Let me preface this by explaining to you that I absolutely hate buying something if I know that I can make it myself. Scarves? I can knock one out in a couple of hours (not that it really gets cold enough here to need them). Ear wires? Why, yes! And in a few different styles, no less.
These, however, are tutorials for another time. Tonight, we’re making simple wire hooks. That’s right–you can create your own necklace clasps!
Let’s start off with a quick review of our tools.
From top left, going clockwise, we have our chain nose pliers, wire cutters, and round nose pliers. We already discussed these in the Simple Loops tutorial, so head on over if you need a refresher.
For this tutorial, we’re going to be using a couple of new tools–an anvil or steel bench block (I’m using a small anvil), and a chasing or ball peen hammer. We’ll come back to these later. To make your hook, you’re also going to need about two and a half inches of 18 gauge wire.
Oh! I almost forgot a tool! You’re going to need a simple, round ballpoint pen or wooden dowel of similar size. Most hook tutorials will have you make the loop at one end of the hook first–I don’t really get a nice, round hook if I do it that way. You’re going to take your 18 gauge wire and wrap it around the pen, crossing the wires where they meet to form an X.
Slip the wire off of the pen or dowel. See how the crossed edges meet in the back? Our wire is lovely and fish-like at this point, but we need to change the directions of the X-ed wire to move in different directions.
Get your round nose pliers, and grip the wire on the top half of the X, right where the wires meet. Carefully turn the wire down, so that it is facing the same direction as the bottom loop of the X.
Do the same thing with the bottom wire–gripping it with your round nose pliers, turn it gently at the point where it was crossed with the other wire. You want your hook to look like the picture above after you’ve turned both wires. Now, let’s grab our wire cutters–we need to trim some excess wire away. We want to leave between 1/3 and 1/2 of an inch of wire on the top–this is going to make our large loop, the one you’ll use to attach the hook to your project.
After you’ve trimmed your wire, pick up your round nose pliers and grip the end of the cut wire farther along the shaft of the pliers than you’d normally go. We’re going to make a large loop here. With your pliers in your dominant hand, grip the wire with your other hand and curl the wrist holding the pliers so that the wire goes over the top and forms a loop (if the pliers are in your right hand, you’ll curl your wrist counter-clockwise).
There! We’ve got our large loop made. Grab the wire cutters again–we have to make one more cut. We’re going to trim the uncurled edge of wire very short–a little less than a quarter of an inch.
With your round nose pliers, grip the end of the wire–but this time, use the very small tips of the pliers. We’re going to curl the wire over to make a very small loop. If you’re right-handed and holding the hook the same way I am in the picture, you’re going to curl your wrist counter-clockwise again.
Dun dun dunnn! We’ve made our hook! This piece is going to see a lot of wear and tear, though, and even with the thick wire we used, it could use a little more hardening. This is where the hammer and anvil come in.
Place your hook on your anvil or bench block. Using the large, flat end of your hammer, strike all over the piece (you’ll need to either tape the hook down or use your non-dominant hand to hold the piece down–my non-dominant hand is occupied with holding the camera). This is called work hardening–we don’t want to smash the hook to bits, but we want to lightly work it over with the hammer to stabilize and harden our pattern. I like to hammer the large, curved part (the bit we made with the pen) a little more than the rest. This makes the hook fan out a bit. You want to strike dead on the piece, dragging your hammer a bit toward the outside–strike and pull, sort of. It might take some getting used to–and you might accidentally hammer your fingers once or twice–but you’ll get the hang of it.
The finished piece. See how the outside curve is more hammered than the rest? I’ve also pushed the edges of the hook closer, to make for a more secure clasp.
To attach the clasp to your jewelry, you’ll use your chain nose pliers (I knew I photographed them for a reason!) to gently open the large loop you made. Holding the hook in your non-dominant hand, use the pliers to pull the edge of the loop toward you (not out–this will disrupt the shape of the loop and possibly weaken the wire). Hook the loop into your jewelry and then use the pliers to push the loop away from you and closed. The hook needs a large loop on the end of the other side of your jewelry in order to clasp closed–you could use some large extender chain, a large wire wrapped loop, or something similar.
You can experiment heavily with this hook–make a longer, more serpentine S-hook, make the small loop even smaller, or turn the large loop into a spiral. Go to town with it! And most importantly, give your handmade jewelry the handmade closure it needs and make your own hooks, okay?
Yes, I totally photographed this thing on top of an X-Men comic book.
As always, do comment if you have any questions about the tutorial–I’m happy to answer.
[...] for the rest of your tools, you’re going to need an anvil or bench block (we used this in the hammered hook tutorial), a wire rounder or metal files, and a Sharpie. Trust me on the [...]