of tools needed will increase and the techniques become more complex.

Round-nosed pliers These do not have to be expensive but check that the jaws make contact along their entire length. The inside of the jaws should be smooth otherwise they will damage the surface of the wire. If they are not smooth, cover the jaws with sticking plaster [bandaidi], although this does make it slightly more difficult to grip heavy wire firmly. All-in-one pliers that cut and bend round and square lines are only suitable for simple projects.

Diagonal wire cutters or end cutters It is easier to cut jump rings (used in all aspects of jewelry) with the diagonal wire cutters, but either these or end cutters will do.

Metal file You can use a medium sized metal file or you can buy a selection of Swiss or needle files. You will not need all the files to make the pieces shown here, but it is economical to buy a set of about 6 as they will be useful if you intend to make more complicated articles.

Basic techniques

Jump rings These are used in all forms of jewelry for use in attaching and assembling pieces. To make two jump rings, place the end of the wire halfway down the jaws of the wire cutters. Work it around until you have two complete circles. Line up the end of the cutters with the end of the wire and cut through both coils of wire.

File the ends of the rings flat and smooth.

To make a larger number of jump rings, coil the wire around any cylindrical shape of the right size.

Curling wire For this process you will need the round-nosed pliers. The size of the curl depends on the position of the wire in the jaws of the pliers. A small curl is made with the wire at the front of the pliers and a large one with it at the back. The end of the wire in the jaws should not stick out beyond the pliers. Grip the pliers firmly and turn in a clockwise direction using the thumb of the other hand to apply pressure to the wire, close to the jaws. You can work in a counter-clockwise direction if you find it easier, but make it a habit to work in the same direction. Try to complete a curl without having to regrip the wire.

Hook and eye These are basically formed by the method of curling described above. However, they can sometimes be awkward so, if you have any left-over wire, practise making some first.

Joins Note how joined pieces hang. The pieces do not stay flat but alternate — one flat and the other at right angles to it. Designs must follow this pattern otherwise the piece of jewelry will not hang in the correct way. A piece of work will never appear the same when lying on the work bench as when it is suspended, so always hold your work up to look at it.

Polishing and finishing

Clean the completed pieces by immersing them in a liquid silver cleaner. Wash in soapy luke-warm water and dry. To prevent future discolouration, spray with a metal or clear varnish. If silver is being used with other materials, clean it thoroughly first.

The jump ring necklace

This necklace is based on a series of jump rings assembled and attached to a neck band. You can vary the number and sizes of the jump rings to make a smaller or larger necklace.

The finished necklace is 37cm (l5in) long. Use a piece of string to measure around your neck and add 5cm (2in) for the hook and eye at the back.

From the 1mm (gauge 18-19) wire, make 21 jump rings lcm (tin) in diameter and 2 jump rings 2cm (gin) in diameter.

Cut off 7cm (2 3/4in) of the wire, file the ends and bend the wire into a ‘V’ shape. Make a hook at each end as shown in the illustration. Make the neckband from the 1.6mm (gauge 14-16 wire) by shaping it with the fingers and making a hook and eye. Assemble the jump rings as in the illustration and attach them to the neckband. Spray with metal varnish.

Necklace with ear-rings

The finished necklace measures 37cm (l5in) long.

The neckband is made from the thicker gauge of wire. File the ends and make a hook and eye.

The ear-rings are made from 26cm (10in) of thinner wire and based on an abstract design. Start the piece from the centre and finish by assembling with jump rings.

The pendant is made from 40cm (15in) of the thinner wire and assembled with a number of jump rings.

The rings

The rings can be made from Imm (gauge 18-19) wire. You will need between 12cm (5in) and 25cm (loin) for a ring, depending on whether you take it around the finger once or twice and how intricate the design is. Always work from the inside of the design and finish by making the shank.

The chart below shows the approximate lengths of wire in different thicknesses. It will give some idea of length when you buy large quantities of copper, brass tinned copper or silver-plated wire.

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