Remember to create balance if you alter the standard fish-hook design or your earrings might not hang properly, and a Sharpie marker is just the right size for curving the top of your ear wires. Making our own ear wires also allows us to experiment with their shape, making them extra long, angular, or giving them a slightly curved back side for a little extra style. Coils and swirls on the front ends take your earring designs one step further with minimal effort. It's easy enough to make your own ear wires, but I prefer to make them because handmade ear wires provide an opportunity to go beyond basic hooks for something to hang on–they can enhance and be part of the overall earring design. Finish the ends with one last flourish of curled wire and/or a ball of silver (just touch it with a torch flame until the silver end balls up). You could also try stacking on some other kinds of beads or textured jump rings. You can go a step further and cover the S-shaped wire with coils of finer-gauge dead-soft wire, and punch it up even more by adding the extra embellishment of spacers and other metal beads. Hammer the wire just enough to flatten (with a ball-peen hammer), strengthen (with a rawhide or nylon hammer), and texture (with any metal hammer) the wire, and voila! That tiny bit of work just turned a short piece of wire into a handmade one-of-a-kind jewelry clasp. Bonus: By using handmade clasps and findings, my jewelry projects will be truly and completely handmade, all the way down to their utilitarian ends.Ī simple S curve of wire and a jump ring becomes a one-of-a-kind S clasp with even a small amount of work. So frustrating!Ī recent issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry helped me realize a solution: If I have wire, I have findings! It's fun and easy to make my own S clasps, earring wires, eye pins, jump rings, and so on–and chances are they're going to be more unique, more attractive, and more economical than manufactured ones. Shop our fantastic catalogue of Tools, Accessories, Clays, Paints, Storage Solutions and more.How many times have you been working at your bench and gotten so inspired, you outwork your stash? I can't recall how many times I've hit my jewelry-making groove and then come to a screeching halt because I ran out of a vital jewelry-making component, like unique clasps or ear wires. Whether working with traditional hand tools or advanced technology, having the right tools for the job is essential in creating high-quality jewelry pieces. The type of tools used in jewelry making depends on the specific techniques and materials being used, as well as the desired final product. Mandrels are used for shaping metal rings and bangles, while soldering equipment is used for joining metal components together. Files are used for smoothing rough edges and shaping metal, while hammers are used for shaping and texturing metal. Cutters are used for cutting wire, metal sheet, and other materials. Pliers are a basic tool used in jewelry making for holding, bending, and shaping wire and metal components. Some of the most common tools used in jewelry making include pliers, cutters, files, hammers, mandrels, and soldering equipment. The tools used in jewelry making vary in size, shape, and function, from basic pliers and cutters to advanced machines for casting and engraving. Jewellery making is a craft that requires a range of specialised tools to create beautiful and intricate pieces.
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