Kalorlo
05-09-2009, 01:05 PM
I've been having a few goes at basketweave wirewrapping - I'm including the first two only because the photographs are so different from my usual. I had a go with a friend's Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX40. Macro mode and totally automatic settings. *drools at the quality* My camera search has ramped up, let me tell you! I want something *now* :)
(I am considering going for a bridge camera now - my dad has used SLRs for years, both digital and not, and thinks the current range of bridge-types are a much better bet. Given that I don't have a decent quality camera for normal photos either, I think it'd probably be a better idea at this stage to get something that's small and portable. I can look again in a year or two, if I find I really want a DSLR.)
210
Here we have my first try. This was using 0.8mm and 0.315mm silver-plated wire. I was having a lot of difficulty with the wire kinking as I wrapped, and I wasn't very good at attaching the next piece of wire... You can also see where I scraped and dented the thicker wire at the top. I have since filed the edges of my pliers, but it wasn't helped that this wire is really soft - I got it from an eBay seller rather than where I usually get my wire, and was very surprised by how soft it was. You can deform it with your fingertips without much trying, and my other wire is all a lot springier. This and the next piece were also partly an exercise in getting used to it.
Anyway, I made a S-shape to do my wrapping round, and noticed that it looked rather like a cartoon cat's tail. So I wrapped it leaving blank sections to give it stripes. I think my wrapping wire was actually a bit too thin to work with easily - it's awfully wavy in the widest parts, not helped by all the kinking!
The next time, I made this one:
211
Same 0.8mm wire, wrapped in 0.6mm copper wire. It was really tricky to make the soft wire keep anything like a circle shape. I did try pulling it through my fingers for a bit beforehand, which I think helped a little. This time, my wrapping wire was too thick compared to the other wire - that's why it wouldn't wrap closely enough round the outside edges of the circles. The big gaps are where I added the next piece of wire - not good! I'm also sad about how fast the copper tarnished when I was working with it. I wanted it to be shiny, damnit! I think I'll try cleaning it up and then put it safely in a bag where I won't be touching it :)
Aaaaand, last night I made this:
212
Back to the old camera, sigh. Now, this is using 1.2mm and 0.4mm silver-plated wire, and I think it worked much better. I picked up new wire from The Bead Shop in Seven Dials, which is my usual place. Hey, it was springy! Attaching new wires went better. It was still tricky to get the circles done - I need some mandrels :p
You probably can't see, but I attached new wires much better this time (and also made sure I was working with very long ones so I didn't have to do it so often). There was a slight design flaw with the beads - I put the ones on the inner circle before starting to wrap, but forgot to put any on the outer. And it looked wrong to have big gaps round the outer circle, so I ended up wrapping through the second set of beads instead. Not ideal. There's also a slight problem in that once I'd got all the way round and pushed everything tight, the two uppermost pairs of beads didn't have quite enough space to sit side-by-side. So the wrapped ones are squeezed slightly through to the back. They were fine when I put them on! Eh well.
My wrapping of the wider sections is more consistent this time - there're a few wiggles, but not nearly so many. I'm really happy with the consistency of the top section. The beads are frosted ones - they look less dark in person.
I still need rather more practice, but I love the look when people manage to do it tidily :)
Bonus picture: SHINIES!
213
Also from The Bead Shop - they have some bags of assorted random Czech glass beads, so I got one of bigger beads and one of smaller. Eeeee, they're so shiny! The box is from Maplin - I also picked up three of these when I was out because I find them really handy. They're only £1.99 apiece and have non-removable compartments, so your beads can't slide under the bottom of the dividers :Y: (They stack, too).
(I am considering going for a bridge camera now - my dad has used SLRs for years, both digital and not, and thinks the current range of bridge-types are a much better bet. Given that I don't have a decent quality camera for normal photos either, I think it'd probably be a better idea at this stage to get something that's small and portable. I can look again in a year or two, if I find I really want a DSLR.)
210
Here we have my first try. This was using 0.8mm and 0.315mm silver-plated wire. I was having a lot of difficulty with the wire kinking as I wrapped, and I wasn't very good at attaching the next piece of wire... You can also see where I scraped and dented the thicker wire at the top. I have since filed the edges of my pliers, but it wasn't helped that this wire is really soft - I got it from an eBay seller rather than where I usually get my wire, and was very surprised by how soft it was. You can deform it with your fingertips without much trying, and my other wire is all a lot springier. This and the next piece were also partly an exercise in getting used to it.
Anyway, I made a S-shape to do my wrapping round, and noticed that it looked rather like a cartoon cat's tail. So I wrapped it leaving blank sections to give it stripes. I think my wrapping wire was actually a bit too thin to work with easily - it's awfully wavy in the widest parts, not helped by all the kinking!
The next time, I made this one:
211
Same 0.8mm wire, wrapped in 0.6mm copper wire. It was really tricky to make the soft wire keep anything like a circle shape. I did try pulling it through my fingers for a bit beforehand, which I think helped a little. This time, my wrapping wire was too thick compared to the other wire - that's why it wouldn't wrap closely enough round the outside edges of the circles. The big gaps are where I added the next piece of wire - not good! I'm also sad about how fast the copper tarnished when I was working with it. I wanted it to be shiny, damnit! I think I'll try cleaning it up and then put it safely in a bag where I won't be touching it :)
Aaaaand, last night I made this:
212
Back to the old camera, sigh. Now, this is using 1.2mm and 0.4mm silver-plated wire, and I think it worked much better. I picked up new wire from The Bead Shop in Seven Dials, which is my usual place. Hey, it was springy! Attaching new wires went better. It was still tricky to get the circles done - I need some mandrels :p
You probably can't see, but I attached new wires much better this time (and also made sure I was working with very long ones so I didn't have to do it so often). There was a slight design flaw with the beads - I put the ones on the inner circle before starting to wrap, but forgot to put any on the outer. And it looked wrong to have big gaps round the outer circle, so I ended up wrapping through the second set of beads instead. Not ideal. There's also a slight problem in that once I'd got all the way round and pushed everything tight, the two uppermost pairs of beads didn't have quite enough space to sit side-by-side. So the wrapped ones are squeezed slightly through to the back. They were fine when I put them on! Eh well.
My wrapping of the wider sections is more consistent this time - there're a few wiggles, but not nearly so many. I'm really happy with the consistency of the top section. The beads are frosted ones - they look less dark in person.
I still need rather more practice, but I love the look when people manage to do it tidily :)
Bonus picture: SHINIES!
213
Also from The Bead Shop - they have some bags of assorted random Czech glass beads, so I got one of bigger beads and one of smaller. Eeeee, they're so shiny! The box is from Maplin - I also picked up three of these when I was out because I find them really handy. They're only £1.99 apiece and have non-removable compartments, so your beads can't slide under the bottom of the dividers :Y: (They stack, too).