Organic Wire Pendant | Contemporary Wire Jewelry

Organic Wire Pendant

by Judy Larson

Category: Contemporary
Technique(s): Butane Torch Techniques
Skill Level: Beginner

The finished size of each of these fun pendants is variable because of the freeform and uncalibrated shapes used. They are fun to make and no two will every be alike, even if the same stones are used.

The black druzy measures 12mm in diameter. The pink druzy measures 12mm x 18mm.

The finished bezel portion of the pendant is 1-5/16" long by 9/16" wide.

The finished pendant, less the bail rings, is 2-316" long by 1½" wide.

Materials

26c22mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8934

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $24.00
Gold Club Price: $18.00

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26x19mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8624

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $24.00
Gold Club Price: $18.00

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26x20mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8639

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $24.00
Gold Club Price: $18.00

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28x15mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8524

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $25.00
Gold Club Price: $18.75

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16 Gauge Round Half Hard Argentium .940 Silver Wire

H19-16H

Lesson Quantity: 18.00 inches
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 1FT
Price: $10.37
Gold Club Price: $7.78

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7mm 18g argentium jump ring

Lesson Quantity: 2.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 2.00 each

22 Gauge Dead Soft Argentium Silver Sheet - 6 Inches

H19-22SM6

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 1 Inch
Price: $61.68
Gold Club Price: $46.26

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Tools

WireJewelry - Ultimate Wire-Pliers Jewelry Pliers with Case, Set of 5

G15-20

G15-20
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $170.72
Gold Club Price: $128.04

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Dual Head Hammer

G3-9

G3-9
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $6.97
Gold Club Price: $5.23

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5 1/2 Inch Nylon Flat Jaw Pliers with Replacement Jaws

G2-1

G2-1
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $9.97
Gold Club Price: $7.48

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Basic Soldering Kit

G15-4

G15-4
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $58.95
Gold Club Price: $44.21

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Fire Brick

SOL-485.00

SOL-485.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $15.95
Gold Club Price: $11.96

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Silver Solder Paste Hard SS75 - 1/4 T.O.

SOL-822.20

SOL-822.20
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $19.95
Gold Club Price: $14.96

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Silver Solder Paste Medium SS70 - 1/4 T.O.

SOL-822.15

SOL-822.15
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $18.95
Gold Club Price: $14.21

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Silver Solder Paste Soft SS65- 1/4 T.O.

SOL-822.10

SOL-822.10
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $16.95
Gold Club Price: $12.71

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Pickle Pot, 16 Ounces

CLN-584.00

CLN-584.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $31.95
Gold Club Price: $23.96

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Sparex Number 2 Pickling Compound

SOL-802.10

SOL-802.10
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $6.95
Gold Club Price: $5.21

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Instructions

Step 1

Read through the tutorial before starting the project. Follow all safety precautions pertaining to the tools and supplies being used and the space you are working in.

Choose the druzies and embellishments that will become the focal of the pendant. This can become difficult as there are so many to choose from. Here, the black druzy has flashes of pink/magenta and blue/turquoise. Since I had many more pink than blue druzy stones, I went with pink. After narrowing it down to two, one was chosen.

Judy Larson's Organic Wire Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Butane Torch, Soldering, Solder, organic wire and cab pendant

Step 2

Create a bezel for each druzy. Wrap bezel wire around each stone. Cut the bezel wire a bit long. A miter jig and vise make quick work of squaring up the leading edge of the bezel wire. Mark the leading edge with an ultra fine point retractable Sharpie. I always mark my bezels with an arrow pointing to the edge that will attach to the bezel backing. Marking either up or down is fine so long as you ALWAYS do it the same way. Wrap the bezel wire tightly around the druzy. Use the Sharpie to mark the overlap. Use the miter jig and vise to square up that end of the bezel wire.

Step 3

Line up the ends of the bezel wire. Stand the bezel up on a soldering brick. Place a small dot of hard paste solder on the seam inside the bezel. Heat around the bezel until the solder flashes silver and flows. Tip the bezel over and heat the outside until the solder flows up the seam.

Step 4

Reshape each bezel around the corresponding stone.

Step 5

Color the bottom edge of each bezel with a Sharpie Marker.

Pro Tip: I find it easier to see the remaining red marker during sanding than black marker.

Step 6

Place the bezel marked side down on a piece of 320 or 400 grit sandpaper on a bench block. Cover the bezel with two or three fingers. Move the bezel in a figure 8 motion across the sandpaper several times. Check to see how much marker remains. Turn the bezel one quarter turn. Repeat the sanding process. Continue until no marker remains.

Step 7

Time to make any adjustments in the design. Originally, I was going to add a gemstone but it did not look right to me so balled scrap wire it was.

Step 8

Set the design elements on a piece of 22 or 20 gauge sheet metal. Draw around it, leaving a bit of extra room. Cut the piece out. If a rolling mill texture is desired, anneal the backing before running through the rolling mill with the texture sheet. Add your makers mark and metal content to the back of the piece if desired. Make sure they are within the area to be covered by the stones. Anneal and flatten the piece whether or not the piece was textured.

Step 9

Place the backing textured side down on a soldering surface. Place the bezels in position on the backing. Add medium paste solder to the bottom inside edge of one bezel. Position that bezel on the backing. The paste solder should help keep it from shifting around. Repeat the process with the other bezel. Add decorative balls using medium paste solder.

