Making earwires...help please!

[Gemma]

Hi everyone. Hope you all had lovely weekends :)

Hope someone can help me. I've been making earwires. I cut a length of silver, heat the end to form a ball, shaping etc...
Problem is the ball textures when it cools. I've tried air cooling and dunking it in water with the same results. Any ideas how to stop this?
I've attached a piccy so you can see what I mean...

[Di Sandland]

This is a common problem with sterling silver, Gem, fine silver doesn't pit like that. I don't know if any of the others have 'cures' for sterling tho.

[Ominicci]

Argentium (and Brilliante) is good for balls as it doesn't 'pit' like sterling does.

Some jewellery makers use it to their advantage though and incorporate it into their designs, like Jo from GemHeaven Jewellery HERE (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gemheaven/3873422359/in/set-72157621612174959/)

[Ominicci]

Oops for got to say ... apparently the trick is to cool it very slowly by pulling the flame away in slow motion. I've never really got that to work so I use Argentium specifically for ear wires.

[Di Sandland]

Nicci, Gem Heaven's stuff is absolutely stunning! Thanks for the link.

[Gemma]

Wow! Jo's stuff is great!
So the thing I'm doing wrong is using the wrong silver...thanks Nicci and Di. That means I have to go shopping again then...such a shame :D

[Emerald]

I make my earwires with sterling and i really dont mind if it pits and as Jo does if you oxidise it it looks really good.

[mizgeorge]

The ones you see with perfect balls have usually been soldered on. I can sometimes get them spot on by taking them out of the flame very slowly, but it's very hit and miss. Fine silver is too soft realistically to make earwires. Argentium seems to work pretty well though. I'm experimenting with different styles in it at the moment.

[Petal]

The ones you see with perfect balls have usually been soldered on. I can sometimes get them spot on by taking them out of the flame very slowly, but it's very hit and miss. Fine silver is too soft realistically to make earwires. Argentium seems to work pretty well though. I'm experimenting with different styles in it at the moment.

Thanks for that.... reads with interest!

[Di Sandland]

tbh - I love the pitting but then I don't seem able to do elegant :(

[Petal]

So do you use Argentium then? or just stick to sterling?

x

[Di Sandland]

So do you use Argentium then? or just stick to sterling?

x

Me? I stick to sterling but only because I'm not seeking perfect, unpitted balls ;)

[Di Sandland]

... and I do oxidise a lot and the pitting looks really interesting when it stays black and you polish the raised bits.

[shelliem]

Also reads with interest - thanks everybody:Y:

[shelliem]

Sorry me again ...

I was just wondering to make the balls, pitted or otherwise do you just hold them under a torch until they start melting and then dunk them in cool water?

[Di Sandland]

Cut a piece of wire slightly longer than you want your headpin to be
Hold one end of the wire with the tweezers, with the other end of the wire pointing down.
Direct the torch flame at the wire end. The bit just beyond the blue cone works best for me.
A little ball of silver will form and seem to climb up the wire
The longer you keep the torch there, the bigger the ball will be
Don't get too ambitious though - cos the ball sometimes falls off if you keep it in the flame too long
Quench the pins in water
Pickle to remove the black (not necessary for fine silver, not sure about Argentium)

Et voila

[Solunar Silver Studio]

Hmmm - in my experience - you pickle the Argentium too. The ball is very often silver but the wire tends to go grey. But then - sometimes it doesn't! Fickle stuff!!:N:
It is also risky to do it with Argentium if you are prone to the shakes as I have had the ball drop off and bounce away if you twitch or jiggle it at all!:'(

[shelliem]

Thanks Di and thanks Gemma for starting this thread

[mizgeorge]

For the sake of completeness, I just made a quick pair of earwires in this style in 0.8mm argentium.

Apologies for bad picture (grabbed the first camera that came to hand, which doesn't have the best macro), but it should be enough to show that the balled ends are completely unpitted.

I don't pickle my argentium, just polish it up to remove the greyness - mainly because I find that quicker. I guess it took about 3 minutes from start to finish - and that included going to another room to find a torch.

Hope that helps!

[Petal]

For the sake of completeness, I just made a quick pair of earwires in this style in 0.8mm argentium.

Apologies for bad picture (grabbed the first camera that came to hand, which doesn't have the best macro), but it should be enough to show that the balled ends are completely unpitted.

I don't pickle my argentium, just polish it up to remove the greyness - mainly because I find that quicker. I guess it took about 3 minutes from start to finish - and that included going to another room to find a torch.

Hope that helps!

Very useful replies guys. :Y: George, was the headpin I soldered made in Argentium too, then? It looks nice and shiney, but is quite soft, was that because it wasn't tumbled to work harden it then?

[mizgeorge]

Jules, that was fine silver, which balls up perfectly, stays lovely and silvery, but is too soft to use for most earwire styles unfortunately. You can get it a bit harder with some twisting and tumbling, but not much - that's why sterling (and its alternatives) were developed.

