I have purchased a set of screw-on ear ring findings and soldered
them to the design I made. I quenched them in water and then put
them in my tumbler but the silver "U's" did not harden. How do I
decrease their flex?
Gently hammer the wire on the flat plane until it is three quarters
the thickness, and wider. When polished it appears to be oval in
section. The wire is hardened by the hammering, and the wider part is
orientated to resist bending when the screw is tightened. Don’t
over-do it or the “U” will be subject to twisting or buckling in use.
Another way is to straighten the wire, twist the whole length one
and a half turns and untwist the same amount, and then reshape the
"U". If only a portion of the wire is soft, the softest part will
twist the most and end up a similar hardness to the rest of the wire.
Regards, Alastair