WigJig Jewelry Making Newsletter for 2/29/2004

If you are unable to view all the pictures in this newsletter you can always view the entire newsletter at:  http://www.wigjig.com/newitems/. 

New Jewelry Supplies:
We have added some sterling silver ear clip findings.  These ear clips are ear wire findings that clip closed and for this reason are easy to put on and not easily lost.  You can view these new ear clips below. 

ON SALE:
We update the jewelry supplies we have "On Sale" with every newsletter.  A small sample of the products we currently have for sale at a discount are shown below.  Please click on any of the text below the pictures to view our entire list of sale items.  Quantities are limited for these items so please shop early.  This sale will be effective through March 12, 2004. 

 


Nylon Jaw Pliers
Thin Nose

Tool Kit for Beginners
 

 

Gold-Filled & Sterling Silver
Ear Clutches for Post Earrings
 

Sterling Silver Lever
Back Ear Clips
 

2x4 mm Bugle Bead
Sapphire Silver Lined
 

5x7mm Topaz Teardrop Faceted
 

Diamond Chandelier Earrings

Jewelry Making Technique:
This weeks jewelry making technique discussion is on hammering wire. First, we should note that in general, it is not recommended to hammer wire where it crosses over another wire segment for the simple reason that it can cause the wire to break at that point.   Given the limitation that we only hammer one thickness of wire, hammering wire on a jeweler's anvil is an important technique for both hardening wire and for shaping and adding texture to wire.  The approaches to hardening are very different from the approach to shaping as we will discuss below.

When hammering wire to harden the wire, your goal is to preserve the shape already in the wire.  As an example, when making and ear wire, it is a good idea to hammer the rounded portion of the ear wire, the part inside a pierced ear when it is worn.  This shape needs to be permanent.  Once the shape of the ear wire is set, then the flexibility of the wire that allowed us to bend it around pegs becomes a disadvantage.    We want the wire to stay in that shape, and by hammering the rounded portion of the ear wire, we harden it, making it less flexible and more permanent.  In hammering wire to harden it, you use the flat (smooth) side of a chasing hammer and you need to hammer just enough to see a very slight deformation of the wire.  Most types of metal wire can be hammered to harden it.  It works well with sterling silver, gold-filled, copper, and brass.  Hammering is not a good idea for silver-plated wire or for the vinyl coated Artistic Wire as the hammering will probably destroy the silver plating or vinyl coat. 

The second purpose of hammering is shaping and adding texture to the wire.  While the goal in hardening wire was to hammer so that it is barely noticeable, the goal in shaping wire is to be able to notice the hammered result.  The head-pins shown at right and above are examples of wire that has been hammered to shape the wire.  For this type of hammering, the rounded head of the chasing hammer is used and the wire is hammered for a longer period.  Sterling silver, copper, gold and brass wire can be hammered this way.  Gold-filled, silver-plate and vinyl coated Artistic Wire are not good choices for hammering to shape the wire. 

One final consideration in hammering wire is to use a good, clean, hard anvil.  If there are surface imperfections in the anvil, the pattern for these imperfections can be transferred to your wire during hammering.  The same anvil that was good enough for the blacksmith is probably not good enough for the jeweler simply because the marks on its surface will leave a pattern on your jewelry wire. 

The next time you run out of head-pins, you now have an alternative.  Pull out your hammer and anvil. 
 

Head-Pin
Made from
Hammered wire

Bead Dangles from Hammered Head-Pins

Announcements:
Online Books.  If you are looking for new and interesting jewelry making projects -- try one of our Online Books.  Our most detailed instructions are for sale online.  Please select here to view our selection of online books.  These books are delivered over the Internet and there are no shipping costs on an order with just online books.  This week, our Ear Cuff Basic online book is on sale for 20% off. 

Shipping Policy.  We ship all retail orders over $60 for free within the US.  For International orders we ship via FED EX International and charge $34.95 (our average cost) for this expedited shipping service.  Please select here to view our entire shipping policy.

WigJig University.  We provide Over 1,500 pages of free information, tips, techniques and free designs in WigJig University.  We encourage everyone to view this information as a source for new ideas, projects, or a way to learn new techniques.  We now have a page in WigJig University that shows our designs by sorted by the WigJig tool used to make them.  Please select here to view that information. 

International Vendors.  We do have vendors who sell our WigJig products outside the US.  We encourage customers to contact these vendors in their home country.  Please select here to view our list of overseas vendors.

Classes.  We are still working to develop web pages showing who has classes where.  If you are interested in classes, please select here.  If you know someone who has classes in using our WigJig tools, please ask them to send us an e-mail so that we can include them in these pages.  Please send the e-mails to custsrv@wigjig.com. 

 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.