Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Garden Gate Clasp Tutorial

Create a wire hook and eye clasp to use with a multi-strand design.  I think this would look great on a bracelet with some floral inspired art beads.  Ah, spring - so glad you are here!

Supplies:
9" 18 gauge half hard sterling silver wire
4" 22 gauge copper wire

Tools: Round and chain nose pliers, flush wire cutters, chasing hammer, bench block

Directions:
1. Cut the silver wire into two 4.5" lengths.  Bend the wires around a tube of beads (or a Sharpie Marker), form into two circles. 
2. Use your fingers to bend and form one circle into a slightly oval shape, a little thinner than the circle.  This part of the clasp will need to fit inside the circle. 
3. Create spirals on the end of wires with round nose pliers, keeping the spirals as uniform as possible.
4. Hammer the ends of the spirals with the chasing hammer on a bench block.  Hammer the circle on the round clasp and the end of the oval.  Don't hammer on the part of the wires that crosses over each other. 
5. With the chain nose pliers, bend the oval clasp section in half to form the hook.
6. Cut the copper wire into two 2" lengths and wrap around the center of the clasps.

The last two photos show the clasp in it's natural state and antiqued with liver of sulphur.

Designers note: Use brass or copper wire to practice this design before trying it in silver wire.

48 comments:

KristiBowmanDesign said...

I love this clasp Heather, I really look forward to trying it out. Thanks for the instructions!!

Two Dog Pond said...

That is a great idea! Thank you - I'm off to try it now.

Katie said...

Thank you so much for posting this. I love it,can't wait to try it.

Jane Perala said...

Beautiful - what a great idea - thanks for sharing!

diane hawkey said...

Brilliant!~

Vc said...

Muchas gracias

Mil Delicias-Tupilandia

Elaine Ray said...

Absolutely beautiful - Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

so pretty!

TesoriTrovati said...

Gasp! That is simply stunning!
Thank you for sharing that bit o' loveliness!
Enjoy the day!
Erin

Larry Lourcey said...

Very cool design - guessing it is waay harder than it looks in the photographs!

Malin de Koning said...

Great design!

Marian Hertzog said...

Wow....that is really pretty! Thanks for sharing! You are so creative!

Sally Anderson said...

Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm not experienced with the wire stuff yet but sure will try this!

Jenni said...

I love this clasp. Thank you for sharing your design and instructions.
Jenni

Beadbug said...

What a beautiful clasp thanks so much for sharing.

Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor said...

Awesome clasp design Heather! Your work is always so clever!

Anonymous said...

Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [13 Apr 01:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria

BooBeads said...

What a lovely clasp!

Thanks for sharing!

rosebud101 said...

Thanks for the tutorial, Heather. It is a beautiful clasp!

Lupe Meter said...

I really like this clasp...what a great design and it doesn't look hard at all. Thanks for sharing the tute with us! 8D

JeannieK said...

This is genius

Alice said...

How funny, I just left a comment on your own blog about this lovely clasp.

Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing! This clasp looks amazing!

Work Of Our Hands said...

love it thank you

Boston Baked Beads said...

Beautiful!

Claycass said...

Wow! That is nice. Thanks for sharing.

Rosewind Studio said...

I just love this clasp! It's simple yet elegant and looks to be suitable for any skill level. Thanks for the mini lesson!
-Shannon

roseworksjewelry said...

Cute design!

Shannon Chomanczuk said...

Thanks for sharing, that is a great clasp!

Jamie said...

Thank you for sharing this.. it's awesome! Very pretty..

Dan Zuluaga said...

This Garden Gate Clasp is wonderful! If you make hand made jewelry as a profession or a past time and haven't tried sterling silver wire, you should. However, due to the increased cost in silver a higher gauge copper wire is more economical and can result in the same resistance or lower much more cheaply.

Linda Larsen said...

this is a great clasp and very original and interesting...thanks for sharing! found it on Pinterest....

Mixed Kreations said...

Love this clasp! Most of my clasp are just the simple hook clasp type. I will have to give this one a try.
Thank you for sharing.

maro said...

Thanks for sharing! Is beautiful...

The Beading Gem said...

Lovely! It's not often I come across a multi-strand clasp design.

fotolabida maria said...

ΠΟΛΥ ΚΑΛΕΣ ΟΙ ΟΔΗΓΙΕΣ!!!!!!!ΟΜΟΡΦΟ ΣΧΕΔΙΟ!!!!!ΚΑΛΗ ΣΥΝΕΧΕΙΑ!!!

Laurel said...

Love this clasp! Very original!

Divya said...

The process is simpler than I thought..would def try it..thanks

Sublime Wire Jewellery sculptor and Design said...

Lovely clasp thank you

Craftfiend said...

Great clasp tutorial! I posted a link to you on my site: hope you don't mind!

DaisyKreates said...

Such pretty design and very clear instructions! I came to this post from Pearl's fb page; think I'm going to give this a try; thank you for sharing this!!

Laura said...

I love this clasp. Do you have a picture of it in use?

Laura said...

Do you have a picture of it in use? I would love to see it.

Unknown said...

I am speechless. I love this and I have no excuse but to do it right away.

Unknown said...

c'est vraiment superbe, je vais essayer. Merci pour cette très bonne idée

Baking Beads in the Keys said...

Love it!!!

Unknown said...

Could you please show how this lovely clasp connects to a necklace?

Unknown said...

I am going to try this for my handmade jacket. Lovely looking.