Hardening Dead Soft copper wire

[Vicky]

I only use re-cycled copper electrical wire and it is always dead soft. I often run my wire through nylon pliers a few times to harden it but it never really seems to change in temper.

Having never used half hard or full hard wire I have no idea what they might feel like to work with so ...

How many passes through nylon pliers would it take to make DS into HH and FH?

I feel a bit of a pillock asking but I was always told the only time a question is stupid is when it not asked.

[laura]

I guess it's not in the number of passes but in how hard you grip it?.. I don't have nylon pliers but use a polishing cloth with flat nose pliers - sometimes the cloth breaks from gripping too hard

And to harden the smaller pieces/shapes I hammer them on a piece of thick leather (sometimes before hammering on the anvil - especially the earwires where the wire is thin and must not be completely flattened).

Also, the wire hardens a bit if you remove the plastic and just leave it bare and lying around exposed to air. But this takes months

[Tela]

Laura's right I would also add that I twist my roundwire with a pinvise and flatnose. That really helps a lot.

[Renate]

Tela, how many turns (roughly) do you make when twisting, and which wire length do you use?

I know that wire can be softened with heat, wouldn't exposure to cold have the opposite effect? What do you think would happen if you keep the wire in the freezer? Would it harden?

[Tela]

Those are good questions, Renate.

If it does harden when it cools, then I assume it would soften back up when warmed. Just guessing.

For twisting... When I use copper, I am not worried about waste so I start each project with about 10 inches pieces of wire. I twist about 40 times. I do this with wrist action OR I run it down my leg. (Roll the pinvise down my thigh.) However, everyone is different, so I would say, take a length that you use most often and twist - keep track of how many twists you're doing. When one end snaps, you know it is too hard, so do the next one 5-10 less twists.

[Vicky]

Thank you for your responses.

Laura, I tried the cloth with normal pliers and really applied pressure. After 4-5 passes the wire had become quite hot and less pliant but still quite easy to manipulate, and I think that is what I expect half hard to be like.

Tela, do you twist to make full hard? I can only imagine after following Laura's process the twisting would take the wire to full hard.

Renate, I have taken over our laundry space (and call it my workroom). My DH would have conniptions if I took over the freezer, lol!

I think I require more time to experiment with my wire and decide which hardness of wire suits what I do the best.

Thank you again

[Tela]

I don't know that it gets full hard, more like half hard. It has worked beautifully. I do a lot of stuff that I wouldn't be able to do without twisting first.