Handy Uses for the WireJewelry.com Cushion Clamp By Karen Meador, PhD

By on September 12, 2017
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Wire Jewelry Tip for September 12th, 2017

Handy Uses for the WireJewelry.com Cushion Clamp

by Karen Meador, PhD

There are definitely times when I need an extra hand or two or three . . . how about you? Lately, I’ve been getting some “handy” assistance from the WireJewelry.com Cushion Clamps. These clamps are surprisingly strong and sturdy, but the small size makes them appropriate for many uses. Also, the padding on the clamp end prevents them from marring your piece. Here are just a few of the uses I’ve employed so far.

Clamp

I’ve been struggling with a new bracelet design wherein I need to glue the ends of several pieces of leather into a magnetic clasp. Initially it was difficult to cut all the pieces to the same length and then even harder to keep them together side by side while placing them into the clasp before the glue dried. These clamps did the trick for me. You can see in the photo that I placed a clamp on each side of the leather holding all three pieces together evenly. I did the same on the second bracelet example. The clamps made the process much easier to complete.

Clamp 1 Clamp 3

These clamps also work great for holding multiple wires in place. For example, do you ever find that a wire gets out of line when you are wire weaving? Intricate work can definitely be tedious but is aided by the use of one or more of the clamps to hold the base wires in place. You can see the clamp placement on the left of the photo below which held the wires together for weaving. I also use the clamps when I want to keep an even distance between two wires as shown in the photo where I added beads. This is on the right of the piece.

Clamp 8

Clamping pieces together makes riveting quicker and easier. Using two or more clamps to secure the pieces together, I was able to drill the holes through both pieces at the same time. The pieces also stayed in place while I inserted the rivets, snipped the ends off and hammered them in place. Each part stayed right where I needed it. This piece had to be riveted, as opposed to soldered, because I wanted the smaller top piece with tabs a darker color than the base piece as shown in the photos. I used the tabs to hold the torch enameled focal in place.

Clamp 6

 

Happy Wrapping!

 

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