Cabochons come in many shapes and are made from a variety of stones such as hematite, aventurine, and agate.Though there are many ways to wrap cabs with wire, I find this method works well for me. If you've never tried to wrap a cab before, I recommend that you start with a fairly large cab. The larger the cab, the easier it is to handle. Of course, the larger the cab, the more wire you’ll need.

Here are the supplies/equipment you’ll need:

*Some people recommend using 20 gage vs. 22 gage square wire. However, 20 gage is much stronger and harder. So, if you’ve got whimpy hands (like me) then try using 22 gage.

**For clamps, you can also use those black binder clips available at office supply stores which are used for binding papers together. Just make sure you cover the inside of the binder clips with a soft cloth or something so you don't scratch up your wire.

1. Take masking tape and wrap it around the edge of the cab. Then carefully unwrap it from the cab and place it along side a ruler. To determine the length of square wire to use, add four inches to the length of the tape. For the cab I did in this example, my length was 7 ½ inches.

2. Now cut three pieces of square wire at the length determined, and use a soft cloth to straighten the pieces of wire.

3. Next, fit the three pieces of square wire tightly against each other and use the clamps to keep them together. (Before clamping them together, it also looks nice if the top and bottom wires are twisted. It adds to the finished piece and looks a lot like diamond cutting.)

4. Determine the middle of the wires and make the first wrap here using the round wire. Add two other wraps on either side of the middle wrap approx. 1 inch from the middle.

5. Now fit the cab up against the wrapped wires, and form the wires around the cab so that the middle wrap is against the bottom of the cab and the other wraps are on either side of the cab.

6. Once the wires fit tightly around the cab, make another wrap at the top of the cab so that there is about 2 inches of wires left free at the top.

Page 2 of this project shows how to

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