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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 27, 2004 17:42:53 GMT -5
ok i got brave last night after everyone went to bed. i do not think you are suppose to have that much fun while all alone working. i laughed so hard throughout the whole process. here's what i learned:
1) 18 gauge HARD nickel wire is impossible to work with
2) that optivisor will give you a headache, make you feel drunk when you pull the visor up and scare the hell out of the dog.
3) there is no limit to how many times you can drop the thing while you are working
4) with the proper wire and patience you could create something quite nice
other than the fact that the stone won't stay in because i couldn't get that wire tight enough, it has no means to hang on a necklace, it's a bit bent, and would rip your clothing on the backside - it's kinda cute!
can't wait to get home and try another one ;D
kim
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Feb 27, 2004 18:02:32 GMT -5
hey rocky i gave it a shot also but i used green wire my wife had for doing her flower stuff. very easy to work with and i used unpolished stones so i didn't fell to bad for killing a good rock
read on one of the post 22 to 24 half hard is good to work with.I like the look of square wire when it is twisted
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Post by docone31 on Feb 27, 2004 18:28:57 GMT -5
If you folks go to about.com/jewelery, last weeks issue and this weeks issue has tutorials on wire wrapping that will answer a lot of questions. I can also help if you need it.
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Post by puppie96 on Feb 27, 2004 19:59:13 GMT -5
This is cool information. I keep making rocks and I will run out of places to put them.
Correction: Only God can make a rock. I am only IMPROVING them.
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Feb 28, 2004 0:23:17 GMT -5
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. improve a little at a time.
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Banjocreek
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2003
Posts: 1,115
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Post by Banjocreek on Feb 28, 2004 0:37:28 GMT -5
Very Good Kim; ILMAO How true that is. I started wire wrapping a few weeks ago, and now I think I have about 5 or 6 done. I guess they are OK, everyone else seems to like them, but I am way too critical since I viewed a lot of web sights with wire wrap jewelry and It is really nice stuff. The best place I found to start was here... jewelrymaking.about.com/library/weekly/aa112398.htmIt at least gets you a general idea of what you are trying to accomplish.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 28, 2004 20:49:36 GMT -5
ok so i'm thinking that 18 gauge will be good for bending into shapes to get the easter eggs out of dye - glad it only cost around $3 for 20 ft. now doc i have a question. my book by ed sinclair says to use full hard wire 20, 21,or 22 gauge, the info i've gotten off the net suggest half-hard or dead soft. has it got to do with the different styles they are using to wrap or is this just a personal preference? is full hard in a 21, 22 gauge something you can really work with? i'm going to go post a pic - front and back - you cannot fully appreciate it unless you can see the back
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Post by docone31 on Feb 28, 2004 21:24:09 GMT -5
Ed Sinclair is a good guy. I disagree with him on wire hardness however. Soft, and hard wires have consistant hardness and twisting them is fairly predictable. I have found half hard can have hard and soft spots through out the roll. I use soft wire for twisting, it work hardens when twisted, and half hard for wrapping. Never order by wire guage. The industry standard is plus or minus 10% dimensional thickness. This shows up when wrapping a piece and using one wire from one roll of wire, and the same guage from another. Right now, you will not notice it but as time goes on, you will see the difference. Always order by the thousanth. Like that spelling? In other words if you want 20 guage wire, it is ordered as .032. This commits the vendor to send .032 wire, not .030, not .031, not .033. If you keep wrapping the polished pieces and can consistantly produce jewelery grade pieces, .001 of an inch will make the difference between a sale and just another compliment. Always use odd numbers in the wraps, and bindings. Three wrap wires, five wrap wires. Five bindings, seven bindings, three bindings. Always keep the tools sharp!!! Sharp tools leave no marks, and do not slip.
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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 28, 2004 22:20:37 GMT -5
doc i was going along following your advice so well until i got to the last line! the tools i have are: chain nose pliers, flat nose pliers, round nose pliers, side cutters, pin vise, calipers, ring mandrel, optivisor, ring sizer, rawhide mallet, steel ruler, jewelers file, and a steel scribe. what are you keeping sharp?
kim
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Justme
starting to shine!
