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Head Pin - Handmade
Making a head pin jewelry finding out of jewelry wire
A head pin is a jewelry making finding similar to a straight pin but without the sharp point. It is basically a straight piece of jewelry wire with one large end as shown at right. The large end is large enough so that it can't pass through the hole in a bead. Most head pins are manufactured by a machine with a head that is identical to the head on a pin used in sewing. Often, you will find that it is better to purchase head pin findings rather than try to make one. In this web page, we will show a couple of ways that you can make a head pin using a straight segment of jewelry wire. Making a head pin finding can be a better solution than purchasing a head pin for those applications where you need a head pin finding with a larger head.
In the earrings shown above you can view two ways of taking a straight segment of jewelry wire and converting it into a head pin. The first approach to making a head pin is to make one or more loops in the wire in a pattern like the Queen of Clubs Earrings shown with the amethyst bead above-left. The second approach is to flatten one end of the wire using a chasing hammer and an anvil. You can view this approach in the two earrings above-right.
Jewelry Making Supplies Required:
• ​20 gauge jewelry wire
Jewelry Making Skills Required:
Jewelry Making Tools Required:
• Round nose pliers
• Flush cutter
• Chain nose or bent chain nose pliers
• Wigjig jewelry tool
• Wigjig spiral maker tool
• Chasing hammer
• Anvil
• Ability to cut jewelry wire with a flush cutter jewelry tool.
• Ability to straighten jewelry wire with nylon jaw pliers jewelry tool.
• Ability to make an eye loop in jewelry wire using round nose pliers jewelry tool.
• Ability to make jewelry wire components using Wigjig jewelry tools.
• Ability to make a spiral out of jewelry wire using Wigjig jewelry tools and spiral maker tool.
Making the Queen of Clubs Head Pin Jewelry Finding out of Jewelry Wire Using WigJig Jewelry Tools:
Making the Queen of Clubs head pin is done with three pegs in a triangle pattern on your WigJig jewelry tool as shown below-right. The finished head pin is shown below-left.
Making a Hammered Head Pin Jewelry Finding out of Jewelry Wire:
To make a head pin by flattening one end of a segment of wire requires the use of a chasing hammer and anvil. Start with a segment of 20 gauge jewelry wire about 2 1/2 inches long. Place this segment of jewelry wire on your anvil and hammer the last 5/8" of wire with the rounded side of your chasing hammer. You will need to do a lot of hammering. Each of the wire segments shown here were hammered for about 4-5 minutes. Note that the wire is not perfectly symmetrical after the hammering. When you have flattened the jewelry wire adequately, you will need to cut the end with your flush cutter. You can cut the end square as shown above far-right, or you can cut the end into a point as shown in the earrings in the center at the top of this page. This style of head pin is called "paddles" because they resemble a paddle for a canoe or boat.
