I wonder if we do really need to work-harden the post? Over the life of the earstud the post'll get bent and wiggled - wouldn't it make sense to have that post start out annealed, so it'll last longer til it reaches an over-worked state and snaps?
Working with sterling silver, and using 20G wire to make the posts
. … I find that, YES, I have to work harden the posts . … if I
didn’t, I would never be able to apply the earnut (the back part)
to the post. The post would wiggle back and forth and bend causing
very uncomforatable feeling. Do you wear posts in your ears, or
do you just wear them??? There may be a HUGE difference between
opinion of comfort.