Ready to order REAL wire

I have pretty limited experience but everyone told me to start with 20g dead-soft square for the wrap and 22g dead soft half round for the bindings. I ordered both from FMG and used up the half round quickly. Recently I bought some 22g half-hard half-round at a local place and I like it much better than the wire from FMG. ....but it could be that I just like the difference between DS and HH or that FMG's DS HR wire just isn't up to snuff... i couldn't tell ya. I can tell you that it takes a little more effort to use the half-hard wire and proper technique is needed more so than with dead soft.

I think you're right about the 24g being too thin and I think the 18g would be too thick as well. Seems lots of folks here like 20g for the wrap and 22g for the bindings but there are exceptions. Dead soft seems to be the favorite for wraps but I think WyckedWyre and a few others use half hard for everything...

hope that helps.
Dan

I think the hard or soft of the wire will become your prefernce after trying a few. I have used both and I like the halfhard better. I have only found the soft in round and I didn't like it. If I could get it in square or half round, I would try it. The halfhard to me is easier because it stays where you put it. It is more forgiving as far as marring the wire. The soft to me should be used with little to no tools. It marres easily. I believe Rockyraccoon only uses soft wire but that's why her wire flows onto the stones. LOL I get it bent up to much. LOL

The guage of wire depends alot on the size of your cab or stones. A larger stone can use 19-22 guage wire nicely with a smaller stone using 22 - 24 g. Generally speaking 20 g is good for the wrap and 22 for the bindings. If you use soft wire for the wrap, use halfhard for the bindings. I think it's a better binding wire because itis stiffer and stronger.

If you use soft, put away your tools. That's what I was told. I didn't listen. LOL The soft wire can be bent easily with your hands and fingers. Just use your tools for the bindings.

Just jump in and give it a whirl. Everyone here can tell ya different things because it's all a preference. You'll know which you like better and can work with well. Get alittle of each and try. Then you'll know what to order next time.

I'm still trying to find somewhere to buy the 20 g square soft wire as it's very popular and sells out fast. That's the only one I haven't tied yet.

Good luck to you. This is only my opinion and am by no means a teacher of wrapping. This is just from my past experiences, but I'm hard headed anyway. LOL

Tonja

OK! Thanks
Lady T: The gauge was one of my questions, and you answered it. Also taking to heart your advice on the soft.
Guess I'll sign up at Rio Grande.

So, please help me place my first order!

Is this good? Or should I bump up to 25 ft?
18 ft. of SS 20 ga. square
18 ft. of SS 22 ga. half round
18 ft. of GF 20 ga. square
18 ft. of GF22 ga. half round

Does that sound good? I do realize that it's going to cost me. However, it was not as much as I feared, so that's a good thing.

I've found some people's ideas of half hard and soft differ than others.

I was getting my round from Hobby Lobby, and upgraded to an ebay vendor over Christmas (208gold or something like that)...I love their wire. The silver is brighter than the Hobby Lobby silver, the dead soft is firmer, the half hard is VERY nice, and they carry 22G HR. I'm planning on trying Rio Grande when this wire runs out, but it's going to take a bit of a jump in quality to unhook me from my ebay vendor.

Anyway - my preference for wire is 22G or 24G square, 22G round, and 22G HR. The 20G just looks too large for my tastes on the wraps I do.

for wraps i like the 22g ds sq with 21g hh hr binding wire. for bracelets i like the 20g hh sq with 20g hh binding wire. i like rio grande's wire best.

like steve, i've found it depends on where you order as to whether ds feels like ds or hh. the argentium ds i've tried feels like hh. i've played around with different gauges, hardnesses, vendors, and eventually you find one that feels best for you. some places i've ordered hh from and it arrived feeling like full hard and is almost impossible to work. my guess is that some places actually coil their own wire off a spool and the coiling process hardens the wire so it arrives harder than you expected.

your tools are going to mar any of the wire unless you take precautions. you will either have to sands your tools, use tool magic or tape your tools with masking tape. no matter which method you use, you will have to keep a constant watch on your tools to see if they need resanding, recoating, or retaping. i prefer the tape because i can do this right in the middle of a wrap and keep going if needed where i have to wait on the tool magic to dry overnight.

kim

Rio grand sells by the ounce so go with:

1 oz of SS 20 ga. square
1/2 oz of SS 22 ga. half round
1 oz of GF 20 ga. square
1/2 oz of GF22 ga. half round

I order my wire from rio grande and I order it by the foot. I've found they're flexible. Of course I always call and talk to a real person because I prefer that to filling out a form (Years of dealing with the INS soured me on forms). Yeah Cher, the price of silver has really shot up, eh? yowch. hey rocky...how do you like the argentium...do you find people will still buy it? I'm tempted to try it because it doesn't tarnish but I wondered if people would understand that it's better than regular silver and not just just silver wannabe.

Kim, I had never heard of the stuff until I saw you had mentioned it in one of your wrapping posts. I still don't know what it is so will go read at your link there.

Where do you buy this wire?

Tonja