Hi there, Sandy here.
Welcome to another Friday Findings video at KeepsakeCrafts.net.
In these Friday Findings videos I often show you different types of findings that you can
purchase, but one of my favorite kinds of findings are the types you can make yourself.
Today I'm going to show you how you can make a simple hook and loop with just a few inches
of wire and a few minutes of your time.
So here's the hook and loop I have made and it's really quick and easy and all you need
are two 3" pieces of wire.
This is 18 gauge wire.
I wouldn't go any thinner.
Twenty gauge might be a little floppy.
You could try doing it heavier.
Heavier wire, like 16 gauge, is going to be doable, although tough to manage.
This is a great hook for a necklace.
I wouldn't really recommend this for a bracelet because it would just be too easy for it to
come undone.
So we'll start by making the hook and like I said, I have a 3" piece of 18 gauge wire.
This is sterling silver filled wire and I have some bail making pliers.
These have 5, 7 and 10mm mandrels on them.
I'm going to grasp the wire about an inch from one end at the 5mm mandrel and I'm just
going to bring the wires up and around until they're at a 90 degree angle to each other.
Next I'm going to grab the longest wire with flat nose pliers right where the two wires
cross and I'm going to bend that loop so that the loop is now centered over the longest
wire and then we'll just bend that wire back up until it's at a 90 degree angle again and
if you need to, you can kind of squeeze that loop and make it more round.
Then hold onto that loop with your flat nose pliers and this is where I like to use my
bent chain nose pliers.
We're just going to wrap that short wire around the longer one about two times.
Then cut that excess wire with flush cut pliers with the flush side against the part you're
keeping and go ahead and use your pliers to tuck that wire end in.
I kind of like to go like this and smooth it and if there's any rough edges that you
can feel, you can take a file carefully.
This wire is sterling silver filled so it has a copper core, which I don't want to expose.
So I'll file very gently if I need to at all.
And that's one part of your hook.
Next you're going to grab that wire where it's coming out of the wraps and bend it so
it's at about a 45 degree angle and then use, you can use any size mandrel you want.
I'm going to use the 10mm here.
Place it in the jaws just like that with the loop angling away from the mandrel and then
just go ahead and wrap all the way back so that it meets itself and again, trim that
wire with your flush cutters with the flush side towards the part you're keeping and you
want to trim it right where the wire meets those wraps.
Be careful to only cut your wire end and then go ahead and grab like just the last 1/8"
of that wire and give it a little bend.
That's going to be a little long.
That's better.
And again if you need to, file that so it's smooth.
We're going to harden it now.
I have just a bench block on a sandbag to help dampen the sound and a chasing hammer
and I'm just going to hammer the top of that curve and now that's nice and hard and springy.
It may open up as you're hammering it and you can just go ahead and squeeze it closed
again and there's your hook.
The loop is done very much the same way.
You're going to make a loop the exact same way that we started.
Grab it with the 5mm mandrel about an inch from the end and make a wrapped loop.
I'm just going to squeeze those.
If they get separated you can just use your pliers and kind of squeeze the wraps back
together.
Whatever distance you have from the bottom of your loop to the last wrap, the bottom
of the last wrap, you want your pliers here to be about that same distance.
I'm going to turn this this way because I want to make my bend on the same plane as
my loop and then bend that so it's at about a 45 degree angle and then one more time,
tuck in the 5mm mandrel.
Now here's where you have to pay attention.
Once you have these wraps made, you need to take a look at where this wire ends.
What we want to do is have this wrap come around and this cut end should nest right
where that is.
I can see that if I keep wrapping it from this side they're going to end up side by
side instead of nesting.
So I'm going to actually just move this to the other side
so I can wrap in the opposite direction and then just like before hold the loop with flat
nose pliers and wrap your wire around.
Now before I do any trimming, I'm actually going to, there we go.
This is why I like these bent nose pliers because I can get right in there and kind
of squash those two ends and just take a minute to kind of straighten things out
and if you need to, file down those wire ends.
And there you have it, a really simple way of using just a few inches of wire and making
yourself some custom hook and loop closures.
If you want to skip all of the bother of getting these coils to meet up in the middle, one
thing you could do is put a bead in there instead.
Cut your wire a little bit longer, the thickness of the bead, and then before you make the
second wrap, go ahead and slide your bead on and that will make your loop decorative
as well as functional and a little easier to manage and you could also put a matching
bead on your hook after you make the bend.
So I hope this has given you some ideas for ways you can make your own findings.
If you're interested in the supplies I used, click on the little 'i' or the tag in the
upper right of the video or click on the link in the description box to go to my blog post
where I will have a complete supply list with all the tools and materials and links to the
products.
Be sure to subscribe if you haven't already and if you found these videos helpful, consider
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Happy creating.
Bye bye.