Beginners Jewelry Making using Beads, Tools, Wire & Supplies Page 19

Style, durability, and hardness are a few of the considerations involved your choice of jewelry wire for a jewelry project. First and foremost, the finished piece of jewelry must be durable enough to stand up to the wear and tear that is expected for the finished jewelry component. Second, the hardness of the jewelry wire must be appropriate for the design. (Spirals don't work well with half-hard or hard wire.) Finally, the selection of wire must be esthetically pleasing in both color and size.

First some background facts on jewelry wire. Almost all jewelry wire in the US is sold in sizes defined by the American Wire Gauge. In this standard, as the gauge of the wire increases, the size of the wire decreases. As an example 16 gauge wire is much larger than 22 gauge wire. To view the size of wire in each gauge and the measurement of that wire in inches and mm, please visit here. As the wire gets larger, or the gauge gets smaller, the wire becomes harder to bend. Simply put, it is easier to bend thin wire than it is to bend thick wire. In general, wire components for earrings are made in 20 gauge wire, wire components for bracelets are made in 18 or 20 gauge wire, and wire components for necklaces are made in 16 or 18 gauge wire. These sizes of wire are relatively easy to bend and durable enough to stand up to the wear necessary.

With inexpensive wire, like copper, brass, or Artistic Wire, the wire is generally made in only one hardness -- soft. With more expensive jewelry wire like sterling silver, gold, or gold-filled wire, the wire is commonly manufactured in one of five hardnesses -- soft or 0, 1, half-hard or 2, 3, or fully hardened or 4. For the jewelry making projects described in this web site, we generally only use soft or half-hard wire according to the project. Soft wire bends easier than half-hard wire and tend to remain in place once it is bent. Half-hard jewelry wire is somewhat springy and tends to spring back some once it is bent. Soft wire is perfect for making spirals and other rounded shapes, but doesn't make crisp angles. Half-hard wire makes crisp angles and wraps around itself well, but because it is springy, it must be pushed beyond where you want it to end up. Please visit our Nov. 9, 2003 jewelry making newsletter for good information on how to work with 1/2 hard wire.

This WigJig jewelry making project is provided as part of WigJig University - College of Jewelry Making Designs. We try to provide interesting jewelry projects using beads, jewelry wire and other jewelry supplies. We hope that these pictures will provide you enough information for you to learn these jewelry making skills. We have tried in these pages to discuss the skills necessary for making jewelry in the detail that beginners need. We also suggest that beginners to jewelry making might need to visit the WigJig University College of Jewelry Making Techniques for additional information about some of the skills and techniques shown.

Most, but not all of the jewelry supplies shown here can be purchased in our WigJig store. We try to have a complete selection of jewelry supplies in our store including chain, wire, glass beads, findings, watches, tools, etc.