|
|
|
WigJig Newsletter for June 22, 2003
We are continuing to improve our newsletter, so please feel free to provide feedback at custsrv@wigjig.com.
Coming Soon:
We have ordered a new style of Swarovski round beads with 25 facets in both 4mm and 6mm. These beads come in a wide variety of colors and we will be adding them to our Internet Store within the next week.
ON SALE:
We update the items we have on special sale pricing with every newsletter. A small sample of the products we currently have on sale are shown below. Please click on any of the text below the pictures to view our entire list of sale items. Quantities are limited for these items so please shop early. This sale will be effective from June 22th through July 4th, 2003.We have quite a few items on sale now that we normally don't place on sale. Please check our Internet store for these sale items.
|
|
|
| FREE JEWELRY
MAKING DESIGN: With every newsletter we provide a free design from WigJig University to spur the creative juices. This newsletter's free design is the Chain Bracelet shown at right. This bracelet is made with 20G soft wire for the chain component and 22G 1/2 hard wire for the wrapped bead link. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture that does these bracelets justice. I needed a sunny day for pictures and living on the east coast, we haven't seen the sun since April. This is a very attractive bracelet, much nicer that these pictures show. Instructions for making these bracelets can be found here. |
|
|
Jewelry Making Technique of the week: Our WigJig University wire-working technique for this newsletter is how to smooth the ends of the wire. Many wire components, like ear wires, have the end of the wire exposed. This wire end should be smoothed and rounded so that there aren't any sharp edges. Smoothing the end of a cut piece of wire is relatively easy if you have the right technique and the right tools. The first step in smoothing the ends of a cut piece of wire is to make sure that you cut the wire properly. When cutting wire with flush cutters, the cutters are manufactured to cut the wire leaving one side flat and relatively smooth and the other side pointed and sharp. The most important step in making the cut is to make sure that you leave the flat, smooth side of the cut on your finished piece of jewelry and discard the sharp side of the cut with your scrap wire. If you look at your flush cutter you will notice that one side has jaws that are flat and the other side has jaws that are beveled to create the sharp edge used to cut the wire. Always cut with the flat side of the flush cutter's jaws toward the finished piece. This will make sure that you leave the flat side of the cut wire on your finished piece. The second thing to do after cutting a piece of wire that will be exposed is to file or smooth the end of the cut wire. This is done rather easily with a tool called a Cup Bur. Place the cut wire end in the cup of the Cup Bur and rotate the handle. Angle the Cup Bur about 15 to 20 degrees off the axis of the wire so that the cup is at a slight angle to the end of the wire. Select here for pictures on how to use the Cup Bur. |
|
Question of the week:
What cutter should I use to cut Memory Wire?Flush cutters for cutting jewelry wire are generally made to cut gold, silver, copper and brass. The cutters work well cutting these soft metals but are not made for cutting harder wires like stainless steel (including Soft Flex) or Memory Wire. In fact if a jewelry wire cutter is used for Memory Wire or stainless steel, it will leave a mark in the cutter in the shape of the wire. Essentially, this ruins the cutter. Memory Wire and stainless steel require a special cutter that is hardened so that it can cut this stronger wire. Memory Wire in particular is so hard that it is very helpful to have a "compound" hinge on the cutter to make it easier to cut.
We have a large selection of cutters in our Internet store. You can view this selection here. My personal favorite cutter for jewelry wire is the "Flush Cutters-Ultra" for $17.95. These cutters do a great job of leaving a very flat cut on one side of the cut wire, but they are not hard enough to be used for Memory Wire or Soft Flex. For Memory Wire, we use the "Premium Cutters-Memory Wire" for $27.95. These cutters have the compound hinge to make it easier to cut and are hardened to cut Memory Wire. Unfortunately, while the Flush Cutter-Ultra does a great job of cutting jewelry wire and won't cut Memory Wire, the Premium Cutters-Memory wire do a great job of cutting Memory Wire but are not able to get into tight places to cut jewelry wire. The Memory Wire cutter will cut jewelry wire with no problems, but their size and shape make them less suitable for cutting wire in tight spaces. So far, we haven't found one cutter that does a great job of cutting everything.
|
Announcements: Online Books. If you are looking for new and interesting projects -- try one of our Online Books. Our most detailed jewelry making instructions are for sale online. Please select here to view our selection of online books. This week our "Ear Cuffs Advanced" Online book is on sale for 20% off. Shipping Policy. We ship all retail orders over $60 for free within the US. For International orders we ship via FED EX International and charge $34.95 (our average cost) for this expedited shipping service. Please select here to view our entire shipping policy. WigJig University. We provide 1358 pages of free information, tips, techniques and free designs in WigJig University. We encourage everyone to view this information as a source for new ideas, projects, or a way to learn new techniques. We now have a page in WigJig University that shows you designs by type of WigJig tool. Please select here to view that information. International Vendors. We do have vendors who sell our WigJig products outside the US. We encourage customers to contact these vendors in their home country. Please select here to view our list of overseas vendors. Classes. We are still working to develop web pages showing who has jewelry making classes where. If you are interested in classes, please select here. If you know someone who has classes in using our WigJig tools, please ask them to send us an e-mail so that we can include them in these pages. Please send the e-mails to custsrv@wigjig.com. |
FREE SHIPPING ON ALL ORDERS OVER $60.00 SHIPPED to USA - Customer Care - WigJig, PO Box 5124, Gaithersburg, MD 20882; (800) 579-WIRE (phone), (240) 597-2262 (fax), custsrv@wigjig.com (email). Privacy Policy. All content on this web site including jewelry and wire designs are copyrighted by WigJig. WigJig is a registered trademark. Last modified: January 11, 2008
Return to WigJig Jewelry Tools, Beads and Supplies Home Page
See our selection of beads, wire and jewelry tools.View Prior Newsletters
