Wire Wrapping w/ Stainless Steel Question

[AbsolutelyKismet]

I would like to try wire wrapping with stainless steel, but I'm not sure which size to buy. I recently wire wrapped 6mm beads with 22g half hard sterling. Will that translate to 22g stainless, or will I need to go to 24g stainless (which is getting pretty small!)? What about 8mm or 10mm beads? Will 22g stainless be okay with those?

I'm afraid that 20g stainless will be too hard to work with to wire wrap, but does anyone know if it would be okay for eye pins and linked beads?

Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Micheal's and JoAnn's both sale a decent learning craft wire. Its how I started out with my crudeco products.

I also used a 18 gauge copper from the hard wear store. The craft wire is 20 gauge and comes in silver tone and gold tone. They are perfect for learning the wrap process.

I used both types of wire until I got a design style that I liked. I didn't realize until after I joined a rock club club that there was a traditional style of rock wrap.

But I like mind and it suits my products.
Once you get comfortable with the craft wire, then you could move up to the 16, 18, 20, and 22 gauges of sterling silver or gold filled or even argentium wires.

And there some realy good tutorials on Youtube for teaching wire-wrap techniques.
Good luck.
Mickey

[AbsolutelyKismet]

Thanks, Mickey. I have the basics of wire wrapping down (just took a refresher course since it had been a while!), and I've tried some of the silver toned copper. I don't really want to use it for any big projects, though.

I would like to try stainless steel as the next step up before I invest in a lot of sterling (I want to see if my new product will sell enough at a mid-price range to generate the income to warrant the expense). I've worked with sterling on personal items, though, and do love it!

[AnjasArts]

I've heard that stainless steel is very very hard to work with. Also if you buy a stainless steel ring it can't be resized apparently.

[AbsolutelyKismet]

Thanks, Anja - that's what I'm afraid of. I want to try both wire wrapped links and chained links for 6mm and 8mm beads.

[AnjasArts]

If you can't afford the sterling prices, perhaps consider silver filled?

[Former_Member]

hi there,

Ive actually recently attempted wrapping with stainless steel 304 grade. which I purchased from the ringlord.com.

I have used so far the 18 guage and 26 guage.

What ive found is that it IS very hard on your hands, but after a quick google search I found the annealing temperature of stainless steel 304 grade which softens the steel enough to manipulate it better.

The other warning I would like to put out there is that your basic beading and wire wrapping tools probably wont stand up to the strength of stainless steel. When I was first trying it, I broke 3 sets of pliers.

So, Now I use a large pair of garage grade pliers that I snatched from my fiances toolbox *giggles* Cutters I would most definately suggest the same and always make sure to wear safety glasses as it is so damn springy its unbelievable.

Also, if you work with stones and crystals like I do, the best ones Ive found to use so far are the ones with a high MOHS (strength) rating. You can google the stones in question with MOHS hardness next to the name.
Basically, the softer the stone, the more likely it is to crumble under the pressure of you bending your wires to start with.

I have a few different things I will be trying in regards to stainless steel as the finish is just sublime and I love how hard wearing and solid the pieces you can create are.

I hope this helps in the future and if you would like or need help feel free to PM me anytime and I will do my utmost to help :)

[TheDangleDiva]

I find that stainless steel is too hard to wrap with - hurts my hands at any gauge .

[weekendjewelry1]

That's basically what I was going to say. I like using hard wire - as in, hard sterling rather than half hard. But I wouldn't even try to wrap with stainless. I'm just curious, why you would want to use it? Because it won't tarnish? I would be thinking of using argentium silver then - ti has a very low tarnish factor.

Best of luck if you decide to work with stainless. But my goodness, buy a small amount to practice with - you might find it's just too much work and not worth the effort. I am not insulting your efforts or intention - I'm just thinking, whoa, very very hard wire!

[Former_Member]

The good news is that sterling silver is a lot cheaper now than when this thread originally started, so SS may be the way to go! I always practice with copper and then do a finished product in sterling. Both are saleable, though often to different audiences.

[KaterinaCollection]

Actually since this thread started FMG has dead-soft stainless steel wire available. I still prefer to work with sterling silver, but if you purchase the dead-soft version it is doable. Just wanted to throw that in here :)