Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
November 3, 2009

Question:

I need hints on twisting wire. How long a piece can you twist in a pin vise? It is it better to twist long or short pieces? When using a pin vise, is there a sure fire technique for keeping the twists even? If using a regular power drill, how would I twist longer pieces?

Answer:

The easiest way for me to answer this is to direct you to the page where we have all of our video tips on wire wrapping techniques. You may not yet be aware of the fact that we are now keeping them in one place so you can view these tutorials any time you’d like! Sherrie Lingerfelt does a great demo showing several ways to twist wire: http://www.wire-sculpture.com/jewelry-making-blog/?p=212

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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Storing Small Supplies for Travel

By: Sherrie Lingerfelt

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
November 1, 2009

Question:

How much of the length of the wire is lost when it is twisted? Should it be twisted before measuring for the project?

Answer:

Based on my personal experiences with twisting square wire, a single strand of wire from 20 through smaller gauges will not lose enough length to worry about.  Twisting larger gauges from 19 through 16 you loose about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch, while 14 and 12 gauge about ¼ of an inch. When twisting a round wire around a square wire in gauges from 20 through 12 it can be unpredictable based on how tightly the desired twist is, so in these cases you may wish to add about ½ inch to each piece, just to be safe.  While twisting 2 round wires together, you do loose a bit and again, that depends on the gauges used and the amount of twist.  Experiment with shorter pieces of copper and keep a log of your results to be better able to plan your future twisted designs.

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

Have a question? Submit your question here!