Making silver paddles

Can someone give me tips on making “paddles” out of sterling wire or
gf wire to use as dangles off earrings. How do I hammer the tip into
an oval shape without making it either too thin or uneven? I’m
using 22 gu round to work it. Cut it to length and then try to
hammer it flat on the end where I need to hold beads on. Have not
been able to find anything addressing that in any of my manuals.

Thanks in advance!

get a small planishing hammer (1-2oz) Polish it furiously (you need
to be able to see your face crisply in the face of the hammer) New
hammers often have a corner in the edge. take that out. Do the same
to your anvil. These, due to the time you spent preparing them, have
now become your sacred tools.

the rest is practice. Thread the bead(s) you’d like to use onto a
coil of wire, clip the end with the convex side of the cutters facing
towards the current end, to achieve a more or less flush cut on the
end you’d like to use. brush it with a file once. set the end of
wire up in the center of your anvil. keep your fingers off the
anvil under 95% of circumstances
and practice to shape the wire
with one focussed strike into the teardrop or paddle shape you
desire. It really helps, to set up the wire in the same position
every time and, to be very focussed with a clear idea of the end
shape. practice, practice, practice…file the paddle into desired
endshape, using an emery or Diamond manicure file. make loop-di-loop
in the top. at a 22gauge I do recommend, you wrap the remaining wire
back around for added security. Many beads will accept a 20gauge
wire, which would make it a lot stronger.

it’s worth practicing it though. The effect is very dramatic in the
thicker gauges.

good luck, Sparrow

Hi Delina.

What I’d do to make such a “paddle” is snip off an appropriate
length of wire, hold it vertically in locking tweezers, apply the
torch to the bottom until the silver melts & begins to ball up. Then
hammer the little ball flat and adjust with file as usual.

Cheers,
Hans Durstling

Hi,

Can someone give me tips on making "paddles" out of sterling wire
or gf wire to use as dangles off earrings.  How do I hammer the tip
into an oval shape without making it either too thin or uneven?

Probably the best way is to get yourself a smooth metal surface to
pound on & a smooth faced hammer & some wire & try it. Most of the
process is technique & about the easiest way to learn it is to just
‘do it’.

Leave the wire in one long piec & after you flatten the end, cut it
off & flatten the new end. Keep this up until you get consistent
results. Try holding the hammer at slightly different angles &
stricking the wire with more or less force. If the edges become
uneven, they can be trued up using a file or grinder.

Dave

Hi Delina, I recommend running a cup bur on the end of the wire
before hammering the paddle. It leaves behind a nice round end
which, when hammered, takes on a full, even teardrop shape which
shouldn’t need tweaking afterward. cheers, Julia Turner San Francisco