I LOVE these earrings. They have everything I love about wire, which is, just wire being itself, and doing it gorgeously!
The design has been in my sketchbook for many months but I refused to make them in 20 gauge. Now these are 16 ga frames drawn down to about 19 ga at the ears.
The new draw plate finally arrived and it was everything I hoped for. Precision machined holes, all marked and in order and it pulls like a dream. I do not enjoy filing the wire down to fit into the draw plate. It's a pain and kind of fussy, but I do like the new design options I can have using heave gauge wire when needed.
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Haven't been able to get much else done the past week. We have been busy shopping for a used car for my daughter and finally found one. It's a stick shift so now she needs to learn to drive it and we had to get it into the shop to be sure it was safe to drive (and spend more money on it:( )
The cat is in the beginning stages of kidney disease and that has taken up my time also.
I really miss the wire and I hope I can get back to it regularly soon.
Those are beautiful! Thanks for sharing how you did them. And my best wishes for your fur kid.
ReplyDeleteI love it Mary..Is it hard to pull the wire? i never try it but willing to try..
ReplyDeleteSue, I've read in many blogs how busy real life has been for them. This whole year has been weird that way.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy!!
Emi, It is not hard to pull the wire at all! I am not even using the expensive 'draw tongs' that cost 60$. I am using just house hold pliers that grip nicely. You also need a little oil, I'm just using olive oil.
If you wanted to pull like 6 feet or more, than draw tongs are probably good, I assume they don't mark the wire where you grip it.
But if you want to pull just a few inches or 2 feet, the pliers do the job fine.
If you pull the wire many times it becomes very hard and you may have to anneal it.
I am starting to really like hard wire now. I'll be using it more in my work.
Anyway, it's easy and it will be no trouble for you!!
oh..tq mary for the info..i really like the way the earrings turn out..i also dont like to use 20ga wire as it is not hard enough. I'm currently work on wire from 12ga to 16ga. the thicker the better..thanx again dear !
ReplyDeleteooooh these are stunning!!
ReplyDeleteLovely design
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