Okay kids, here it is... my last metals assignment of the semester.
We were learning about forging... which is a wire based technique in which you bend, flatten, and shape the wire using hammers. Then you anneal the wire and repeat steps 1-3 until you're satisfied with what you have. If you DO NOT anneal the wire, it becomes brittle from all the pounding and may snap. Yes, annealing is very important. And annealing is very simple: just heat the metal with a torch, not all the way up to soldering temperature, but hot enough so that it has a dull glow. With copper, it will glow a light orange, and with sterling, it will glow a dull cherry color.
As for materials: amber cabochons set in copper, 16 gauge copper wire, 16 gauge brass wire, and sterling earring posts. I based the bottom part of the earrings on wind spinners... I twisted the brass and copper wires together to get that barber-shop pole type of effect, then I forged the wire twists into "horse shoes" and pulled the ends apart vertically to get that spinning effect. I soldered 4 twists together to make each spinner. The cabochons are simply bezel set in 26 gauge copper. And I also used some of my combined wire to made spiral headpins so I could solder the earring posts onto the back.
All in all, I'm very pleased. Enjoy.
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