online exclusive
beginner wire
Try This on for size
Adjustable-Shank Wire-wrapped Ring accommodate up to four ring sizes with this adjustable ring.
Comfortably
by Jim McIntosh
You can make this ring with a variety of wire types and cabochons. The face of the ring measures 11 ⁄ 8 x 7 ⁄ 8 in. (29 x 22 mm).
M
any people can’t wear traditional rings because arthritis, joint inflammation, or large knuckles make it impossible for them to slip rings on and off. The shank of this adjustable wire ring easily
expands to slip over a large joint before returning to its original size. I used Argentium Sterling Silver wire, but you can use sterling silver, gold-filled, or another metal. Some people believe that untreated copper can bring relief to arthritis sufferers, so copper would make a great material for this ring (though untreated copper may react with your skin, turning it green).
© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
www.A r t J e w e l r y M a g . c o m
1
2
3
4 Measure your cabochon. Cut a 4-in. (10.2 cm) piece of painter’s tape, and trim a 1 ⁄8 -in. (3 mm)-wide strip from the long side of the tape [1]. Set the wide strip aside to use later. Beginning at the center of one long side of the cabochon, wrap the narrow piece of tape around the cabochon’s perimeter [2]. Trim the excess tape so that the ends meet but do not overlap. Use a fine-tip permanent marker to draw a line on the tape opposite where the tape ends meet. This marks the center of the cabochon’s other long side. Make additional lines about 5 ⁄64 in. (2 mm) to the right and left of the first line [3]. These lines represent how wide you’ll make each wire wrap. Repeat the series of three lines at the center of each short end of the cabochon. I made the width of my short-end wraps narrower than the long-side wraps. Determine the wire length. Remove the tape from the stone and place it stickyside down on your work surface. To find the amount of wire you need, note the length of the tape. Multiply the length by 2 and add 9 in. (22.9 cm).
Prepare the wire. Cut three strands of 22-gauge (0.6 mm) square wire to the determined length. Straighten each wire by holding one end with your flatnose pliers and pulling the wire through a polishing cloth. Hold the wires side by side, keeping the sides square to each other. Secure the wires with a piece of painter’s tape about 3 in. (76 mm) from the wire ends. Starting at the taped end, run your fingers down the wires to make sure they don’t overlap or twist. Secure the other end with tape about 3 in. (76 mm) from the wire ends to create a wire bundle [4]. Transfer the wrap lines. Open a tape measure to the length of your wire bundle. Place the marked painter’s tape below the tape measure, aligning the tape’s center mark with the tape measure’s midpoint. Place the wire bundle below the tape [5]. Line up one end of the bundle with the end of the tape measure. Use a fine-tip permanent marker to transfer the marks on the tape to the bundle. I do not transfer the center mark of each line group.
© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
5 materials ■ ■
Cabochon: 25 x 18 mm Wire: ■ 22-gauge (0.6 mm), square, dead-soft, 45 in. (1.1 m) ■ 21-gauge (0.7 mm), half-round, deadsoft, 38 in. (96.5 cm)
tools & supplies Painter’s tape Permanent marker: fine tip ■ Wire cutters ■ Pliers: flatnose ■ Polishing cloth ■ Tape measure ■ Ring mandrel ■ Rawhide mallet ■ Needle file ■ Finishing items (optional): flex shaft, hard felt buff, rouge ■ ■
suppliers ■
Wire and cabochon (Rio Grande, 800.545.6566, www.riogrande.com)
www.A r t J e w e l r y M a g . c o m
6
7
sizing up the situation When you’re sizing rings, you need to keep wire gauge in mind. As the wire gauge gets heavier, additional millimeters are added to a ring size’s circumference. The ring circumference in this chart is based on a wire thickness of 1.6 mm.
