Special Report: Wire EXPOSED

Transcription

1 Special Report: Wire EXPOSED Part 1: Never Wonder Again: G.A.U.G.E., Temper and Shape By Christine Gierer

2 Legal Stuff: Note: This report is copyrighted and may not be reprinted or resold. You can however direct people to so they can subscribe and get their own free copy of this special report. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated, and signed permission by the author. DISCLAIMER AND/ OR LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date of publication. The report is for informational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report, neither the author nor her affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. The information contained in this report does not make any claims or guarantees. Many variables affect each individual's results. The author does not make any promise of your personal success. The author has no control over what you may or may not do with this information, and therefore cannot accept the responsibility for your results. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the owners of all websites mentioned in this report to manage and keep their content updated and their website links valid. We do not control those websites, or their content. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional. Any reference to any person or business whether living or dead is purely coincidental.

3 About the author Christine Gierer Christine Gierer is a self-taught jewelry maker who has been creating jewelry for over 7 years. She has been helping people learn jewelry making techniques online since When she s not writing, or making jewelry Christine is found taking care of her two children Zoe and Edgar, together with her loving and supportive husband Christopher. Christine has a background in visual arts and sociology with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Ottawa in Sociology and Visual Arts. She has work experience in corporate purchasing, and more recently as a mental health counselor and life skills coach. She now teaches and writes about jewelry making so she can be home with her children. Other Publications: I m Making Jewelry in My Jam Jams : Free newsletter available at Wire Work Secrets for Jewelry Makers: A pro tips, techniques, and troubleshooting guide for jewelry makers. Available at How-to-Make-Jewelry.com: Information website teaching DIY jewelry making. URL: 3 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

4 Wire Exposed : Part 1 One of the things folks find most challenging about working with wire when they're just starting out is what size of wire to buy. And that really comes down to understanding the terminology. Examples of wire terminology: 20 ga, dead soft, half-hard, square, round, half round What the heck does it all mean? And how do you decide what to order from a supplier? Let's look at some definitions. The Question of GAUGE The one thing I always get asked is what gauge of wire should I use? For example, What gauge of headpin is best for wire wrapping? What gauge of wire is best for making ear wires? What gauge is best for jump rings? A1.1 Let's start with a definition: Defined: "Gauge" or "Ga" The gauge (pronounced "gage") refers to the thickness of the wire. Ga is the short form. Some common sizes for wire work include 20ga, 24ga, and 26ga wire So now that we know that "gauge" just means thickness, let's look at the most important thing you need to remember: The Higher the Gauge, the Thinner the Wire Here's the one important thing to remember: the higher the number, the thinner the wire. Example: 20ga wire (about the thickness of earring wires) is thicker than 28 ga (about horsehair thickness). 4 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

5 The G.A.U.G.E. system for deciding what gauge to use. I've devised a system for choosing your ideal wire gauge that I call the G.A.U.G.E. system. I use the 5 letters of GAUGE to remember key points to consider when deciding what thickness of wire to use. At the beginning you ll probably be working from project instructions, but you ll quickly want to design your own projects as you become more comfortable. *Note: each letter of the g.a.u.g.e. system is one of the criteria you can use to choose your gauge of wire. It is entirely up to you how you prioritize this list. Often one choice will compromise another. I ll be referring to thinner gauges and thicker gauges so here s what I mean by those: Thinner Gauges Thicker Gauges 22 ga 24 ga 26 ga 28 ga 30 ga 20 ga 18 ga 16 ga 14ga 12 ga The G.A.U.G.E. system: Tip: print out and keep this handy checklist by your workspace for easy reference. *Important Note: This chart is meant as a general overview of thicker and thinner gauges. For a more specific discussion of gauges, and a printable gauge by gauge cheat sheet, refer to your copy of Wire Work Secrets for Jewelry Makers. G is for General strength and durability: size and strength tend to go hand in hand. Thinner gauges tend to be more delicate: -bends more easily -lose its shape more easily -less strong -will generally break more easily Example: You wouldn't make a simple unwrapped loop out of 26 ga wire because it would just pull apart at the first tug. Thicker gauges are generally more durable: -will hold their shape better -can take more abuse -good choice for jump rings and clasps. 5 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

