Spiral Wire Hook Clasp (Tutorial)
by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved
Make this easy, graceful version of a wire hook clasp.
Here’s how it looks in action on the back of a necklace:
But it’s also pretty enough to be the focal element on the front of a necklace:
Supplies:
- 16-gauge round soft or half-hard wire, 3″ (76mm) long.
(I used copper wire.) - Wire cutter.
- Cup bur, wire rounder, or jewelry file – to round and smooth your wire ends.
- Sharpie marker – to mark your pliers.
- Jeweler’s steel block (or other smooth, sturdy surface for hammering) – for hammering the finished clasp.
- Plastic, nylon, or rawhide hammer – for flattening and hammer-hardening your finished clasp.
Decide the Size
Your Spirals Should Be
In this tutorial, I demonstrate making a clasp that has fairly open spirals, like this:
However, depending on your use of this clasp, you may prefer to make the spirals a bit less open for security.
You could do that by using the tips of your round nose pliers, with a result like this:
How to Make a
Spiral Wire Hook Clasp
We’ll start by marking your pliers, so you can make the centers of your spirals the same size.
Use your Sharpie marker to make a mark partway down one jaw of your pliers:
(Later you can remove the mark from your pliers using a few drops of rubbing alcohol on a small piece of paper towel.)
Now it’s time to cut your wire 3″ (76mm) long:
Use your cup bur, wire rounder, or jewelry file to round and smooth your wire ends:
Now we’ll make an open wire spiral in one end of your wire.
If you’re new to making an open wire spiral, see my easy 3-minute video, How to Make an Open Wire Spiral.
Use your round nose pliers to grasp the tip of one end of your wire, right where you made your Sharpie mark.
Make a small hook in the wire end (this hook will be the center of your wire spiral):
Now your wire should look like this:
Now continue making your open wire spiral.
Move your pliers a tiny way down the wire, and make a tiny bend in the wire.
Keep moving your pliers along the wire in tiny steps, and make tiny bends in the wire as you go, to continue the open spiral:
As you work, your wire should look like this:
. . . and continue to form your spiral until it looks like this:
Your first wire spiral is done.
Now move to the other end of your wire, to make the second open wire spiral.
Start by using your round nose pliers to make a hook at the end of your wire; but this time you’ll curve the hook so that it points away from your first spiral:
After making your hook, your wire should look like this:
Now continue making your open wire spiral – moving your pliers along the wire in tiny steps, and making tiny bends in the wire as you go, to continue the open spiral:
Keep going till your wire looks like this:
It’s time to use your plastic, nylon, or rawhide hammer and steel jeweler’s block (or other smooth, sturdy surface) to flatten and work-harden your clasp.
This will help make the clasp stronger and sturdier.
Hammer all over one side of your wire; then turn the wire over and hammer all over the other side:
Your finished clasp should look something like this:
How to Attach the Clasp
to Other Jewelry Components:
Here’s how to connect your spiral wire hook clasp to a jump ring.
Starting at the wire end in the center of one of the clasp’s spirals, thread the jump ring onto the wire end, and begin to slide the jump ring around the spiral:
Continue sliding the jump ring around to the end of the clasp:
Your finished spiral wire hook clasp in action may look something like this:
Or this:
