How to harden .999 silver wire

[SLY Creations]

I want to make some headpins from my .999 silver wire. I can make the end ball up the way I want to, but I just feel like the wire is too soft to use for a headpin. Do any of you have a suggestion on how to harden the wire before I make the pendants I want to make?

Thanks in advance for your answers - Sharon

[Lisa]

You can't really harden it -- you've got fine silver wire there, it's going to pretty much stay soft. Your alternative is to use sterling and clean it after you ball it up.

[tgslampwork]

I beg to differ - I've gotten my fine silver headpins purty darn hard tumbling them. In a pinch (pun intended) pinch the wire with flat pliers up and down the headpin before using them - it will act as if you are work hardening it.

[RSimmons]

You can work harden it a little bit, but it's still going to be kind of soft. Clamp one end of a piece of wire (I use a couple of feet at a time for this), then pull it and twist at the same time. This will stiffen it a bit.

Robert

[tgslampwork]

Another note: Fine silver hardens the same ways you'd harden sterling...but it is softer so then sterling to start. No matter what I do, my fine headpins feel slightly softer then my sterling ones - I can certainly tell the difference.

That being said, Kate McKinnon told me she's hardened fine silver to spring hardness though...so contrary to popular belief (as well as mine at the time) it is possible to get the same hardness for headpins.

[Starrr]

You can harden the wire with a plastic mallet before you make the headpins and then tumble them. Tumbling the final piece will also harden the exposed silver and polish out any little knicks left from your pliers.

[SLY Creations]

Thanks all for your suggestions.

I tried the tumbling method and they all came out bent way out of shape. Robert, I am headed out to try your method. I could do 12" at a time and then cut to length and ball the ends.

I'll let you know how things work out.

[SteveWright]

You can heat harden them. First anneal for an hour at 1250F, quench in water. Reduce the kiln temperature to 600F. Put the head pins in the 600F kiln and heat for one hour. Cool the head pins on your workbench.

They will oxidize and need to be tumbled or polished.

Steve

[tgslampwork]

Straightening the tumbled haedpins (I use a simple hand towel or nylon jaw pliers) will harden them more and takes just a few second each

And - fine silver will not oxidize in the kiln, it's one of the beauties of using fine silver! And I really think that the first part (bringing the silver to 1250) just softens the wire to DS --

oooh, found this on Rio, says it all

How to Harden Metal
To harden karat gold, fine and sterling silver, gold-filled, brass and copper, set your oven to 600°F for hard temper, 900°F for 1/2-hard and 1200°F for dead soft. Place your metal in the oven for 1/2 to 1 hour. You may want to experiment with the length of time to achieve the desired hardness. Remember that different metals have different hardnesses.

[Bobby]

To harden mine I use a steel wire brush wheel in my
dremel and burnish them till they become work hardened.
I also anneal them quite a few times while working on them.
The final burnishing seems to make them very stiff.

A quick pic of some .999 silver.
It's a little over 4 inches in length.