How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant. How to wire wrap stones for beginners. Free Wire Wrapped tutorials step by step from Valeriy Vorobev.

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant

How to wire wrap a cabochon.

I think almost everyone knows how to fix a cabochon with a hole in the jewelry. But how do you fix a cabochon without a hole? How to wire wrap a cabochon? That is a problem for beginners.

Today we are going to make two pendants using cabochons without holes. Let`s discuss one of the most popular ways of wire wrapping a cabochon.

We are going to weave some wire. Wire weaving is a special art where we make different patterns with wire. We will weave the thin wire around the wire base, creating various patterns that will look particularly pretty if you patinate and polish the jewelry later. The wire base can consist of one, two, three…eight thick wires.

natural-copper-wire

Often, I use a half hard wire with a thickness of 1 mm for the base. For the weaving, I use dead soft wire with a thickness of 0.4 mm. This combination of thicknesses will help us on how to wire wrap a cabochon.

How many base wires do I need to attach the cabochon? It all depends on the thickness of your cabochon. The bottom weaved wire will need to hold the cabochon on the back side. The top wire of the weaving should hold the cabochon in place, not letting it fall out on the front side (use the sloping shape of the cabochon).

That is the whole principle of how the cabochon is attached. In fact, this is exactly what jewelers do when they solder their cabochons. But the difference is that we are not going to solder anything.

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant. Wire Wrapped tutorials

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant

I will use a cabochon of natural agate stone 22×18 mm.
For the base, we will need four pieces of copper wire 1 mm thick, about 30 cm long. For the weaving, we will use a soft wire 0.4 mm thick.

First, we need to measure the circumference of the cabochon. Use a strip of paper. Wrap it around the cabochon and mark it on the paper. This already gives you a hint on how to wire wrap a cabochon.

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant

Weave four wires in about the middle in any way you like. Weave the bottom wire only in the middle. Make the weaving about 1 cm long and weave the wire on the edges for about 1 cm as well. Make the length of the entire weaving according to our measurements. If you want to know how to wire wrap a cabochon, strictly follow all the instructions in this tutorial.

Bend the weaving around the cabochon. Staple (sew the weaving at the top of the cabochon with the thin wire).

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant

Try to place the weaving at an angle (so that it repeats the shape of the cabochon). It should be placed directly on the cabochon. Thus, it will press the cabochon from the front side. This will prevent the cabochon from falling forward.

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant

At the bottom of the pendant, bend the loose wire inward as in the photo. The wire will not let the cabochon fall out.
By weaving further pairs of wires and creating cute curl patterns, complete the pendant in any way you like.

How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant

How to wrap crystal with wire. Wire Wrapped tutorials

My crystal is made of glass. The back side of such crystals is coated with silver paint. I recommend covering that side with a colorless varnish to strengthen it. You can very easily damage the silver paint when working. While the varnish will strengthen the painted surface and protect it even more. All in all, the main principles are no different from how to wire wrap an ordinary cabochon.

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For this pendant, I used 0.8 mm thick copper wire for the base. Soft copper wire 0.3 mm thick will be used for the weaving.

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Measure the crystal.

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Create a weaving of 4 main wires with a thickness of 0.8 mm. Notice – the top and bottom wires of the weaving are loose on the left and right sides. These wires are only fastened in the middle and at the ends. We will need them to fix the crystal later.

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Bend the weaving around the crystal.

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On the front and inside of the pendant, the wire should secure the crystal so that it will not fall out of its place.

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Staple (sew) weavings on top of the pendant.

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Next, weave the wire and create patterns in any way you like. You can repeat my design as well.

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You can learn different types of weaving in my free course. Use it as a reference.

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There are many variations of this method of fixing stones without holes. I am constantly posting new free tutorials on this topic on this site. Stay updated so you will learn how to wire wrap a cabochon in many ways.

Wire wrapped jewelry. Grinding, patination, polishing wire.

In order to make wire jewelry beautiful, its surface should not have traces of hammering and other tools. Unless such treatment was part of the concept of your work and was conceived in advance.
It is important that the tips of the wire are smooth and the parts of the jewelry piece do not scratch the skin and do not cling to clothes.

The wire which we use to make jewelry is already ground and polished, so our main task when we work is not to leave tool marks on its smooth surface. But this is not always possible. Grinding is the removal of unevenness that appeared during the work (protrusions, burrs, dents and scratches) with the metal. And of course, you must necessarily grind the sharp ends of the wire, so the product is comfortable to wear.

The final treatment is polishing, giving the product a mirror shine.
The easiest way to grind and polish it is to use a drill with different grinding and polishing attachments. If you don’t have one, use hand tools – they show great results too. You’ll need: file, abrasive paper of various grit sizes, and polishing paste.

Wire wrapped cabochon pendant

To make the wire look even better, we can add a noble touch of antiquity. In order to do it, you can patinate (oxidize, blacken) wire using different substances available at home.

I usually patinate copper wire in ammonia vapor. Then I polish it with polishing pastes. Then I wash it with liquid soap using a brush. After drying, the entire piece can be coated with a special colorless varnish, so that the copper does not darken over time.

Hope that now you’ve successfully learned how to wire wrap a cabochon. You can wire wrap not only cabochons but almost anything – crystals, stones and etc.

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How to wire wrap a cabochon pendant.
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