WIRE TIPS
These tips will help you get started making wire jewelry.

Making jump rings.

Wrap 20" of 16-gauge, dead soft, sterling silver wire around a dowel or tube that is 1/4" or less in diameter. Keep a tail in your non-wrapping hand so that you have something to hang onto. Wrap away from your body and keep the coils as close to each other as possible. When you reach the end of the wire, reverse the direction of the dowel and wrap the tail onto the dowel. Remove the coil from the dowel.

With your chain nose pliers, gently pull the coil apart so it will be easier for you to make your cuts. Blunt-cut the end of the coil with your flush wire cutters (flat side of the cutters will be toward your body).

Reverse your pliers so that the beveled side of your cutters now faces your body. This will result in both ends of your jump ring having blunt cuts. Snip the second coil right above the end of the first coil. You have now made one jump ring.

To continue, repeat the same process. Blunt-cut the end, reverse your pliers and snip off your jump ring.

Opening and closing jump rings.

Grip one end of the jump ring with your chain nose pliers and the other with your flat nose pliers. You can also use 2 pairs of bent nose pliers. Toggle the two ends back and forth 3-4 times to work-harden the metal. When you want to open and close jump rings, use this same motion.

Creating a wrapped loop.

Using flat nose pliers, grasp the head pin just above the last bead and bend it to a 90¡ angle. Grasp the wire approximately 1/16" from the tip of your round nose pliers, right next to the bend, with one jaw above the bent wire and the other jaw below it.

Rotate the bent wire up and over the top jaw of your pliers until it is almost pointing straight down.

Remove the pliers and place the bottom jaw in the loop you have just formed. Grasp the wire with your fingers (or chain nose pliers) and bend it snuggly around the bottom jaw, behind the straight part of the wire, bringing it back to a 90¡ angle.

Grasp the loop flat between the jaws of your flat nose pliers so it doesnÕt become distorted during the wire wrapping process. Using your fingers (or chain nose pliers), wrap the wire around itself a minimum of 2 times in nice, neat coils. Trim the excess wire as flush as possible with wire cutters. Using the tip section of your crimping pliers, very gently compress the coil to eliminate any rough edges.