January Wire Wrapping Challenge 2024

Okay, so my tutorial is a disaster, but I think, against all odds I got enough that it might make sense if you can decipher my fuzzy photos. First, the electricity went out. No matter, I have candles and a flashlight. I also had a 6" piece of 18-gauge copper that I just used as a mandrel for making coils. 18 gauge is really too small for this, but what the heck. I decided not to anneal it. Very bad decision.

1. Initial supplies: the 18-gauge wire, the steel block, and a weighted brass hammer. Any hammer will do, but this will do it faster, just keep your fingers well away from it unless you have one more than you want.


2. This wire had already been straightened numerous times during the coiling creating process, so following hammering with "The Beast" it was about as brittle as it could get. Mark the center with a marker--it actually gained an inch from hammering.



3. With round nose pliers, begin at one end and make a circle.





4. This should read "continue curling it around itself until you get to the line you drew" but it fell off. So much for not annealing. I knew better, I really did.



5. I started over with 16-gauge wire, (no photo of the hammering, etc.) and set up to anneal. Here it is with the ice water and accompaniments ready to go.



6. But the Blazer did nothing. Absolutely nothing. I think all the butane leaked out and when I tried to refill it butane spewed all over me and the entire house stinks--I'm still lacking electricity, so no ventilation. So, this is 16-gauge, hammered flat, and maybe, just maybe I can do this without annealing. Wrong, after a few coils it fell off. So, my hammered wire is very short, but I finally got it coiled properly.

7. The next step is to coil both ends of the wire to the mark in the center, and I managed that with the shortened wire. I used the widest point of the round nosed pliers to put less strain on it, so the hole is really larger than I would like it to be, and I would like to have five or six coils instead of a measly three. But I don't think it's going to get any better without annealing.



8. The next photo purports to be me pushing out one of the coils with a pencil. This still hasn't been annealed, but if it had been, it would have been easy to do. As it was, I actually got it slightly pushed out with the pencil and then viciously attacked with a variety of pliers until I sort of got it the rest of the way out. You then do the same thing with the other coil, but push out in the opposite direction. I didn't try to photograph this, since the candle seemed to be confusing to the camera and everything was getting fuzzy. I hadn't even started drinking yet. I know the photo is horrible, but hopefully it's good enough that you can see what I did.




9. (no photo) Once you have both sides pushed out (in opposite directions) you now "twist" them together. If you have it in your hand it will make sense. You will twist one side clockwise and the other side counter clockwise.

10. A photo of the completed "elements." The small bead I completed and the two coils (one 18 gauge and one 16 gauge) that broke off.



GRANDE FINALE: The electricity is back on, the ventilation is on, and I can now blow out the candle which is a delightful clementine scent--almost covered up the butane.  Also, I did not make this procedure up.  Or at least I didn't make up the procedure that should have occurred.  I read it somewhere, and I can't remember where.  Certainly the actual procedure set out above is uniquely mine--let's keep it that way!

Oh OK. No need to feel silly, at all. I didn't know know that you could use the generic.

Wow, just wow. And of course you had to share the link for the beads, grrrrrr, I might have to dip into my pb&j money and just have bread...lol. Thanks so much for the inspiration. Now I just have to find where I put my scrap container. Still storing everything in hopes of a place soon.

rockjunquie liveoak drocknut Mykonos bead lovers unite! Had I not just spent the requisite $100 on their website, I would suggest that we bind together and make orders. (Of course I also had to buy another container to keep them in, so I can ogle them, pet them, and be appalled at the idea of parting with any of them).

Patty, I'm so glad to hear that you are inspired! And many of my creative ear wires are a "save" from something that I screwed up. As for Loopinloop, their beads are *always* on sale. And just scroll through--they also feature beads from other European countries, and some of them are quite nice. But perhaps that is too dangerous. One cheap one that I'll recommend is BossJewelrySupply in Vermont. She scours thrift shops, auctions, etc. and takes apart the pieces and sells the components. If you want something unusual or old at a very fair price, that's the place to go--and she gets great chain. She also seems to know the difference between copper plated and copper, which is nice. Both LimaBeads and BossJewelry give you an automatic 10% off coupon every time you order, and I think LimaBeads gives you 25% off the first time you order.

Jealous!

I have lots of copper wire and copper sheet- just no scraps. I was really into piercing awhile back. Maybe I can find some smaller cut offs.