What is the difference between half hard and hard wire?
Half-hard wire is malleable; however, it will maintain an intricate shape under moderate stress. It is useful for weight-bearing parts of wire-wrapped jewelry. Full-hard wire holds its shape for wire-wrapping jewelry. Its tempered nature holds intricate designs well and is excellent for clasps.
What does Dead soft silver wire mean?
pliable
Dead soft wire is extremely soft and pliable. It can be easily bent and is excellent for making rounded shapes such as spirals. It is also excellent for wrapping wire around beads to make them look as though they are encased.
What is half hard silver?
Sterling silver wire can be used in many different ways to make jewellery: to wire wrap beads and briolettes, fashion into jewellery findings, such as ear wires, jump rings and clasps. Half hard wire is partially hardened so it will keep its shape under stress. All our wire is manufactured using 100% recycled silver.
What is the difference between hard and soft silver?
Silver and Sterling silver* wire are made up of large crystals. Dead soft wire is very malleable, which makes it easy to work with when bending and wrapping it. Half hard wire, on the other hand, has been tempered to provide some stiffness to it and is less likely to break when manipulating it.
Should I use dead soft or half hard wire?
Dead soft is typically used for wire weaving and wire wrapping, including wrapped cabochons and “sculpted” wire jewelry. Half hard is good for making components that need to hold their shape (ear wires, clasps, jump rings, necklace foundations, bracelet forms, etc.).
What is half hard wire good for?
Half-hard wire is excellent for making tight, angular bends, for making loops in wire, and for wrapping wire around itself. However, it is not very useful for making spirals. Finished pieces made with half-hard wire are usually more permanent than pieces made with soft wire.
What does half hard mean in wire?
Half-hard wire is slightly stiffer than dead soft wire. Half-hard wire is excellent for making tight, angular bends, for making loops in wire, and for wrapping wire around itself. Soft wire is easy to bend and shape, but the finished product may be bent out of shape if squeezed.
What do you use half hard wire for?
Half hard is good for making components that need to hold their shape (ear wires, clasps, jump rings, necklace foundations, bracelet forms, etc.). Gold-fill and silver-fill wire are generally harder than dead soft sterling silver or fine silver wire, and are often closer to half hard.
Does sterling silver wire tarnish?
Sterling Silver is an alloy consisting of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper. The copper is also the reason sterling silver tends to tarnish – over time, copper reacts with oxygen and releases oxidation on the surface of the material, which is also known as patina.
What’s the difference between half hard and dead soft wire?
1 Dead-soft wire is extremely malleable and can be bent easily into a myriad of shapes. 2 Half-hard wire is malleable; however, it will maintain an intricate shape under moderate stress. It is useful for weight-bearing parts of wire-wrapped jewelry. 3 Full-hard wire holds its shape for wire-wrapping jewelry.
What can you do with half hard wire?
Half-hard wire is malleable; however, it will maintain an intricate shape under moderate stress. It is useful for weight-bearing parts of wire-wrapped jewelry. You can also harden half-hard wire so it can be used for an element that may be subjected to high stress, such as a clasp.
What kind of wire to use with sterling silver?
So, dead soft sterling silver will not feel the same to work with as dead soft 14k white gold, for example. Also, not all wires, like artistic wire (craft wire) and aluminum wire, will be offered in different hardnesses – they are most often just soft.
Which is the best hardness for a wire?
Wire Hardnesses. ‘Half hard’ is like the Goldilocks wire – the perfect middle between the two. It is soft enough to bend easily but is hard enough to hold its shape afterwards. It can also be used for wrapping and coiling wire, as well as some structural work, depending on the gauge of the wire.