Free Hand Coiling Tutorial

In this tutorial two sizes of wire are used to create a handmade coil. You will use 20 gauge for the core wire and 26 gauge for the coil wire in this example. Tailor this to your project by substituting the sizes and lengths of wire appropriate to your needs.

Step 1: Creating a handmade coil

To begin coiling you will cross the ends of your wire in the form of an X a shown (1). Then, start by wrapping your 26 gauge one time around (2). The beginning of your coil will not be perfect, but this is normal.

(1)

(2)

Begin coiling your 26 gauge around your 20 gauge core wire (3). It helps to keep your coils neat if you maintain a fair amount of tension on the wire as you wind it around. Take your time and be sure that you stack your coils neatly, one on top of the other. After youve begun your coil you do not want to allow your coils to candycane. Keep them consistent. As you progress, you may find that occasionally your coil may have small gaps appear (4). This is common, and easily fixed.

(3)

(4)

Pause your coiling and use your thumbnail to push the coils back into position (5) to close the gap (6).

(5)

(6)

Continue coiling until you have a created a coil in the length appropriate to your project. Once you have created a coil the size that you desire, slide it off of the core wire to trim the ends being careful that you do not cut into the other coils. You will have a much neater finish on each end of the coil by removing the coil before trimming (7).

(7)

If you intend to create any coiled coils (such as beads) or forms with your coil, you will need to feed it back onto a core wire before shaping it, otherwise, it will not hold up. Keep an eye out for my free Coiled Bead tutorial to come in January 2008 (hopefully!).

Tips on Coiling with Larger Gauges of Wire:

When coiling with larger gauges of wire, it is best to have a core wire that is either equal to or greater than the gauge of the coil wire. In this example the core wire is 18 gauge copper and the coil wire is 20 gauge sterling silver. With larger gauges of wire it is helpful to first twist them together as sown in figure T1 below. This gives you something to hang on to (T2) as you coil your wire and prevents the core wire from twisting in your hand. This will make the job of coiling the larger gauges of wire much easier.

(T1)

(T2)

Larger gauges of wire are more difficult to coil. Just remember to take your time, be sure you dont allow your coils to candy cane and you will achieve a tight, consistent and professional looking coil. All text and images Delia Stone 2007