Member since March 2003
Posts: 38
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Post by Justme on Feb 28, 2004 22:52:55 GMT -5
Rockyraccoon, I enjoyed reading your description about your nights work. ;D I haven't even finished a load yet so wire wrapping I haven't even thought of.
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Post by docone31 on Feb 29, 2004 18:36:47 GMT -5
With any of your duck bill type pliers, take a sheet of 320 wet or dry, and fold in half and pull through the jaws. All tools have tool marks. The wet or dry cuts off the sharp points. When you are done with finishing the inside of the jaws, hone on a stone, the outside edges. All tools are not square. With the diagonals, plane the outside edge flush with the cutting edge. This produces a flat cut, and a triangle cut. The flat cut will be used to make swirls, and rounds with the wire. The triangle piece will be cut off square. With the rounds, or mandrel pliers, take the 320 and smooth the tool marks off the points. I take the sheet and just go around and around each bill. Rawhide hammer I never use. I have had sand and grit picked up in the hammer face making marks on the work. I use a wood dowel for hammer shaping. The ball peen hammer, I hone flush with the edges. When I hammer ends for earrings or other decorative pieces on the wire, the flat surface makes a predictable strike. With the ring mandrel, I polish with jewelers rouge, which is iron oxide and grease to make mirror shiney. Never, never mix the non-ferrous tools with ferrous metals. They will permanently dent the tool and it will have a memory. Never strike with steel on the ring mandrel. I use wood dowel only. A broom handle will do also. Also, with the chain link pliers, and other duck bill types, face the tips. They are never level. Good luck.
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Banjocreek
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2003
Posts: 1,115
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Post by Banjocreek on Feb 29, 2004 23:51:24 GMT -5
Hey Doc- You seem to really know what you are talking about, and I need help after a wrap to end everything. Some works I've seen have little curls and such with some forming a loop for a ring or something. How do ya do that? I'm stumbling along ok but not to my satisfaction. The end of my project looks like a pre-schoolers shoe laces. Any tips or reference material you can offer?
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Post by docone31 on Mar 1, 2004 8:25:23 GMT -5
You should have seen my first attempts. I was an hippie hempster going to Yale Seminary, sitting on a blanket stripping copper romex and wrapping stones. I loved protest rallies, everybody bought my work. Finishing is one of the hardest parts. Leave 1/2 inch of material. Fold over 1/16" of material and roll it up to the work. You should have a good looking swirl. Too many and it looks like artsy-crapsy work. I usually use three and cut off the rest and hide the ends behind the swirls. I also make the bail second, after making the bottom wrap. Wrap the bottom, bring the wire up to where you want to make the bail, bring the wire after bending, back down in front of the back wire. Bend the rest for the top of the stone, and lay the bail wires parallel to each other. Use a piece of scrap wire to wind the back. Basically you will have a stick figuire without the stone. The bottom legs will be a loop, and the arms will cross in front of the stone and go to the bail. These you would wrap around the space from the top of the stone, to the bottom of the bail. One going left starting from the back, one going right. To tighten the wires, take chain nose pliers, grip the wire and make a Z bend. The spacing of the bends makes the design. Loops, bends, and balance makes a design.
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Mar 1, 2004 14:10:06 GMT -5
I always love to read your posts, I gan just see you looking at the dog in the middle of the night and the dog bareing his/her teeth witht he visor over your head. Off topic , one of the funniest things I have ever seen..the scene in "Someting about Mary" when Matt Dillon (not the sherrif) raises up the mail slot and the dog is sitting there with its teeth bared....LMAO
Dwight P
Still wish I had my tumbler I paid for :-(
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Post by creativeminded on Mar 1, 2004 17:55:07 GMT -5
When I get my mother's necklace done I will post a picture of it with a wire wrapped heart shaped manmade emerald I did.
Tami
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thewiz
has rocks in the head
"What good is money if you don't spend it"
Member since January 2004
Posts: 735
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Post by thewiz on Mar 1, 2004 19:48:48 GMT -5
my head hurts after reading this one
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