Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
June 22, 2011

Question:

I want to make a pin or brooch. Is my wrapping wire going to be good enough for a pin? How about if I twist it?

-Kirsten in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Answer:

Hello Kirsten, I must tell you that I really don’t have a lot of information to go on, so I will give you a generalized response.

You ask if you can use your "wrapping" wire to make a pin with. If you mean a half round wire, then my answer is no. If the wire you are speaking of is a square wire, then it is possible. Think about what the pin or brooch is being created to hold; a cabochon or a collection of beads? And what do you intend the pin to adorn? Will it be a blouse, a sweater, or a jacket or blazer? When piercing a thin fabric, such as a blouse, it is my opinion that the wire used to create the actual "pin" component be round. With thinner fabrics, the item being held should be lightweight so the clothing is not damaged. If the pin is to be used for a sweater, then a twisted square wire can suffice, and it may be of a medium to large gauge like 18 or 20. When a brooch is made to be worn on a jacket or a blazer, the item being held can be a bit more heavy, like a cabochon, and either a larger-gauge round or square wire can be used to form the pin component.

The temper of a pin component is very important, because of the repeated bending. Personally I like to use #8/Spring Hard Round wire for making both pins and ear wires. This temper is difficult to find unless specially ordered in large amounts (like 3 or more ounces). A great substitute is to use a full hard round wire (most pins are 21-gauge). Then make it just a little bit harder by slightly twisting only the part that will be going through the fabric with an automatic wire twister or a pin vise.

To make the point as sharp as possible, use a really good pair of cutters (such as Xuron) to cut the wire at a severe angle, and use an emery board to file off the little burr left from the cutters.

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
May 01, 2010

Question:

I bought the pin vise that is featured in wire-sculpture.com.
Is this the same one that Cougar uses on her DVD’s from Jewelry Television?  It does not look like it.  The one she uses has a blue handle.

Answer:

A ‘sliding’ or ‘thumb operated’ pin vise can have one of two different heads. One model has a head that is cone shaped, and while the other version is round with a flat top. Both models have four jaws that meet at the top, which is where the wire is inserted. To tighten the vise around the wire, the sliding metal washer (for lack of a better word) is slid tightly toward the top, causing the four jaws to pinch together around the wire. The vise you are referring to as mine, is the same as the ones found on Wire-Sculpture, here: Sliding Pin Vise

Because I like to bring my own tools home after an event, I put blue painter’s tape around the handle to help identify it.

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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