Wire is considered a universal material from which you can create a huge number of crafts. Craftsmen and craftswomen use different types of wire in their creative work, combining it with other materials (beads, scraps of fabric, plasticine).
A creative approach allows you to create original crafts in the form of three-dimensional figures, interior elements, various brooches, and toys. Even children, without any experience at all, love to create beautiful, unique things using this material.
Due to its properties, simplicity and ease of use, wire has become a favorite for home creativity among adults and children.
Wire and decorations
Wire is the most important material that you can find in craft stores. It comes in different colors and textures, but as a rule, the base copper color is the most affordable.
This is what we recommend using for your first works, and only then moving on to more expensive color ones. Also, keep in mind that you can complement your crafts with any decorations, for example, beads, beads and any other material.
In addition to regular wire, you can find flat wire of various widths, twisted and even plastic threads. Usually preference is given to copper, since it is an extremely malleable, soft metal. Children and toddlers will enjoy fiddling with chenille wire because of its slight frills.
Decor
Additional forged parts next to the fireplace will help decorate the openwork metal grille. It could be a poker, a basket, tongs, even a chair could stand on cast iron legs.
A stencil on the fireplace can also act as decoration. With its help, a stone fireplace can be turned into a brick one. You can stick various monograms, patterns, and monograms on the fireplace.
Ventilation grilles are usually decorated with heat-resistant paint with the addition of metals. You can choose gold, nickel, copper, brass elements. The mesh should be chosen from ceramics.
When contemplating an open fire, a feeling of peace and quiet, comfort and warmth comes. Probably, the ancient people experienced the same thing when sitting around their hearth. A modern person, involved in the frantic modern rhythm of life, often lacks this. That is why many of us strive to install a fireplace in our home so that on long winter evenings we can relax and drink coffee next to it and watch the bright lights of the flame.
Let's get started
In order to understand the principle of making crafts and feel how metal behaves in your hands, we recommend trying something simple first. Three-dimensional figures require a lot of skill and preparation, as well as high material consumption.
Christmas tree
To create this decoration, which can serve as a unique gift, you will need very little effort. Make a base from copper wire by twisting it in a spiral. To prevent it from “walking” in different directions, help yourself with pliers, starting from the outer radius and moving towards the center. The more turns you make, the more stable your structure will be.
Next, make a trunk extending from the center two centimeters in height and begin to make volumetric turns, reducing their radius towards the top. The New Year tree can be decorated with tinsel and other decorations, giving it a festive look.
Increasing the amount of heat
A fireplace is a decorative hearth, so it produces significantly less heat than a traditional stove.
However, there is a way to increase the temperature in the house from the fireplace: just install a ventilation grille.
With its help, the air in the room will be warmed up and its further movement from the casing into the house - convection.
Ventilation screens for fireplaces allow air to circulate freely. However, only a professional can guarantee the successful operation of the grate - after all, accurate measurements are important to improve the heating function of the fireplace.
There are several holes on the ventilation grille: convection occurs through them.
Their shape is of great importance: wide holes will help air masses circulate quickly, but they will not have time to warm up. Therefore, you need to be careful when choosing a ventilation grill.
It is prohibited to use plastic for the production of grilles, because it will not withstand high temperatures and will quickly become unusable.
However, sometimes a similar design can be found in a hardware store - however, this fact indicates the manufacturer’s little awareness of the design of a compact stove.
Like the screen, the ventilation grille performs both functions – decorative and technical.
Just a few years ago, manufacturers and consumers preferred round or diamond-shaped grilles. Today, trapezoidal models are at the peak of popularity.
The size of the grille is a decisive factor in matters of heat retention: more air masses will pass through a larger grille.
Therefore, this design will help achieve fast heating faster than a small screen.
Cold flows enter the large openings as quickly as possible, and exit into the house through the chimney already well heated.
Of course, installing a grille is not at all necessary, but it is very useful. Ventilation grilles for fireplaces can increase the amount of heat by at least 20%, provided there is high-quality thermal insulation and a small room area.
In addition, the risk of overheating the duct or chimney is reduced, because the temperature in it can reach about 150 degrees.
Installation of the ventilation grille can be carried out both before and during construction.
However, it is worth considering the accuracy of the calculations: the interior of the fireplace must be sealed for proper convection.
In this case, it is important to direct the warm air flow to the center of the room, and not to the wall bordering the structure.
If smoke enters the house through the ventilation grille, it means that it is installed incorrectly in the chimney.
However, sometimes convection in the chimney can be forced - by means of a fan. The box must be sealed.
Otherwise, immediately after the start of the test, air will begin to evaporate through small holes.
Don’t forget about regular cleaning: such work needs to be done twice a year. If maintenance is neglected, the ventilation grille will quickly become clogged, making it difficult for air to get in and out.
