First Wire Wrap - Lavic Necklace
Jul 9, 2019 19:34:00 GMT -5
drocknut, rockpickerforever, and 5 more like this
Post by NevadaBill on Jul 9, 2019 19:34:00 GMT -5
Last night I attended my first wire wrapping class. It was for a circular (half dollar size) pendant. Here is my attempt. It took every bit of 3.5 hours:
My expectations were that the class was a beginners session where we would learn technique. I didn't know that anything would become of it.
I didn't have any of the right tools (automotive and electronic pliers, and a mishmash of other doodads that might help. I was missing like 80% of what I could have used.
But instead it was trial by fire. Thrown right in to the deep end. There was no discussion or practice of technique. Only a 15 minute class instruction of what we needed to do. And try to take good notes. There was a hand out later, but no pictures and looked as if it was written in Vulcan or some foreign wire wrapping language. (I thought a mandrel was a musical instrument until last night)
The class called for Half Round, and Square. I only had round and tried my best. My inexperienced hands with no muscle memory, struggling at every turn of the way.
I took bad notes, and missed a part where the bail is concerned. So a lot of extra wrapping there. If you look carefully you can see blue painters tape trapped under a joint on the right side. I missed it, trapped behind the wire, and by the time I had made the twists, I couldn't really extract it.
There were a mix of new people, and old vets. I got some great tips from a very experienced vet sitting next to me, who was working on another project which was so advanced it was really beyond my comprehension how she thought of it. That helped me a lot.
Sorry for the pictures. After reviewing them I found a large hair in some and ended up deleting half the shots. I can't really take more now.
I mimicked the pattern on the front, also in the back. Here is the back. I used a good deal of tape to hold the rock in place until the wire started to do the job for me.
I feel a sense of full circle on this project. I am happy.
In the Spring, I drove 3 hours to the location in California. I then hiked in a couple miles to this spot. I picked up this rock and some others. A couple months later I used a slab saw to cut that rock in pieces. I used a trim saw at home to cut out this piece from the slab. And then used my new cabbing machine to make the round cabochon. I used my rock tumbler to polish it. I then bought materials and wire wrapped the cabochon. Necklace not included.
I feel like this process was all a lot of fun and very repeatable. And look forward to making more now!
Thank you all for viewing!
My expectations were that the class was a beginners session where we would learn technique. I didn't know that anything would become of it.
I didn't have any of the right tools (automotive and electronic pliers, and a mishmash of other doodads that might help. I was missing like 80% of what I could have used.
But instead it was trial by fire. Thrown right in to the deep end. There was no discussion or practice of technique. Only a 15 minute class instruction of what we needed to do. And try to take good notes. There was a hand out later, but no pictures and looked as if it was written in Vulcan or some foreign wire wrapping language. (I thought a mandrel was a musical instrument until last night)
The class called for Half Round, and Square. I only had round and tried my best. My inexperienced hands with no muscle memory, struggling at every turn of the way.
I took bad notes, and missed a part where the bail is concerned. So a lot of extra wrapping there. If you look carefully you can see blue painters tape trapped under a joint on the right side. I missed it, trapped behind the wire, and by the time I had made the twists, I couldn't really extract it.
There were a mix of new people, and old vets. I got some great tips from a very experienced vet sitting next to me, who was working on another project which was so advanced it was really beyond my comprehension how she thought of it. That helped me a lot.
Sorry for the pictures. After reviewing them I found a large hair in some and ended up deleting half the shots. I can't really take more now.
I mimicked the pattern on the front, also in the back. Here is the back. I used a good deal of tape to hold the rock in place until the wire started to do the job for me.
I feel a sense of full circle on this project. I am happy.
In the Spring, I drove 3 hours to the location in California. I then hiked in a couple miles to this spot. I picked up this rock and some others. A couple months later I used a slab saw to cut that rock in pieces. I used a trim saw at home to cut out this piece from the slab. And then used my new cabbing machine to make the round cabochon. I used my rock tumbler to polish it. I then bought materials and wire wrapped the cabochon. Necklace not included.
I feel like this process was all a lot of fun and very repeatable. And look forward to making more now!
Thank you all for viewing!
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