Skip to content

How to Make a Twisted Wire Design (Part 1)

Usually I am showing a project with silver, just because it is my second nature, but today I will break out some copper and play a little with that. I will eventually finish it with some silver as well, but today I want to show you a neat, quick way to make a twisted wire design.

Twisted Wire Header

First get yourself a piece of Copper Wire, depending on the size you want is the size you will want to start with. The piece I chose is 1.35mm round (about 16 gauge), which I stripped the coating off of, used a draw plate to reduce the size a little, and then I annealed the copper to make it easier to work with. I bent the copper wire in half and placed the 2 ends into my #30 Foredom Handpiece

Twisted Wire (1) Twisted Wire (2)

Twisted Wire (3)

Use a steel bar or something firm to place in the other end (the loop end). Hold and pull away from the handpiece as you slowly rotate the wire with the Foredom Motor. Rotate until you get the “tightness” of the twist you are satisfied with. Experiment with different tightnesses of wires.

Twisted Wire (4) Twisted Wire (5)

Twisted Wire (6) Twisted Wire (7)

You can use the wire just as it is, but in this demonstration I am going to flatten the twisted wire in a Rolling Mill. Again you can flatten this wire to the thickness you like. in this demonstration, I rolled it down to 1.1mm thickness, which made it 2.75mm wide.

Twisted Wire (8) Twisted Wire (9)

Twisted Wire (10)

The rolling process gives the twisted wire a neat, braided, rope-like look. Again, with a tighter or looser wrap of the wires, it will give you a different look. Get some wires and play around. I have even twisted 3 or 4 wires together and did this.

As always, I look forward to your feedback:

1. You can comment here or at JewelryMonk on Facebook, and I or someone else in the community will try and help.

2. You can send me an email at Doug@JewelryMonk.com and I will try to help.

3. You can send a “VoiceMail” by clicking the “Send Voicemail” tab on the right side of the website. These I will try to answer, or find someone who can on the JewelryMonk Podcast. (Either on the website or on iTunes)

Either way, I and others are here to help you hone your skills as a jeweler and as a member of the JewelryMonk Community.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Now go show the world what you have in store for them!

Doug

6 thoughts on “How to Make a Twisted Wire Design (Part 1)”

    1. JewelryMonk

      Dharlee, you can get a somewhat similar result with a hammer, just make sure your hammer face is very smooth and that you hammer flat. Go slow and easy.
      Doug

  3. Vicki

    Beautiful. I love twisting wire. I have the same question as Dharlee. For those of us who don’t own rolling mills can you give any tips on how to hammer the wire to achieve a similar effect.

    1. JewelryMonk

      you can get a somewhat similar result with a hammer, just make sure your hammer face is very smooth and that you hammer flat. Go slow and easy. After you have hammered it flat, file and sand the surface to remove the hammer marks.

Comments are closed.