WigJig Earwires

This earwire design comes from the book Wonderful, Wearable Wire (Designs by Betty Bacon & Karen Ray, Contributions from Marjorie & Gary Helwig). This book boasts over 180 designs for beginning to advanced wire workers using the Olympus or Olympus-Lite WigJigs.


In this project to complete one earwire, you will need:

• Template - Pg 65 - Wonderful Wearable Wire
• 6 metal pegs (or 1 super peg and 2 metal pegs)
• 2-1/2 in. 20g Artistic Wir
• Cutters
• Nylon Jaw Pliers
• Round Nose Pliers
  
• Wire Whacker
• WigJig Olympus or WigJig Olympus-Lite

20g Artistic Wire comes in regular or silver plated colors. No other colored wire offers the resistance to scratching, peeling and marring. This is due to the special enameling process used to coat the wire to produce the 25 plus colors we offer in just this gauge. After the enamel is applied, the wire is clear coated to prevent tarnishing. Be aware that tinned copper & bare copper are not coated and will tarnish (sometimes can be a benefit if you want an antique look). Artistic Wire is hypoallergenic. This is especially nice for things like earwires.


In the book Wonderful, Wearable Wire you will find easy to follow patterns. You simply lay your WigJig on top of the pattern and slide in the pegs.


The transparent WigJig products are constructed of aircraft strength acrylic. So strong, they can be used in a vise.


Cut 2-1/2 inches of 20g Artistic Wire from the spool. You usually need your Nylon Jaw Pliers handy to pull any kinks out of the wire. Make a simple loop using your Round Nose Pliers and cut off the excess wire using your Cutters.


Look at the easy to follow number guide provided with the pattern to find the starting point.


Slide your loop in place.


You want to guide the wire with your hand but turn the WigJig and let the jig do the work. As you turn the WigJig, it will create a nice round shape for you. You should never be pulling the wire around the pegs.


Work hardening is an important part of wire work. The temper of wire is the hardness or softness of the wire. The temper indicates the malleability of the wire to hold its shape and to bend fluidly. Work hardening your wire actually changes the molecular structure inside the wire. It is the process of manipulating the wire to lock in the design and stiffen the wire to strengthen it. The Wire Whacker is great for work hardening your WigJig design without scratching or marring your wire. It applies uniform pressure to flatten & work harden the entire design in one swift motion. You can see the Wire Whacker in the picture above. It is 2 flat nylon slabs. You will lay your design on top of one slab and then use the other to "whack" the "wire". I usually repeat 3-4 times. It is loud - so be prepared to make some noise. (Fun!)


And here is our final earwire. It is simple, cost effective and most of all fun to make your own earwires using a WigJig. There are several WigJig items on sale for April 2008, as well as the Wire Whacker & these Round Nose Pliers.

Now for a little math! 20g Silver Plated Artistic Wire costs $5.50 for 25ft. Each earwire requires 2-12 inches of wire. 25ft should create around 120 earwires. That is less than a nickel for each earwire. The earwire will be hypoallergenic as well as non-tarnishing! If you chose the regular colored 20g Artistic Wire, 20g costs $3.75 for 15yds (540 inches). 540 inches should create around 216 earwires. That is less than 2 pennies per earwire!

Make sure that you check out all of our April Monthly Specials!