Wire Wrapping Fire and Ice

Yup, the whole thing from one end to the other. I use two pin vises. One I chuck on the end, the other I set for the thickness and keep advancing it to control the twist.
A trick, get one pin vise that is closed on one end, another that is open on both ends.
I put the closed end pin vise on one end and lock it down. The other I slide. I count twists. I go ten one half turns, making five twists and then move the open end pin vise back about 3/4 inch. I do this the entire length. Twist the other one the opposite direction, counting twists as you go. you want to match twists so when you put the two side by side, the twists match each other.

Next step. Take the 12" wire, and twist it. This will be the binding wrap.
Take the five wires. Put them in order. Untwisted, twisted, untwisted, twisted, untwisted. I use a sheet metal clamp for holding the wires. Some folks use tape, telephone wire. I have done it just holding the wires.
Take the 12" binding wire, cut off 3". On the end of the three inch piece, make a bend about 1/4" back on itself, with the end slightly off line with the wire. The bent piece will go on the underside of the wrap, with the end just on the 3/4" mark. Go around three times. Always do wire wrap in odds. It looks better. Cut off the end slightly inside the five wrap wires.
This makes the difference between a saleable piece and an attempt. Take the end of the wrap wire first laid down. Bend it open. Regrip the wire and lay it down. This keeps the wrap wires equal on the wrap.
You should have 14" wires, five, with one untwisted, one twisted, one untwisted, one twisted, one untwisted. I like to make the twists point into themselves.
Bend the five wires just below the wrap, up 90 degrees.
You take the stone, look at it, and determine where the center for the bail should go. Go past the next corner, about 1/3 down. Mark and wrap three times. Bend above the wrap for the corner, and go past the next corner about 1/3. Mark and wrap three times. Repeat for the next sequence. This will give three wrap wires on the stone, and five bends. Where it meets the bail wrap, bend up 90 degrees. You will now have the stone surrounded by five wires, two twisted, with two bail wire groups.
Go up 3/4" or so. Not to critical here. Take the remainder of the wrap wire. Hopefully three inches, and wrap just under the beginning wrap wire. One, two, three wraps. This is just to steady the wrap. At the 3/4 point on the longer of the 14" wires, get something 3/8ths of an inch. Bend the five wires around that, at the same time rotating the bundle 90degrees.
Come back down to the last wrap wire and go around the bundle once. Coming back to the front of the stone.
You will have a surrounded stone with a bail assembly.
Just above each wrap wire on the corners, take duck bill pliers, grip the outside wire, and bend down 90degrees. I do the backside first so I can pop out the stone to adjust the wrap. Do this to all the corner wraps. Keep the wire being bent as straight as possible.
The stone should pop out with some resistance and be able to pop back in. Bend the front wires the same as the back wires.
Roll the 3/4" group of wires at the bail, the first ones wrapped around the 3/8" rod you made the bail.
Adjust the wraps on the stone to look good, and keep the stone tight.
More to follow.

I would love to learn wire wrapping. I do not however have any books on the subject and was wondering.... would it be possible for you to post some photos of this?
Thanks,
Harry

The next instalment. This is an excercise on coordination.
If you are left handed, like me, take the index finger on each hand, with the left on top. Here we place our elbows directly out, with our index fingers pointing towards each other. The indes fingers contact each other.
Take the left hand, and turn the index finger on top of the right index finger.
That is how a person makes wire swirls and it is good to practice.
With wire, have the bundle, in order, in the left hand, with the tag end of the bundle secured by the pinkie finger, and the pad of the hand.
For the right handed, no offense for only discussing left hand use, it is just easier for me to detail it. For the righties, just transpose the directions.
With the wire on top of the right index finger, and under the left index finger, gripped with the pinkie finger of the left hand, take both hands and rotate the bundle against each hand. You should have a circle with the wire ending the same way it started except for a full circle of wire. Keep the wire flat, and do it in one motion. Stopping mid turn will compromise the circle. Once it is done, even incorrectly, it is impossible to redo.
Before this swirl is done on Fire and Ice, practice, practice, practice! After a while, it becomes second natue.
This swirl makes the difference between an hippie hempster wrap, and a sculpture.
The swirl should be made in one swift sure circle.
Practice, and let me know when you want the next step. Any difficulties, post a picture and I will critique.

Tami's tutorial on wire wrapping is similiar to mine. Both can be used and some parts help explain others.
Thanks for the photos Tom. It will help the others where I have to just describe.

As if I didn't have enough to do, where do I get the wire to wrap with and what should I get to practice with?

Thanks for the help.

Pete