Easy Folded Wire Ring Tutorial

by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved



These folded wire rings are so simple, cheap, and fun to make!

You need only a few inches of wire and basic jewelry tools to make these.

They are comfortable and easily adjustable to fit a variety of finger sizes.

Supplies for Folded Wire Rings:

A piece of 18-gauge round wire – about 7″ to 10″ (17.78 cm to 25.4 cm) long. (I used copper and brass wires in my examples here.)

A ruler.

Wire cutter.

Round nose pliers.

Flat nose pliers.

Chain nose pliers.

Ring mandrel, dowel or PVC pipe section – or other item that’s about the same diameter as your ring-wearing finger.

Nylon or rawhide hammer for hammering your ring on the mandrel.

Folded Wire Ring Tutorial

Why are these called “folded wire rings”?

Because you’ll start out by folding your piece of wire (in one of the ways I’ll show you below).

The folded wire creates a double-strand ring band (ring shank).

After forming the shank, you’ll have the fun of using your pliers and your creativity to shape your wire ends into an infinite variety of designs for the top of the ring!

Three Ways to Fold Your Wire:

There are probably a lot of other ways to fold your wire too!

Below are the three ways I’ve folded my wire to create the ring shanks shown in this tutorial.

I find that I end up with better ring designs when I DON’T fold the wire exactly in the center. Having one wire end longer than the other allows for more interesting designs for the top of the ring! Experiment with different lengths and see what you come up with.

Wire Fold Method 1 –

The Flat Fold:

The flat fold enables you to make a beautifully simple, compact double ring shank.

To make your flat fold, use the very tips of your round nose pliers to bend your piece of wire in a U-shape:

Then use your flat nose pliers to squash the U-shape as flat as possible (that’s why it’s called the flat fold!):

Wrap your flat-folded wire around your ring mandrel, and use your hammer to pound the shank into a nice ring shape.

Hammer starting at the folded end, then moving around to the wire on the back of your mandrel, and on around to where your wires meet up with the fold.

DON’T hammer your 2 long wire ends yet, or you won’t be able to curve and shape them easily.

Here I’ve wrapped the flat-folded wire spiral-style around the mandrel:

Then remove your wire from the mandrel. It should look something like this:

Now comes the fun part!

Use your pliers and your imagination to create artistic shapes with your two long wire ends.

Here I’ve used my round nose pliers to turn the longer wire end into a large, open spiral – and the shorter wire end into a little curl:

After you’ve finished designing both of your wire ends, put your ring back on the mandrel and give it a good hammering all over – including your fancy wire design.

Hammering the fancy wirework will ensure your design will curve naturally around the top surface of the wearer’s finger.

And just as important, the hammering will harden your wire design and make it sturdier:

Here’s a view of the back of my ring after hammering it all over; notice how the fancy wirework is curved just like the rest of the ring:

A Different Option for Your Flat-Folded Wire:

Instead of wrapping your flat-folded wire in a spiral around your ring mandrel, you can wrap it so that the two long wire ends straddle the fold:

I created this ring from a flat-folded wire that I wrapped around the mandrel straddle-style.

See the flat fold, right in the middle of the ring, and how the two wire ends straddle it:

Here’s a side view of the same ring:

And a back view of it; you can see what a nice double ring shank you get with flat-folded wire:

Wire Fold Method 2 –

The Round Fold:

The round fold gives you a lovely, airy, open-work double ring shank.

To make your round fold, use the fattest part of your round nose pliers to bend your piece of wire into a U-shape:

Then wrap your wire around your mandrel, and hammer just the shank portion of your wire (as described above under “Wire Fold Method 1 – The Flat Fold”).

This is a round-folded wire, after being wrapped straddle-style around the mandrel (with the two long wire ends straddling the round fold):

The ring below was made with a round-folded piece of wire – and it was wrapped around the mandrel spiral-style (NOT straddle-style).

See the wide round curve on the top spiral of this ring:

Here’s another view of this ring, showing how it looks when worn (if you have a pale-blue finger 🙂 ):

Wire Fold Method 3 –

The Square Fold:

The square fold gives an interestingly angular look to your ring.

If you shape your two long wire ends into curls and swirls as I’ve done, the square fold is a nice contrast to the curves.

The square fold is also nice for more masculine ring designs.

To make your square fold, use your flat-nose pliers to bend your wire into a square U-shape:

Then wrap your wire around your mandrel, and hammer just the shank portion of your wire (as described above under “Wire Fold Method 1 – The Flat Fold”).

This is a square-folded wire, after being wrapped straddle-style around the mandrel (with the two wire ends straddling the square fold):

This ring was made with a square fold:

Another view of the same ring; see how the angles of the square fold make a good contrast with the spirals:

This ring was also created with a square fold and wrapped straddle-style around the mandrel:

Another view of this ring. Here you can see the effect of having your two wire ends in different lengths:

Of course you can add extra elements to your folded wire rings – such as beads, oxidizing / patina effects, and all kinds of other jewelry techniques!