Wire tutorial - earrings Bloom

Bloom – tutorial by Ursula Jewelry.

Instruments: round-nose pliers, needle nose pliers, side cutters, needle-point file, hummer, anvil, 1300 degrees Celsius  burner, ruler, sand paper 02, GOI polishing paste, engine oil, aqua ammonia, borate of soda, engraver (not obligatory).

Protection: building gloves, rubber gloves, mask, gloves.

Materials: cooper 1.3 mm wire– 50 cm, cooper 0.8 mm wire– 50 cm, cooper 0.5 mm wire– 50 cm, cooper 0.4 mm wire– 50 cm, cooper 0.4 mm wire– 1 m, beads, earring fixtures (cooper look). 

1. Make sure that wire is not covered with the lacquer, even if it is of cooper colour.  Otherwise patina will not stick to the work piece later. How to check? Wear gloves, protect your hands and arms! Carry the piece of wire through the fire – if the smoke, flame and unpleasant smell appear it means there is some lacquer.  Perfect.  Meanwhile the cooper becomes softer.

Carry the thin wire through the fire very fast, so it will not burn. Wire becomes black. The rest oh the lacquer I take out with the sand paper. Or sometimes I boil burned pieces in citric acid solution. After citric acid I wash the wire in the water very carefully.

  

2. We have prepared the materials, now we prepare the idea: draw the scratch. Most of my bijous are far from the primary scratches, but it is better to save thoughts on the paper.  Start bending the thickest wire for the base. Do not be in a harry, work on each millimeter, with the small steps. Do not forget sometimes to compare it with the scratch.

3. At the end we have to get to details like this.  For the second earring we bend a wire in mirror reflection, but now orient on the first earring, not on the scratch. Just turn over the pro-forma and compare accurately.

  

4. Now you need to flatten the pro-forma with the hummer on the beakiron. Not to disturb anyone I put the felt pillow under the beakiron.  Strike very carefully, it’s better to strike three times lightly than one time but damaged.  To strike such a detail rather difficult because  the lines cross each other. I strike where I can and then open the curve and strike each part individually, then close the curve and straighten it with the hummer. I work only from the inner side. The bijou would prettier if broad and narrow sections interchange each other smoothly. It makes the composition more vivid.

  

  

5. Flatten pro-forms open a little. Exam them carefully, bend with the round-nose pliers, so they become identical. Now we need to polish the ends and surface side in order to take away the instrument footprints.

  

6. Cut two pieces of 0.8 mm wire, 10 cm each. On the ends of these pieces we need to do the droplets. We need gas burner and borate of soda. Borate of soda makes the droplets smooth and greatly fastens the process. Bend the pro-forms, dip the ends to the borate of soda powder and direct the flame steam from the bottom upwards. Be attentive, the process takes only few seconds. It is important to leave the neck of the droplet pretty but not very thin, otherwise it may break. You cam boil readymade droplets in citric acid, to get rid of black colour and work a little with the needle point file.

7. Now braid thin pro-forms to the thick ones with the help of 0.4 mm wire. Form the pro-form according to the scratch. Leave the end of 15 cm on the left side and start braiding the thick pro-form from the middle. 

Join thin pro-form. I like to do it  in the following way: 4 curves on the thick wire, 2 on the thin. It is better to direct curves straight and tight, but if it does not work out, correct it with the bend pliers and needle.

  

Cut the end inside the construction, so it does not stick out to the front side. Tight it slightly with the bend pliers curving.

   

8. Now come back to that end, which sticks out in the middle. With its help we tie up the beads to the base. Form the curve on the thin wire for the bead and tie up. Fasten off the end in the same way.

9. Make a pretty spiral from the sticking out end with the droplet with the help of round-nose pliers.  Braid the second earring in the mirror reflection. Now we need to patinate these pro-forms and two pieces  of 05 mm wire, 15 cm ach. About patinating  in ammonia steams (aqueous ammonia) I wrote in a previous lesson.  

10. Wait 1-2  hours till cooper becomes dark. And now take out the pro-forms and start polishing. Do not forget about gloves and other protection. Soften the polishing paste  with engine oil, then rug with felt in necessary places, which we want to make brighter. Finally polish with the engraver, felt wheel. You can do it without this device, but it takes more time and energy. Wash the pro-form with the brush and dishwashing liquid, which solvents fat.

11. Well done. But I add bead-flower with a eyehole in the middle. Tight it with polished 0.5 mm wire. I think all my readers are really talented, and if you do not find a bead in such a shape, you may make it by themselves or think about another variant for decoration.  Open earring fixture, fix our earring. Ready! You may cover it with the lacquer, so it will not become dark with the time. I leave it for your option.