So what is there to understand about wire? Maybe more than you think. It isn’t hard, but it can be a little confusing unless you learn the basics.

There are three basic things that you need to understand about wire:
1. What the wire is made of.
2. How hard is the wire?
3. What gauge is the wire.

Let’s look at each of these issues in turn. First, what is the wire made of?
Many crafts people use brass or copper wire, because they like the warm colors, the wire is easily purchased at craft and hardware stores, and it is inexpensive.

If you are using a craft wire you need to read the packaging carefully to determine exactly what the wire is made of. Some wires are made of just one metal and some have a core of one metal and a covering of another.

But why does it matter what a piece of wire is made of? Well different metals will work harden at different rates and some may actually break much sooner than others. As you work with your wire I recommend keeping records of how the different wires that you use behave. It will help you choose which wire you use for a specific project and improve your chances of success.

Many colored craft wires have a brass or copper core and some sort of surface coating. How good that craft wire will be is determined by how sturdy that color coating is. Generally name brand wire has better coatings than the cheap stuff. Some of the older coatings had a tendency to peel, so be aware of that when using older wire.

Another type of wire that comes in colors is niobium. These wires come pre-colored, by a process known as anodization. The colors can be very intense, but you do need to be careful about damaging the coating when you are working with it. The ideal solution to this problem is to anodize the wire after you are finished working, but the equipment that is required to do that is generally beyond the means of the average crafter.

A step up from brass and copper wire is silver wire. NOT silver colored wire, but wire made from real silver. There are three kinds of real silver wire commonly found in the market: Sterling silver, Argentium silver, and Fine silver. Sterling silver and Argentium silver are both 95.5 % pure silver. The big difference is that Sterling silver tarnishes fairly easily and Argentium silver is very tarnish resistant. Fine silver, is 99.9% pure silver and is less susceptible to tarnish than sterling silver. It is also softer than Sterling silver. Real silver wire can usually only be bought from a jewelry supply store.

Wire is also available in gold and platinum metal, but that is an entirely different world. With gold at over $1200 an ounce and platinum at over $1350 an ounce, working in these metals is usually reserved for professional jewelers. If you decide to work with these metals you need to thoroughly understand what you are buying and be certain of your source.

I hope that this brief article on wire helps you achieve greater success with your jewelry endeavors.

Next time: Understanding Wire Hardness

Have you ever had this happen? A favorite pair of earrings looses an ear wire and you have no clue what to do?

Well, assuming that the earring itself is not broken, you CAN repair it! All you need to do is replace the ear wire.

Now I recently received a call from a family member asking me about exactly this problem. She had no idea how do find replacement ear wires. Well, years ago I would have told you to locate a jewelry supply store, and obviously that is still an option. But with the major explosion of crafting stores you can easily locate a store that sells ear wires. Bead stores, JoAnn Fabrics, Michael’s, and Hobby Lobby are just a few of the places that will have ear wires for sale. If you are not sure where to look in the store just ask for the location of the jewelry supplies. Ear wires are usually sold in clear plastic packages on the hanging racks.

Ear wires come in different styles and metal colors. Be sure to choose new wires that match the old ones, unless you decide to change both of the wires. Here is a picture of just a few of the styles that are available.

So now that we have earring wires, we need to put the new wire on the earring. If you have an ear wire that has a closed loop you need to look carefully at the loop and figure out where the loop opens.

Now, the most important technique that you can learn is how to open the ear wire loop correctly. If you open the loop correctly it will be easy to close it back up again and have it look good. The process is simple. Never, and I repeat NEVER open to the loop to form a letter “C”. The loop must be opened by using a pair of chain nose or flat nose pliers to push it sideways. This picture demonstrates the process.

All metal loops that are used in jewelry should be opened in this manner. It avoids stretching the metal loop out of shape and is much less likely to break the loop. If you do accidentally warp the shape of the loop it should be possible to carefully reshape the loop using a pair of round nose pliers.

I hope that this simple technique helps you in your quest to do minor jewelry repairs.

So last time we discussed what sort of tools you need to have for a basic home jewelry repair kit – a couple of pairs of pliers, and a pair of cutters. But what exactly is a cutter?

There are a virtually unending variety of styles of cutters, but they generally fall into two categories – side cutters and end cutters. Other than that the main differences between the types of cutters is their size, and the type of cut that they make.

Both of these types of cutters work essentially the same way – the jaws pinch together and pinch the wire until it breaks. Now the key word here is “pinch”.

This graphic shows the basic process of how a cutter works and its effect on the wire. If you look carefully you can see that the jaws on the normal cutters create points on both pieces of the wire. This pinched point must be removed with a file because it is sharp. The second picture shows what happens when you have a double flush cutter. The jaws of the cutter actually bypass each other, like scissors, and the result is a much less sharp point on the wire. You can’t actually see the shape of the wire because it is blocked by the jaws themselves in the picture. If you look back at the picture of the double-flush cut pliers, you can see that there are actually special notches in the jaws that limit the amount of “pinching” that occurs to the wire. You may still need to touch it up with a file, but the “fix” is much quicker.

So, if I had to purchase just one pair of cutters what would I buy?  A side cutter, and more specifically a double-flush side cutter. Why? A side cutter is very easy to use. It can get in very close to whatever you are working on. It generally has very sharp jaws, which cut easily. You hold them in your hand the same way that you do a pair of scissors, so most people find them easy to use. They are readily available at most supply stores (including hardware and hobby stores). The double flush cut part of the name is easy – I am lazy! I like not having to do a lot of filing on every single piece of wire that I cut!

At this point I should mention one other VERY important point. Tools have limitations. Cutters are designed to cut only certain sizes and types of wires. The average hobby jeweler only uses thin wire (generally 26 to 18 gauge) and the average pair of cutters will be absolutely fine for that. But if you want to be able to cut big beefy wire, like 10 or 12 gauge, you are going to have to buy sturdier cutters. Most of the wire that is used in jewelry is relatively soft, but if you want to use iron or steel you are also going to have to buy sturdier pliers. Steel will chip the blades of many pliers. Read the information that comes with the tool before you buy. Damaged tools are no fun!

I hope that this brief blog gives you some insight into the type of cutter that you need for your tool kit.