Wire Jewelry Making Basics + Free Video | Jewelry

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Jewelry making wire comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors. There are some basics worth knowing before making a choice on which to use when as well as tips that will help you on your wire journey. To follow are some highlights as well as information from experts in the wire jewelry-making field.

Join me in reviewing some basic wire information:

Wire Gauge

The higher the gauge the thinner the wire. Makes perfect sense, no? Basic rule of thumb: When creating links and pieces of jewelry that could benefit from strength, use a heavier gauge. Finer gauges can be used for other elements likes dangles and accents.

Wire artist Sharilyn Miller shares: “By working with fine-gauge wire (28-gauge through 22-gauge), you can make intricate little sculptures to dangle from your ear. Moving through the midsize gauges (20-gauge through 16-gauge) allows you to create wire links and bead wraps appropriate for numerous bracelets, anklets, necklaces, and chokers,” Sharilyn writes. “My personal penchant is for heavy-gauge wire—14-gauge through 10-gauge—because it is more challenging to work with.

wire gauge tool jewelry making — Keep a tool like this on hand so you always know what gauge your wire is—even if the label fell off (or you forgot to label!).

Not all wire is easy to label, so keeping a tool on hand to measure gauge is helpful. To help further, add a tag to your wire spool and store your wire in a sealed, labeled bag or container.

steel wire jewelry making — Dark annealed steel wire is available in many gauges—sometimes easier found in a hardware store.

Wire Types for Jewelry

There are many types of wire on the market—and some borrowed from other industries. Jewelry favorites include dark annealed steel wire, gold and gold-filled, fine silver, Argentium silver, sterling silver, silver-filled, copper, and copper coated. Info on a few follows.

Fine Silver

Also known as pure silver or .999 silver, it’s the most malleable, easily shaped into intricate designs. You can reshape fine silver if needed, and it anneals wonderfully. Fine silver does not get as brittle as sterling silver does.

Fine silver melts easily, creating smooth balls on the tips of the wire. The best part is that the wire doesn’t need to be pickled after torching. This wire is also slow to oxidize, so it won’t require frequent polishing.

Argentium

Argentium sterling silver is a silver alloy that has roughly the same composition as sterling silver (made of 92.5% pure silver), but instead of the 7.5% copper that is added to make sterling silver, Argentium sterling silver also has germanium added. That makes Argentium sterling silver react to the torch differently. Its unusual composition also means that it has some special requirements when using it.

Copper

Copper can be found raw(uncoated or bare) or with a coating or lacquer finish—which helps prevent oxidation. You can torch copper and create balls on the tips of the wire—just note the balls will be pitted. You also have to pickle the wire after torching to remove the firescale. Copper can be annealed just like fine silver and sterling silver, and it oxidizes really quickly if uncoated.

Square stock can be used in many fun ways.

Wire Shapes

Wire comes in different shapes including square, rectangle, flat, and triangle. Tammy Jones shares: “The flat faces on square wire pick up light better than round wire, illuminating your work. Square and triangle wire can even look faceted if you twist it. I like to use half-round wire for ring shanks, of course, but sometimes I use it inside out; that is, I put the flat side out and the rounded side in, in ring shanks as well as other wire jewelry-making projects.”

wire jewelry making — Flat or rectangular wire can be used to make bangles, bezel stones, to form ring shanks, and so much more!

You can also hammer round wire a few blows on a steel block, turn a bit, hammer, turn and hammer until you’ve gone all the way around, turning your round wire into square or nearly squared wire with textured, flat faces that also sort of look faceted and add a bit of oomph to your work. Square wires also fit together nicely when you’re using two or three together

Temper

Wire and most jewelry metals can be found full hard, half hard, and dead soft. This denotes the “temper” or the hardness of the metal. Temper is based on the molecular structure of the metal, which you can control through heat, cooling, or work hardening.

Anneal metal to ease the molecules and make the metal easier to move. Hammer metal with a rawhide mallet to harden the metal and stiffen it up. Further hammer or work the wire to harden it fully, so it holds shape well. You can push metal too far and over work it—causing it to become brittle. In the case of wire, it will snap and break at the work hardened area. Most metal, including wire, can be annealed again, if you harden it too much.

Enjoy exploring and pushing the boundaries of wire.

Tammy Honaman
Director of Content, Interweave

Originally published 10/16/2020. Updated 6/21/2022.