Cooksongold will cut wire to fit your requirements and this comes fully annealed (soft state). You will need to familiarise yourself with two basic techniques for using wire: cutting and bending, which are fundamental to any project you will undertake.

Purchasing a drawplate is a very good investment in your workshop as this is a long lasting tool that will help you alter every size and shape of wire. The drawplate is a tool made of steel with holes of decreasing sizes that should be used in conjunction with a set of pliers called draw tongs. When using it, mount it on a bench vise with the holes being used close to the vise. File a gradual taper onto the last half inch of the wire and poke it through the largest hole of the drawplate. Use the tongs to pull the wire through the plate and move down the line through the smaller holes till you reach the desired size. Throughout the process, try to keep the wire perpendicular to the drawplate. The wire may require annealing (regular heating to maintain malleability) after 4- 5 holes.

Bending Wire: this can be done with your fingers; however, if you require more leverage, use a set of pliers that will match your desired blend. You can find a list of the right pliers to use in our previous article, here.

• Making Jump Rings: use round nose pliers; hold the wire at the place along the pliers for the size of ring you want, bend the wire with your fingers and finish by cutting the wire with end cutters.

• Making a Wire Spiral: the wire spiral can be used as a decorative catch or as a detail on any other piece of jewellery you made. Firstly, hold the end of the wire length with your pliers are bend it around the pliers whilst rotating the pliers. Once you have the beginning of the spiral, release it from the pliers and continue to bend the wire with your fingers. Finish the spiral with a hook and use it to decorate your artwork.
• Other shapes easy to achieve include: heart shape (use 1.2mm wire), zigzag  (1mm for fine shape; 2mm for chunky shape), earwire (0.8mm).

There are over 43 different variations you can choose from, various diameters and all cut to your requirements.  Our offer includes our best selling 0.8mm, 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm Sterling Silver Round Wire.

If you are new with jewellery making wire designs, here are the essential tools you will need:

• Round-nosed pliers: are one of the tools that are fundamental to wire jewellery making. Their rounded noses allow a grip on the wire that will not mark, crush or kink it, enabling easy manipulation for intricate movements such as the turning of loops in head and eye pins when making earrings or pendants.
• Stepped pliers: used for looping, which allow you to repeat circular patterns over and over again without the size of the loop varying.
• Flat-nosed pliers: are used for straightening metal findings and, again, are designed to minimise scratching and damaging.
• Side cutters: (or diagonal cutters) enable the craftsman to make specific pieces in specific sizes, or add further detail to a piece. Because of the many different gauges of wires there are many types of cutter available. When working with wire you often need to ensure you get a clean straight cut, and therefore worth investing in a flush or semi flush cutter to avoid crushing the end of your wire.
• Bead mats: (or bead boards) on which to lay out beads whilst designing pieces such as necklaces. They minimise wear and tear on the jewellery findings, but with enough friction to prevent items such as beads or stones rolling away.

Now you have everything you need to get started!! Enter our fabulous Wire Sale by clicking here and let us know what you think!

We’ve just launched the 32-page Jewellery Guide for those of you who are going back to work, starting work or just looking for new pieces to buy for your workshop!!  It contains the essential products to every jewellery maker’s workshop: machinery, clay, starter kits, books, chains and bullion are amongst the many products you will find in this useful catalogue.  Our Top 20 Essentials at discounted prices -UP TO 25% OFF – will most likely catch your eye too! It’s sure you’ll find something you love or need for you next piece!!

and the best part…COOKSON TECHNICAL INFORMATION BOOKLET

What makes this guide even better is the booklet inside, which you can download here or order for FREE here (where you get the whole mini catalogue for a change). The booklet includes useful data sheets and answers frequently asked question on various techniques like soldering and polishing. It provides you with the best hints &tips you’ll want to know before starting to make an art piece.

We’ve been in the jewellery industry for quite a while and now you can benefit from Cooksongold’s resourcefulness even further by login onto http://www.cooksongold.com/technical/. Here you’ll find the jargon used in the trade explained, even more data sheets and instant conversion calculations. Our knowledge base is easily accessible: you can search specific words and you  can almost instantly view “Hot topics”, “Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions” or “Latest articles” .

If you have a question that hasn’t been answered already (or to which you simply cannot find the answer) you can always opt for “ask a question” and you’ll quickly receive a personal response!

So what do you think of it? Have you used it already? If so, is there anything else you would’ve wanted to see in it?

UPDATE: Starting the 15th of March until the 31st of March 2011 you can try Reflections Silver Wire and Sheet for the same price as Standard Silver*. Click here to learn more about this promotion and start browsing through our fabulous range of  fire scale, tarnish- resistant silver.  Still looking for reasons? Keep reading and find out why we’re all so enthusiastic about Reflections Silver.

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Today we have launched the NEW REFLECTIONS SILVER COLLECTION!! You might have seen it on our website, but I wanted to give you some more information on this great new alloy!

We have over 100 (117 to be more precise) products including: Reflections Sheet, Reflections Wire, Reflections Finished and Loose Chain.

Here are a few reasons why I think you should try Reflections:

• It has enhanced tarnish (the discolouration of metallic surfaces)  and fire-scale (dark coloured copper oxide – forms when sterling silver is heated in the air) resistance when compared to standard silver
• It is age harden-able up to 90-110 Hv
• It can be easily processed using standard existing jewellery manufacturing processes
• It has 925 purity
• It is excellent for stamping, drawing, spinning and rolling.

However, there are several processes that you should pay attention to when working with Reflections alloy: soldering should be done in a darkened area, test first when hot enamelling and do not use for fusing (although it is possible to produce a weak fuse joint). When remelting use at least 50% fresh 50% scrap mix.

If the new collection caught your eye,you can click here to download a PDF copy of the Reflections mini catalogue or altenatively go here and order a FREE brochure! It is all free, you might as well have a look! We have also added a Reflections Technical Centre to our Knowledge Base and we hope this will answer some of your questions regarding the new collection.

Are you already thinking of your first art piece you could design with reflections? Do you need more details to convince yourself? – if so, do not hesitate to call or email us:

Telephone : 0845 100 1122 or email Birmingham.sales@cooksongold.com

Alternatively, click here to learn more about this incredible offer. Plus, don’t forget this offer cannot last and will expire on Tuesday 27th July 2010, Midnight! So what are you waiting for? Save £££’s on silver wire NOW!

Sterling Silver Round Wire Sale