i’m looking for an explanation of work hardening that goes into a
little more detail that mccreight and untracht do in their books.
but, i am not a scientist, so i need the explanation to be accessible
to a layman. i think i read what i’m looking for at one time, but i
have no idea where. i’m looking for both the technical and practical
aspects of work hardening.
for example, i want to make a bracelet using a wire with as small a
diameter as possible so that i can string beads with small holes on
it. i would like to avoid the distraction of a clasp, so, i would
like the bracelet to act like a cuff and be springy. i want the wire
to allow deformation so that the bracelet can be slipped on and off
the wrist, but i want to prevent the fatigue that will cause the wire
to break in the future. as a practical matter, how do i judge from
the feel of the wire when i have work hardened it enough but not too
much that subsequent use of the bracelet (taking it off and on) causes
it to fail? probably the answer to this last question is
"experience," but what are the hints the metal gives me that i have
achieved the right balance? does the solution involve tempering? how
should i go about this?
another question. i have gotten “wire in design” by barbara a.
mcguire from the library. there is a description of work hardening of
wire in the book that i just don’t understand.
the description starts in the 3rd paragraph of page 82: “…She
calls it ‘work hardening’ as a result of an 'electron flux charge.'
When the wire is bent, it creates friction, which carries an electric
charge, electron to electron, and this charge flows through the wire.
This is the reason a piece of wire can be soft in the middle and hard
at the end. The end hardness is a result of the momentum of the
transfer of energy or the flow of the charge to the end. A hammered
piece also gets hot and work hardens the wire…” In the 4th
paragraph it says: “She leaves an extra length [of wire] so that the
end absorbs the hardening and her design is still workable.”
this explanation doesn’t sound like anything i have read. help?
jean adkins