The Secrets of Annealing Revealed

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As many of you may know I personally hate using half hard wire. From my experience I’ve found it to be difficult to shape and brutal on my fingers. When I’m teaching students to create wire jewelry, I always recommend they use dead soft wire. Once the piece is completed they can then harden the piece. Many of my readers that are outside of North America have told me that they have a hard time finding dead soft wire from suppliers. I've also heard from others who tell me that they have a ton of left over half hard wire and want to know what to do with it.

It is possible to change half hard wire into dead soft. To do this the wire has to be annealed. Annealing is the process of heating metal to restore its malleability. When metal is hardened the space between the molecules are closer together. Heating the metal separates the molecules slightly making the metal malleable. The process sounds like a lot of work, but in reality it isn’t nearly as difficult as you may think.

Here are the steps to anneal half hard sterling silver into dead soft. It's a good idea to practice these steps on a small piece of scrap wire before you begin using it on wire intended for a project. Keep in mind that these instructions are only for Argentium and traditional Sterling Silver.

The Materials
Before we start heating up the metal we need to go over the materials needed for the annealing process. You’ll need the following – a soldering pad or brick, micro torch, flux, a small paint brush, pickle solution (See “Pickle? What’s Pickle”?), cross-locking soldering tweezers and a glass dish filled with water (Picture of the materials). Some of these materials may seem a bit foreign to you. Don’t worry they are all easy to use and easy to find from a jewelry supply company.

The Materials

The Annealing Process

Cut the wire to be annealed into the lengths that you plan to use it. With a small paint brush, brush flux on each piece of cut wire (Picture 1). 

Picture 1



Place the fluxed wires on a soldering pad putting a little space between each one (Picture 2).

Picture 2

Light your micro torch and apply the heat to the first wire (Picture 3).

Picture 3

Move the flame slowly back and forth over the wire to heat it evenly. As you heat you’ll notice that the flux will dry to a powder and then it will begin to liquefy. At the point where it liquefies remove the heat. Flux liquefies at approximately 1100 degrees Fahrenheit and that is the temperature that we want to bring the metal up to in order to properly anneal the silver. Another temperature indicator is the light red glow of the metal.  As the metal is heated it will begin to get a glow to it, soon after the red glow the flux will liquefy. Pick up the annealed wire with cross-locking soldering tweezers and place it in the water (Picture 4).

Picture 4

Continue annealing the remaining pieces of wire.

You’ll notice that the wire has a dull grey film on it. This is a residue left behind by the flux. To remove the residue, place the wire in a pickle solution (Picture 5).

 

Picture 5



Remove the wire strands from the pickle solution using copper tongs. Place the wire in water to remove the pickle solution. Your half hard wire is now dead soft. The only thing left to do is create a beautiful piece of jewelry.

Pickle? What’s Pickle?

Pickle is a mild acid that is used to remove flux residue from metal after it has been heated. It is shipped from the supplier in crystal form and is mixed with water by the artist.  The mixed pickle solution works best when warm and many have found it useful to store it in a slow cooker. When needed the slow cooker is turned to low so it can be sufficiently warmed. It’s important to note that this IS acid…it will burn your skin, so please follow all of the safety precautions listed on the product label.  

For More Jewelry Tips, Information and Projects, Visit Us Online -

http://www.wirearted.com