It always seems to be the way of things that i get an idea which seems simple and turns out to be nothing of the sort. And always the silly small things take the longest to make or find.
A while ago i made some medallion things, i'd just acquired a couple of 35mm lenses and took them apart to get at the innards, they suggested a window type bit of jewellery. The proper name of which eludes me at the moment. Anyway i wanted the hang them on a kilt pin, but cant you find a kilt pin with a single loop of suitable size? Can i hell. I did find this in the dark depths of the wife's dusty sewing basket. No idea what it is though, i think maybe something to do with medals or curtains, no one knows, one of life's great mysteries. The only thing on the net i found similar is a "Mayo pin" which is in the same form and too big but used for something , probably yucky, in veterinary practice, therefore expensive.
So i got some piano wire, fiendishly springy with with a mind of its own. I measured the pin as 1.2mm in diameter. Trouble is with wire sizing is, its metric/standard English/American or bizarre. It turns out Piano wire sometimes is measured in Piano wire gage, which differs from any other gage....anyway i got some roughly 1.2mm off an ebay shop and some big nails from B&Q.If you want to know more about wire gages, google it, 'cos im confused.
Big block of wood in the vice, put the old pin on that, marked where the loopy bits are banged in nails at those points. (i did drill the holes first, the nails would split it otherwise, as i found out the first time i tried...)
Angle grinder to get the tops off, otherwise i couldn't get the wire off when its bent.Notice the sparks, keep anything that might like sparks to ignite well away.
Piano wire is a bit nasty to work with, its so springy its like wrestling a long thin snake with a bite at both ends. You have to take care when undoing a piano wire coil as it can kapoow out and fill the room with sharp coils.
Her i've banged in a wire staple to stop the top bit zooming off the top...
Ah Ha after a lot of swearing and not a little effort i got it bent round the posts. Now to leaver it off. It would be a whole lot easier to do all this red hot, and indeed it bends really well hot, but it loses its temper and turns into normal soft wire and snaps, believe me i have tried.
There's one, i was severely hampered by my cute round nosed pliers being rusty and seized solid so i couldn't use them, they have been soaking in vinegar over night so they might be open able by now. Looks ok i think...
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