Tutorial: Mass Making Earring Findings

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Materials:

20g Square Sterling Silver Wire Half Hard

Graduated Madrel Nose Pliers One Side Flat (not both round ~ the round pliers mar the metal)

Sharpie Marker, Paint Brush Handle, Anything round, For Square Earwires Use a Flat Nose pliers for the square shape

Tumbler

Cut your 20g wire to about 3 inches, alittle less is fine for smaller earwires.

Make both earwire together at the same time by bending them around the small mandrel part of your pliers. Because this pliers is not graduated like a glass pop bottle is your loops turn out perfectly the same size every time.

Bend both wires at the same time around your round object or square object to make the loop for the ear.

Bend the tips up and cut flush to make them the exactly the same length.

Load them pair by pair on to a wire. I use stainless steel wire (because my husband is a welder I have a lot of it.) You can use sterling wire and just use the same piece over and over again. Do not use another metal other than those two choices. Copper/brass wire will plate your earwires in the tumbler. Steel wire will make your shot rusty.

Toss in the tumbler for 8 hours with dawn dish soap and water. Change the water one time. The tumbling burnishes off any small sharp burs at the ends of the earwire. You can do this by hand but why? A small harbor freight tumbler is fine. You just have to put in a smaller amount of earwires. If you only tumble a dozen at time you don’t have to keep them on a wire. They are easy to match up in small amounts.

Done…Perfect earwires all different shapes and sizes.

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