How to Wrap a Stone With Wire
- 1). Choose a stone you would like to wrap, and select jewelry wire that best matches the stone you've selected. Wire is typically available in silver, brass, copper, sterling silver or gold.
- 2). Choose the gauge size for your wire. An 8-gauge wire will be thicker, and more difficult to shape around a rock. However, the wire is also less likely to break. A thinner gauge size such as 26-gauge will be easier to wrap, but will be more delicate.
- 3). Put on your protective eye wear to protect your eyes from any wire you may cut during the process. Use your wire cutters to cut two pieces of wire to a length of about 12 inches. You may need more wire if you have an especially large rock, but 12 inches will work for most sizes.
- 4). Cross and twist your two wires together in the center of each with your jewelry pliers. Place the part of the rock you want to be towards the bottom on to the point where you twisted the wires.
- 5). Bring one wire from each end that you twisted together up the side of your stone. Wrap the wires along the contours of your rock, and twist them at several points as you go to hold the rock in place. Make sure that the holes formed by the twisted wire are not big enough for your rock to fall through.
- 6). Repeat the process with the remaining two wires, and then bring one wire up from each side of you stone to the top center of your rock.
- 7). Bend the two wires at the top center so that they are straight and pointing upward. Wrap one of the remaining wires around the two you just straightened. Repeat with the other wire.
- 8). Use the straightened wires to form a loop with your pliers. Make sure the loop isn't too big or small for the chain or necklace you intend to use for your wrapped stone.
- 9). Wrap the bottom of your loop with the remaining wire to secure the loop. Use your wire cutters to cut the remaining wire. Tuck the end of the wire into your wire wrap with the jewelry pliers to hide the end.
- 10
Shape you wrap further by bending the wire at different points with pliers. This will create more curves and will tighten your wrap.
Source...