I’ve made several trichinopoly (“Viking knit”) chains of 26-gauge
silver wire and now would like to make one of gold wire, but it
needs to have working properties similar to those of dead-soft
sterling.
I’ve searched for terminology on the working properties of metals
and came up with “malleability,” which isn’t relevant for my
purpose, as the wire won’t be hammered or flattened. It will be bent
into small loops and it shouldn’t spring back.
Is there any karat of gold wire that has similar working properties
to dead-soft sterling–or, better yet, to “.935” sterling? (In
"Great Wire Jewelry" Irene Petersen said that Europe has ".935"
sterling and it’s better suited for these projects.)
My wife has done a lot of viking knit (I’m too lazy and have not got
the patience for it) in sterling and in .935 silver and about 10
years ago I gave her a DIY necklace in 8 karat yellow gold, which she
found quite springy. She has later done several necklaces and
bracelets in 14 karat YG, using wire diameters of 0,4, 0,45 and 0,5
mm and has no problem using ordinary annealed wire. On shows, where I
exhibit her viking knitwork, the public often believe that her work
is industrially made chain . So, I’m quite sure that Irene
From Petersen is absolutely wrong about the needed working
properties of wire for viking knitwork.
By the way, where does the word ‘trichinopoly’ derive from?
According to my ‘Oxford English Reference’ it is a town in Tamil
Nadu, Southern India.
I agree - you can make Viking chain out of any metal you feel like
bending. I’ve made nice chain with sterling, fine silver, 14k,
gold-filled, and 28g blackened steel wire. The steel did a number on
my wood draw plate though, so now I have a draw plate that draws
things into a flattened-oval cross section.
My wife has done viking knit in sterling and .935 silver Niels,
Do you know if .935 is available in the US?
By the way, where does the word ‘trichinopoly’ derive from? It’s from
the Greek word trichinos, “made of hair.” I found other words
beginning with trichin-, but they were all related to trichina,
which is a nasty parasite (thin like a hair).