.png){kind=logo}
CONNECTING JEWELRY COMPONENTS
Instructions in how to connect jewelry wire components using common jewelry tools:
The wrapped bead link is the jewelry making component shown at right. This link is one of the more important links for connecting jewelry wire components, other wrapped beads links, or segments of commercial chain. Simplified instructions for making this link can be found here and here. Better, more detailed instructions are provided in our online book on jewelry making called "Wire Design Basics". Our best free instructions can be found in our free You Tube video on making wrapped loops.
The following paragraphs provide a few jewelry making tips that I hope will help those who aren't satisfied with their wrapped loops. These jewelry making tips provide amplification to the instructions provided above. The Flemish Spiral Bracelet shown below-right shows the power behind this technique. Once you have perfected making the wrapped bead link you will be able to make a wide variety of necklaces and bracelets.
Jewelry Making Supplies Required:
• ​Connectors with an open loop like a jump ring or figure 8 connector
Jewelry Making Tools Required:
• Chain nose pliers/Bent Chain Nose Pliers(2)
Jewelry Making Skills Required:
• Ability to open and close loops using chain nose pliers or bent chain nose pliers jewelry tools as described below.
Instructions for opening and closing loops to connect jewelry wire components using the above set of jewelry tools:
Opening a jump ring can be performed with one pair of chain nose pliers and some strong fingernails, or it can be performed with two pair of chain nose pliers. In the pictures below we will show how to connect a wire component to a jump ring with two pair of chain nose pliers. The first step in connecting a wire component to a jump ring is to grip the jump ring with both pair of pliers. Grip the jump ring with the pliers on either side of the opening of the jump ring. See below-left. To open the ring, twist one pair of the pliers up and the second pair of pliers down. See below, center-left. With the jump ring opened, connect your wire component as shown below, center-right. Once the connection is made then re-grip the jump ring as shown below-right.
Close the jump ring by twisting the pliers in the opposite direction that you used to open the jump ring. To make the closed jump ring as perfect as possible, grip the jump ring in the jaws of your bent closing pliers. Position the opening in the jump rings against one jaw of the pliers as shown below-center, then squeeze gently to ensure that the jump ring is closed properly. Many people like to squeeze the jump ring enough so that it is slightly oblong and no longer perfectly round. An oblong jump ring, with the opening of the jump ring on the short axis of the oval shape will naturally cause the jump ring to orientate itself so that the connected wire components will align themselves on the long axis and will therefore not pull against the opening of the jump ring. You can view an oblong jump ring below-right.
Close the jump ring by twisting the pliers in the opposite direction that you used to open the jump ring. To make the closed jump ring as perfect as possible, grip the jump ring in the jaws of your bent closing pliers. Position the opening in the jump rings against one jaw of the pliers as shown below-center, then squeeze gently to ensure that the jump ring is closed properly. Many people like to squeeze the jump ring enough so that it is slightly oblong and no longer perfectly round. An oblong jump ring, with the opening of the jump ring on the short axis of the oval shape will naturally cause the jump ring to orientate itself so that the connected wire components will align themselves on the long axis and will therefore not pull against the opening of the jump ring. You can view an oblong jump ring below-right.
Close the jump ring by twisting the pliers in the opposite direction that you used to open the jump ring. To make the closed jump ring as perfect as possible, grip the jump ring in the jaws of your bent closing pliers. Position the opening in the jump rings against one jaw of the pliers as shown below-center, then squeeze gently to ensure that the jump ring is closed properly. Many people like to squeeze the jump ring enough so that it is slightly oblong and no longer perfectly round. An oblong jump ring, with the opening of the jump ring on the short axis of the oval shape will naturally cause the jump ring to orientate itself so that the connected wire components will align themselves on the long axis and will therefore not pull against the opening of the jump ring. You can view an oblong jump ring below-right.