[Petal]

Ahhhh. That explains it then! Thanks for that. No emoticons this time, it takes too long to choose them!

xx

[Gemma]

Thanks George! Great to see a comparison...
Didn't think my little question would cause so much discussion...thought I was just being dense! :-D

[amazingbabe]

George you are a wealth of info,, Thank you so much,, I buy my earwires mainly because its handy but i do intend in the new year to start making my own findings, What guage wire do you use for your earwires??:xmaslaugh:

[mizgeorge]

I generally use 0.8mm wire Gayle - 0.7 is more comfortable for people with very sensitive ears, but can feel a bit flimsy. 0.9 looks great, but even I find it pretty uncomfortable after a while.

[Ominicci]

Cut a piece of wire slightly longer than you want your headpin to be
Hold one end of the wire with the tweezers, with the other end of the wire pointing down.
Direct the torch flame at the wire end. The bit just beyond the blue cone works best for me.
A little ball of silver will form and seem to climb up the wire
The longer you keep the torch there, the bigger the ball will be
Don't get too ambitious though - cos the ball sometimes falls off if you keep it in the flame too long
Quench the pins in water
Pickle to remove the black (not necessary for fine silver, not sure about Argentium)

Et voila

I don't use fine silver, but I do find that if you flux the end of the wire (sterling, Argentium or Brilliante) it balls quicker and more spherical.

I have 1.0mm wires in my ears at the moment as I made some corkscrew swirls :dance:. I have sensitive ears when it is base metal (don't have many of them any more), but I can't say I am sensitive to different thicknesses...

[Kalorlo]

Heh, my ears are the other way round - as long as there's no nickel they're fine, but when I wear my 0.8mm earrings during the working day for more than about three days in a row, they get really unhappy. I'm used to the really thin commercial silver-plated earwires - the holes just aren't that big!

[mizgeorge]

I can't even get 1mm into mine Nicci! I make my corkscrews from 0.8hh. They're one of those designs that people seem to either love or hate!

[Sunnybank]

I have 1.0mm wires in my ears at the moment as I made some corkscrew swirls

Sorry for the ignorance, what are corkscrew swirls, they sound interesting?

[MuranoSilver]

They're the funky ones that you swirl round a biro/knitting needle and thread into your ear (got any pics George?)
nic x

[Sunnybank]

I found some spiral earrings on George's website, are they the same thing? Not sure if I'll get on with them, but I'm going to have a try, they look great.

[mizgeorge]

Course I've got pics Nic!

[Di Sandland]

Course I've got pics Nic!


Ooh, my faves ;)

[Ominicci]

Yep, that's them, 'cept the ones I have in have more spirals right down to the end and and a plain hammered end in the middle (oo-er) - Pic tomorrow.

I sold 5 pairs of those last week as so many people had never seen them before - and I made sure I was wearing some.

[Petal]

Ooh, my faves ;)

ooooooh - serious earring envy there!

Luverly
xx

[Sunnybank]

Yes those are the ones I found on George's site, they are gorgeous.

[Ominicci]

Here are my version. I first saw these on an American 'how to' website a couple of years ago and since then I have seen lots of different versions, especially on flickr and etsy sites.

[snow_imp]

Here are my version. I first saw these on an American 'how to' website a couple of years ago and since then I have seen lots of different versions, especially on flickr and etsy sites.

Wow - how do you get them into your ears?! My eyes hurt looking at them.

[Ominicci]

Wow - how do you get them into your ears?! My eyes hurt looking at them.

LOL! You start from the bottom of the spiral end, putting that through the hole from the front and gently twist them round so that the 'corkscrew' bit goes all the way through.

[Gemma]

Wow! Lovely sprial earrings girlies! Right...lets get this marking and planning done so I can have a play!!

[Sunnybank]

Here are my version. I first saw these on an American 'how to' website a couple of years ago and since then I have seen lots of different versions, especially on flickr and etsy sites.

Must poke wire through ears, then order best fit and make some!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:Y:

[amazingbabe]

Here are my version. I first saw these on an American 'how to' website a couple of years ago and since then I have seen lots of different versions, especially on flickr and etsy sites.

Those earrings scare me Nic, would love a pic of them in an ear,,, do you have one xx:snow:

[bustagasket]

I have a couple of pairs of earrings that spiral into your ears like that, made by an american company i believe and then sold over here by Special Expressions - Earcuffs, earwraps,threads, ear pins, gold earings, silver earings, Claras Charms in Keswick (http://www.specialexpressions.co.uk/) I bought several things from these people at the bike rally that we go too, and have a necklace and a dragon that hangs around my ear, although i sometimes have to take it off cos its heavy and the claws of the dragon start to dig in lol

[Vivia]

I had a quick google Gayle, and found these pics of the spiral in-ear. They're not great, but I think I understand how they work a bit better now... I think. (Possibly).

[SilverBlueberry]

I don't get how these spiral ear wires work. But then again I usually lose my orientation when I go up some stairs that are not just straight, so it's nothing strange for me. ;)