uncommon jewelry designs, fine art photography &  adult and youth jewelry classes

San Diego, CA  Visual Artist  & Educator Denise J. Bonaimo

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Wire Wrapped Bead Ring Instructions

Starting wire lengths vary depending on wire gauge thickness, ring size and width of bead. Once you get the hang of the basic design, play around with the number of times you wrap the wire around the shank in Step 2, or when creating the nest in Step 6.

Tools:

Round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, side cutters, ring mandrel- plastic or metal.

Materials:
20 gauge round wire, dead soft.
10mm round bead
12” length of wire
Approximate ring size 7 through  8 1/2

1) Hold your mandrel in your least dominant hand.

• Find the spot on the mandrel which corresponds to your size- place your wire a half size larger.
• Place the midppoint of your wire on that spot.

2) Wrap each end of the wire once around so the two ends are sticking up towards you and the wire is once around the front of the mandrel and twice around the backside.

3) Slide on your bead one side until it sits above the shank.

4) Lift your bead a bit and use it to make a 90 degree bend in the wire so the bead sits parallel above the shank wires. (The shank is the part that goes around your finger.)

5) Continue to bring that same wire around the opposite side of the mandrel until it sticks up towards you again.

6) Create the NEST .Take the longer end and wrap it around the base of the bead a couple of times to create a nested effect.

7) Remove the ring from the mandrel. Hold the ring wires firmly in place with your thumb, and two fingers.

8) Use your chain nose pliers, tightly wire wrap the end around one side of the shank a couple of times, just below the wire wrapped bead. (Wrap down away from your bead.)

9) Use your chain nose pliers to tuck in your end. (Ideally the end should be on the inside of the shank, if it isn’t snip off a little bit of wire.)

10) Use your chain nose pliers to wire wrap the remaining end around the other side of the shank, tucking in your end on the inside again. (Wrap up towards the bead.)

11) Slide the ring back on the mandrel and scooch it down to reshape the interior.

Denise J. Bonaimo
Jewelry Designer and Instructor
www.bonaimo.com