Wire Jigs: Follow Up

After presenting this topic during a session at the ICE Conference this year, a few new ideas for the wire jig emerged. Visit Wire Jigs to see the original post.

Younger students may not do as well with hammers and nails and/or some schools/teachers may not be willing to take on the injury liability. Why not replace the wood with Styrofoam and use golf tees instead of the nails? Students could use a hammer like plastic toy or even a small ball to “nail” in the golf tees. For complete safety, substitute pipe cleaners for the wire.

To prevent or cut down on the possibility of students hitting themselves with the hammer when nailing, use a clothespin to hold the nail in place. These can be purchased cheaply at a place like a dollar store. I observed students in class, on their own, come up with the idea to use pliers to hold the nail, but the concept of the clothespin seems like a better and cheaper answer.

Another topic that surfaced was that some teachers with young students would like to make the wire designs with their students. One option is for the wire jig project to become a collaborative project with older students making the initial wooden jigs and then working with the younger students to wrap the wire. This way the younger students are not actually nailing and are better supervised when wrapping the wire around the jig. A second option would be for the teacher to make the initial wire jig for the students to wrap around wire or pipe cleaners.

The wire jig can be hard to follow once it is created since one project can have several nails. Remedy this by writing numbers or drawing arrows or lines directly on the wood to connect the nails and facilitate completion.

Wire Jigs

The needed supplies are cheap and the learning curve is small. Within a class period students can be on their way to making their own wire jigs. Wire jigs can be made to create jewelry, ornaments, symbols, constellations, outlines of items such as book characters, animals, U.S. states, countries, flowers, and leaves.

My first introduction to the idea of wire jigs was at last year’s Tinker Studio during the ICE Conference. Their take on it was that you could buy premade jigs for the students to use. I expanded the idea to allow for the students to be creative and own the process. This activity also introduces beginning shop safety (the use of hammers and nails), allows for creativity, and encourages trial and error.

Yes, you can easily buy a $10-20 Thing-A-Ma Jig at a store like Michaels or Jo-Ann. However, both the students and I found it difficult to secure the earring backing-like nubs onto the bottom of the pins to hold them in while making jewelry or designs.

Here is how my class got started:

Materials

Connect the dot selection for each table/group (extreme and regular versions)

Pencils

Picture of example jigs

Wood – 2”x6’ cut into 5 3/8” pieces ahead of time, 1 per pair

Nails – with skinny heads, 1 lb. box

Cups – to hold nails

Hammers (16oz an/or small 8oz stubby for younger students)

Wire Cutters (Diagonal Cutters)

Safety glasses

Wire – 20 gauge wire for practice and possible detail

Wire – 16 gauge annealed picture hanging wire – use for final project, the downside is it is harder to bend, but it will hold its shape really well

Procedure

1.    Students clear the tables of their belongings.

2.    Distribute connect the dot worksheet selection and pencils to each table. Students work for up to 10 minutes.

3.    As a class discuss how connect the dots have a precise order in which the dots need to be completed. Then, reference or model how the number of dots will affect the picture quality – especially, with rounded edges. This process is very similar to the wire jigs we are making.

4.    Demonstrate how they will be made:

a.     Work in pairs

b.    One block of wood

c.     Hammer lightly. Do not hammer the nail all the way in to make removal easier (students will remove the nails at the end to allow for reuse of the wood).

d.    Use only one side of the block, the other class will use the other side.

e.    Pro Tip: If attempting to make a specific picture, place a copy of the picture on top of the wood and hammer the nails into the picture directly to get a better outline.

Shop Rules

·      Wear safety glasses at all times.

·      Only use tools provided to you and for their intended purpose. Do not help yourself to any other tools.

·      If you are being silly, then you are sitting this one out.

·      Understand that you/we are trying something new – not everything is perfect.

5.    Once the nails are in, test the wire jig with the thinner wire to make sure it is really the desired pattern while noting the order to wind around the nails. When winding the wire, it is not recommended to make loops around the nails otherwise removal will be difficult.

6.    Create the final project. Before utilizing the thicker wire, hammer in any loose nails.

7.    When completed, remove the nails to reuse the block of wood for another design or to allow for use by another class/group.


For further ideas, see my other other post Wire Jigs: Follow Up.