The sound of wind chimes jingling in the breeze can be a very pleasant addition to a spring or summer afternoon spent outdoors. If the idea of making your own wind chimes appeals to you, you are in luck: these simple decorative pieces can be crafted from a number of different repurposed materials. The guide below describes how to make wind chimes from old silverware using only a few tools and a little bit of time.

Steps

  1. 1
    Gather your materials. For this project, you will need 6 pieces of silverware, at least 1 of which must be a fork. Forks and spoons are preferable to knives, as the thick handles of knives make them difficult to drill a hole through for hanging. You will also need a pair of pliers, a pair of needle-nose pliers, a drill and a set of drill bits, and some fishing line or thin ribbon.
  2. 2
    Prepare the fork that will be the centerpiece. All of the remaining pieces of silverware will hang from this central fork. To prepare it, you will need to drill 2 holes in it and bend its prongs to allow for hanging the other pieces.
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  3. 3
    Drill holes in each remaining piece of silverware so that they can be hung. Only 1 hole needs to be drilled in each of the 5 additional pieces of silverware. Position the hole very near the end of the handle of each piece. Again, you may want to secure the silverware with a C-clamp when drilling.
  4. 4
    Make decorative changes to the remaining pieces of silverware if desired. The 5 remaining pieces of silverware can be hung as-is, or they can be altered in shape.
    • For example, you can use your needle-nose pliers to curl the tines of forks tightly back onto themselves. You could also curl the blade of a knife or the basin of a spoon in the same way.
    • Another option is hammering each piece of silverware flat. This would best be accomplished by laying the silverware on a hard work surface and striking them with a sledgehammer.
  5. 5
    Hang the lower pieces of silverware from the central fork. To begin assembling the wind chimes, cut 5 pieces of fishing line to the length that you want the lower pieces of silverware to hang.
  6. 6
    Hang the entire set of wind chimes from your desired location. Now, the 5 lower pieces of silverware should be hanging from the centerpiece fork above. The only remaining step is to tie a piece of fishing line through the hole in the handle of the central fork. This fishing line can then be tied to a hook in your ceiling, covered porch, or another location.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    Does this wind chime really make a pleasant sound?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    "Pleasant sound" is completely subjective. The sound will be pleasant to some, and perhaps not so pleasant to others. If you make them and you really dislike the sound, just leave them up until one of your friends says, "What a lovely sound," and then give them away.
  • Question
    If I am using glue to close the loops around the prongs, how can I keep them from coming undone?
    Gabriel
    Gabriel
    Community Answer
    You need to use thin wire to hold your silverware instead of glue. 18 to 26 gauge copper or silver wire is good enough for the weight of the ornament. Make a pretzel loop 3 or 4 inches / 5 to 10 cm from one end. Slide the silverware's prong or handles through the loops and pull the wire tight to close the loops and tighten the piece. Now grab the end and twist it to firmly hold them in place.
  • Question
    We've gone through several drill bits, either using a hand drill, or my husbands Shop Smith. We've used bees wax on the drill bit, placed the drill bit in water to cool it, you name it we've done it. I'm making wind chimes out of, silverware, stainless flatware. I'm just plain discouraged. We've used all the special sorts of drill bits. Can you tell me what we're doing wrong?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Don't drill so fast. Take it slow and let the bit do its work. Also, you may need to anneal your silverware if it is hardened. Heat it up to glowing red and let it cool down slowly.
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Things You'll Need

  • Silverware (6 pieces)
  • Pliers
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Drill
  • Drill bit
  • Fishing line or thin ribbon
  • C-clamp
  • Sledgehammer (optional)
  • Scissors
  • Beads (optional)

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 10 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 104,060 times.
139 votes - 95%
Co-authors: 10
Updated: October 21, 2021
Views: 104,060
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