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How to Make Perfectly Matching Earwires {Video}

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How to Make Earwires {video} - neat trick for making two at a time sot hey match perfectly!
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In this quick tutorial, I’ll show you a neat trick for making perfectly matching earwires every time – make two of them together!

I’ll introduce you to a special pair of pliers that makes the job easier, but also teach you how to use an everyday household object if you’re not quite ready to invest in a specialty jewelry making tool for the job. You’ll also learn two techniques for smoothing the ends of your lovely handmade earwires!

Full list of supplies and more tips after the video!

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TOOLS AND MATERIALS:

• 3 to 4 inches of half hard round wire, 22 or 21 gauge
• ruler
• round nosed pliers
• chain nosed pliers
• flush cutters
• Wubber’s large bail making pliers OR a 1/4″ mandrel (wooden pencil, dowel rod, etc.*)
• wire rounder tool** OR metal file or nail file

Briolettes I used in this video are 5×7 mm Fire Opal CZs and can be purchased here.

NOTES:

* I don’t suggest using a pen or other plastic material because the metal will slip around like crazy and leave you very frustrated! Wood works well because it has just a bit of give (if you look closely, you’ll see my pencil has lots of grooves in it from making earwires) so that the metal gets a bit of ‘bite’ and doesn’t move so much while you’re trying to work with it. If you use a wooden pencil, make sure it is perfectly round for a nice smoothly curved earwire. 

** Use a 1.8mm cup bur for wire gauges 16-21, or a 1.2mm cup bur for wire sized 22-26 gauge.

TIP
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You can use a smaller or larger mandrel to make your earwires, but don’t forget to use a longer length of wire for a larger mandrel!

♦ For beginners, I recommend  taking a look at How to Make Simple Wire Loops for help and trouble shooting with the loop-forming part of the tutorial, and How to Wire Wrap a Briolette will show you how I made the sweet little briolette drops used for this project.

DIY square or diamond earwires - jewelry making video tutorial
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See How to Make Diamond Shaped Earwires if you like the ones at the end of the video :)

 

 

 

Click to see more information and video demonstrations for the following tools:

Wire Rounder Tool

Round Nosed Pliers

Flush Cutters

Comments

    • Jessica Barst says

      Thank you so much Molly! It’s a little strange hearing yourself on video so that’s something I definitely had to get used to. I really appreciate your kind words and you taking the time to comment :)

  2. sandra allen says

    When you make your ear wire do you use 20 gauge half hard wire to make your matching ear wire video.

  3. Sandra Warner says

    I’m just starting out making jewellery and yours are the most straightforward easiest tutorials I have found! Thank you so much x

    • Jessica Barst says

      Thanks for your question! I use half hard sterling silver or gold filled wire. Aluminum wire is going to be too soft for ear wires – they will bend out of shape too easily. It’s ok to use plated metals as long as they are half hard, but keep in mind that the plating will come off when you file the ends of the ear wire (you don’t want to skip this step because it’s pretty uncomfortable to put raw cut wire through your piercing!)

      For more info about jewelry wire to explain hardness, etc: All About Jewelry Wire. This series has a lot of great info!

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