Wire-Wrapped Rings

THL Jolicia atte Northclyfe

washington.julie@gmail.com

This class will teach you how to make simple wire-wrapped rings. They are easy to make, inexpensive and make good tokens or largess. Best of all, even if you mess up, you will still probably end up with something that looks interesting.

I want to give credit to Mistress Elizabethe Alles, who taught me how to make these rings and whose rings far surpass my poor effort.

Here is a description of how I make them, but everyone has his or her own technique. Keep practicing and feel free to add your own variations. These instructions are for right-handed gentles.

MATERIALS

Ring mandrel

Craft wire, gauge 22 (This wire is easily manipulated with fingers. Thicker, stiffer wire makes more professional-looking rings, but is harder to work with.) One 10-meter package will make lots of rings. Wire also comes in various colors.

12mm beads. You can use almost any beads, but I prefer these because they are inexpensive ($1 a strand at Michael’s), large enough to be easy to work with, and come in different colors.

Jewelry making tools: Round nose pliers, flat-nose pliers and side cutters 

STEP ONE:

STEP TWO:

Pick up the ring mandrel, and decide the ring size you want to make. Because of how these rings are made, they will end up being a size smaller than the size on the mandrel. I usually aim for size 7 or 8 because that makes rings that work well for men or women.

Some ring mandrels have a  groove down the middle, and some don’t. If you have a grooved mandrel, place the bead in the groove, at the level of the desired size. Do the same with an ungrooved mandrel; it will just be a bit harder to keep the bead at the right size.

Position the bead on the mandrel so that the wires are facing away from you. Keeping a finger on the bead, wrap the right-hand wire twice around the mandrel. Flip the mandrel around so that the unwrapped wire is now on the right side. Wrap the second wire in the same manner.

STEP FOUR:

The challenge now is to keep the bead and wrapped wires tight against the mandrel. This takes practice!

Bend the right-side wire so it is at a 90-degree angle to the bead. Thread the right-side wire underneath the wire coils on that side of the bead, and loop the working wire tightly around the coils using the flat-nose pliers. Flip the mandrel and repeat. This keeps the wires making up the ring-hole in place while you finish the ring.

STEP FIVE:

Your wires should be sticking up on either side of the bead. Bring the wires together on one side of the bead. Working the two wires as one, loop the wires around the bead three times. You can do this with your fingers. Allow the wires to float and be a bit messy, but use your fingers to keep them somewhat in place. You should end up with about 2-3 inches of wire left unwrapped.

STEP SIX:

Take the ring off the mandrel. Move one wire to the other side of the bead, so that now you have a wire on either side of the bead. Using the flat-nosed pliers, loop the right-hand working wire around the ring-circle,  close to the bead. The loops of the working wire, that you are now creating, should lie flat against the ring-circle. Work so that you are pulling the working wire towards you as it passes through the ring-circle.

After about 3-4 passes through the ring-circle, end with the working wire pointing upwards. Clip the working wire close to the ring, and give it a squeeze with the flat-nosed pliers to make the cut end lie flat.  Repeat on the other side. You’re done!

VARIATIONS

Don’t use a bead, just wrap the wire around itself.

Don’t use a bead, but form the wires into a spiral that sit on top of the finger.

At step 5, put small beads on each wire so they are wrapped around the large bead.

Enjoy your ring!