6 A is for Assessing cost: precious metals like gold and silver are sold by weight so size is a factor in your decision-making process. Thinner gauges are less expensive Thicker gauges cost more. You'll find you can get 20 feet of a thinner gauge for about the same cost as 2 feet of a thick gauge. As silver and gold get more and more expensive (even copper is getting pricier!) this is a huge factor in most hobbyists minds. U is for Usability: By usability I mean the weight factor, as well as the practicality of the wire. Thinner means lighter. Sometimes you need a bit of heft. A delicate airy pendant woven out of thin wire might be too light to hang down as solidly as a pendant should, so you might need to adjust your design to make it hang properly. Thicker means heavier so it'll affect how the jewelry will hang. For example, a big honking 14 ga S-clasp attached to a delicate strand of pearls would be heavier than the rest of the necklace and keep travelling to the front. And a big fat elaborate 12 ga silver hoops might be dramatic, but they'd also weigh a tonne and be impossible to wear. Another usability issue is the hole size of the beads and findings you're using. Certain types of beads tend to have bigger or smaller holes and it's always a good rule of thumb to use the largest gauge of wire that your bead will accommodate. G is for Goodlookingness: By good-looking-ness, I mean the style or overall feel of the piece. Thinner gauges tend to look more delicate and sweet and are good choices for designs with tiny beads. Thicker gauges tend to look more industrial. (I know, good-looking- Consider the other components. A delicate strand of pearls for example would look just plain silly with a big honking 14 ga hand wrought S-clasp (at least without some other element to balance it). 6 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

7 E is for Ease of working: which tools you need and how easy the wire is to work are factors of gauge too. Thin wire is easier to bend with your fingers and even the lower quality tools can do a pretty good job. Thicker wire is more difficult to work You'll find yourself straining to get some of the harder metals into shape at the thicker gauges. If you're using hand-held cutters (rather than a jeweler s saw), you'll need a lot of filing to get the cut edges smooth and flush. Thicker wire needs more specialized tools: A A jeweler's is best for cutting anything thicker than 18 ga, and as you work with some of the quicker to harden metals If you're doing a lot of bending, you'll need to keep annealing the wire (heating with a torch to make the metal softer) to keep it workable - and as this is a beginner wire working course, I don't want you touching torches just yet. Systems of Measuring Gauge: Unfortunately for beginners trying to understand the whole concept of gauges, there are two systems of wire gauge measurement. This complicates things a little because an "18 ga SWG" is a different diameter than an "18 ga AWG". In case you come across it, AWG stands for American Wire Gauge, while SWG refers to Standard Wire Gauge. Tips: Most jewelry making wire will be sized in AWG (American Wire Gauge) or by actual diameter in millimeters (mm) 7 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

8 You can always check the diameter measurement to be sure. The diameter measurement is almost always in millimeters. In Europe (and many other non-english-speaking countries) the wire will be sized in mm so you ll understand the sizing immediately) Wire Hardness or Temper (Not the Tantrum Kind ) We can't really talk about gauge without talking about temper. At least I think so anyway. The hardness of the wire makes a big difference in how the wire behaves so getting the proper gauge is really only half the story. Let's talk about the other half. Defined: Wire Temper Temper is just another way of saying "hardness". Wire comes mainly in 3 tempers. These are: Dead Soft (DS): The softest of all, and the one I most often like to use. Half Hard (HH): Harder than dead soft, but still works easily in most metals. Full Hard (FH): Much too rigid for jewelry making. For most things, dead soft will do you just fine. I like to use it for everything and just harden it using a nylon hammer as needed. I'll get into that more when we talk about work hardening Some artists prefer half-hard (and you might too). Here are what I consider to be the pros and cons of each: Dead Soft vs. Half-Hard Wire Tempers Dead Soft Pros Cons Pros 8 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

9 Bends and forms really easily Can sometimes cost more Sometimes easier to find and sometimes less expensive (my local smelter only keeps halfhard on hand and charges $5 per gauge to anneal (soften) to dead soft) Can easily harden it on the fly by whacking it with a nylon or rawhide hammer. Bends out of shape more easily Keeps a good firm bend or loop without hammering Wire Shapes Let's finish off this discussion with a last note. And that's this: when you buy wire you'll come across one last specification you need to make. And that's the shape of the wire. I know, I know, by definition wire is a long skinny piece of metal. It might surprise you to know that you can get it in a number of shapes too! So if you come across terms like round wire square wire and half-round you ll know what they mean. So what the heck does shape mean when talking about wire? The shape just refers to the shape you see if you re looking at the cut end of your wire. Round wire is your everyday common wire. The end looks like this: Half round: The cut end looks like a half-moon: Triangle wire looks like this at the cut end: Square wire looks like a square: Conclusion: So there you have it the 3 things you'll most need to know when you buy some wire. 9 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.

10 Coming Up: In the next part of this special report, we'll talk about some other terms you'll need to know as a jewelry maker/ wire worker. 10 P a g e W i r e W o r k E x p o s e d : P a r t 1 o f 3 : G. A. U. G. E.