Wirework Time Turner Pendant

Two things I really love are jewelry and the Harry Potter series. This combination has lead to a few projects already, including a golden snitch pendant and Hogwarts houses bracelets.

Last year, I also made a time turner pendant. Instead of actually crafting, like the other two projects, I calculated the sizes and designed the pieces ready to be 3D-printed. Three months and a lot of trouble later, I was finally able to make it. The reason I decided to get the parts printed was because I wanted to make it as exact as possible and I figured completely crafting it would be an impossible task.

Luckily, proving myself wrong is something I quite enjoy from time to time. Lately I have been drawing time turners, just because I like the design. This somehow made me determined to actually craft the pendant.

This instructable doesn't just explain how to make a time turner pendant, it explains an experiment. You could say I am showing you how I created my prototype, since that's basically what this version is. I've planned on making a finalised, improved version of this pendant as well.

I hope you like it!

To get a bit of an idea of how to make this pendant, I started by drawing the time turner. A google images search leads to a lot of reference pictures, so I'd really recommend you to take a look at those here.

Now normally I draw my design at about the same size as the finished pendant will be, I didn't do that this time, since that would have lead to a lot of detail going lost in the drawing.

The marked sections in the drawing are the places where there is a small loop, big enough for the wire to go through.

To make your own time turner pendant, you will need:

- wire (I used gauge 20 and gauge 26)

- pliers

- a mandrel/ round objects in the right sizes

- 2 beads to make the hourglass

- 4 beads for spacing between the circles

Before making the pendant, you'll need to know how long your pieces of wire should be. Measure the diameter of your hourglass (the diameter of the bead x 2 or measure it). For me, measuring gave a value of 1,1 cm.

To get the circumference of the inner circle, multiply the diameter of your hourglass with pi.

Next, you will need to measure the diameter of two of the spacing beads, since that will be the width between the two circles. Add this number to the diameter of the inner circle to get the diameter of the second circle.

Again, multiply this value with pi to get your circumference.

For the last circle, add the diameter of two of the spacing beads again, this time to the diameter of the second circle.

To get that final circumference, multiply that value with pi as well.

*Note*

You will also need to add the width of the wire to these calculations. Step 11 will tell you why.

Now you know the circumferences of the three circles, but that's not the length of the wire you'll want to use. It's easiest to double the value you found last step. This way you will have enough wire to work with, yet not to much needs to be cut off.

Why do you need to double the circumference?

That's where the image comes in. As you can see, half of the circle is overlapping to make sure there is enough place to secure the wire. This means you'll already need 1,5 times the circumference. You'll also need to make two loops, so a little bit extra is nice here.

Measure your wire and cut it. Next, measure half of the circumference and make the measured point the corner of an 'L' shape. This will be the beginning of a loop. Using the tip of your round nose pliers, bend the wire into a small loop as shown. Try to let it continue in a straight line.

Measure half of the circumference again to find the position of the second loop. As you can see in the fourth picture, one of the sides ends higher than the other. If your wire starts low and continues high, makes sure after the second loop it continues low again.

Now you will need to find an object with the exact diameter of your inner circle. I had planned to use a mandrel for this entire project, but the top was 1,3 cm and I needed 1,1. Luckily, a quick search lead to a pen with an exact diameter of 1,1 cm.

As you are bending the rod, you might notice the loops not really bending properly. This can be fixed by either flattening them carefully with a pair of pliers or by just remembering to start bending the high side.

Once the circle is formed, you can test it to see if your beads fit.

Repeat the last two steps for the other circles as well. After making the second loop, you can add all the beads again to check if everything still fits. Finding the right diameter can be a bit tricky, but I'd really recommend to only use objects that have the right size, otherwise your circles won't be that exact.

Now that you've created all three circles, it's really helpful to get a clear view of what you've got right now.

To create the loops to go on top of the pendant, start by cutting off a piece of wire. Bend it in a 'U' shape, making sure to keep the right amount of space between the two parts. Using your round nose pliers, bend the wires down to create the loops. Bend them straight again halfway of the loop as shown. To finish this part, bend the wire around the same round object that you bended your outer circle around.

To close the inner circle, coil the gauge 26 wire around the overlapping half of the circle as shown. This will prevent the wire from shifting and therefore it will prevent the circle from deforming. After that, coil the other half of the circle as well.

And then it's time for a really fun part! Or, time for a really frustrating part: the assembly of the inner circles. Take your two inner circles, the two hourglass beads and two of the spacing beads. Also cut off a piece of gauge 26 wire. Thread the beads on the wire in the right order, through the inner circle.

As you can see in last picture, for me this gave a total of just under 2 cm. But, according to the calculations, it should have been 1,7 cm. In these calculations, I didn't think about the mm's the wire would add.

After you've got your inner part prepared, add it to the second circle. Secure the ends of the wire by coiling them around the circle a few times as shown.

Now it's time to add the loops you made a few steps ago. Test fit it, make adaptions if necessary and cut off the parts that go beyond the loops.

To join the outer circle and the loop part, start by cutting off a long piece of gauge 26 wire. Start coiling in the middle of your to-be-coiled part with the middle of your coiling wire and work your way to the sides.

As you can see in the first picture, the loops aren't positioned straight across each other, even though that was actually where I wanted them to be. So, I carefully rebounded one of the loops.

*Note*

This is an improvement I made to my pendant because it didn't work out exactly the way I wanted it to. If yours looks just fine, there's no need to improve of course :)

The bottom part of the outer circle needs to be secured as well, so just keep coiling on.

Time to choose the handles! At first I had planned to use beads, but they just seemed to draw too much attention away from the other parts of the pendant. The beads pictured were my possibilities.

After all this time, and the second circle has still gone uncoiled! Joining the outer two rings is the perfect opportunity I'd say. Coil from two sides to the middle, where you can add your spacing beads. After that, add it to the outer circle just like you did with the inner two circles.

For the handles, you can of course do whatever you think looks good. I started by bending a few loops around my round nose pliers, after that I continued wrapping freehanded. Whatever you do, just remember to carefully tuck away the ends.

All that you need to do now is add a chain and become the proud owner/wearer of a crafted time turner!

I really hope you liked this project, like said before there will be an improved version later but I think this one turned out pretty good already :)