OK guys, I thought it would be nice have tarnish free earwires and
head pins so I took some 20 gauge AS wire, balled up the ends,
pickled it then put it into a pyrex dish, no cover, into my
pre-heated 500 degree oven for approximately 2-1/2 hours. It came
out nearly as soft as when I put it in - no perceptible change in
temper - no spring at all. I think I tried this once before too and
it failed but since everyone is saying you can do this in your home
oven I thought I would try it again. Other than nicely heating up my
kitchen (thank God it’s not summer) I got nowhere… can anyone
tell me what I am doing wrong??
Grace S.
Grace,
I thought it would be nice have tarnish free earwires and head pins
so I took some 20 gauge AS wire, balled up the ends, pickled it
then put it into a pyrex dish, no cover, into my pre-heated 500
degree oven for approximately 2-1/2 hours. It came out nearly as
soft as when I put it in - no perceptible change in temper - no
spring at all.
If you have a steel shot burnisher, run the head pins or earwires
through it. The burnishing will give you more stiffness. I run my AS
earwires through a vibratory tumbler and not only get the work
hardening effect, I also end up with bright wires that don’t have
that yellowish color that has to be removed.
HTH,
Donna Shimazu
Grace
Sorry on the confusion. Hardening does not make it springy, it makes
it more scratch resistant, and less pliable, more difficult to bend.
20 gauge is pretty light and you may not feel the difference when
purposefully bending, on rings, I can tell the difference. 20 gauge
is what I use in my woven bracelets, and ear wires, but I have not
made any with AS yet, I will let you know my results, all I can
promise on a time frame is sometime between now and Friday.
Terry