Making a ventilation grill for a fireplace yourself is quite difficult - finding high-quality heat-resistant paint is difficult for the average person.
Therefore, it is important that such work is carried out by a qualified specialist - only with proper installation is it possible to obtain the maximum amount of heat from the fireplace.
Chameleon
The advantage of chenille wire is that even the simplest designs take on an unusual and intricate look. The chameleon will be made of several parts, one of which is the head.
Take a knitting needle and use the sharp end to make a small number of turns. From the head there should be a straight part of the wire equal to the future length of the body.
Next, make two pairs of legs and start making the body, similar to how it was for the caterpillar, leaving a small piece for the curved tail.
The next step is to pass the legs through the coils of the body and bend them, then insert the head into the body and secure a straight wire at the base of the tail - the chameleon is ready.
Resin mold
There is absolutely no need for the average user to classify the handles. When purchasing, he chooses a knife that is convenient for himself. But when making a handle yourself, you should understand that the process of its production will depend on the selected model type option.
You will need to make this form yourself. They are not sold in the store. But this will allow you to make a unique product. And if you add dye to epoxy resin, you will get beauty. There are several options for creating a fill mold.
Expert opinion
Konstantin
Since childhood, I have been interested in knives and everything connected with them. I bring the accumulated knowledge to the masses. I make knives myself. I take criticism positively, but I also like to argue.
By making the handle from epoxy resin, it will meet all the necessary safety and quality requirements. The use of resin is quite an original and interesting idea from a design point of view. You just need to know some of the nuances of production.
From sculptural plasticine
The mold for the handle of a knife made of epoxy resin will consist of two halves. The exception is the symmetrical handle. One form will be enough. For production you will need sculptural plasticine and plastic film.
Regular plasticine will not work. It will spread at the slightest increase in temperature. You will need to make a cast; it can be obtained using a working knife. You should lay a plastic film on the surface of the plasticine bar.
The best option would be food stretch. Make sure that the film fits tightly to the plasticine. If there are air bubbles, you should disperse them by hand. Then the handle of the knife is applied and pressed halfway into the plasticine. This will give us a cast of the handle.
Glued forms
A block of plasticine.
If in the previous version, filling with epoxy resin meant two halves separately, then in this case it means gluing plasticine bars together. Don't forget to leave a hole for pouring the solution.
And the result is a solid handle of the required shape.
The product obtained in this way does not need to be sharpened during finishing. It will be enough to sand and polish the finished handle. The complexity of the process is slightly higher than the previous option. Both methods are simple and accessible to beginners in this matter.
Solid wood handle
In this version, everything looks quite simple. The method involves casting a solid block from epoxy resin. It is then ground to the desired shape. This is the most time-consuming method. But you can get the result you need.
Cylinder shaped handle
Such handles are rather unattractive in appearance. But the manufacturing method is quite simple. Using acrylic sheets, finished tubes are obtained from them. Which will act as a handle. This production does not require much time and effort, and is suitable for completely green beginners.
Examples of epoxy resin handles.
Beautiful flower
Beautiful works are not always difficult to make; for example, a flower is an ideal compromise of simplicity and an attractive image. There can be a lot of design options, and almost all of them relate to the design of the petals.
The stem is made of three parts - the base, on top of which there may be a bead, and leaves. For the petals, cut small pieces of metal thread and secure them at the base to give the future flower a colorful look.
Musical touches
The music reference book says: A stroke is a way of producing sound on musical instruments. If on the piano sound production depends on the manner of touching the keys, then on the violin everything depends on the touch of the bow to the strings. For each group of instruments (keyboards, drums, strings, etc.), the methods for extracting sound will be different. These techniques have a name - touche. From French it means “to touch”, “to touch”.
There are a number of strokes that can be performed on almost any instrument. But there are also strokes that belong to a specific instrument. For example, the “pizzicato” stroke is only possible on bowed string instruments. Below I will give examples of several musical touches.
The arc drawn under the notes is called a league. The sound of these notes flows smoothly from one to another. This stroke is called “Legato”:
The dots under each note mean that the sound of such notes should be short and abrupt. The term describing this technique is called "Staccato":
There are plenty of other musical touches you can explore on your own.
Butterfly
Butterfly is also a simple work, which can be complicated with experience using beads, seed beads and more ornate shapes. The wings can be either hollow or contain elements of the ganutel technique.
First, make the body of a butterfly, onto which you already string a head with antennae and wings, or prepare two identical halves, subsequently fastening them with a piece of wire.
Rules for using products
It should be remembered that epoxy resin is not a particularly durable material. It's more of a design raw material. It is necessary to take into account the loads that such a blade can withstand. Some operating rules must be followed. Here they are:
- do not leave the product dirty, rinse it with water after use;
- Direct sunlight is harmful to the material; do not leave the knife in such conditions;
- such a handle is afraid of falls and impacts, after which chips and cracks may form on the handle;
- It is not recommended to wash the product with cleaning agents; use only clean running water.
