Daily Wire Tip Apr. 25: Crystal Wave Ring Finishing Tips

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
April 25, 2011

Question:

Hi Dale, I’ve made the Crystal Wave Ring several times. In the last steps, I’m having difficulty judging how much wire to cut off and curl under to complete the wave. I can’t quite get the proper curl and when I tuck it inside the ring it doesn’t look neat. Do you have any tips for me?

-Kate in Davenport, Florida

Answer:

Hello Kate, after you have formed the “wave”, be sure to place the chain nose pliers on the wave wires, about 1mm above the edge of the ring, and then make a firm bend 90° toward the center of the inside of the ring.

When determining how much to trim off, look at the width of the ring as it graduates from thin to wide – cut the wires about 1mm shorter than the width of the ring they are going over (meaning, angle your cutters so that the outer wave wire will be shorter than the one closest to the center). After you give the wire ends their direction with chain nose pliers, use flat nose pliers to push them over the edge and down onto the inside of the ring. When they are where you want them to be, crimp firmly.

After performing these techniques on both sides, to smooth the ends and tighten them closer to the inside of the ring, place the ring on the graduated mandrel and use a screwing motion while working the ring up and down the mandrel. This always works for me!

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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2 Comments

1. 

   Jane Elizabeth Duke

   April 25, 2011 at 9:35 am

   Great question Kate! I too have ‘blood sweat and tears’ on this particular design… so glad you asked the question, happier still Dale explained the process so clearly! Now I’m back to work…
   • 

     dalecgr

     April 25, 2011 at 11:40 am

     LOL!! It’s the ‘little’ techniques we sometimes forget near the end of a project because we are so excited to ‘try it on’!!