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Oct. 24th, 2017 09:34 amDid some testing with the four-strand braid wrap technique and two pieces of sea glass last night. If I'm careful about measuring the braid and the glass properly, I can use it to create loops at both ends of a piece of glass, thereby getting a really good-looking link rather than just a pendant.
Pros: it's fast and it feels pretty secure, and it's more attractive than the other techniques I've used to produce sea glass links so far.
Cons: the braid tends to take up a significant portion of the piece of glass if I'm not using a large piece; the braid only looks good on the front because I have to tighten the wire on the back to make sure it grips the glass properly; wrapping leftover wire around the back or the sides results in a cluttered, asymmetrical look; the swirly extra loops that look good in pendant form don't seem quite the same for bracelet or necklace links.
Uncertain elements: I haven't conducted an extended-wear test to ensure that the glass doesn't wriggle free over time. Also, I need to test linking these with jump rings, because that usually seems to make it easier to ensure that all pieces have the attractive side facing the same way. It's possible that the decorative loop approach will look good, too, but I was working with antique brass-colored wire and white glass last night and didn't want to overwhelm the glass with extra darkness. I may have to try it with gold-colored wire and either green or brown glass. (Boston drinks a lot of beer. The vast, vast majority of the sea glass I find is green or brown. White is a distant third and comes in white, bluish-purplish-white, and greenish-white for the most part; white sea glass used to be clear. On rare occasions I find tiny bits of red, which I assume came from broken tail lights or other safety lights before we started using plastic instead. Blue is an undisputed rarity.)
Pros: it's fast and it feels pretty secure, and it's more attractive than the other techniques I've used to produce sea glass links so far.
Cons: the braid tends to take up a significant portion of the piece of glass if I'm not using a large piece; the braid only looks good on the front because I have to tighten the wire on the back to make sure it grips the glass properly; wrapping leftover wire around the back or the sides results in a cluttered, asymmetrical look; the swirly extra loops that look good in pendant form don't seem quite the same for bracelet or necklace links.
Uncertain elements: I haven't conducted an extended-wear test to ensure that the glass doesn't wriggle free over time. Also, I need to test linking these with jump rings, because that usually seems to make it easier to ensure that all pieces have the attractive side facing the same way. It's possible that the decorative loop approach will look good, too, but I was working with antique brass-colored wire and white glass last night and didn't want to overwhelm the glass with extra darkness. I may have to try it with gold-colored wire and either green or brown glass. (Boston drinks a lot of beer. The vast, vast majority of the sea glass I find is green or brown. White is a distant third and comes in white, bluish-purplish-white, and greenish-white for the most part; white sea glass used to be clear. On rare occasions I find tiny bits of red, which I assume came from broken tail lights or other safety lights before we started using plastic instead. Blue is an undisputed rarity.)
