My First Attempt at Wire Wrapping

[xXxAlisha91xXx]

So, I decided to give wire wrapping a shot, and, well, you can definitely tell it's my first one :blush: :



I wrapped one of my first cabs, a Mexican opal. I thought it was appropriate to use one of my first cabs in my first wire wrap. I used 24 gauge silver round wire, which is probably where I went wrong. I've been told square is a lot easier and that maybe I should've gone for at least the 22 gauge...

[karock]

Splended! It looks great. Who knows where this could lead to.
Karock

[FrogAndBearCreations]

It looks like a great first!

[talkingstones]

Beautiful job! You're doing great!

Cathy

[rattlehead]

Looks great to me! You must be a natural...

[NatureNut]

This is the first of many, I'm sure. Good job and keep at it.
Jo

[xXxAlisha91xXx]

Thanks y'all
Am I supposed to clamp down on the binds or am I just supposed to wrap it tight enough to stay?
I tried to clamp down on them and the back side has little ridges from the pliers on it. I even wrapped the pliers with tape first...

[rockjunquie]

If you don't mind, I'll give you some pointers.

First, it's way easier and neater to use 1/2round 1/2 hard for binding esp when you are new.

For tool marks, one of the best things you can do is to take an emory board and gently round all the sharp corners on your pliers. Then, smooth the faces of your pliers. You will see immediate improvement. Also, and it's hard to do as a newbie, but relax and let the tool do the work. Don't use too much muscle, it's not needed.

22g would have been better. You did a great job with 24. I think if you try 22 you'll see how much easier it is and how much better things turn out. I usually work with 22 and mostly 20 (with copper).

Squeezing round wire bindings can be tricky because you can lose the shape and get it all wonky, so if you are using round- yes, wrap (wind) tightly. If your first few are loose, remove them and add a few more at the end, if needed.

Generally speaking if you were to use 22g then you would use 22 1/2 round. 20 with 20, etc. If you are using full round to bind, I would go a size smaller, but in your case seeing how this is 24 already, I don't know that I would go to 26g. 26 is not going to be very strong and if it is soft, which it usually is, then it's probably just not going to hold well when you turn in your side wires.

As far as square versus round. It depends on what you are doing. I never use all square. I mix them up. For instance, I would use 2 square sandwiched between 2 round, but that's me. I use 99.9 % round wire and only use square when I want the round NOT to roll. But, generally, some square will help you learn, especially in keeping the wires together when binding.

Having said all that... I think you did great job for your first try!

[dbrealityrocks]

Great job even if you had used square wire but take into account using round wireand it's fabulous!! I've done hundreds of wraps and still don't like using round wire.

[xXxAlisha91xXx]

Thanks for all of the nice and helpful comments.
I've heard round wire can be a PITA because it twists so much, but I decided to try it anyways. I'll definitely have to get some 1/2 round or square next time and use it for a while before I try the round again...
Smoothing down my pliers sounds like a great idea. I think the reason why it's so sloppy in places is that I keep using mostly my hands to do everything rather than using the pliers...

[Bikerrandy]

You need half round "and" square, the half round is for the bindings only. Your first attempt looks great, you got the steps down so now all you need to do is get the correct wire and refine your skills. You definitely have the knack for doing this, I highly recommend staying with it. Do at least one a day, every day. Since the price of square copper or brass wire is dirt cheap, get 100 feet or more of the square (22 gauge dead soft) and 50 feet of the half-round (21 gauge half-hard). The reason for half round "half hard" is that it will keep your bindings straight. Here are a couple links.....
www.brandywinejewelrysupply.com/products/Copper-Wire-22ga-SQUARE-Dead-Soft-25ft.html
www.brandywinejewelrysupply.com/products/Copper-Wire-21ga-HALF-ROUND-Half-Hard-50ft.html
Here's the best pliers that money can buy at the best price!! ..... you only need three pliers to wrap.... round-nosed, narrow flat-nosed, and a good pair pf side cutters (not from the garage) ...yes, I've seen people do this. I get at least one in my class every time. Anyhow, the pliers toward to bottom of the page, stock#'s PL-HDP-RDNS, PL-HDP-NFNS, and for the cutters, PL-SNP-SHER.
www.monsterslayer.com/Pages/PliersSherSnip/PlierShrNip.aspx Do more, they get better every time!!

[susand24224]

Alisha, you did an admirable job with difficult material. I'm embarassed to show my first (and won't). As a matter of fact, there are still ones that I am embarassed to show. Congratulations! Your next ones will only get easier.

[mrswtownsend]

For a first try I think you did very well. Nice job!

Square isn't necessarily easier~ you have to pay attention to the edges and the way you bend the wire with square. Sometimes it's a giant pain. Personal tastes and higher levels of patience I suppose...

Half round to bind your wires may be helpful if you are going to be shopping~ it will help coils on the sides lay a little flatter. Again, it's all about personal taste and variety in appearance.

[rockingthenorth]

for using round wire you did pretty good

[TByrd]

You did great for using round wire. I only have one pointer for you, and you don't even have to read it if you don't want to.


Buy the correct tools. Go to Michaels or Joanna's and purchase a set of tools, you need flat nose, round nose, needle nose and side cutters.

Oh yeah you did a great job on your first wrap.

[Roller]

looks good ! keep it up !

[xXxAlisha91xXx]

Thanks for the kind compliments, y'all. (Sorry, I'm from the south and I try to type as if I were speaking; so please forgive the slang )

Susan, I'd love to see some of your wraps, when you've resolved your camera issues

I actually did buy this nifty little pair of pliers from wal-mart in the beading section for $5. It has round-nose ends, a flat section (like flat nose) just under that, and a side cutter under that :





I did use those a bit on the wrap, but, I was more comfortable doing most of it by hand, so I used them mostly just when I needed to clip some wire off, fix a twist in the wire, do the bends, or when I wanted to clamp down on the binds...It's pretty handy for all of that, but for doing the actual wrapping, I preferred using mostly my hands for that

I'd have to make up some more cabs in order to do one everyday. Being that I use a dremel for cabbing, it's sort of a long process. The cabs I'm actually happy with that are completely finished, are sort of rare. LOL

[helens]

How did I miss this? What a GREAT job for a first try Alisha!!!

[rockjunquie]

Alisha- and anyone else interested, if you email me tela.formosa at g mail I can send you (free) a pdf tutorial I wrote on binding with 1/2 round. It is written for a beginner with lots of general wire wrapping tips.

[xXxAlisha91xXx]

Thanks Helen
Email sent. Thanks rockjunquie