I’m designing hoop earrings using the wax carving technique and wondering what’s the best way to create a secure closing mechanism before casting. For those who have experience with this — what type of closure do you recommend (post and latch, hinge, or wire-in-tube, etc.)?And what’s the ideal gap or space to leave between the two ends of the hoop so the post fits snugly into the closure after casting and polishing? Thank you.
Hi,
if you want a post style earring, i would suggest using a twist drill or ball bur (the diameter of your post wire) to create a shallow hole in the wax where you want the post to go. this will allow you to easily position the post on the casting and provide more surface area for soldering. twisting the post a few turns will work harden it after soldering.
if you want a hinge style earring, i would suggest creating the catch (think keyhole shaped slit that will accept the wire and hold it using some tension), and hinge (think slit on the other end that the wire eye will fit into) in the wax, and fine tune them in the metal.
i would fabricate one in metal so that you can see what is going on first…the angles on the catch end need to be finessed a bit
the ear wire can be made using round wire, with an eye at the hinge end. this eye fits into the hinge slit. it is held in place by a rivet pin. i would drill this rivet hole in the metal, not in the wax.
the ear wire can be left as a round wire, or forged flatter at the eye end, and then filed to shape to fit the hinge slit. its length can be slightly curved to follow the hoop shape.
the catch is a keyhole shape…imagine a hole at the bottom and a V opening at the top…creating a narrower “waist” in the middle…
drill a hole horizontally thru the catch end, and then saw down vertically to the hole to create a slit, and then file the top of the slit to create a V shaped opening.
the V shape opening is wider at the top, allowing the wire to pass in…it gets narrower down toward the middle of the slit…it is “just” narrow enough to allow the wire to “click” thru to the hole (because the top of the slit is open, the two “arms” of the slit are able to flex out minutely, allowing the wire to pass thru the narrower middle and then drop into the hole.
i have seen earrings where the catch end is created in wire and soldered onto the end of the hoop…imagine a figure 8 shape but with the top cut open…
i have seen earrings where the eye of the ear wire is simply passed thru a hole…
the mechanics are relatively simple…if you understand what is going on…how elaborate you make the components is up to you in term of design…
i hope i am making sense…drawing pictures would have probably been better!
you can search online for hoop earrings and then examine how the various mechanisms are made…
i highly suggest the below book for understanding fabrication of mechanisms…especially if you like looking at exploded view diagrams! it is one of my top 10 favorite books!
julie
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Thank you 
I’ll see what’s best!
Hi,
i had meant to post this older thread discussing opening measurements…
julie