One of the first questions that many aspiring wrappers first ask themselves is "What type of wire do I buy?". It can be very confusing when first looking at the different types of wire available, and trying to select which you would like to use. So I will break it down here for you.
Wire Gauges:
The way in which a wire or cable is measured is in gauges, with 0 being on the large end, and 28 being on the smaller end of the spectrum. Here is a small chart to help you better understand what I mean. By no means do we use all of the gauges listed here (in fact we use some that aren't), but it should give you an idea of how the sizing's progress.
Wire Gauges:
The way in which a wire or cable is measured is in gauges, with 0 being on the large end, and 28 being on the smaller end of the spectrum. Here is a small chart to help you better understand what I mean. By no means do we use all of the gauges listed here (in fact we use some that aren't), but it should give you an idea of how the sizing's progress.
The sizes that we will typically use for wire wrapping range from 18ga. to 28ga. depending on the pattern/style you are trying to wrap. The larger gauges tend to be use more for framing and structural integrity when building the wrap, and the smaller gauges are used for the finer details and fancier styling. The larger gauge wires are also a bit more difficult to bend and mold into the desire shapes, whereas the smaller wires tend to be more pliable.
Wire Hardness:
There are three common types of hardness when discussing jewelry wire: Dead Soft, Half Hard, and Full Hard.
Dead Soft: Dead soft wire is extremely soft and pliable. It can be easily bent and is excellent for making rounded shapes such as spirals. It is also excellent for wrapping wire around beads to make them look as though they are encased. The disadvantage of using soft wire is that the finished piece can be bent out of shape if not properly handled.
Half Hard: Half-hard wire is slightly stiffer than dead soft wire. Half-hard wire is excellent for making tight, angular bends, for making loops in wire, and for wrapping wire around itself. However, it is not very useful for making spirals. Finished pieces made with half-hard wire are usually more permanent than pieces made with soft wire.
Full Hard: Hard wire is very stiff and tends to spring back after being bent. This can make it harder to work with when using a jig. Hard wire will not make a spiral. The advantage to hard wire is that components made out of hard wire, while difficult to make, are very permanent.
Most of the time you will want to use Half Hard wire to wrap with. On rare occasion you may need one of the other hardness's to do some fine detail, or some heavy structural work, but I find Half Hard works %95 of the time.
Wire Styles/Shape:
There are four common different shapes/styles of wire that are used for wire wrapping: Round, Half-Round, Square, Twisted. Each different wire type has it's use and style, and is completely up to the artists taste when deciding which to use. I will show you each type of wire.
Round: Half Round:
Wire Hardness:
There are three common types of hardness when discussing jewelry wire: Dead Soft, Half Hard, and Full Hard.
Dead Soft: Dead soft wire is extremely soft and pliable. It can be easily bent and is excellent for making rounded shapes such as spirals. It is also excellent for wrapping wire around beads to make them look as though they are encased. The disadvantage of using soft wire is that the finished piece can be bent out of shape if not properly handled.
Half Hard: Half-hard wire is slightly stiffer than dead soft wire. Half-hard wire is excellent for making tight, angular bends, for making loops in wire, and for wrapping wire around itself. However, it is not very useful for making spirals. Finished pieces made with half-hard wire are usually more permanent than pieces made with soft wire.
Full Hard: Hard wire is very stiff and tends to spring back after being bent. This can make it harder to work with when using a jig. Hard wire will not make a spiral. The advantage to hard wire is that components made out of hard wire, while difficult to make, are very permanent.
Most of the time you will want to use Half Hard wire to wrap with. On rare occasion you may need one of the other hardness's to do some fine detail, or some heavy structural work, but I find Half Hard works %95 of the time.
Wire Styles/Shape:
There are four common different shapes/styles of wire that are used for wire wrapping: Round, Half-Round, Square, Twisted. Each different wire type has it's use and style, and is completely up to the artists taste when deciding which to use. I will show you each type of wire.
Round: Half Round:
Square: Twisted:
These different types of wire can be used separately or together in order to create beautiful wraps. There are many different styles of wire available, these are just the more common ones that are used.
Wire Compositions:
There are a bunch of different metals that can be used when wire wrapping depending on the value you want to add to your wrap. The most cost efficient and common way to start wrapping is utilizing silver plated copper wire. This type of wire is made of a solid copper core, and is then coated in silver to give a nice shiny silver look. You can also use plain copper wire as well if you would prefer that coloring. If you would like to use a more precious metal, there is also pure silver, gold, and even titanium wrapping wire. The choice is yours based on the style/value you would like to place into your wrap.
Wire Compositions:
There are a bunch of different metals that can be used when wire wrapping depending on the value you want to add to your wrap. The most cost efficient and common way to start wrapping is utilizing silver plated copper wire. This type of wire is made of a solid copper core, and is then coated in silver to give a nice shiny silver look. You can also use plain copper wire as well if you would prefer that coloring. If you would like to use a more precious metal, there is also pure silver, gold, and even titanium wrapping wire. The choice is yours based on the style/value you would like to place into your wrap.