Fusing fun!

I'm going to do a wire fusing demo at the Urban Emporium at 98 Bottles in San Diego. To prepare for it I practiced fusing tonight. I made some figure 8's and circles with my bail making pliers, made sure all the cut edges touched, hit them with the torch and, VOILA, fused finedings! Here is a picture of the various parts of the process - from bare wire to finished earrings.

 

As you can see in the "after fusing" parts - one got a little too hot and the middle ring melted open.  I still like the look so I'll have to melt another one to match! 

Here's a closeup of the earrings:

The earwires were also handmade - heat up the wire until it balls at the end, form the shape, heat them in the oven to harden and run through the tumbler to get them nice and shiny.