Something Sublime

The Secret Source of Steel Wire

Inquiring minds want to know...so, I've decided to divulge one of my deepest, darkest jewelry making secrets:  where to get steel wire.  It's really not a secret at all but you may be having a hard time finding it at your local craft store.  That's because most craft and bead stores don't carry it!  I'm very fond of using dark (or black) annealed steel wire in many of my jewelry designs.

That's what you're looking for if you want to use this type of wire--dark annealed steel wire.  Don't get the galvanized or the stainless steel...they don't have the same look.

The smaller gauges typically come in small packages of 50 foot rolls.  I work most commonly with the 28 gauge, 24 gauge and the 20 gauge (the 19 gauge will work but I like the 20).  Occasionally, I use a larger gauge like the 18 gauge, depending on what I'm making.  In case you're thinking "but Deryn, 18 is smaller than 28!"  Not so in the world of wire.  Remember, the smaller the gauge number, the larger the diameter of the wire.

The larger gauges come on spools like this one.  For some reason, this wire can be hard to find, unless your ordering it for industrial use, so I'm providing you with these links which can be found on the Ace Hardware Outlet site.  My local Ace hardware carries these gauges and I've asked them to keep them in stock after a big scare when they informed me they wouldn't be carrying the 24 gauge anymore.  They kindly got right on the computer and ordered it, just for me.  So, if you don't see it in your local store, ask them if they can order it.  Also, the larger hardware stores usually carry the larger 16 gauge wire but not the smaller gauges.  Sometimes the larger gauges are called re-bar wire or, on the Ace site, mechanic's wire.

 

Secret revealed...happy wire twising!

Ear Wire Tutorial

You might be wondering what this is.  Well, I thought a few of you might be interested in another tutorial.  This one is about making your own earring wires...from scratch!  A long, long time ago, before I started making jewelry, I had no idea you could make your own earwires.  Now, I never buy them because mine are way cooler than the store bought ones!

What you're looking at in the pic above is called a wire gauge.  It's used to help you determine the gauge, or thickness, of your wire.  I always use sterling for earwires because that's what makes your earlobes do the happy dance.  So, get your wire gauge and I'll show you how it works.

To use this critter, you insert your wire into the little slot.  Or, I should say, you TRY to insert your wire into the little slot.  If the wire goes in, move to the next little slot.  When the wire won't go into the slot, that means you've found your gauge.  You can see in the pic above that my wire is going into the 19 ga. slot.  The wire didn't fit into the 20 ga. slot though so that means my wire is 20 ga.  By the way, the hole behind the slot is there so that, once your wire is inserted, you can easily pull it out through the hole without marring the wire.  I usually use 20 ga. but you could use 22 ga. or even 18 ga. although, the 18 ga. might not get you the earlobe happy dance.  It's a bit thick.

 

Ok, moving on from the excitement of finding your perfect gauge, now it's time to measure the wire and trim each end so it's flush...nice and flat.  Use the cheap-o diagonal cutters that you ran out and purchased after reading my jump ring tutorial.  Trim the very end of your wire, making sure to have the flat back of your cutters facing the long part of the wire.  This will result in a flat cut on the end of the wire you're going to use.

Lay your wire against a measuring device, like this nifty ruler with oscillating dinosaurs, and cut it to 2 inches, again, making sure the cutters are facing the proper direction for you to get another flat end on the piece of wire you'll be using.  You can cut your wires any length you like depending on the type of earwire you're making.

Use the length of wire you just cut as a measure for cutting your second length.  That way, both pieces will be the same.

Make sure you're getting those ends flush cut!

Now, the real fun begins...hammering!  Use a nice chasing hammer to pound (gently!) the very end of your small pieces of sterling.  You'll need to do this on a bench block.  Doesn't it feel great to be the owner of all these cool tools?

Once you have a small paddle on the end of your wire, use your small, round nose pliers to bend a little loop in the end.  Place the wire between the jaws of your pliers (actually, you should place the wire a little closer to the center of the pliers than you see in this pic) with just a teeny, tiny bit of the wire sticking up out of the top.

Give the wire a firm, but gentle, twist, turning your wrist forward.  This smooth action on your part should form a nice loop.  As you're turning the wire, your left thumb should be supporting the wire directly behind where you're making the loop.  I couldn't show this in the picture because my left hand was taking the picture!

See?!

It's time to bring out the big dog!  Get out the groovy bailing pliers that I told you to get when you read my jump ring tutorial.  Place the wire into the jaws of the bailing pliers with the little loop facing you and the larger barrel of the plier away from you. 

Roll the wire around the barrel, again, with a smooth motion of your wrist.  You'll be rolling away from your body, not towards yourself like in this pic but hopefully, you get the idea.

Keep rolling until you get a complete circle around the barrel of your groovy pliers.

Slide the wire off the pliers and, using your flat nose pliers, grasp the wire right about the point where it criss-crosses...near the little loop.  Gently bend the wire down.  Now it's looking like a real earwire!

Again, with the fun hammering!  Use your chasing hammer and place the earwire just on the edge of the bench block.  Lightly hammer the circle of the earwire right above the tiny loop.  This will flatten the outer circle of your earwire a little bit and give it a pretty bit-o-flash.  Don't hammer the tiny loop!  You don't want to flatten it.  Tip:  only put the part of the wire you want to hammer onto the bench block.  Definitely do not put your fingers onto the block!  Flattened fingers are not good.

Place the end of your earwire into the jaws of your flat nose pliers, lining up the end of the wire so that it is flush with the other side of the jaws.  Gently bend the wire end just a little bit.  Or, you can leave it straight if you like.  They're YOUR earwires.  You can make them the way YOU like them!

