| Jewelry jigs are very easy to make, if you have | | | | marked on the wood block.) At the 3 o'clock position 3 |
| wood, a saw and a drill. Jigs make duplicating a wire | | | | 16" away from the dowel, mark a dot (position 1). At |
| design very easy. I prefer the home made variety jig | | | | the 6 o'clock position 7/16" away from the dowel, mark |
| since the pegs are stationery and do not wobble when | | | | a dot (position 2). 5/16" below the last dot and in a |
| bending the wire. | | | | parallel line adjacent to Position 2, mark with a dot |
| Materials needed: | | | | (position 3). Position 3 gives a slight bend in the end of |
| 4"x4"x2"thick piece wood | | | | the ear wire. The tops of the brad nails should be filed |
| 1/8 x 1" brad nails | | | | or ground to make removing articles form the jig easy. |
| 1/4" diameter wooden dowel | | | | Drive the brad nails in 1/4" at each position. For other |
| 20 gauge practice wiredrill | | | | designs, smaller dowels can be used with matching |
| 1/4" drill bitwooden or rubber malletanvil or pounding | | | | diameter drill bits. |
| blocksawgraph paperfile or burr cupround nose | | | | To conserve expensive wire when making an ear |
| pliersflush cutterssharpie pen | | | | wire or any prototype, mark 20 gauge practice wire |
| To begin, find a piece of scrap lumber at least | | | | with sharpie in 1 inch increments. With round nose pliers |
| 4"x4"x2" thick. A thinner piece of lumber can be used, | | | | make a loop large enough to fit the brad at position 1. |
| but the 2" thickness gives more weight and stability to | | | | Put loop over brad at position 1 with the loop opening |
| the jig. This size should be large enough to make | | | | toward the dowel, bend around dowel, then bend |
| several jigs on the same wood block. | | | | between dowel and brad at position 2, then bend to |
| Draw the design on graph paper with a soft pencil. | | | | position 3. Cut the wire at position 3. Remove ear wire |
| Mark with dots the places to put brads or dowels(for | | | | or prototype from jig. |
| large curves) for bending. | | | | To flatten the ear wire or prototype, place on an anvil |
| Turn the paper over on the wood block and draw | | | | or pounding block, hitting it several times with a rubber |
| over the design. This will make a light tracing. Another | | | | mallet. This hardens the metal making it brittle. Never |
| method to duplicate the design (if you have a | | | | pound where wires cross since the wires might break. |
| prototype) is to trace around the piece on the wood | | | | Smooth the ends of the ear wires with a file or burr |
| block. | | | | cup. |
| We are going to make an ear wire jig as an example. | | | | Determine from the sharpie marks the length of wire |
| To place the dowel, drill with a 1/4" bit 1/2" into the | | | | used. Mark a line the length plus about 1/4" on the |
| wood block. Set a drill press to this depth or mark this | | | | wood block. This will facilitate measuring wire for future |
| depth with tape on the drill bit. Cut the dowel piece 1 1 | | | | projects. |
| 4 -1 1/2 inch in length. Sand or shave off the edges | | | | Jigs can be made to make ear wires with beads, a |
| slightly on one end. Insert the shaved end of the dowel | | | | variety of shapes or longer tails. With imagination the |
| into the hole and use the mallet to wedge it tightly into | | | | possibilities for duplicating jewelry designs pieces made |
| the wood block. | | | | by bending wire are endless. |
| Mark a cross on the top of the dowel to divide it into | | | | Although the finished jig looks rough, it works very well. |
| four equal parts. (Some designs might use a cross | | | | |