Hello there. I am a new member, and delving into attempting to make sterling cuff bracelets.

I have bought 5mm wide, 1.2mm thick rectangular wire, to which I am soldering/welding a light over clip, so that I can then later threat leather and horse hair through. Sort of like a top decorative layer - but I need to do this last so not to burn it of course.

My question is, how do I harden the cuff? The curved ends aren't too bad, as they are quite stiff, but the rest of the cuff is still too easy to bend out of shape. I tried it in my oven at max temp (maybe 270 - 290 degree celcius) , it did bring the copper to the surface , but still didn't harden .

I also tried hammering, but all it did was distort the shape, and leave a hammered finished, and again, wasn't any harder :-(

I am about to order a piece of 7mm x 1.9mm sterling rectangular wire, but not sure if I will have better luck.

Any advise is appreciated (and I unfirtunately do not have access to any fancy or industrial equipment - I use a butane hobby torch to my welding at the present on jump rings and the like).

Thank you