These are the all important jewellery making techniques which are used primarily in bead stringing projects.
· Flattened crimp - this is where you hold the crimp bead in your pliers and squeeze the pliers firmly so you flatten the crimp bead shut. Make sure you have made a loop with your wire and have brought it round on itself or you won't have any loop to attach your clasp to. *tip, you must put the crimp bead on the wire first then pass the end of the wire back through the crimp.
· Folded crimp - follow the steps above, only once the crimp bead has been flattened use two pairs of pliers to slightly bend the crimp bead so it forms a slight 'v'. Then take one pair of pliers and put the crimp bead in the jaw and press to fold. Alternatively you can buy a crimping tool, but in all my years of jewellery making I've never needed one. Sometimes you will come across an item called a 'crimp end' this is a crimp bead which has a loop already on it and they are useful for making jewellery with cord or leather thing. Just use the same method for these as described above.
· Plain loop - this is usually used to form a loop in a headpin which has a bead on it. You take the headpin and trim it with your wire cutters to about 10mm above the bead, bend the headpin at a right angle close to the bead. With the tip of your round nosed pliers grab the end of the headpin where you have just trimmed it and roll to form a half loop, let go and repeat until the loop is fully formed.
· Wrapped loop - this is a more secure version of the plain loop. Instead of cutting your headpin, leave it the length it is and instead of making your right angle close to the bead, leave a gap which is just about the width of the end of your flat nosed pliers. Form your loop as above. You will notice you are left with a long 'tail', don't worry, you are going to wrap this around the wire you have left between this and the bead. Hold the newly formed loop with your round pliers so you don't bend it out of shape, then with your other pair of pliers wrap the remaining wire around the stem you have left, trying to pull it as tight in as you can. If you are left with any 'tail' once you have done this then trim it off with your wire cutters.
· Wrap a top drilled bead - make sure your bead is central on a piece of wire that is about 3cm in length, fold ends of the wire upwards so you have a triangular shape and cross the wire over to form an 'X'. Next with your pliers make a small bend in each of the wires upwards to form a right angle (keeping the triangle shape as much as you can), wrap one of the wires around the other like a wrapped loop about four times and trim the excess wire.
· Jump rings - these are another really handy item and they are used to attach materials together. They are a circle made of metal with a split through them, don't just pull them apart, you need two pairs of pliers held each side of the ring, pull one side towards you while pushing the other side away. To close, just reverse the method.
· Surgeons knot - this comes in handy if you are working with a Fire Line(TM) type of material, hemp for surfer jewellery or any material that is 'floppy'. Make first a knot as you would usually by crossing the right end over the left and then left over right but pass the last end through twice and pull to tighten.
I hope these techniques are eloquent enough for you to understand, although you may have to use your 'minds eye', it shouldn't be too hard for a creative bunch like you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2194334
· Flattened crimp - this is where you hold the crimp bead in your pliers and squeeze the pliers firmly so you flatten the crimp bead shut. Make sure you have made a loop with your wire and have brought it round on itself or you won't have any loop to attach your clasp to. *tip, you must put the crimp bead on the wire first then pass the end of the wire back through the crimp.
· Folded crimp - follow the steps above, only once the crimp bead has been flattened use two pairs of pliers to slightly bend the crimp bead so it forms a slight 'v'. Then take one pair of pliers and put the crimp bead in the jaw and press to fold. Alternatively you can buy a crimping tool, but in all my years of jewellery making I've never needed one. Sometimes you will come across an item called a 'crimp end' this is a crimp bead which has a loop already on it and they are useful for making jewellery with cord or leather thing. Just use the same method for these as described above.
· Plain loop - this is usually used to form a loop in a headpin which has a bead on it. You take the headpin and trim it with your wire cutters to about 10mm above the bead, bend the headpin at a right angle close to the bead. With the tip of your round nosed pliers grab the end of the headpin where you have just trimmed it and roll to form a half loop, let go and repeat until the loop is fully formed.
· Wrapped loop - this is a more secure version of the plain loop. Instead of cutting your headpin, leave it the length it is and instead of making your right angle close to the bead, leave a gap which is just about the width of the end of your flat nosed pliers. Form your loop as above. You will notice you are left with a long 'tail', don't worry, you are going to wrap this around the wire you have left between this and the bead. Hold the newly formed loop with your round pliers so you don't bend it out of shape, then with your other pair of pliers wrap the remaining wire around the stem you have left, trying to pull it as tight in as you can. If you are left with any 'tail' once you have done this then trim it off with your wire cutters.
· Wrap a top drilled bead - make sure your bead is central on a piece of wire that is about 3cm in length, fold ends of the wire upwards so you have a triangular shape and cross the wire over to form an 'X'. Next with your pliers make a small bend in each of the wires upwards to form a right angle (keeping the triangle shape as much as you can), wrap one of the wires around the other like a wrapped loop about four times and trim the excess wire.
· Jump rings - these are another really handy item and they are used to attach materials together. They are a circle made of metal with a split through them, don't just pull them apart, you need two pairs of pliers held each side of the ring, pull one side towards you while pushing the other side away. To close, just reverse the method.
· Surgeons knot - this comes in handy if you are working with a Fire Line(TM) type of material, hemp for surfer jewellery or any material that is 'floppy'. Make first a knot as you would usually by crossing the right end over the left and then left over right but pass the last end through twice and pull to tighten.
I hope these techniques are eloquent enough for you to understand, although you may have to use your 'minds eye', it shouldn't be too hard for a creative bunch like you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2194334
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