Here are some tips for ordering WIRE from
@riogrande particularly what gauge and hardness! First you need to ask yourself: what kind of project are you making and where on the body will it be worn? If we use the image of rings as an example we can see that the 12g wire will provide us with more strength than the 18g. So choosing the gauge wire you will need for a project definitely depends on the amount of wear and tear (i.e a bangle gets more wear and tear than an earring). For earring posts and wires I have found that 20g (0.80mm) is good for most customers. The hardness of the wire you choose is all about application, if you are soldering the wire it becomes annealed so you might as well purchase dead soft. If you are making an earring wire which will simply be formed and cold connected, you could in this case benefit from working with half-hard or hard since it will maintain that hardness and give the earring wire strength! You can also use hard wire for wrapping wire or creating rivets. When it comes to decorative wires
@riogrande has an amazing selection! When working with the more fragile options like bead or half bead, always anneal prior to bending to avoid it snapping. I know that melting is definitely an issue many people experience so when you work with decorative wire try to give yourself as many connection points to the baseplate you are soldering to. Heat from below instead of putting the flame directly onto the decorative wire. Titanium clips and soldering clay can be useful for keeping design elements in place while soldering! I also wanted to showcase some of the amazing patterned options and they even have slotted wire (# 101984) this wire has a slot for sheet, so you can create a beautiful edge! When working with the patterned wires try to place your solder in an area which won’t cause it to run into the pattern! I love using Ronda Coryell’s Masking Mud (# 504099) to paint onto the decorative side to prevent solder from flowing onto it! If you have tips for working with decorative wire we would LOVE to hear
them! @riogrande is offering our community 50% CTO cutting fees with code MTLSMITH3 through 5/1/19 This applies to all metal.
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