[Jewelry making - Article 00326] - Re: [Orchid] Drawing 22k wire from coin

[andy cooperman]

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Hi John,

    I rarely buy wire, except for barrel straight 20ga stainless and 14k
    20 guage (for pinbacks,  earwire and posts).  Whenever I need some
    wire, it is a quick matter of melting scrap or shot-- or coin if it's
    the metal that you want-- rolling it out in the mill and drawing it
    to whatever diameter or shape I need.  I always try to pour up extra
    and clip off lengths as I move down  through progressively smaller
    diameters.  This way I have an assortment of guages. 

    I started working this way out of necessity years ago and now it is
    routine. Time from ingot to wire is something like 10- 15 minutes
    (depending on the wire desired). I also make my own tube unless I
    absoluetly must have seamless. Making my own allows me to have what
    ever wall thickness I desire. In either case I can efficiently
    recycle  clean scrap. (No solder, same alloy, etc.)  I do the same
    with small pieces of sheet. 

    Although I would not approach wire from coin making by sawing out a
    consistent spiral, the idea sounds quite beautiful and would yield,
    in the end, very nice results. It sounds similar to how I've heard
    wire was made before steel tools:  Chisel a strip off a flattened
    ingot and roll the strip between pieces of leather until it twists
    into round wire.  (You can see the twisting pattern in photo
    micrographs of ancient gold and silver work...) Two notes: 

    1.  For heavier wire, say 3mm and up I might consider purchasing in
    the future, since my wrists (for drawing wire) aren't what they used
    to be. (That, or building/ buying a draw bench). 

    2.  I don't make my living as a repair or bench jeweler, although I
    certainly have. (That's where I learned to melt up small ingots from
    scrap on my soldering pad, pinch them with a pair of tweezers into a
    loaf and roll out wire.) I work through galleries and through
    commissions and custom orders.  If I still worked at the bench in a
    trade shop or volume oriented situation, I might find this method--
    even though it is fast-- too time consuming ...  

Take care,  Andy

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