Make the center wrap. Cut an 8-in. (20.3 cm) piece of 21-gauge (0.7 mm) half-round wire to use as your wrapping wire. Using flatnose pliers, hold the wrapping wire vertically approximately ½ in. (13 mm) from the top, with its flat side facing you. With your free hand, fold the long end of the wrapping wire up over the pliers and place it to the right of the short end. Notice that it resembles a checkmark. Hook the short end of the wrapping wire over the bundle at the left line of the center marks [6]. Use flatnose pliers to press the wrapping wire in place. With your fingers, bring the long end of the wrapping wire over the bundle and place it to the right of the short end. Press the wrapping wire down on the bundle to secure it [7]. Continue wrapping with the long end of the wire until you reach the right line of the center mark. I made seven wraps on my ring. Make sure that the last wrap leaves the tail of the wrapping wire on the same side of the wire bundle as the wrap lines (the side with the exposed wire ends will be the inside of the bezel). Trim the ends of the wrapping wire so that neither end extends past the edge of the bundle. Press each wire end again with the pliers to set the wire.
Tension in the shank of the featured ring may leave a gap of several millimeters between the shank end and the ring base, making the finished ring slightly larger than anticipated. Since this ring is adjustable, you may want to make the ring slightly smaller than your ideal size.
ring size chart U.S. ring size
Circumference of finger (mm)
Circumference for 1.6 mm material thickness (mm)
5
49.0
54.0
6
51.5
56.5
7
54.0
59.1
8
56.5
61.6
9
59.1
64.1
10
61.6
66.6
Source: The Contenti Company. Other sources show up to 0.5 mm variance.
© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
www.A r t J e w e l r y M a g . c o m
8
9
10
11 Make the left and right end wraps. Make the left wrap as you did the center wrap. I wrapped the wire around the bundle five times for my end wrap. Trim the wires, but do not press the wire ends against the bundle. Repeat to make the right wrap. Form the bezel. Align the wire bundle so that the center wrap is in the middle of one long side of the cabochon [8], and bend the wire bundle into a U shape [9].
12 If the end wraps aren’t centered on the left and right ends of the cabochon, adjust them now. When they are centered, use flatnose pliers to set the loose ends by pressing them to the bundle. Make the cabochon supports. Hold the wire bundle in your nondominant hand and use flatnose pliers to grasp the bottom wire on one side of the center wrap. Twist the pliers to make a small bend toward the middle of the bezel. Repeat on
13
14 © 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
the adjacent wrap [10], and then repeat on the other side of the center wrap. Place the cabochon in the U-shaped frame, with the back of the cabochon supported by the bends. Bring the two bottom wires together so they meet at the center of the cabochon’s right side, and use flatnose pliers to bend the wires at 90º angles away from the center of the stone. The two wires should be parallel [11]. Remove the cabochon, and tape the two bottom wires together about 4 in. (10.2 cm) from where the stone will sit [12]. Secure the top of the cabochon. Place the cabochon in the bezel, and bend the top wires to make a design on top of the cabochon. See “That’s a Wrap,” page 5, for tips on making a secure design. When you are satisfied with your design and have the stone securely in the frame, bring the ends of the top wires to the center of the cabochon’s right side and bend them so that they align with the bottom wires. Set the top wires to the outside of the bottom wires, and tape all four wires together [13]. Wrap the bezel’s center wires around the cabochon, and then bend them so that they align with the four-wire bundle. Place the center wires to the outside of the taped four-wire bundle, and tape all six wires together [14]. These wires will form the ring shank.
www.A r t J e w e l r y M a g . c o m
15
16
17 Wrap the ring shank. Cut approximately 30 in. (76.2 cm) of half-round wire for your wrapping wire. Using flatnose pliers, hold the wrapping wire vertically approximately 1 in. (25.5 mm) from its top end, with the wire’s flat side facing you. With your free hand, fold the long end of the wrapping wire up over the pliers and place it to the right of the short end so that it resembles a checkmark. Holding the shank wires so that the back of the cabochon faces you, hook the wrapping wire over the shank wires [15], with the short end on the back side of the shank wires. Slide the wrapping wire as close to the cabochon as possible. To wrap the shank, use your fingers to bring the long end of the wrapping wire over the shank wires to the right of the short end. Keep the wrapping wire tight to the shank wires, but do not allow the shank wires to compress and overlap one another. Continue wrapping, using flatnose pliers to press the wrapping wire to the shank wires every six to eight wraps to set it. After you’ve wrapped 1 ⁄2 in. (13 mm) of the shank wires, remove the tape pieces that are holding the shank wires together.
