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3 Common Wire Wrapping Mistakes To Avoid

3 Common Wire Wrapping Mistakes To Avoid

It’s extremely likely that you will make many mistakes when first learning and conducting lapidary. Creating beautiful jewels isn’t an easy task and requires practice, experience, and knowledge of proper techniques. One area where many lapidaries tend to struggle in is wire wrapping. To better assist your lapidary endeavors, here are three common wire wrapping mistakes to avoid.

Forgetting To Bend

Beginner lapidaries often struggle when wire wrapping a simple loop. Oftentimes, their loops end up with a curved side and a straight side instead of a uniform round shape. This is a common mistake with a simple resolution. Before you create your loop, bend your wire—typically 1 cm of wire—90 degrees away from your body. Then, use your round tip pliers to bring the wire back toward you. This simple 90-degree bend technique will create perfect, uniform loops.

Using Precious Metals

As you may already know, precious metals are rare, valuable, and stunning materials. They include the four primary metals—gold, silver, platinum, and palladium—as well as osmium, iridium, and rhodium. While these metals make for excellent wires, they’re quite tricky to wrap, especially for newer lapidaries.

We recommend perfecting base metal wires before moving onto precious metal wires. Metals such as copper and brass are far more forgiving and easier to shape. Plus, it’s significantly more affordable compared to precious materials, allowing you to perfect your craft without breaking the bank.

Gripping Too Hard

Metal wires are extremely pliable and soft, so you don’t need a ton of force to bend them when wrapping. In fact, applying too much pressure and grip will lead to tool marks on your wires. Instead, tighten your pliers to the exact amount of grip required for the given wire. It’s better to use more arm strength than increased plier grip when wire wrapping jewelry.

By avoiding these common wire wrapping mistakes, you’re sure to become an expert jewelry maker in no time! If you’re in need of additional resources and tools, please check out our collection of lapidary supplies here at Cutting Edge Supply.

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