Making Matching Ear Wires (and Cleaning the Ends)
Okay. New module, and I like this one, because it's short and it means you're almost out the door with something finished.
We're making the part of the earring that actually goes into your ear. If you bought earrings before, this is the piece you never think about, the little hook, but somebody made that hook, and today it's you.
What you need
- 20 or 21 gauge wire, your choice of copper for practicing, and whatever metal you want for the real pair
- Round-nose pliers
- Flush cutters
- A metal file or a fine sanding pad
- A mandrel or something round to shape around (I use a marker. A specific marker, actually, a fat one, because I like the curve it gives me. You don't need anything fancy, just something round and about the right size, which for ear wires is smaller than you'd think)
Cut two pieces the same length
Measure one piece against a ruler, cut it, then use that piece as your ruler for the second one instead of measuring twice from scratch. Lay it right next to the fresh wire and cut at the same spot. This matters more than it sounds like it should, because your eye is not as good at "the same length" as you think it is, and a quarter inch off is the difference between one earring hanging a little lower than the other and you noticing it every single time you put them on.
I'll say the gauge thing here because I have to. Years ago I did an entire pair of earrings in the wrong gauge because I grabbed the spool off the shelf without reading the label, just grabbed it, assumed it was the one I'd been using all afternoon. Got all the way to shaping the hook and the wire wouldn't hold, it just kept springing back straight, no matter what I did with the pliers. Took me a while to figure out I'd been fighting the wire the whole time instead of fighting my own technique. Now I read the label twice. Sometimes out loud, which probably looks strange if anyone's watching, but I have not grabbed the wrong spool since. Cheap insurance, saying it out loud.
Shape the hook
Take one wire and about a third of the way up, bend it around your mandrel or your marker to make the main curve. Don't try to get the whole hook in one bend, do it in two or three smaller moves, because wire has opinions about being rushed and it'll kink on you if you try to force one big curve.
Then take the round-nose pliers and make the small loop at the top end, the one that'll eventually hold your earring's dangle or connect to your headpin. Same loop you've been making all module, nothing new here.
Leave the bottom end of the wire a little long for now. You'll trim it once you've got the shape you like, not before, because it's much easier to trim too much than to add wire back.
Do the second one
Here's where I'll say my opinion, because you know it's coming by now if you've been in this class a few weeks. I don't love when people get anxious about matching sets being perfectly identical. Everybody wants two earrings that are twins down to the millimeter, and I get it, that's what store-bought looks like. But two ear wires that are close, same general shape, same length, but with a slightly different curve or a hook that sits a hair different from its pair, that tells me a person made these. Which they did. I'm not saying skip trying to match them, do try, that's good practice. I'm just saying if they end up close instead of identical, that's fine, and honestly I think it looks more like jewelry and less like a factory.
Clean the ends
This is the part people skip and shouldn't. Every cut wire end has a little burr on it, sharp enough that you will feel it the first time that hook goes through your ear, or somebody else's ear if you're gifting these. Take your file or your sanding pad and go over both cut ends until they're smooth to the touch, not just smooth to the eye. Run your finger over it. If it catches at all, it's not done.
This is a real caution, not a small one: sharp wire ends near your face and near anyone else's ear canal are the kind of thing that seems minor until it isn't. Take the extra minute here.
While you're at it, check the whole hook for any rough spots from the pliers too, little grip marks can leave a snag you won't notice until it's already annoying somebody.
Give it a test
Slide the finished ear wire onto your own ear, gently, just to check the curve sits right and doesn't pinch. Adjust the angle with your fingers if it needs it, small movements, wire remembers where you bend it so you don't need much force.
Set the first one down next to your reference wire, shape the second one to match as best you can, clean those ends too, and you've got a pair.
Before next time: bring whatever dangles or stones you want to hang from these, because next lesson we're putting the whole earring together and you're walking out wearing something you made start to finish.