Determine your ideal ring size (see “Sizing Up the Situation,” page 3) and note the circumference. Measuring from the first wrap, find the circumference length on the shank wires and mark that point with a fine-tip marker [16]. Continue wrapping, pressing the wrapping wire to the shank wires every six to eight wraps until you reach the mark [17].
18 Use wire cutters to trim the excess wrapping wire, and press the wire end to the shank wires, using flatnose pliers. Trim the excess wire from the shank wires so they extend about ¼ in. (6.5 mm) past the end of the wraps. Use pliers to grasp the shank-wire ends and fold them over the top of the ring shank, pressing them tightly to the shank wraps [18].
that’s a
wrap
To make a secure bezel for your cabochon, you need to think about where to place your wraps. In general, you can vary the placement of the wraps, but they should be evenly distributed to keep the wire bundle that makes up the bezel wall intact. For the featured ring’s bezel, I made sure to wrap on one long side of the cabochon and at both small ends. Wrapping over the top of a cabochon serves two purposes: It’s decorative, and it helps secure the cabochon in the bezel. When designing the top wraps of the cabochon, make sure that the swirls cover at least two-thirds of the cabochon to prevent the stone from popping out of the bezel. If your design doesn’t cover two-thirds of the cabochon’s surface, you will need to make angled bends in the wire on the top of the bezel just as you did on the bottom.
© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
www.A r t J e w e l r y M a g . c o m
Process photos by Jim McIntosh.
19 Shape the ring shank. Using a ring mandrel, hold the end of the wrapped shank at the mandrel’s mark for your ideal size. Carefully bend the shank around the mandrel, working from the end of the shank toward the cabochon [19]. Tuck the shank end under the cabochon. NOTE: You may need to remove the ring from the mandrel to bring the open end under the cabochon properly. Once you have the basic shape of the ring shank, remove the ring from the mandrel. Use flatnose pliers to carefully grasp the shank wires where the shank meets the stone [20]. Bend the shank
20 90º to bring it under the cabochon. With your fingers, squeeze the shank together to compress its diameter. Check the size on the ring mandrel, and compress the shank until the ring is slightly smaller than your ideal size. Compress the shank until the end of the ring shank reaches the side where the shank meets the cabochon [21]. Place the ring back on the mandrel at the mark for your ideal size. Using a rawhide mallet, lightly hammer the outside of the ring shank to refine the shape and work-harden the ring.
21 Jim McIntosh has been making jewelry for over 6 years. He says, “It has always been my desire to push the envelope of wire art as far as possible.” He may be contacted via his Web site, www.macjewels.com.
File and polish the ring. Use a needle file to smooth any sharp wire ends. Polish the wire with a polishing cloth, or apply jeweler’s rouge according to the manufacturer’s instructions and then buff it with a hard felt buff in a flex shaft.
© 2008 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
www.A r t J e w e l r y M a g . c o m
Make jewelry that makes a statement . . . your statement Looking for projects that use different materials such as metalwork, wirework, stone, glass, polymer, and enamel? Then Art Jewelry is the magazine for you! Discover the secrets you need to create breathtaking pieces that express your own distinctive style like never before! Whether you want to learn a new technique, try a different material, or get ideas for your own jewelry projects, there’s something for you in Art Jewelry!
Subscribe Today!
Order online at www.artjewelrymag.com/promo Enter code: I4XZ1 or call 800-533-6644 Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Central Time. 05X1017
Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 262-796-8776, ext. 661. I4XZ1