Temper
|
Advantage
|
Disadvantage
|
Dead Soft
|
- Easy on your hands.
- Won't wear your tools as fast.
- Very forgiving: you may be able to
undo a mistake.
- Use a wire straightening tool to harden
it.
- Just bending it will make it harder. This
process is called work-hardening. The
more you do to it, the harder it gets.
- Most common wire used for main-
stream wire-wrapping.
|
- It's so soft that it feels
flimsy.
- Harder to control.
- Shapes may distort.
- Shows plier marks.
|
1/4 Hard
|
- A lot like dead soft but slightly harder.
|
- You can't make it softer
without annealing. This
process involves torches
or kilns and in most cases
an acid bath for cleaning.
- Not readily available
|
Half Hard
|
- Right in the middle!
- Holds shape better for creating
armatures an frames.
- You can make it harder by work-
hardening it (see above).
|
- Can't soften it without
annealing (see above).
- Heavier gauges require
nylon coated tools to
bend it easily, and without
marring it.
|
Hard
|
- Thin gauges (such as 24-gauge ear
wires) feel sturdy and tough.
- It holds it shape.
|
- Less forgiving: mess with
it too much and it will look
tortured and/or break.
- Can't soften it without
annealing (see above).
- Hard on your hands.
Repetitive motion and
tough wire can lead to
carpel tunnel syndrome.
- Your tools will wear out
faster.
|
Spring-Temper
|
- This temper keeps its curl.
- It springs back to its original form.
|
- Very limited usefulness
- Not recommended for
chain-making, it's
basically a spring shape.
|
