MAKING A WIRE-WRAPPED RING
KATIE KOVALCHIK
INTRODUCTION Would you like to make handmade jewelry as gifts or to sell on Etsy? Wire-wrapped rings are easy, unique and stylish pieces of jewelry that can be made in under 20 minutes and look like an item out of a jewelry boutique. The technique involves only two materials - that’s it! They are affordable, simple and can be made in many variations. Wire-wrapped rings are very adaptable to your own style because the colors, shape and the size of each piece is up to you. This instruction set will describe in detail how to create a wire-wrapped ring. It begins with the materials and tools needed, along with tips to help you make each ring unique to your taste. The docment divides up into three major steps: 1. Preparation 2. Wrapping 3. Finalizing Upon completion, this document will offer images of different style, color and size variations to help you create wonderful rings that compliment your taste and style.
MATERIALS & TOOLS BEADS
Choose any color, shape or size. Keep in mind that the size of the bead will be the main element of the ring. The bead used in this tutorial is an 8mm bead. The size can be found on the back of the label.
WIRE
Craft wire comes in many shades, such as copper, gold, silver, rose-gold and black. Match these with different colors of beads for unique ring designs. The wire used in this tutorial is a gold, 20-gauge wire.
NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS
Pliers are needed to twist wire around ring shank when the wire becomes too short to handle by hand. Pliers that have wire-cutters on the inside of jaw is required.
TAPERED RING MANDREL
A ring mandrel is used to size the ring. They are marked in whole, half and quarter sizes to accommodate all ring sizes.
OTHER MATERIALS:
Personal ring (or knowledge of ring size) Sharpie or felt-tip pen Ruler
*TIP: All of these items can be purchased at a craft store or online.
PREPARATION
STEPS 1 & 2
STEP 1
Figure out the desired ring size If you do not already know the size of the ring you want to create, simply slip a ring of the same size onto the ring mandrel. When the ring no longer slides down the ring mandrel, read the corresponding size. *TIP: If you do not have a ring for the ďŹ nger you want to know the size of, loop a piece of string or craft wire around your ďŹ nger and then slide this loop around the ring mandrel to get the correct size.
FIGURE 1: Sizing a ring on a ring mandrel
STEP 2
Measure the wire Unwind 4 wraps of the wire coil. Pull the wire along a ruler and measure to 12 inches. Using a sharpie, mark the wire at 12 inches and at 6 inches. These marks will be used in the next steps to cut the wire and place the bead.
*TIP: Once this simple ring design is mastered, you may want to make more complex designs. In these cases, a longer strand of wire will be required to facilitate more wraps around the bead or the shank of the ring.
FIGURE 2: Measuring 12 inches of wire
PREPARATION
STEPS 3 & 4
STEP 3
Cut the wire Using the wire-cutter on the inside of the plier jaw, cut the wire at the 12-inch mark that was previously marked in sharpie on Step 2. *CAUTION: Wire edges will be extremely sharp. Small pieces can easily be lost. Keep wire and pliers out of reach of children.
FIGURE 3: Cutting the wire at the 12-inch mark
STEP 4
String the bead String the bead onto the wire and place it on the 6-inch mark that was previously marked in sharpie on Step 2.
FIGURE 4: Stringing bead onto the wire at the 6-inch mark
PREPARATION
STEPS 5 & 6
STEP 5
Secure the bead on the midpoint Bending the wire at each side of the bead will secure it on the midpoint of the wire and leave an equal length of wire on each side of the bead for wrapping in future steps (See Figure 5).
FIGURE 5: Bend wire at a right angle on each side of the bead
WRAPPING STEP 6
Create the ring shank Place bead on ring mandrel and wrap each end of the wire around the ring mandrel one time until each wire end is on the same side as the bead. (see Figure 6). This will create the ring shank -- the part that wraps around your ďŹ nger. After wraps are complete, shift the ring to the desired ring size on the ring mandrel and pull the wire ends to tighten the ring shank to the FIGURE 6: Wrap the wire around ring mandrel correct size. *TIP: If creating a ring with more than two wire wraps as the ring shank, consider tightening shank at a half-size larger to ensure the ring will ďŹ t. More wraps ceate a tighter ring shank.
WRAPPING
STEP 7
STEP 7
Wrap the wire around the bead Instead of continually wrapping around the ring mandrel, the wire now needs to wrap around the bead to secure it and create the ring design. In Figure 7, the wire is turned around the bead and begins to wrap in a clock-wise motion.
FIGURE 7: Wrapping wire around bead In Figure 8, the wire is completely wrapped around the bead once, and is continuing to do so.
*TIP: As you wrap, you will see the wire weave in and out of itself. Fill in gaps with future wraps to create the “nestled in� look of the bead.
FIGURE 8: Wrap #1 around bead In Figure 9, all but 1 inch of wire is wrapped around the bead. The excess wire will be used to secure the wraps.
*TIP: For a different look, consider adding small beads to the wire while wrapping (see last page for additional design ideas).
FIGURE 9: Wraps #2 and #3 around bead
WRAPPING
STEPS 8 & 9
STEP 8
Secure wraps Thread one loose end of the wire down around the ring shank and continue to wrap it around the ring shank 2-3 times (Figure 10). Repeat this on the other side of the *CAUTION: Wire edges will be extremely sharp.
FIGURE 10: Taking ring off of the ring mandrel to secure the wraps
STEP 9
Pulling the wire tight With the ring back on the ring mandrel, use the pliers to pull the wire end tightly. As seen in Figure 11. This will ensure the wire wraps are secured. Repeat this on the other side of the bead.
FIGURE 11: Tightening the wires while the ring is on the ring shank will keep the ring round.
FINALIZING
STEPS 10 & 11
STEP 10
Cut the wire Using the wire-cutter on the inside of the plier jaw, cut the excess wire. Bend down the end of wire and squeeze it against the ring shank with the pliers to avoid it from scratching anyone.
FIGURE 12: Cutting the excess wire
STEP 11
Shaping ring shank From all of the pulling and wrapping, the ring back have gotten a little askew. Simply place it back onto the ring mandrel to mold it back to a round shape.
FIGURE 13: Run ring back onto ring mandrel to reshape the ring shank
DESIGN INSPIRATION There you have it! You have just made your own wire-wrapped ring. This is just the beginning -- there are many other jewelry pieces that can be made from knowing the techniques taught throughout this instruction set. Below are images of other wire-wrapped jewelry designs. Enjoy!