And so epoxy resin in everyday life does not cause any harm to humans and the environment. The material is considered environmentally friendly and harmless. But mainly such handles are used as souvenirs.
Toy soldiers
To entertain your child, you can try making a soldier with him. Having understood the principle of work, he will subsequently be able to independently engage in creativity.
For this craft you will need plastic wire of various shades. Using white, prepare the frame by sketching out the arms, legs and head.
There is no need to achieve an exact match to the original. Think about what position your soldier will be in; he may be on the move, in combat readiness, or drawing a weapon from a holster.
Use different colors to indicate items of clothing - pants, jacket, helmet and boots. The final touch will be the manufacture of weapons, which must also be done schematically.
Materials used
Decor can radically change the look of a fireplace and give it uniqueness and personality. The main thing is to ensure that the decor matches the overall style of the room’s interior.
A wide variety of elements are used to decorate a fireplace.
Flowers
Flowers and plants are an indispensable means of adding softness to the interior. If the fireplace is made of stone, living plants will add smooth lines, and it will no longer look so rough and cumbersome.
You can safely place shade-loving plants on the mantelpiece. A composition of flowering plants and decorative foliage, such as asparagus, will look advantageous.
A very effective combination is provided by bright yellow flowers and delicate branches of bushes on the white background of the fireplace. Arrange them symmetrically on the mantel in clear vases. This technique will enliven the interior and fill it with positivity.
Plants in simple clay pots are appropriate on the mantelpiece of a fireplace decorated with textured patterns.
Wire
Wire is an excellent material that allows you not only to decorate a false fireplace, but also to achieve its maximum resemblance to the real one.
Every fireplace has a grate. To make it, you will need thick aluminum wire, which must be inserted into a vinyl chloride tube. After the grille imitation is completed, it is painted gold or copper. This decorative element is ideal for a false fireplace with imitation stonework.
Fireproof coating
Dye. Quite often, fireproof coatings that can withstand high temperatures are used to decorate the fireplace. To treat the surface of the fireplace you need heat-resistant paint. It is not afraid of 650 degrees, so it is ideal in this application.
At the preparatory stage, the surface of the fireplace to be painted is cleaned. The fireplace itself is heated to medium temperature. A layer of plaster is applied to the wetted surface. After it has dried, you can begin painting. The paint should be applied in three thin layers.
Glass. Glass is a fireproof decorative element that also performs a safety function. It is placed on the doors or the fireplace is completely constructed from heat-resistant glass.
Glass has a number of advantages: it allows you to observe the flame without damaging your health and the interior, as it prevents smoke, sparks, and accidentally falling coals from entering the room. In addition, manufacturers offer a wide selection of this material, from simple options to interesting and unusual ones - tinted, embossed, with patterns.
Among the shortcomings is the presence of soot on the inside of the glass.
Battery. In some apartments, the radiator of the battery spoils the entire interior of the apartment. It is not recommended to close it completely, as this will significantly reduce heat transfer. But to disguise it with a false fireplace is quite acceptable. A white box, a white radiator and a dark wood mantelpiece, on which photographs and souvenirs will sit comfortably, will look very harmonious.
The decor of the fireplace itself should be minimal. A small stucco molding painted with gold paint will suffice.
Laser cutting
Laser cutting technology allows you to create panels of amazing beauty from metal that decorate fireplaces. Any sketches can be cut out using a laser; there is no limit to complexity. These can be all kinds of patterns, pictures of nature. Outwardly, there is a feeling that the panels are made of paper.
Laser-cut fireplace grates not only prevent fire, but also look very impressive.
Stucco molding
The following materials are used to make stucco:
- Expanded polystyrene. The most budget-friendly, but also short-lived option. Easily attaches to the base.
- Gypsum. Durable material that does not lose its properties over time. More expensive compared to polystyrene foam.
- Polyurethane. Material that is not afraid of high humidity. Does not lose shape and color over time.
The opening is decorated with stucco molding, stylizing it as antiquity or the Middle Ages. The aging technique is often used. To make decorative elements yourself, use stencils and special molds for pouring liquid solution into them.
Stamps
Clay tiles, which are stamped with patterns, are an ideal facing material for fireplaces. The material will not crack or crumble and will perfectly retain the heat of the fireplace for a long time. However, this process is quite labor-intensive. After all, you need to stick each tile.
It is much easier to use a ready-made mold, which will create an interesting textured surface on the raw plaster surface, imitating stonework. But there is no need to lay every stone. After drying, all that remains is to paint the fireplace in the desired color.
Heart on a stand
Take children's wooden cubes for the base of our future craft, and then think about what shape will stand on it - it could be a heart or letters that form one word.
