a question for the wire workers of the group

Amber,

It all depends on what you mean by wirewrapping and how much of it needs to be done. Simple loops for attachment are easy in dead soft or full=hard. If you need to make a shape that will support weight or take stress, you want hard. if you want to be able to manipulate the wire alot, then you'd want soft.

It all really depends on the usage. Wire does get harder the more you work with it, too.

Barbara

Blogs at and eBay & Justbeads:penguintrax barely even work with headpins/eyepins/ect.

ah..I'd need something that holds its shape. I went ahead and ordered the hard kind..if I end up needing the soft, I'll just order that later on, as I came up with a different design for the earrings that were just strung with nymo.

-Amber.

Sorry I didn't get back to you in time. Always go with soft. You need the flexibility to get in close and twist without damage, especially with glass beads which will chip. You can always work harden wire easily. All you have to do is hit it with a hammer. Twisting also hardens it, and if it's already hard it can easily become brittle and break. To harden it, put the finished loop on an flat iron with leather, or cardboard, over and under it, and smack it with a hammer.

Tina

Thanks Tina, as I still didn't manage to get wire locally, now at least I know what to get.

Maren Palms, Etc.: Tropical seeds - Job's Tears Jewelry - Plants & Lilikoi

> flexibility to get in close and twist without damage, especially with glass > beads which will chip. You can always work harden wire easily. All you > have to do is hit it with a hammer. Twisting also hardens it, and if it's > already hard it can easily become brittle and break. To harden it, put the > finished loop on an flat iron with leather, or cardboard, over and under it, > and smack it with a hammer. >

aha. well, now I know for next time. I'm sure I'll find a use for the hard wire I ordered..it's only about 5 ft, and it wasn't expensive, so no big loss there.

I decided to use a different design for the earrings, so they're strung now instead of wire wrapped..wire wrapping all those little pearls would've made the earrings more expensive than the necklace was.

-Amber.

Half-hard wire is the wire I like to work with. It's the one Mark Lareau, author of "Wired-Up" suggested when I took his class. It's great.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Martha Hughes Program Support Supervisor II Department of Radiology Harborview Medical Center

206-731-3043 snipped-for-privacy@u.wash> ah..I'd need something that holds its shape. I went ahead and ordered

I tend to use different hardness of wire depending on what I'm going to make with it. For instance, soft wire is great for making spirals, half-hard is great for making angles. I don't use hard wire because it is very easy to harden the wire yourself, and if you get it too hard, it breaks.

Before I start a project, I run the wire through nylon jaw pliers. This both straightens and hardens the wire. After I've finished a wire component, as long as there is no bead on it, I sandwich the entire component between two pieces of nylon (plastic) cutting boards, then I take a hammer and whack away at it. The cutting boards protect the wire from becoming marred. Of course, if i want it flattened, then I use a hammer and anvil. In fact, my 10 year old niece LOVES to do this part for me!

Two great sources for new wire workers is WigJig and Wire-Sculpture. You can search for them on Google. Here's a great summary of when to use which types of wire on

I hope this helps, Joy Davidson Randrup