I made this tread in the techniques forum a little while ago, but decided to move it here as it is more appropriated[;)]
I originally submitted a Reader’s tip that appearred in the magazine in November and thought I would explain it in more details while, adding pictures.
I bought cable that is used to hook up stereo speakers. There should be 8 tiny brands twisted in 2 goups of 4, running side by side. I took a bit longer than what I needed, and stripped the insulation. That’s the tricky part as these brands are really fragile, and if one is slightly damaged, it might snap later. I then tried to separate each of them as best as possible. After this, I took 2 pairs of small locking pliers. I clamped down both end, making sure the brands are side by side, as close a possible to each other. I then started to twist one end until it looked like I wanted, trying to keep a constant tension.
I noticed that by varying the tension when you twist, it gives different results [;)]
I made the end clasps by forming the loops with the help of a drill bit, folding the cable back to were I wanted the steel thingy (on a real one) to end. I glued it together a this point. I made the renforcement steel points in the loops by cutting a strip of aluminum foil of the desired width. Not the foil that is use to cover food, but more like the one for a pizza. I used the drill bit again.
The steel thingy was made from a band of the same aluminum foil, slightly longer than the perimeter of the surface to wrap. I then used my drill index, again [:D], to bring it to the best tight fit as possible. The rest is just a matter of sliding it into place, rolling it in on itself and shape it to the desired form.
All there is left to do now is to shape as desired.