Fanciful double hook clasp

There are more commercially made clasps than you can imagine. They come in all sizes, types, and metals. So why would anyone want to make their own clasps?

I can think of a number of reasons. But chief among them is this … it’s just plain fun. There is a certain sense of fulfillment in coming up with a new design for a clasp. Granted, a lot of mine are variations on either hook and eye clasps or toggles. But they are still fun to imagine and create.

Another reason might be:  can’t find the clasp you need in the metal you need in your stock and you don’t want to wait until one is ordered to finish your latest and greatest creation.

Working with copper wire, it is sometimes very difficult to find a copper clasp. They are out there, but there aren’t a lot of them in our inventory. So I very often find myself making a clasp.

“Dragonfly” clasp. Jump rings are added to the “wings”. Typically, I set it up so that the open end is at the tail.

I’ve come up with a number of designs over the years. There are two hook and eye types that I’m particularly fond of. I call one the dragonfly clasp and the other the swan clasp. They can be made from any gauge of wire that is 20 or larger and still be very secure. The smaller gauges, 22 and below, tend to pull out of shape even with judicious hammering to harden the metal.

“Swan” clasps

There are, however, a couple of designs that hold up well in the smaller gauges. One of them is the triangle hook and eye. There is something about the shape that keeps it from pulling apart.

Triangle clasp from one of my personal necklaces.

The challenge with bending a toggle clasp from wire is in keeping the bar stable. For that reason, I often make the toggle clasps out of 18 gauge wire. And a little hammering at the loop helps to stabilize it.

I opted for a double wire and wrapped loop for the bar of this toggle clasp.

On a side note, the wrapped loop which I have already written about makes a great circle to put the bar of a toggle clasp through. The technique, though, for making that kind of wrapped loop is a little different from the kind I would use to connect beads together.

This one is a little weird and I’m not sure if I will ever actually use it.

Every now and then I will get into a mood to make clasps. That way, I always have a few on hand. And sometimes, if I’ve come up with a particularly charming clasp, I will design the necklace around that and make it a focal point.

This is a fairly complex double hook clasp. It could conceivably be used for a three-strand necklace as well as a single-stand.

The convenient thing about making a number of clasps ahead of time is that I can put them all into the tumble polisher for several hours and get them all bright and shiny. That way I don’t have to wait hours to finish whatever I am working on.

This is known as an “S” clasp. It can be left plain or with the wraps shown here. Also a bead can be wrapped into place in the center.

I really do enjoy all aspects of working with wire, but making clasps is one of my favorites.

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