Hello,
I have been using some 12 gauge Half Round Sterling Silver wire to
make earrings. The wire itself has come from a bracelet experiment
and as I was learning and perfecting the design I had several
bracelets that didn’t measure up to my quality standards. Soooo, I
have come up with an earring design that involves cutting and then
hammering the wire from the sub-standard bracelets. To give you a
picture, I cut and then hammer 1/2 to =BE inch pieces of the wire and
then smooth the edges, drill two holes and suspend either another
hammered element or a small stone or glass bead. The other hammered
elements are created from 18 gauge half round sterling silver. I make
organic twisted overlapping circle shapes and then hammer them so
they are formed in a shape that is somewhat circular, but rather
random as well.
My question is this…
At the moment I am not annealing the silver at any point in my
process. I use a tumbler after I have hammered the pieces and this
work hardens them further and shines them up. On very rare occasions
the 18 g. wire breaks when I hammer it. I wonder if there would be
any benefit to annealing either piece at some point in my processe If
so, when and whye
Many thanks for your opinions and advice on this.
Cheers!
Carolynne