How to Wire Wrap a Polished Stone
- 1). Choose your wire. In most cases, 20 or 22 gauge wire is perfect for jewelry, but a particularly delicate stone may need wire that is even finer.
- 2). Use your round-nose pliers to create a small spiral in the end of the wire. The spiral should be about about one-quarter the size of the face of the stone. The face of the stone is the surface that you want to present to the world when you wear it.
- 3). Hold the spiral to the front of the stone a little below halfway down the face of the stone.
- 4). Bend the wire under the bottom of the stone and bring it up the back. Keep it as close to the surface of the stone as you can.
- 5). Use your needle-nose pliers to put a 90-degree angle into wire, bending it to your right.
- 6). Wrap the wire tightly one and a half times around the girth of the stone, ending on the face.
- 7). Use your needle-nose pliers to put a 90-degree angle into the wire directly above the curl. This time, your wire will be going up the face of the stone.
- 8). Bend the wire over the top of the stone and bring it to the back.
- 9). Use your needle-nose pliers to put another 90 degree angle into the wire, this time, bending it to your right.
- 10
Wrap the wire around to the face of the stone again. Keep it as tight to the stone as you can. - 11
Use your needle-nose pliers to put another 90-degree angle into the wire. Bend it toward the top of the stone, keeping it as close to the first wire there as you can. - 12
Trim off the wire to about 1 inch when you have reached the top of the stone. Most pliers made for jewelers' use will have a wire snip set far back from the tips, but if yours do not, a wire cutter will do the job. In a pinch, jewelry wire can be bent back and forth until it snaps. If you choose to bend it until it breaks, hold it firmly with your needle-nose pliers so you do not break off more than you should. - 13
Push the wire underneath the first wire at the top of the stone. - 14
Use your needle-nose pliers to put a 90-degree angle into the wire, this time with the wire heading straight up. - 15
Use your round-nose pliers to curl the remaining wire into a loop with several coils. This is going to be the loop through which you can pass a cord or chain for a pendant.
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