With the fish hook sharpener, after I cut the wires, while still
straight, I drag it along the bottom lightly, while twisting it in my
fingers. Once, maybe twice so I’d say about 2 seconds each wire. You
get into a rhythm and it goes real quickly. Much faster than a cup
bur.
Michele
MikiCat Designs
Web: www.mikicatdesigns.com
Personally, I think if the earrings are not worth it two you to make
nice looking ear wires I would reconsider the earring design all
together.
Christine
www.christinebossler.com
I agree with Lisa, regarding rounding off the ends of the ear wires,
as she says, “A good tumbling will take care of it.” I always tumble
mine to work harden them. I do this with post ear wires, as well as
shepherd hook types.
Alma
I don’t know whether this has been mentioned in this thread, but a
cup bur will do a wonderful and quick job of rounding the end of an
ear wire. This bur, available in just about any size, is matched to
the size of the wire you are rounding. Since the cutting teeth are on
the inside of the cup, spinning the bur on the end of the ear wire,
(or the tops of prongs, after setting a stone) will produce a
perfectly round, smooth end on the prong or ear wire. Buy more than
one, and use a lubricant as you are working.
Jay Whaley
Personally, I think if the earrings are not worth it two you to make nice looking ear wires I would reconsider the earring design all together.
Good point, Christine. I always wonder why folks who spend a lot of
time making the decorative part of the earring would then bring it
down a notch by putting it on a super ordinary wire of the type that
you could find at the craft store. Sure, some manufactured wires are
different & interesting but much too often when I see pieces done on
wires they are that same kind I used to buy a base metal version of
at the craft store, with the coil and the bead, just maybe now in
sterling. It’s easy to make your own wires, and your handmade
earrings deserve it! With earring posts they aren’t a visible part
of the piece when it’s being worn, and even if they were handmade
they wouldn’t look a whole lot different than manufactured ones, it’s
a post. But with the wires they are actually part of the visible part
of the earring, they need to be treated as part of the design, not
just a thing on which your handcrafted bit hangs. Well, that’s my
opinion, anyway. 
Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher
I purchased the Kingsley North Easy Ear Wire device & find it works
great. I’m twisting my goldfilled, ss & copper wire prior to using
the device which work hardens my wire.
Is it still advised for me to tumple the wires. What media should I
use for tumbling?
Regards, Audie Beller
Audie,
I use stainless steel shot with Rio’s sunsheen burnishing solution to
harden, debur and shine up my earwires
Monica
Hi There,
It just irks me when I visit booths at art fairs and can identify
which page of the whole sale catalog the item is from… I think part
of being a small business crafts person is about being creative, and
while I use the “shepherds hook” design a bit I would like to think
that I may have personalized it in some way to fit my work best or
could come up with a better design to fit the piece. Either way,
making your own by hand is fairly easy and doesn’t take enough time
to warrant buying premade parts, although I only buy ear nuts and am
trying to find a design that I can make that will make this
unnecessary too.
I hope that this encourages more to do the same, not trying to dis
thoughs who do the opposite.
Christine
Trish - I just twist the end 4-6 times in the cup bur - I’m not
focused on getting a completely rounded end on the wire, but rather
on filing off the rough edges that might irritate the skin. (I read
somewhere that rough edges on an ear wire can cause microscopic
tears, resulting in itching and redness, so that the customer thinks
she has an allergy.) I run the tip of my finger over each one after
a few passes - if it feels rough, I’ll hit it again.
Good luck!
Susan (Sam) Kaffine
Several posts in this thread have mentioned using a ‘fish hook
sharpener’, in my fishing days I had several ‘fish hook sharpeners’.
Which style sharpener are being referenced here?
With much appreciation,
Ed
Hi Audie,
I purchased the Kingsley North Easy Ear Wire device & find it works great. I'm twisting my goldfilled, ss & copper wire prior to using the device which work hardens my wire. Is it still advised for me to tumple the wires. What media should I use for tumbling?
If you’re twisting the wire before making the ear wires, tumbling
really isn’t require for hardening the wire.
However, if you do any soldering that gets the ear wire warm/hot it
may become annealed. If that’s the case tumbling would be in order.
You may want to tumble the completed piece to polish it.
When tumbling items made for precious metals, assorted shapes of
steel shot work well. Stainless steel shot is better to use since it
doesn’t rust & is easier to maintain.
Dave