The Coiling Gizmo Review

The Coiling Gizmo is a wire winding tool and one of a number of similar products invented by LeRoy Goertz. It is manufactured by Beadalon and available from vendors who sell Beadalon products. I received mine from Rings & Things, which sells it for under $7.

The model I reviewed includes one crank rod holder (or bracket), one screw, one 1.5mm crank rod, and one 3.5mm crank rod. A small instruction booklet was also included inside of the box.

Like many of the products in the Gizmo line, the function of this tool is to help form evenly sized coils of wire which you can cut up into small jump rings or create coiled wire beads and components with them. It is recommended that you use the enclosed screw to secure the bracket to a small board of wood. You could also use a "C" clamp and attach the bracket to the side of a work bench. This is something that I didn't realized until after I received it and started reading the instruction booklet. On the box, it shows a pair of hands holding the bracket, so I tried that instead and it worked fine. However, I could see that it might be helpful to have it secured if you plan to make a large number of wire components.

Once you secure the brackets, there are two holes for each rod, one small and larger to fit the different sizes. You first anchor your wire around the loop of the rod, insert the rod through the appropriate hole on the bracket, hold the wire against the bracket with your thumb, and with your other hand, start cranking the handle of the rod around and around. Voila! You easily form an even coil.

You can cut the links of the coil to form jump rings or you can use all kinds of different patterns to form coiled wire beads and components. The booklet includes instructions for making a double coiled bead.

The coiling tool itself I found to be well-made and fairly easy to operate when it comes to general coiling. Even without securing the bracket, I whipped out coils in just minutes after opening the box. However, I felt the directions included were lacking.

The instruction booklet could be a lot clearer than it is. All the images are in black and white, are small, and in some cases very dark and difficult to see well. I did go on the Coiling Gizmo web site and found more information there, but the same instructions in the booklet are there as well, so that wasn't very helpful. Finally, I went to YouTube.com and found a number of very nice videos created by various jewelry designers who demonstrated how to use this tool, so if you decide to purchase it, I would go there first before trying to navigate through the booklet. It will save you a lot of time.

If you just want to make a few jump rings, this tool is probably not for you since it only makes very small ones (no larger than 3.5mm). Now if you are interested in all the very cool coiling beads you can make, then this is worth the cost, but I would suggest doing some research on YouTube.com first. That way you can "see" what it is possible to make using this tool and whether the finished jewelry components are to your taste or not.