by Poonam.
(Virginia USA)
I am new to jewellery making… In the experimenting phase really.
I’m having a tough time figuring out my wires and I don’t want to buy the more expensive precious metal wires as yet.
I want to make mainly earrings , ear wire designs but I don’t know which metal is best to use. I bought aluminum. It’s too soft. Colour coated copper I can’t seem to find in different hardness levels.
Does it only come in dead soft?
I also want to try out some hammering and small bent designs and so on. I’m becoming quite frustrated and I’ve only just started. But I do not want to give up. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Poonam
Hi, Poonam,
I can relate to your frustration! When I was beginning to work with wire, it was very confusing…gauges, hardness, types. For a beginner I would recommend sticking with the copper, but try out real copper wire from the hardware store. You can usually get it in a few different gauges on a spool for very little money. I like 20 and 18 for most wire work. It’s soft enough to manipulate easily, but can be work hardened with some light hammering with a rawhide mallet on a steel bench block.
It also has so many wonderful ways to patina or color it for lovely effects.
Good luck!
Hi Lynda,
Thank you so much for your advice. I shall go with the copper option and see how it goes…
Poonam
Poonam, the aluminum wire will not work for earrings if you are trying to make the ear wire themselves. It is too soft and not very good for those with sensitive ears. I don’t know how much it hardens when worked (most wire will “work harden” as you work with it, meaning it gets stronger in it’s shape and harder to manipulate). The artistic color coated wire is usually dead soft also, but can be work hardened into great designs, just not maybe for ear wires as it might not work for those with sensitive ears. I have been using the artistic color coated wire (copper core) for a lot of wire wrapping (beach glass wire wrapped pendants) and wrapped beadwork for joining together to make longer necklaces, and for wire wrapped bracelets. The different colors make a great addition to the pieces. If you are making the earring wires, half-hard is best as it will hold its shape better. You can harden the wires by using a plastic or rawhide mallet on it (which hardens the wire without marking it). Look online at You Tube or find some great books about wire working if you can.