[Jewelry making - Article 00753] - [Orchid] Tips on bending rectangular wire

[braper]

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Dear Orchidians,

    Please share your experience bending rectangular or flat wire (my
    gremlin du jour). None of the books I have or an Orchid search
    proved helpful.  I have been making sterling rings banded (or
    decked) with flat wire (instead of being in St. Petersburg. LOL).
    The wire I am using ranges between .75mm to 2mm thick x 2.5 to 3.5
    mm wide and decks each side of the ring. I am finding that when I go
    thicker than 1mm the wire becomes difficult to work especially in
    gold. It wants to bend flat rather than around. This is a similar
    problem to reducing rectangular wire in a rolling mill. I have ring
    bending pliers but usually have to anneal and flatten several times
    before I get a good join and then I still have a good bit of filing
    to do to clean up the marks left from the pliers (and I tape up my
    pliers.) After I get the join and solder, rounding up on the mandrel
     is another challenge. I usually pull the ring up the mandrel while
    turning and hammering with a del-rin shot filled hammer while
    carefully supporting the ring as I go and trying to hit just the top
    of the wire but again the ring wants to bend flat. There's probably
    something obvious I am missing here. Any help would be greatly
    appreciated. 

Cheers 
Bruce Raper
In Atlanta---where Spring is sprunging. 



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