Make a long base with a simple curve at the top. Drill a small hole and insert our work there.
Tree
Crafting a tree from wire is extremely easy to make, but it will require a considerable amount of material and time from you. The base can be placed in a decorative vase or in any other place. The trunk is made by twisting a large number of metal threads into a single whole, into which branches are subsequently woven.
Instead of leaves, use beads or decorative stones. Although this work does not seem difficult, practice on simpler things before making it.
The principles of making a mesh with your own hands
When making a grill grill from stainless steel, the frame can be made in the form of a frame or some other shape that creates a plane for a wire mesh. If you use steel rods with a diameter of 5 mm or more, then this can be either a contour around the perimeter, or a snake, a web, etc.
The frame can be made of stainless steel sheet. It will be tougher. The complexity of manufacturing lies in cutting such metal and subsequent fastening of the rods. First, you will have to cut out a rectangle from the sheet slightly larger than the area of the future grid, step back 3 cm from the edge and cut out the inside. The middle contour of the resulting frame should be drawn between the inner and outer edges. The ends of the rods should be adjacent to this line.
After welding the wire, it is necessary to make cuts at the corners of the outer edge of the frame and bend the contour around the perimeter inward, tightly pressing the sheet steel against the rods and in the spaces between them. This approach allows you to make the edges of the grille safe. It is recommended to use the barbecue device with the bent edges facing down.
A similarly practical option is to make the frame from a steel tube. The difficulty is in finding accessible material. The master’s task sometimes comes down to sorting through scrap metal and old spare parts from various equipment, so there can be many ways to solve the problem.
The frequency of placement of stainless steel rods should be such that the distance between the cells (holes) of the mesh does not allow pieces of food to fall through the grate. In order for the plane elements to be rigid and the length of the voids to be shorter, the wire must lie perpendicular to the long edge of the frame. The dimensions of the rods should be measured according to the smaller dimension of the mesh: if the shape is rectangular, by the width, if oval, by the smaller diameter.
The connection of the rods to the frame of the stainless grill grate is most often done by welding - a strong one-piece connection. The process is quick and uncomplicated. You need to get a welding machine and buy a couple of the thinnest electrodes so as not to burn through the wire or sheet steel. If you don’t have welding skills, it is recommended to entrust the job to an experienced craftsman or first practice on scraps yourself.
The fastening of rods can be different: there are all kinds of solutions for mechanical connection of parts. For example, instead of individual rods, bend the wire in the form of a frequent snake, and secure the bends at the edges of the frame with clamps or clamps made of stainless steel sheet.
A cast iron grill grate requires forging skills from the craftsman, which seems to be a rather complex technological process. But electric welding of cast iron rods is possible subject to special temperature conditions and the use of special electrodes made of metals that can be melted at lower temperatures. In this case, rapid cooling of the seam is prohibited so that the structure of the cast iron does not collapse. To achieve this, the electrode coating is supplemented with inclusions of graphite and other substances, which must be taken into account when purchasing the material.
Pendant
Any stone wrapped in an ornate wire frame turns into a beautiful handmade pendant. Just look at the photo below and understand how beautiful it can be with the right approach.
Material
Metal gratings intended only for interior decoration may not have high fire-resistant properties. In this case, air duct and fireplace grilles can be decorated with glass, stone, and gilding.
If protection and safety come first, then for the fireplace it is necessary to use a forged grate made of high-quality material that is not susceptible to corrosion.
Ventilation grilles for fireplaces are usually:
- cast iron;
- steel;
- aluminum;
- ceramic.
These are the most common materials in the manufacture of fireplace screens.
Tips for work
Looking at the photos of wire crafts, you may notice that there are one or two techniques per job. This decision is made by the masters for a reason and allows them not to overload the final result.
Do not combine chenille and copper wires in your crafts, as almost always the result will not be what you expect. If you have such a desire, or have unused material left, resort to the help of works presented on the Internet.
Use a soldering iron only when it is rational to use it, for example, it can be used to divide a thick wire into two parts or connect a piece of metal thread if it is impossible to attach it to a craft in any other way.
Specialized gratings
Stationary stoves with a chimney require the use of durable and heavy non-portable grates. Most often, rectangular in shape. Installing the mesh in the oven with your own hands can be done in two ways:
- On the ledges - it’s simple and convenient, because the mesh is easy to remove or change if necessary.
- On fastenings. The grill grate can be removed, but the grill will hold it during grilling.
- Built-in device. This method involves laying the grate at the construction stage of the furnace. Creating a rigid structure ensures the stability of the metal device and additional ties to the brick structure.
In metal barbecues and barbecues, the grate is installed according to the same principles, but the sizes and shapes are varied: often round or rectangular, although elliptical is also found. If the stove design is factory-made, the grate is usually included. And if the grill is made by yourself, you will have to take care of the metal fixture yourself.
