How to Make a Basic Wire Wrapped Cabochon

I've featured some great wire wrapped cabochon tutorials before, but it never hurts to see another good one! Rhonda Chase has a new one on Instructables with excellent photos showing the formation of the wire bundles.

It's not that hard to make this type of wire bezels if you use square wire for surrounding the cabochon and half round wire to make the 3 bundles of binding wire.  The square wires butt together nicely and the half round wire secures them well.  It's important to make the starting hook as Rhonda shows.

She uses 4 square wire lengths.  The absolute minimum is 2 but 3 is more secure and the edge of the cabochon is protected.

Traditional wire wrapping like this typically leaves several wire ends for some creative wire work. Rhonda's tutorial also lists all the different ways to add your own unique flourishes.

If you like a simpler style, then stick to 3 wire lengths as I did with this cabochon. 2 of the 6 wire ends were used for the bail (and wrapped with the half round wire). The remaining 4 ends were just scrolled and neatly tucked at the top.

Before You Go:

• Unusual Wire Wrapped Cabochon Tutorials
• Book Review - Build Your Own Wire Pendants
• How to Make a Viking Knit Bezel for Cabochons

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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