Dead hard sterling wire

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi to all

I went to buy dead- hard sterling wire (to make long thin earrings),
but the supplier only had full-hard wire.

What’s the difference ?

Thanks a lot

2 
I went to buy dead- hard sterling wire (to make long thin
earrings), but the supplier only had full-hard wire. What's the
difference ?

The difference is that “full hard” actually exists, while “dead
hard” does not. Normally, the word “dead” is used in “dead soft”,
meaning fully annealed, not hard. The word dead is used to describe
metal that bends without spring, so when you bend it, it stays where
you bent it without springing back a little. That would describe
fully annealed silver, not fully hardened silver.

You want full hard for what you’re doing.

Peter Rowe

3

Hi Cecile,

I went to buy dead- hard sterling wire (to make long thin
earrings), but the supplier only had full-hard wire. What's the
difference ?

I’ve never heard of ‘Dead Hard’ sterling. Could it be that you mixed
up the terminology? The usual hardnesses of sterling aRe: ‘Dead
Soft’, ‘Half Hard’, ‘Full Hard’ & ‘Spring Hard’. There may be other
hardnesses available, but those are the ones typically used.

Dave

4

I don’t believe there is a dead hard wire. It’s half hard, dead soft
or full hard. I’ve never purchased full hard wire before, but I’m
assuming it’s harder than half hard; but half hard is probably what
you meant to purchase to make earrings. Dead soft is much softer &
good for wire sculpting.

5 
I went to buy dead- hard sterling wire (to make long thin
earrings), but the supplier only had full-hard wire.

I use dead soft for wire wrapping, never heard of dead hard. I also
use full hard for earwires and half hard for a lot of other stuff.
You probably want the half hard for those long earrings.