Wednesday 1 June 2016

Know your wires

Hi!

During my searches I found out that wire wrapping is one of the oldest techniques for making handmade jewellery and examples of using it is dated back as far as Sumerian Empire, so... thousands of years ago.


To learn techniques, first you need to know a bit about wires you can use for jewellery making.
Wires are available in a variety of materials eg. copper, brass, sterling silver, gold-filled, silver-filled.
They can have different shapes: round, half-round, square or patterned eg. twisted or flat. They come in three hardnesses, plus you need to be sure which diameter of wire you need for you project - and here you have lots to choose from.


I think I stick with copper, but I need more research, cause I'm not sure about hardness of wires available around for jewellery making, lots of wires I found on websites are marked as soft... Can I find copper in half-hard? Hmmm... Possibly yes, cause this kind of wire is good for making jump rings, ear wires, hoop earrings and other shapes. In that case I need to find seller who has half-hard copper wire in offer :)

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