[Jewelry making - Article 00066] - Re: [Orchid] Drawing gold wire and hardness

[Spiderchain Jewelry]

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    Hardness in terms of wire temper is a strictly relative term. You
    can get spring hard lead if you draw it down enough, but that's a
    very different thing than spring hard steel. 

    With that said, my experience has been that half-hard 14K gold is
    springier than hald hard sterling silver. That makes sense to me,
    since the 14K gold is more heavily alloyed than sterling silver. No
    clue about the 18K though, and I couldn't tell you HOW much springier
    the 14K is. 

    Someone on the list will probably come up with exactly the figures
    that you need, but if not - here's your plan B... Check the chart
    that I have on my site for % wire area reduction and resulting wire
    temper: http://www.spiderchain.com/other/faq.shtml#temper You can use
    that to get a good idea of what temper you're giving your sterling
    wire. Then ask a refiner what would be the equivalent working temper
    for 14K and 18K. Use the chart to work backwards to your starting
    wire diameter. 

    It'll be a bunch of plodding math, but at least it's a option if
    none of the Fine Orchid Folk have a magical answer. 

-Spider (wire and chain lunatic)
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