Hardening Wire/Making Permanent Jewelry Making Wire Components          Page 3

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In the last web page we briefly discussed hammering wire.  In this page, we will try to address hammering wire in more detail.  First, we will discuss hammering wire to harden it and make the shape of the wire permanent.  Second, we will discuss hammering wire to change the shape of the wire.  Finally, we will address some do's and don'ts tips on hammering. 

A simple example of hammering wire to make the shape of the wire permanent is hammering the rounded portion of an ear wire so that portion stays round.  For this type of hammering, flattening the wire slightly creates the effect of an "I" beam and strengthens the wire.  (If you view a commercially made ear wire, you should notice that the rounded portion of the ear wire is flattened.  This is to create the I-beam effect.)  At the microscopic level hammering wire generates a small amount of heat inside the wire and this heat helps to cause the microscopic crystals in the wire to align with one another.  In effect, hammering the wire anneals the wire in very small increments.  When hammering wire to harden it, you can hammer with a metal chasing hammer and actually change the shape of the wire (I beam effect) or you can use a soft hammer (nylon hammer or leather mallet) and harden the wire slightly without changing the round shape of the wire.  Hammering with a soft hammer won't harden the wire as much as using the metal chasing hammer and actually flattening the wire, but it may be appropriate to create the look required. 

The second reason for hammering wire is that the wire is a large gauge, or is very stiff and won't take the shape you want without hammering.  Hammering in this case helps to coax the wire into the desired shape.  When making the ring shown at right or the earrings shown at left, we use a larger gauge of wire to make the final shape permanent.  Because this larger gauge of wire is much stiffer, you will find that you need to hammer the wire into your ring mandrel to make the ring shown, or into a large Super Peg to make the hoops shown at left.  Without hammering, the wire won't take the round shape of the Super Peg or of the ring mandrel.  With hammering, the wire is coaxed into the desired shape by hammering the wire into the Super Peg or ring mandrel.  In this case, you have hammered enough, when you take the wire off the mandrel or Super Pegs and it remains in the desired rounded shape.  In most cases, when hammering wire to coax it into the desired shape, one would use a nylon hammer or a leather mallet to preserve the round cross sectional shape of the wire.  In both the cases shown here, you would not need an anvil or bench block because you are hammering the wire into the rounded shape of the ring mandrel or Super Peg and you can hold either the mandrel or Super Peg in your hand has you hammer.  Hammering wire to force it into the shape you desire, is very much like the old blacksmiths, who hammer steel into various shapes using an anvil and metal pegs set into the anvil, either to make horse shoes or decorative iron work.  Only the tools are different.

Finally, we have discussed hammering wire to strengthen and harden the wire and we have discussed hammering wire like a blacksmith to shape the wire.  Here are some tips to remember when hammering wire. 

Tips for Hammering Wire

1. Hammering wire with the flat side of a metal chasing hammer will flatten the wire.  This can provide extra strength to the wire in the same way than an "I-beam" is a stronger girder than a rectangular piece of metal with the same weight. 
2. Chasing hammers come with either a flat face or a slightly rounded face.  The flat face of your chasing hammer will mark your wire at the point where the edge of the hammer touches the wire when you hammer.  A metal chasing hammer with a slightly rounded face leaves fewer hammer marks.  We recommend our chasing hammer, Item 0353. 
3. If the surface of your anvil or bench block is not perfectly smooth, the imperfections on the surface can be transferred to your wire and will mark your wire.  One way to add texture to your wire is to hammer the wire into a textured surface.  If you can find an antique hammer with a rusted face, or an antique anvil with a rusted top, you can hammer your wire with that hammer or on that anvil and the results will be a textured finish to your wire.  To avoid this texturing of your wire, use a smooth, blemish free anvil and hammer. 
4. Whenever possible, only hammer a single piece of wire.  Try not to hammer wire, where one wire crossover another.  The reason is simple -- hammering wire where one wire crosses another will ultimately cause the wire to break at the point where the wire crosses over.  One piece of wire will see the opposite piece of wire as a chisel and it will ultimately cause the wire to break at that point. 
5. Whenever possible don't hammer wire close to beads.  Obviously, if you accidentally hammer a glass bead, it would shatter. 
6. If you want to harden wire without changing the round cross-section of the wire, use either a nylon hammer or a leather mallet.  They won't harden the wire as much as a metal chasing hammer would, but they also won't change the shape of the wire. 

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