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Daily Wire Tip May 17: Bails on Wrapped Pendants

By on May 17, 2010
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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
May 17, 2010

Question:

I have the most trouble making bails on my wrapped pendants.  They are often too thick at the base or unstable and I never know what to do with the extra wire in the back.  Can you help?

Answer:

I think a lot of folks have issues with bail making because they think about it too much. Keep it simple: when you bring the wires around a cab (for example) and lock them around it with two wraps at the top, closing the frame, the wires needed to be straight and together to do so, keep them that way – separate the back two from the masses and use just those two to form the bail. Continue to wrap the bail in by using the original wrap wire (that you didn’t cut) adding 2 to 3 more wraps, which should be sufficient to hold the bail together. Most folks use the remaining tops wires (that were not chosen to be bail wires) to embellish their pendant. The only thing remaining are the bail tails. You could bring each of them to their corresponding side, trim and rosette them, placing the rosettes on the sides of the bail wrap, or just trim them and roll them up or down, to eliminate their sharp ends. Check out the photos on the bottom of this page for sample ideas: Jewelry Making Patterns 2 the ‘Brandon Park Pendant’ also includes the pattern, although it uses only one wire for the bail, it may give you a new outlook on how to make one.

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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