Step 10

Heat the unit until the solder flashes silver and flows. Make sure it flows around each bezel.

Pro Tip: You will notice that small pieces of wire were added inside the triangular bezel. One edge of the pink druzy was quite thin. It was a personal choice to raise that edge up to the level of the width of the bezel wire. The other option was to file the bezel edge down to the height of the druzy in that area.

Step 11

Use Lindstrom shears or a saw to cut the excess backing away from the bezels and embellishments.

Step 12

File the backing until it is even with the bezels and focal elements. Look how much sanding dust is in the bottom of the container. You could breathe some of that in. Therefore, even when a sanding tent is used to control the dust, it is still a good idea to wear a mask. Note: I left a little ledge where I thought I might attach the inner wire framework. After making several more pendants, I found this was not necessary.

Step 13

Repeat Step 6 with the whole finished focal piece to even up the top of the bezels.

Step 14

There is no way to tell how much wire will be needed to make the wire framework because each pendant is different. More wire length is needed with more bends in the wire framework. After making several of these pendants, I have found that 18" of framework wire is average. Sometimes there will be 3+ inches of wire waste, other times only an inch. If you want to be more accurate in determining how much framework wire is needed because precious metal is expensive, cut an 18" length of 16 gauge copper wire. The 16 gauge round Argentium wire used for the pendant is this tutorial was lightly flattened in a rolling mill and then twisted with a drill until the twists were about ¾" apart. If a rolling mill and drill are not available, hammer the wire flat, as was done with the copper wire in the photos, and then twist it every 5/8" to ¾" using two soft jaw pliers. Form the wire into three rings/ovals to fit around the focal element. Cut the wire tail two to three inches longer than needed. Unwind the copper wire to determine the length of precious metal wire needed.

Step 15

Repeat the flattening and twisting process you used in Step 14 with the precious metal wire. Make sure it fits around the focal element. Place the shaped framework wire on a soldering surface and anneal it.

Step 16

Use your fingers and whatever tools you have on hand to accomplish this step. Start forming the wire frame around the focal element, creating overlaps in the wires. The inside wire should touch the focal element bezels in at least three places. The center wire should touch the first wire in at least four places. The outer wire should touch/overlap the center wire in five or six places. The outer wire should also have a loop created at the top to attach the jump rings for the bail. This process is time consuming. The more the wire is manipulated the harder it will become. Because of this, the wire frame will need annealing several times during the process. Keep checking the fit on the focal element.

Step 17

Once the desired look is created in the wire framework, trim off the excess wire tail.

Step 18

From the back side, add a dot of medium paste solder between all the wire overlaps. Place the wire framework right side up on a soldering surface. Heat the wire framework to pull the solder between the areas in the wires that are touching. When the solder flashes silver and flows, immediately remove the heat. Allow the wire framework to cool naturally.

Step 19

On a bench block, lightly tap the wire framework with a small nylon/rubber mallet to flatten it a bit. Make adjustments to the wire frame so that at least three areas push tightly against the bezels of the focal element.

Step 20

Use a Sharpie to mark the areas of the focal element where the wire framework touches. Add a dot of easy paste solder at those points. Place the focal element on a soldering surface. Push the wire framework down over the focal element and into place. Heat until the solder flashes silver and flows. Allow to cool naturally.

Step 21

Add jump rings that will become the bail. The size of the rings is determined by the size of the chain to be used as well as what looks best with the size of the pendant. Here two 18 gauge 7mm ID rings were used, soldered closed, and then shaped into slight ovals.

Step 22

Clean and refine all the solder joins as well as sand/file back the area where the wire tail ends.

Step 23

Pickle the pendant to remove any fire scale.

Step 24

Tumble the piece for several hours using your preferred tumbling medium, water, and Dawn dish liquid.

Step 25

Patina the piece if desired. Remove excess patina to highlight the wire framework twists and overlaps as well as the embellishments. Tumble the piece for another 20 to 30 minutes to bring back a shine.

Step 26

If stone security in the bezels is a concern, add a bit of glue to the bottom of the bezel before adding the stones to their respective bezels. Each bezel should be pushed against the stone around the circumference of the stone.

Reviews

Judy Larson

My philosophy has always been "I will never live long enough to learn everything I want to learn, go everywhere I want to go and see everything I want to see!" So, what I make and how I create it is always changing and evolving. I was born shortly after WWII to parents who grew up during the Depression. They always had a "we can do it, we can make it" attitude which rubbed off on my two younger brothers and me. My brothers are amazing and can make and do ANYTHING! When I was a little girl, my mother gave me an old carved cigar box, which I cherish, filled with pop beads, wooden beads and yarn for stringing. That was the beginning of my jewelry making journey.

On a visit to the Grand Canyon when I was a young woman, I was fortunate enough to help a Native American silversmith sand cast my first silver bracelet and bezel set a large turquoise nugget on top. I was in love, hook, line and sinker! While working full time and having a family here in northern Minnesota, my artistic endeavors slowed down but never stopped. I am an artist, scrapbooker, seamstress, woodworker and jewelry artisan. Now that I am retired, I am able to indulge in all my hobbies. However, there just never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all, but I try!

I have been teaching community education beginner and intermediate jewelry making classes since my retirement. Many of my students have been bitten so hard by the jewelry making bug that they say I have turned them into monsters-they just can't get enough. Making jewelry, seeing something take shape from small bits and pieces, is so rewarding that I hope it brings out the "monster" in you, too!