Which jewelry wire to use for this?

04 Jul 2010

4 Jul, 2010 wire jewelry making

I am making earrings and shaping the earring myself with jewelry wire. Mostly hoops and teardrop shapes. But my wire will not hold it’s shape when I wrap it with thread. Where can I get jewery wire that will hold its shape when wrapped with thread. I need a stiff wire that won’t bend out of shape when it is formed into the shape I need it to be. Peruvian thread earrings to be exact. Best place with lowest prices, since I’m just starting and my budget won’t allow very expensive wire. Thanks!

you can use 18 or 20 gage wire. I buy it at micheals is should be about $4.00. try getting a book from your library on beading, it should tell you more specifics.

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2 Responses

linda101
2010 Jul 04 1

you can use 18 or 20 gage wire. I buy it at micheals is should be about $4.00. try getting a book from your library on beading, it should tell you more specifics.
References :
Gary Helwig
2010 Jul 21 2

When you purchase precious metal wire or some brass wire, you can purchase wire with a defined hardness. Usually, the commercially available silver, gold, gold-filled, or brass wire can be purchased in a defined hardness of soft or half-hard. With some vendors you can also purchase wire that is fully hardened. Inexpensive wire is almost always purchased without a defined hardness and that means that usually the wire is soft. The one exception to this is that Artistic Wire anti-tarnish brass is usually somewhere between half-hard and hard. Please note that soft wire does not work the same as half-hard wire. Soft wire does a good job of making rounded shapes and can make spirals. Half-hard wire does a good job of making angular shapes, shapes where wire is wrapped around pegs in a jig, and half-hard wire can not make spirals. (For making hoops and tear drop shapes, soft wire tends to work better.)

Obviously hardness is only one parameter in the wire that you purchase. The other important parameter is the size of the wire. Most earring bodies are made with 20 gauge wire. Bolder earring designs are made with 18 gauge wire. Really bold earring designs are made with 16 gauge wire.

There is one final thing to consider when making hoops and tear drop shapes. Frequently, you will find that you need to harden your design after you have shaped it. For hoops and tear drop shapes it often helps to hammer the wire with a nylon hammer after you have shaped the design. For hoops, it helps to hammer the wire into the round mandrel that you used to create the round shape.

Here are some free instructions in how WigJig recommends that you make hoops and teardrops:

http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-making/runway/pg06.htm

http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-wire/lisa.htm

http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-making/raindrop/raindroppg06.htm

Jewelry Making