I am wanting to make some crafts that require spiral shape wire. Can anyone suggest how to get the wire to spiral and stay that way? I could use memory wire, but it is usually too thick for the beads that I am wanting to use. Any suggestions as to what gauge wire to use?
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Well, I don't know what gauge to use, but I do know that wrapping the wire around an unsharpened pencil will give it a spiral shape.
Alot will depend on the thickness of the wire you are using..most "jewelry" wire is measured by numbers..the higher the number the thinner the wire..some people use "jigs" made out of wood/plastic with posts, some handmake them with nails...using a dowel or a pencil will help you practice on the spiral approach...hope this helps somewhat...good luck
well, i don't know how you would keep the spiral, but the absolute best way to spiral a wire is to wrap it around a wooden dowel with the end poked into a slot at the end-- get me? but a pencil or anything will work fine. the thing about the dowel is that you can get them in so many sizes and your spirals can be as big or little as you want them.
to get the spiral to stay, try experimenting with different wire sizes so the wire is thin enough to wrap but thick enough to keep the spiral. good luck!
I have done this before. I used 20 guage wire. You can get it in silver,gold and even in colors at any craft supply store. Just wrap it around a long dowel or knitting needle then slide it off. You can wrap it close together or a little ways apart depending on the look you are goeng for.You can stretch it out some once it's off the dowel. Once the beads are on, use needle nose pliers to make a curleyque at the bottom to keep beads from sliding off. If you use shiny beeds or clear color beads, they make lovely ornaments or sun catchers.
I appreciate all of the help. I do have one thing that I think I forgot to include in my original post.
I have thought about using like a Crystal Light canister to wrap the wire around. The 20 gauge sounds about right and I have quite a bit of it. The thing that I am concerned about is the weight of the beads pulling the spiral out. Could you all please give me your thoughts on this? Thanks.
I got a Crystal Light container from my mom over the holidays. It was a little flimsy so I packed it full of sawdust and taped the lid on to firm it up a bit.
For spiral shaped wire ornaments, wrapping them around a screw driver also works well if you like them to be wider at the top and taper down to a point.
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