But, you're not finished yet and we can't go any further without a word about hammers.  What you see here, from left to right, is a small part of my hammer collection.  Yes, I like hammering (bet you couldn't tell!).  The one on the left is a rawhide mallet.  Center, is a combination nylon/rubber head hammer.  Far right is my fave, the soft-face, deadblow hammer.  It has little beads or bb's or corn kernels or something inside that shake when I hammer.  Actually, I think it's weights or something like that inside but why get technical now?  So...these hammers are used for hardening your wire.  The materials on the faces of these hammers will stiffen the wire without marring it.  Any of these hammers will do.  Take a look at this Thunderbird link for a look at their hammers.  You can also get hammers like these at Rio Grande or, sometimes, your local hardware store.  The small size deadblow was hard for me to find and I'm sorry I can't supply you with a link.  I found it online.  If you want one, look for one that's 8 oz. or less.

And, here's what we do to harden the wire: tap, tap, tap, tap.  This will stiffen up your earwires so they don't bend out of shape at the slightest provocation.  Hammer like this all up and down the earwire, being careful to avoid that pesky, little loop again.

Bet you thought we were done but there's one last, extremely important, step.  What you see in the pic above is a dandy tool called a bur cup (try the Rio Grande link).  This tool is indispensable in creating comfortable, snag-free earwires.  Also, I have a small piece of 0000 steel wool that's been balled up between my palms.

Grasp the earwire firmly and insert the end of it into the bur cup.  Hold the earwire in the cup and rotate the cup 25-30 times.  This will knock off those nasty rough spots that can cause unhappy earlobes.

When your finished with the indispensable bur cup, insert the earwire into the ball of steel wool and squeeze while rotating the wire around;  back and forth, up and down.  This polishes off any remaining, stubborn snags.

Yes!  NOW you're finished.  And just look at those lovely earwires.  Your mother will be so proud!  And, if you're excited about these earwires just look what you else you can do:

These are just a few of the fun shapes you can create.  You'll never go back to store bought again!

Jump Ring Tutorial

 

Look at this pile!  Do I really need this many tools for making jewelry?  Um...yeah.  And I have even more...much more (don't tell WW).  These are just my faves.  But, all have been eclipsed today by the glorious Mazbot bailing plier.  Swoon!  I tell you, this tool is so great, I actually kissed it!  Yes, I know it's weird but, if you've ever made jump rings by hand, you'll know what I'm talking about.  This plier is used in place of a mandrel and turning jump rings with this baby is a piece of cake.  I know there are lots of other fancy jump ring making tools on the market but, if you're going to make them the good old-fashioned way, bailing pliers are the way to go.  I couldn't find a link for the Mazbot brand but I did find another link for you if you're interested in swooning or slobbering over your own pair.

Just in case you've never twisted your own jump rings, I thought I'd post a little jump ring tutorial for your viewing pleasure, using my new, spectacular tool.  I did my best with the pics but it's not easy trying to work with my right hand and take a photo with my left.

I'm using pretty heavy, 18 gauge steel wire for these jump rings.  I've started using these cheap flush cutters and they work great.  I get a nice, flat cut, even on the heavy gauges.  When they wear out, I'll run to the craft store and get myself a brand new pair!  Before you start bending, trim both ends of your wire flat.

This is where the amazing Mazbot (or other brand) pliers come in handy.  Place your wire inside the pliers with the wire end flush with the plier barrels.

See?  Nice and flush.

Now, hold the wire in your left hand and start to turn the pliers, keeping the wire tight up against the barrel with your thumb.  I left my thumb out of the pics so you can see better.  These pliers have two different size barrels, one 9mm and one 7mm, so you can make two different size jump rings.  I'm using the 7mm.  There is also a 4mm/5mm size plier.

Continue to turn the pliers while holding the wire firmly with your thumb.  You'll have to open and close the jaws of the pliers as you turn them around.

Almost done turning...  Now, you can slide the wire off the pliers and you'll have a nice, neat coil.

Time to pull your nice coil apart.  Using chain nose pliers on both ends, gently pull the coil apart slightly.

Using the cheapie flush cutters, cut off the tail of the coil.  Make sure your cutters have the flat side (the back side) facing the coil and not the tail.

 

Ok, this picture isn't the greatest but...now you'll cut your first ring.  Come in with the cutters from the side, keeping the flat (back) edge of the cutters away from the cut you just made.  The back edge of the cutters is where you get the flush cut so, on your jump ring, you want two flat edges to match up.  See?  Line up the back edge of the cutters with the edge of the coil above and snip.  You'll get more power from your cutters if you cut toward the back of the blade so try to scoot your pliers right in between the coils.

Congratulations!  You have your first jump ring!  Continue cutting the rest of your rings, making sure you flip your pliers so you're getting a flat edge on both sides of your rings.  You'll have to trim a tiny bit off the coil after each ring is released in order to keep that flat edge.

Now, place your two pair of chain nose pliers on either side of the ring.  Wiggle the ring back and forth, grinding the cut surfaces against each other and closing the ring.  If you did a good job cutting, the edges should be nice and flush against each other and your ring should be nice and round.

 

Like this!

Next step is to give it a whack with the hammer.  This is really fun as long as no fingers are touching the anvil.  You can flatten your rings a lot or a little...it's up to you which look you want.  Hammering hardens the metal and gives you a nice stiff ring that won't open easily.

If you don't want your rings flattened at all, use a rubber mallet, rawhide mallet or nylon hammer.  I use this nifty, small, deadblow hammer.  It hardens the metal without marring it.

I sand my pieces with a foam sanding block, fine grade, then go over them with a buffing stick.  The buffing sticks are for manicures but they work great on steel wire jewelry.

So, you're done!  You've made one jump ring.  Wasn't that fun?