Last year, I tried making my own wire name pendant and hunted around for some tutorials. This form of wire work sure requires practice and a firmer wire, not soft tempered.
Most of the wire artisans judge the distances required to make the letters purely by eye and experience. If free form work is still not on, check out the Wire Name Pendant tutorial by Faith on Cut Out and Keep which illustrates a simple solution. Don't you just love her DIY wire wine glass charm?
Use a Template
What Faith did was write out her name first on a piece of paper. Writing the name down using one continuous line makes it clear:
For additional tips on wire name writing, check out the list from Megan Shoop on eHOW. Professional wire name writer Kay Bell recommends capital letters are from 1/2- 3/4 inches tall and small letters from 3/8-1/2 inches tall. She also suggests using your computer to find and print out suitable scripts.
Use a pegboard
A better way is to use a jig with removable pegs. The Artistic Wire writing tool might be useful too. It`s a simple plastic pen-like implement with a groove down one side to take the wire. I couldn't fully test it out as I only bought the main tool without the matching jig set. I tried it out on my regular jig and liked the ease of guiding the wire around the pegs. But my jig hole spacing is not correct for forming letters. So if anyone has this tool set, do let us know if you like it for wire name writing!
Now for some freehand demos! Check out the three videos from onomaenterprises which showcases how the name Madison is made.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Wire writing is not confined to necklaces. Check out this inspirational piece : Justlori's Love Bracelet on Cut Out and Keep, made with very thick copper wire.
Other Writing Inspirations :
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips
Most of the wire artisans judge the distances required to make the letters purely by eye and experience. If free form work is still not on, check out the Wire Name Pendant tutorial by Faith on Cut Out and Keep which illustrates a simple solution. Don't you just love her DIY wire wine glass charm?
Use a Template
What Faith did was write out her name first on a piece of paper. Writing the name down using one continuous line makes it clear:
- how the wire should be bent
- how the name will attach to the chains
- how to start the name so there is a minimum amount of wire backtracking.
For additional tips on wire name writing, check out the list from Megan Shoop on eHOW. Professional wire name writer Kay Bell recommends capital letters are from 1/2- 3/4 inches tall and small letters from 3/8-1/2 inches tall. She also suggests using your computer to find and print out suitable scripts.
Use a pegboard
A better way is to use a jig with removable pegs. The Artistic Wire writing tool might be useful too. It`s a simple plastic pen-like implement with a groove down one side to take the wire. I couldn't fully test it out as I only bought the main tool without the matching jig set. I tried it out on my regular jig and liked the ease of guiding the wire around the pegs. But my jig hole spacing is not correct for forming letters. So if anyone has this tool set, do let us know if you like it for wire name writing!
Now for some freehand demos! Check out the three videos from onomaenterprises which showcases how the name Madison is made.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Wire writing is not confined to necklaces. Check out this inspirational piece : Justlori's Love Bracelet on Cut Out and Keep, made with very thick copper wire.
Other Writing Inspirations :
- Writing Inspired Jewelry
- How to make word or text beads
- What's in a Name? Darley's Travel Inspired Jewelry -If you've ever thought how appropriate my given name Pearl is, then read this past post on nominative determinism!
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips
beautiful...love the madison necklace...Will try this next after my current projects are done...but I think that it will need a lot of practise
ReplyDeleteI use similar tips when i'm wire writing & i've pretty much came up with my own style however the 't' always give me trouble - but i definitely find practicing cursive writing helps in visualizing how to bend the wire & I tend to use the lines on my fingers as guides
ReplyDeleteThat's a great tip to use the lines on your fingers as a guide! Didn't think of that!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pearl, I have tried to "write" in the past and wasn't very successful!!! Maybe these videos will help. I will give them a try.
ReplyDeleteCarol
I've always liked to watch the wire artists as they form a strand of wire into a word or a name. They make it look as effortless as writing with a pen on paper. One thing I always had trouble with was keeping the size of letters consistent. I'm sure it takes a lot of practice but I was never the best at cursive writing and even with block printing my letters seem to run a gamut of sizes, that's one of the reasons I took up typing in high school. :D Maybe they can invent a tool that does with wire what a typewriter does with ink and paper. :)
ReplyDeleteWire name writing is such a neat thing to do with wire and is probably why it has been around forever. I recently found a name pin of my sister Carmen's in some old jewelry. I remember her wearing it back in the 70's. She loved it, because there weren't many things available with her name on it. Bet she will get a kick out of seeing it again!
ReplyDeleteVery cool to see and to watch being done. Not sure I'll try this one.
ReplyDelete