Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

pst2 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:55:14 GMT

I actually rather like the colored copper wire you shaped into a spiral and then flattened. The copper showing through gave the piece a bit more visual interest.

I hadn't thought about hammering the pieces flat. I need to give that a try

Sue

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

Keking2 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:03:18 GMT

All my suggestions were very well covered in the responses. I do have a question though, you mentioned that to soften wire you would heat it to anneal it - any ideas on how hot that would need to be. I order my sterling wire from a smelting company who charge extra for annealing their half hard wire, so I want to soften my wire myself - any suggestions? Thanks Kathy

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

TinaS@33 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:52:08 GMT

I have found that not all hammers are created equal. Some hammers make a mark that looks like a deep scratch, some like a dot, some oval, some hammers are so flat that they make no mark at all. I took a piece of metal and went to the store. I tried out 10 hammers all the same style and brand before I found the one I loved.

Thought this information might help someone.

Tina

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

JanineB@7 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:27:16 GMT

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR RUBBERIZED TOOL COATING

IT IS CALLED GRIP DIP....ANY HARDWARE STORE OR AN

AUTO PARTS STORE WILL CARRY THIS PRODUCT.

THE MANUFACTURER IS HOMAX.

IT IS A GREAT FRIEND OF MINE....PREVENTS MARKS FROM GETTING ON THE METAL I AM WORKING WITH

LIFE IS GOOD,

JANINE

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

Opus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:45:59 GMT

Just a few quick comments about your article.

The reason the jump rings don't come out evenly when you try to hammer them flat is because more metal is used in the outer portion of the ring than the inner.

Think about the differential on your car. When you make any turn in either direction, the outside wheels must go faster in order to keep up with the inner wheels because they have a greater distance to travel than the inner wheels. The differential is the equipment that makes this happen.

A track runner on the outside lane must run faster than the runner on the inside lane because he has a greater distance to run.

It's the same with any round object. The perimeter of the outside is larger than the perimeter of the inside of the ring, so therefore when you hammer them flat, they're going to be misshapen.

Also, I don't hammer my coloured wire. In order to flatten it completely, I put it gently through the small, flat piece of my BlueMoon Beads round-nose pliers and work it through, gently pressing it flat when I go. With a piece of tape on the inside flat portion of the pliers, it protects the colour of the wire, and keeps you from using large portions of money needed to invest in an anvil and bal-peen hammer.

Best,

Opus

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

SonjaM@8 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:33:48 GMT

If you are going to be doing any type of stamping I would suggest that you use a brass hammer. Steel hammers will eventually damage your stamp. Also the brass hammer is heavier and has more of a flat surface so there is not so much error when trying to stamp your metal. And not as much effort needed to get a good stamp since the weight of the hammer does most of the work for you.

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

HeatherM@78 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:41:54 GMT

I hammer colored copper wire and non-tarnish wire all the time. The trick is that you cannot flatten it, but hammer it to work harden it.

First place your wire on a pad of newspaper. Then hammer with a rubber mallet or hammer. This will not mark or flatten the wire, but will harden it.

Heather

from PA

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

ShelbyR@3 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:29:36 GMT

I work with Artistic Wire and I found that if I'm careful, I don't mar the polyurethane coating. I use a steel block and then I put the jewelry component on a piece of leather and fold the leather over the top. (I use a piece of leather that is about 8 inches long and 2.5 inches wide that I cut from one of my husband's old wallets.) then, I hammer away. The coating seems to survive. I use a planishing hammer.

If the metal is really brittle, as I find anodized aluminum usually is, I use a leather or plastic hammer.

I use "Tool Magic" to coat my pliers - especially the round-nose pliers. I got mine on E-bay. My husband who is an electrician says electricians use it all the time to coat tool handles, so someplace that caters to electricians might have it.

I always use dead soft wire - unless I'm really desperate or working with brass. :-) It's usually quite hard by the time I'm done working with it, but if it's not and it needs to be cleaned I tumble it in my rotary tumbler with stainless steel shot, 1T dishsoap and enough water to just cover the mixture with the jewelry in it. After that it is super hard and I can't bend it without re-heating it.

