Hi, I am confused by dead soft and all that. I want to wrap a semi
precious heart with a simple 2 or 3 strand shiny wrap. Would you use
half round or I just don’t know. Any suggestions would be very
helpful Thanks, Phyllis
Hi, I am confused by dead soft and all that. I want to wrap a semi precious heart with a simple 2 or 3 strand shiny wrap. Would you use half round or I just don't know. Any suggestions would be very helpful Thanks, Phyllis
hi there, for a box wrap, which is, what I’m assuming, you’re aiming
for - it is the wrap that looks like a solid frame around the piece
with a few - use dead soft square wire. three or five pieces, about
one inch longer than the circumference of your stone. lay them out
flat next to each other, perpendicular to a piece of adhesive tape.
tape them together flat. use half round wire to tie them neatly
together in two or three spots, depending on esthetics and stability.
wrap this around the edge of the stone. pull the top and bottom wires
out from between the struts, twist z-bends into them to cover a bit
more of the stone to make the setting more secure. alternatingly
cross the wire ends, twist them together while pushing the stone down
into its box. finish off the top as needed (bail to hang it off, the
rest in curls is most common) Wire wrapping isn’t really all that
great for soft stones. If your heart is Malachite or Turquoise or
Amber you will have to be extremely careful. This setting eats a lot
of silver, especially, if you set larger stones, which are easier to
do. If you’ve never done this before, getting some square and
halfround brass wire to practice with, may be wise.
Sparrow
I want to wrap a semi precious heart with a simple 2 or 3 strand shiny wrap.
Hi Phyllis, You can use round, half round, or square depending on the
look you want. Quite a few designs are done by wrapping 3 square
wires around the stone and using half round to secure it in four
places then bending the top and bottom square wire to hold the stone
in place. Two good books on wrapping aRe: Hot and Wired by John R.
Smith and Linda Abbott ISBN 0-936459-18-2 and Moods In Wire by
Ellsworth “Ed” Sinclair ISBN 0-9640483-0-2
Experiment and have fun with it, Marta in Sacramento
Hi, Phyllis- You will want to use hard or half-hard wire for your
wrap. Half-round wire is normally used for the binding wires on
wraps, but is not necessary. Round or square wire, depending on your
design, is probably what you want to go with.
I strongly recommend that you either acquire a book or two on wire
wrap, or find someone willing to give you a lesson before
proceeding. Anyone who says “what could be hard about bending a
bunch of wires” can find out by attempting to wire-wrap! Not that
the skills are difficult to acquire, it’s just that there are some
tricks in terms of how to use your pliers to make clean-looking
loops, bends, etc that will make a lot of difference in the
appearance of the finished piece.
By the same token, producing a simple, attractive wire wrap is not
terribly difficult. Get a book, and/or get a lesson, and then have
at it! Good luck!
Lee Einer