Earring Making

How to Make Earring Wires

How to Make Earring Wires

Why buy findings when you can make them?

Sometimes making your own earring wires to perfectly complement your design is just the thing to set your earrings apart from the rest of the pack.

Instructions

New! Material and Tool Resources can be found at the end of this tutorial

Tools:

A marker or a dowel (to use as a mandrel)
Side Flush cutters
Round nose pliers
Flat file
Steel bench block or anvil
Chasing hammer (or other smooth headed hammer or household hammer)

Materials

20 gauge sterling silver wire (either half-hard or dead-soft. Both will work. I'm using dead-soft.)
Optional - Liver of sulphur if you wan to oxidize your wire like mine

Step 1:

Make a coil of wire by wrapping a length of wire around your dowel or marker

Step 2:

Cut apart the coil so that you have equally sized rings

Step 3:

Using your round nose pliers, make a loop on one side of each ring

make a loop on one side of each ring

Tip

Using a permanent marker to mark your pliers will help you make consistent sized loops

See the sharpie mark?

Step 4:

Using your flat file, gently file down the eadges of the remaining cut end to make sure there aren't any rough bits.

Take extra care with this - this is the part that will go through the piercing of your ear remember. Any sharp bits will make micro-tears in the ear and may cause discomfort and irritation.

earring wires step 4

Step 5:

Gently turn up the ends that you just filed.

earring wires

Step 6:

Use a smaller dowel or mandrel to gently press the loop into a slightly more oval shape. (This is personal preference so you can skip this if you want.)

earring wires

Step 7:

Gently hammer the earring wires to harden them. I like a slightly flattened look to them so I like using a metal hammer. To harden without flattening the metal, use a rawhide or nylon mallet.

earring wires

The finished earwires should look like this:

earring wires

Step 8:

Add your dangly bits and look ma! Gorgeous earrings with handmade ear wires!

finished earrings with handmade earring wires

New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.

Visitor Feedback - Liz Jaffe

"36 pairs of earring wires in an hour!"

"I happened upon your site when I googled "how to make jewelry findings" and downloaded your earring how-to instructions.

YOU ARE INCREDIBLE.

I've been making jewelry for six+ years and have NEVER made a wire earring that is so strong AND beautiful!

I figured if you could teach me how to make - by hand - 36 pairs of earring wires in an hour then your book would be worth the $$$. "

It is printing as I type and CANNOT WAIT to get my hands on it! I have every book, article - you name it tutorial and NOTHING has been as easy, consistant, concise and beautiful than your earring instructions.

It's done printing. I truly can't wait to put it in a binder!

Liz Jaffe, Jewelry Artist
Atlanta, Georgia, USA