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Adventures In Copper Wire Jewelry Making

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Jewelry dating back over 2000 years from Ancient Rome show wire wrapped loops, an integral part of wire jewelry making.  In other places, examples of spiraling and wire and bead combinations have been found.  Copper was important for its beauty, strength, and the belief that it possesses healing properties.  Even today, there are arthritis sufferers who wear copper bracelets to relieve pain. 

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Wire is available is various shapes, such as round and square, and patterns, such as flat and pre-twisted. Copper is easy to shape and manipulate. Copper wire can be hammered quite thin. Wire is measured by diameter, which is indicated by gauge numbers. The lower the gauge, the thicker the wire. A 12 or 14-gauge wire is fairly heavy, but ideal for making bangles and chokers. 10-gauge wire is very thick and stiff, while 26-gauge wire is very fine, almost as thin as hair. This thin wire is well-suited for coiling embellishments. 16-gauge wire is good for making jump rings and links for necklaces and bracelets, and 18-gauge wire is good to use for adding embellishments and making finer links.

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• Memory Wire is a rigid, pre-coiled wire that makes it easy to create finger and toe rings, bracelets and necklaces.

• Beading Wire is a twisted stainless steel wire with a nylon coating. It is good to use with abrasive beads. A thicker weight wire should be used to accommodate larger, heavier bead strands.

• Super-thin Beading Wire is a 34-gauge wire that can used for forming shapes and weaving around findings. Because it is so fine, this wire will fit through almost any drill hole. It is to be used with lightweight beads only as it is very thin and doesn't have much tensile strength.

• Color-Coated Copper Wire (also known as Enameled Copper Wire) is copper based crafting wire that is soft, extremely malleable and retains shape moderately well.

• Precious Metal Wire - sterling silver, fine silver, and gold are the most common - is used for wire-wrapping, chain-making and other jewelry construction. It is available in four shapes, round, half-round, square and twisted.

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Metal Wire also comes in three levels of hardness, dead soft, half-hard and full hard.

• Dead Soft wire is extremely malleable and can be bent easily into a variety of shapes. It does not hold its shape well at stress points such as clasps.

• Half-Hard wire is malleable; however, it will maintain in intricate shape under moderate stress. It is useful for weight-bearing parts of wire-wrapped jewelry.

• Full Hard wire holds its shape for wire-wrapping jewelry. Its tempered nature holds intricate designs well, and is excellent for clasps.

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Currently, wire wrapping techniques are not frequently used for mass produced jewelry because of simple economics. Machines can cast jewelry components much faster and cheaper. Copper wire wrapping is an ancient art form for the true jewelry craftsman.

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Making Wire Jewelry: 60 Easy Projects in Silver, Copper & Brass

by Helen Clegg and Mary Larom, is an excellent book for the beginner or intermediate wire jewelry maker. It features beautful pictures of the finished piece and step by step instructions including "templates" to compare your wire pieces as you progress.

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