Video Tutorial How to make Hoops Earrings

Oh my gosh! It’s real! It’s here! I have finally figured out how to make a video using our video camera (that was the easy part actually, but keeping it under 10 minutes was hard!!!)

I’ve been wanting to do some “How To” video tutorials for a long time, so this is my first of hopefully several – don’t be too hard on me ok? Let me know what you think and if you have any questions… Enjoy!

Notes from the video:

I own two full sets of the Power Paws that I bought from Roma (one set for each of my jewelry work station) and I love them for all my metal work! You will also find other tools like the Rotary tumbler I use and the stainless steel block (2.5 inches) that I hammer on... see links below.

You can find my friend Roma on Artfire and on Etsy – Tell her I sent you, she will be happy to know how you heard of her. She’s a great gal!

In the video, I am using the following tools and materials:

18g dead soft sterling silver wire

(3 1/4” long per earring to make a 1” hoop, so you will need that x 2)

Flat File

Sanding sponge from hardware store/paint section

(or Deburring cup, or dremmel, etc to round off edges of wires)

Stainless Steel Block to hammer on

Ball peen hammer (flat side)

Round nose & Flat nose pliers

Tumbler with Stainless Steel Shot & Dawn liquid

(Tumble hoops for several hours to polish them and work-harden them further)

A Smile :)

This is how I do my hoops. Everybody has their own way of doing things, hopefully you’ll find my mini tutorial helpful. Enjoy!

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I received a GREAT question from KittyBalistic on Artfire pertaining to this video tutorial, and I decided that I should copy her question and my answer here for the benefit of all my readers:

QUESTION:

I have a question about wire work which maybe you can answer. Sometimes when I'm working with wire, my pliers mark the wire, so I started using Tool Magic. However, I notice that you use your tools without any coating. Is that because the pliers you use are such good quality, or does tumbling get rid of any marks from the pliers?

ANSWER:

You pretty much answered your own question there, but I'll expand a bit on it.

Yes, the quality of the tools you use (pliers) DOES make a difference. The PowerPaws that Roma Sells  don't leave tool marks unless you really grip your pliers way too hard... and that brings me to another point:

Make sure that no matter which pliers you use, don't grip them too hard and don't clamp down too hard on your wire with them either. When we first start doing wire work, the tendency is to tighten up too much and that causes unnecessary marks.

Tumbling can get rid of superficial scratches, but not most indentations from tool marks unless they are super light... so it's very important to use the best quality tools you can afford (I didn't start out with Power Paws, but once I got them, I really saw the difference big time).

If you can't afford to buy a whole set of them, Roma sells them individually as well, so you can, say, replace the one or two types of pliers that you tend to use the most in your work, with a couple of pairs of Power Paws, and see how you like them, and then add on one at a time when you can afford it.

Also, I don't know if you work with dead soft, half-hard, or hard wire, but I find that most times, it's easier to work with 'Dead Soft' wire and that way, you don't have to grip the wire so hard and it helps to avoid leaving tool marks. So make sure to watch the temper of the wire that you use.

Cheers,

Nathalie