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TECHNIQUE:

Annealing

MATERIAL

LIST

:

Sterling silver wire (930)

TOOL

LIST:

pair of pliers, kitchen gas ring

OPTIONAL:

recipient with cold water or tap

water, fine steel wool or any tarnish

remover product

Softening the Sterling Silver Wire

TUTORIAL

I lost a lot of time and wire before I

decided to try this basic technique two

years ago…

I was advised so many times to

anneal sterling wire to make it easy to

shape, but still I was

Copyright 2009 Kjonna/Joanna Kun

Softening Sterling Silver Wire Tutorial

Presented by:

JewelryLessons.com

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STEP 1

Prepare the wire you would like to soften, a pair of
pliers and a fireproof surface or a recipient with cold
water to cool the wire.
Before you remove the grates from the stove, be sure
they are cool to touch. Then turn the stove on.

STEP 2

Grab the wire in the middle with your pliers (I like bent
nose pliers the best).

STEP 3

Place a part of wire in the bright ends of the flames.

Copyright 2009 Kjonna/Joanna Kun

Softening Sterling Silver Wire Tutorial

Presented by:

JewelryLessons.com

3

STEP 4

Since sterling silver anneals rapidly, it is not necessary
to heat it for very long. It should be heated until it is a
red color. It takes only a while. The thinner wire is, the
quicker it is hot enough. Make sure you do not
overheat the silver (if not it will become brittle) but
also that all parts of the wire were heated evenly and
enough (if not, the wire temper will vary).

NOTE

that this method is recommended rather for

thicker sterling silver wire starting from 0,8 mm and above.
If you need to anneal thinner wire just grab two ends of the
wire with two pairs of pliers and quickly pass the whole
wire through the fire. It doesn’t have to get red. In most
cases just heating will be enough.

STEP 5

You should proceed little by little. I usually heat the
silver at the ends and then put down the wire on the
fireproof surface (the metal next to the burner is good
enough for it) and then I heat the wire that was kept
with the pliers.
When all parts are done, put the wire aside on the fire
proof surface and leave it few minutes to cool or put
the whole silver in cold water. It should be ready at
once.

Remember to turn the stove down. Be careful
with the pliers, they need much more time to
cool off.

Just to show you how the colors of the wire may vary. The black part on the left was heated well enough, the
yellowish/green part needs to be redone, and the silver on the right hasn’t been heated yet. The best way to check
the temper is by slightly bending the wire with your fingers

Copyright 2009 Kjonna/Joanna Kun

Softening Sterling Silver Wire Tutorial

Presented by:

JewelryLessons.com

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STEP 6

I clean the wire with the fine steel wool if it’s needed,
but you can also use a tarnish remover product or boil
the silver in water with citric acid.

NOTE

that there are also methods to prevent the black

surface layer on the silver (resulting from oxidation) by
applying special professional products. It is useful especially
during the soldering.

Your wire is ready for further work

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

For comments or questions, please go to

JewelryLessons.com

Copyright 2009, Joanna Kun, Kjonna