Paper Clip Treble Clef
Dec. 13th, 2006 12:46 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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craftgrrlI said I'd post how to make those treble clefs with a paper clip (the ones i made in the earrings I posted here are a bit rounder and more shapely than the one under the cut because I used a shorter length of 20 gauge craft wire, which has more resistance than plastic-covered clips).
Without further ado:
Materials:
1 Paper clip (I used a plastic-coated one here; these tend to be softer than the silver or gold colored ones; a precaution...be gentle with the wire b/c the uncoated paper clips are brittle, whereas the coated ones are so soft that they're hard to shape; also the coating can scrape off if you squeeze too hard, so use jewelry pliers, not the needle nosed kind with ridges).
1 pair round-nosed pliers
1 pair flat nose or chain nose pliers
1 pair wire cutters (not necessary; just in case you overestimate and have to trim off the end)
1 jump ring (optional)
a diagram (to refer to as you're bending the wire)
1. Open the clip all the way. This is approximately how the different points on your clip will correspond to the clef:
2. Unbend the bottom portion of the clip (you can do this with pliers but I like to use my fingers)
3. Using round-nosed pliers, make a small loop at the straight end:
4. Holding the loop FLAT in the plier jaws, begin to form the spiral for the bottom of the clef by pulling the free end of the wire around towards you while turning the pliers in the direction of the spiral. This may require your adjusting the angle at which you hold the pliers and wire relative to yourself several times.
5. Straighten the kink in the middle of the wire:
6. It should look like this:
7. Continue bending the spiral until it's complete (refer to your diagram to know how many times to turn)
8. Switch to chain nose pliers and form a right angle at the top of the spiral (you'll want to err a little farther to the left than I did here):
9. Straighten the rest of the clip. The result should look like this:
10. Make another angle above the spiral, bending the wire to the left (my gauge for how far up to bend is a distance that's a little less than the height of the spiral)
11. Cross the wire over:
12. Take the loose end and tuck it BEHIND the spiral, but take care that you conserve the loop at the top. The loose end should now be sandwiched between the spiral and the back part of the loop.
13. Using round nosed pliers, form a small loop at the bottom of the clef to close it off. If the tail end is too long at this point you will need to clip it a bit with the wire clippers, but mine turned out ok.
14. I now use my fingers and pliers to flatten everything into one plane and reshape the clef into a more proportional form, as needed:
15. Add the jump ring (if you want to hang the clef as a pendant or on jewelry you will need to do this for it to hang flat so that the shape is visible from the front) and you're done!
Without further ado:
Materials:
1 Paper clip (I used a plastic-coated one here; these tend to be softer than the silver or gold colored ones; a precaution...be gentle with the wire b/c the uncoated paper clips are brittle, whereas the coated ones are so soft that they're hard to shape; also the coating can scrape off if you squeeze too hard, so use jewelry pliers, not the needle nosed kind with ridges).
1 pair round-nosed pliers
1 pair flat nose or chain nose pliers
1 pair wire cutters (not necessary; just in case you overestimate and have to trim off the end)
1 jump ring (optional)
a diagram (to refer to as you're bending the wire)
1. Open the clip all the way. This is approximately how the different points on your clip will correspond to the clef:
2. Unbend the bottom portion of the clip (you can do this with pliers but I like to use my fingers)
3. Using round-nosed pliers, make a small loop at the straight end:
4. Holding the loop FLAT in the plier jaws, begin to form the spiral for the bottom of the clef by pulling the free end of the wire around towards you while turning the pliers in the direction of the spiral. This may require your adjusting the angle at which you hold the pliers and wire relative to yourself several times.
5. Straighten the kink in the middle of the wire:
6. It should look like this:
7. Continue bending the spiral until it's complete (refer to your diagram to know how many times to turn)
8. Switch to chain nose pliers and form a right angle at the top of the spiral (you'll want to err a little farther to the left than I did here):
9. Straighten the rest of the clip. The result should look like this:
10. Make another angle above the spiral, bending the wire to the left (my gauge for how far up to bend is a distance that's a little less than the height of the spiral)
11. Cross the wire over:
12. Take the loose end and tuck it BEHIND the spiral, but take care that you conserve the loop at the top. The loose end should now be sandwiched between the spiral and the back part of the loop.
13. Using round nosed pliers, form a small loop at the bottom of the clef to close it off. If the tail end is too long at this point you will need to clip it a bit with the wire clippers, but mine turned out ok.
14. I now use my fingers and pliers to flatten everything into one plane and reshape the clef into a more proportional form, as needed:
15. Add the jump ring (if you want to hang the clef as a pendant or on jewelry you will need to do this for it to hang flat so that the shape is visible from the front) and you're done!
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