 As indicated on the first page, there are three wire components that we must make to complete these earrings. The first we will discuss will be the large round circle of wire, the second will be the small round circle and the third will be the connectors that connect these two circles. The instructions for making the large round circle of wire begin below. Step 1: Straighten a segment of wire 18 gauge wire 6 inches long by pulling it through the jaws of your nylon jaw pliers. Using your flush cutter, cut the wire to a length of 6 inches. (1/2 hard wire is preferred.) Step 2: Using your fine step jaw pliers or your round nose pliers make a loop in one end of the wire the size of the peg for your jig.
Step 3: Grasp your piece of wire by the loop and straighten
it again using your nylon jaw pliers.
Step 4: In a WigJig Cyclops or Electra, position pegs 1 and 2 in your jig. See the pattern shown at right. Place your initial loop on peg 1 and wrap your wire around peg 2 until with no pressure applied the wire will rest adjacent to the hole for peg 3. Using 1/2 hard wire you will need to push the wire beyond the hole for peg 3 and then remove your grip from the wire to allow it to relax back. For this wire component, this is very important. If you don't release your grip from the wire on every step, the wire component will spring out of shape after you remove it from the jig.
Step 5: Add peg 3 to your pattern. At this point, we
have one approach for beginners and a different approach for intermediate
and advanced wire workers. For beginners, wrap the wire around peg
three and push it until the wire rests adjacent to the empty hole waiting
for peg 4. For more advanced wire workers, remove the wire from the
jig, place the initial loop on peg 3 and the second loop on peg 2 and wrap
the wire around peg 1 so that with no pressure applied it will rest
adjacent to the empty hole for peg 8. We won't continue to describe
this advanced approach in every step, but with every added peg you will
remove the wire from the jig and essentially flip it over. The
result is a wire component with two levels of wire instead of growing from
low on one end to high on the other. The wire component shown above
was made using the advanced approach. |