I hope that helped!!

Best wishes,

Shelby

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

malexander33 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:42:58 GMT

advice requested -

I'm starting to make chain (or, chain mail, however it is properly named). I have a lot of "dead soft" wire. it hardens some as I wind it on a mandrel before cutting individual jump rings. I also tumble the cut jump rings before working with them. I'm told that neither of these steps will really harden the wire enough.

Instead, the advice is to use half-hard wire for chain. good advice but I'd like to use up my dead soft wire first!

one suggestion to harden dead-soft wire is to stretch a section of wire between the closed jaws of a vice and the chuck of an electric drill. then, turn on the drill at a low speed and slowly twist the wire till it breaks at one end or the other.

this works but it hardens the wire too much, in my opinion - it is very hard to close the jump rings properly and the wire is brittle.

does anyone know a better method to harden dead soft SS wire so that it becomes more like Half-Hard SS wire?

thanks,

Mary

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

Kelli@23 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:41:33 GMT

This "Don't" is really more of a cautionary tale: As I hammered away with my ball peen hammer on my new steel block, happily oblivious to everything but the task in front of me, I was suddenly interrrupted by a literal cascade of seed beeds raining down upon me and my work surface from above. I was utterly oblivious to the vibrations my hammering was causing to my stacks of bead boxes above me. About a kilo of seed beads lay scattered all over my studio. It's funny now, but there was some slippin' and slidin' until I got them all scraped up. Even now I look at that bag of bead soup and remember my motto, Hammer Softly and Look Up Every So Often.

--Kelli P.

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

JudyO@14 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:40:14 GMT

Try a chasing hammer for most workl. You can use the back side to texture as well. If you must hammer colored wire then use a rawhide hammer and be gentle. It can work.

And for those of you talking about coating your tools try Tool Magic. You can get it at almost any jewelry supply. This allows you to recoat your tools whenever you like. Very easy to use.

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

LesliM — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:24:10 GMT

Robyn O. I just found some on the internet called Plasti-Dip and it comes in a spray can too. I found it at Amazon for 5.69, so cheap too. Keep looking at hardware stores too, apparently it's still out there. Lesli M

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

LesliM — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:17:55 GMT

Robin O. I've not purchased it in some time, but I used to just look for it in hardware stores. It used to come in a can the size of a tennis ball can or a bit smaller. It even came in colors and I've used it on all sorts of tools that I don't want to leave marks on. The sharp edged tools will obviously cut through the plastic quicker but you can get quite a few applications before having to pull off the plastic and redip. Try looking on line, as I've not bought it for some time. I hope they still make it, I'm guessing they do since they still plastic coat the handles of jewelry tools. It's a great product but does dry out after time and it has to be replaced. Good luck. Lesli

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

IngridS@16 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:30:35 GMT

I've done a bit of hammer forging on various metals. You can keep your rings round by angling the hammer slightly so you hit the outside curve more than the inside. Not a lot of angle, just a little.

If you have problems with nicks, dents or dulling, polish your hammer face. And your anvil surface. Wet/dry sandpaper works well for that. Get it wet and use some elbow grease. Start with a course grit, about 220, and work up to 600 or 1000. If your striking surfaces are polished, you won't get dents in your wire. You can even improve a dull surface with a smooth hammer. Its called "hammer polishing".

You can also buy a planishing hammer, which is designed for hammer polishing. Its a funny looking hammer, with a broad, flat face and a small rounded back end.

One of my favorite books is All Wired Up, I can't remember tha author off hand, but its a great tutorial on how to work with wire.

Ingrid the Crafty

re: Hardening Wire: 3 Quick Experiments

RobynO2 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:30:25 GMT

LesliM, where do you get the plastic dip? How long does an application last? Are there any tools you wouldn't recommend using it on? I hate getting scratches from my pliers, and that sounds more functional than bending things with tools in ziploc bags. LOL It's a passable method if you're really stuck, but it gets annoying after a while.