Golden Threads – Free Project for Brilliant Bronze

You will need a clay extruder, a disc with the smallest round hole, and a cylinder mold, such as a dowel or a mandrel.

1. Set the cylinder on your work surface. Fill the extruder with a chunk of Brilliant Bronze. Start extruding the wire, using a circular motion, to wrap the the wire around the mold.

Start wrapping

Keep wrapping

2. Continue until you are satisfied with the thickness of the wrap. Be sure that the wire ends at the beginning of the wrap.

Finished wrapping

3. You can remove the mold immediately and let the wrap dry.

Let the wrap dry

or: use a second mold for the second earring, and let the wraps dry around the molds.

Drying on molds

4. Optional: If you don’t want the back of the earrings flattened, once the wire is dry turn it over, insert the mold in the center, and wrap-extrude some more wire on the other side.

5. Cut a narrow strip, 2 cards thick.

Cut a narrow strip

6. Fold the strip around the top of the earrings and join its end.

Fold & join

7. With nail scissors, cut away the excess from the strip. Dry.

Cut away excess

7. Drill a hole in the part of the strip that sticks up.

Hole in strip

8. Fire about 6-8 degrees below mid-fire schedule.

9. To finish, tumble the earrings. Then sand the strip with 220-, 400- and 600-grit sandpaper and polish with rouge. (See finishing instructions in the document entitled “Finishing Fired Metal Clay“, linked on the right-hand panel of this blog.)

Wire earrings

The ear wires are gold filled.

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