I suppose it would be possible to solder on a straight length of
wire with an eye on the end and then twist and bend into shape but
this seems more than a little clunky.
It’s really not necessary to change your process too much. You’re
still measuring a given length of wire. If you bend up, or solder on,
the end loop and bend the shepards hook, and then after adding the
dangle, solder shut the eye, you do get some annealing near the eye,
even if the wire started out drawn or twisted hard. But with a little
tweaking of your soldering setup, to heat sink most of the wire, you
can limit that annealed zone to just a few millimeters, which should
not then affect the function of the earwire. In fact, if it’s that
small a zone, as it can be, you could solder shut the eye, then grab
the eye and the wire, say 3 or 5 mm away, and twist the eye 180 or
360 degrees regaining any lost hardness. those first few millimeters
would not be hard to restore any curved bend to. Or, solder the eye
shut with the dangle, grab the eye and the end of the wire, and
twist, then shape the shepards hook. Different sequence, but unless
there’s something in the tools you use to shape the hook that is
blocked by the dangle, it should end up being the same process, just
different order. Of course, hammering the shepards hook as you do,
also works well, and ads a visually different element to the wire
that can be quite attractive. The main thing I’d want to ask is how
are you soldering the eye’s shut? If you’re using a big torch that
anneals more than the eye and a very short distance beyond it, even
with silver, you’re annealiing more of the wire than you need to.
The wire can start out the process drawn or twisted to the
desired/needed hardness, and you should be able to keep it there for
the most part. This, of course, kind of makes the whole discussion of
tumbling to harden ear wires a bit superfluous, though it’s always
good to have multiple tool options in the arsenal of ways to get
things done.
cheers
Peter