Take it down to the wire with helpful gadgets

This week we’re playing with gadgets again. We’ll begin by introducing you to several tools we found, then next week (or the week after, once we’ve had some time to practice) show you a few projects to try.

If you’ve ever been intrigued by wire jewelry or decorative pieces containing wire embellishments, the gadgets featured here may be of interest.

We found two coiling tools — a wire coiling kit and The Coiling Gizmo, both by Darice — and one thingamajig, oddly enough called the Thing-A-Ma-Jig.

The coiling tools are pictured together in our photo, while the Thing-A-Ma-Jig is shown separately.

Wire coiling kit

Take a look at our photo and you’ll see the wire coiling rod in the bottom left-hand corner, along with samples of the coils.

To use the tool, place one end of a piece of wire in the slot in the metal part and twist the wire around it, using your thumb to keep the wire in place.

The tool works well, but you can only make one size coil and it’s rather large for jewelry-making. Also, as you can see in the photo, if you use very fine wire (such as the silver coil), the coil doesn’t hold its shape very well.

We still find the tool useful, as the coils are a good size for home decorating projects (wood plaques, plant stakes, hanging objects), and it is easy to use with heavier wire.

The Coiling Gizmo

We really like this gadget. Not only does it make nice, uniform coils, but it’s fun to play with. (Come on, we all have a bit o’ the kid in us.)

In our photo, you’ll find the pieces of the gizmo between the box and our practice samples. The kit includes two cranks and one bracket (check out the box cover to see how the assembly works).

You can make very small or medium-sized coils, depending on the crank used.All you do is wrap the end of a piece of wire around the “eye” part of the crank, insert the bar through the holes in the bracket, then turn the handle. Use your thumb to hold the wire in place as you turn, and the coil will turn out perfectly even and tight.

The bracket also can be mounted on a board so you can have both hands free, but it isn’t necessary for smooth operation.

The gizmo works very well with fine or heavy wire — we tried several sizes from very fine beading wire to a 20-gauge craft wire — and you can see samples of the coils in the upper left-hand portion of the photo.

We need more practice to master some of the wire beads shown on the box cover, but we did have some luck making a few bendable coils.

All you do is make a coil, then run a piece of heavy wire through the coil tube and bend it into a desired shape.

Thing-A-Ma-Jig

This tool makes wire shapes for use in jewelry-making, as scrapbooking embellishments or other projects calling for fine-wire pieces.

To use it, place pegs in the holes in the base in a pattern that will give you the shape you desire, then wrap wire around the pegs to create the piece you want.

You’ll need to stick with finer wire, because the pegs aren’t too sturdy and won’t handle a lot of rough bending.

As far as we can tell from our trial run, the gadget works well, but you’ll need to practice a bit to feel comfortable using it. The pegs can pop out if you don’t work on a flat surface (we tried using it in our lap),

The wire coiling kit and Thing-A-Ma-Jig both include some craft wire in the package, and all three items cost less than $10.

Also, there’s a deluxe Thing-A-Ma-Jig (we got the beginner’s model) that costs between $15 and $20. It has more stuff — such as more pegs in different sizes and a bigger board — and the pegs are aluminum instead of plastic, which makes them resistant to bending and allows for use of heavier wire.

Note: We highly recommend wearing protective goggles or glasses — or being extremely careful — when trimming wire. The trimmed pieces often take on a life of their own and fly about the room like angry wasps on the attack — honest — and their favorite targets appear to be eyes.

Contact Jonetta Coffin at jonnirose@netzero.net or C/O Herald Features, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.