Silver balls ( Spheres ) / Pins

[Nick martin]

This is possibly a really daft question but for a novice like myself, its a puzzling one!

How do I go about making silver spheres, balls, call them what you will. Im thinking along the lines of the head of a large pin for example?

Also while on the same theme, whats the best method for making the tapered pin? Would it simply be a case of filing down the end of some hardened wire to a point, or would it be worth casting?

Thank you,

Nick

[Dennis]

This has just been discussed here Nick, http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/sho...t=silver+balls, but I'm not sure why you would want tapered pins.

Maybe you are talking about something quite other? Dennis.

[pearlescence]

Do you mean head pins, lengths of wire with a round blob on one end? You can make them simply by melting the end of lengths of wire (and indeed I do that when I have been making things with pins and have long off-cuts) but they are generally so cheap and available that you might as well not bother

[Nick martin]

Thanks everyone, and now I've read the link it makes more sense. Yes it was head pins I was thinking of, just trying to figure a way to make them perfectly spherical.

Thanks,

Nick

[GreenSnail]

i make dozens of these at work. Just hold the wire vertically in a third hand and move the torch in a sort of sweeping motion from around an inch from the bottom end down, repeating that til you get your ball. for some reason if you just blast the tip it forms a sort of pear shape. It wont be perfect unless a machine does it, but it'll be pretty close.