Sterling Silver #1 Low-Dome Wire, Dead Soft

Item Number: 100701

This sterling silver wire is packaged in coils and can be cut to any length you require.

Metal type: Sterling silver
Hardness: Dead soft
Form: Wire
Dimensions: .608" x .077" (15.44 x 1.96mm)
Size no.: 1
Length per weight: 5"/ozt.
Weight per length: 2.4 ozt./ft.
Catalog page: 2013 Gems and Findings & Display and Packaging Catalog p.801
Country of origin: USA

How To

Annealing Sterling Silver

Learn how to anneal sterling silver, recovering metal that has become work-hardened and leaving the metal more workable.

Step 1
Anneal the sterling silver between 1000°F and 1200°F (537°C and 648°C).

Step 2
Heat the sterling at temperature for 30 to 60 minutes to achieve a Vickers hardness of 66–76dph.

Step 3
Please Note: During annealing, protect the metal against exposure to oxygen by surrounding it with nitrogen, argon or forming gas. If this isn’t possible, protect the metal by covering it with flux contained in a stainless steel pan.

How To Heat-Harden Sterling Silver

Here's how to heat-harden sterling silver to increase the strength of the metal and reduce its ductility.
To harden the metal, you will be applying heat to the metal; whenever you apply heat to sterling, surround it with nitrogen, argon or forming gas or cover it with flux to prevent the metal from oxidizing. IMPORTANT: Fine silver cannot be heat-hardened.
This tip is offered here courtesy of Jörg Fischer-Bühner and is reprinted from Santa Fe Symposium® Proceedings, 2003

Step 1
Check the sterling for any solder joints that may already be present.

Step 2
Heat the sterling to 1292°F–1346°F (700°C–730°C) for 30–60 minutes; adjusting temperatures if solder is present (if low-temperature solder is present, heat the piece only to 1000°F–1200°F). Quench in water.

Step 3
Heat the sterling again, this time to 572°F (300°C), holding at that temperature for 30–60 minutes. After cooling, Vickers hardness will range between 120–140dph; if lower temperatures are used, the sterling will not achieve this level.

How To Prepare Dead-Soft Wire For Use

Before you begin designing with dead-soft wire, make sure the wire is as smooth and kink-free as possible. Here's how to prepare dead-soft wire for use to ensure a smoother result in your designs.

1 Pull your wire through a polishing cloth to smooth out the tiny kinks and wrinkles. Please Note: This process can also work-harden your wire, so easy does it!

2 If you are preparing three or four wires, pull each wire through once, then pull all of them through together once. They will flow in the same direction and will be much easier to sculpt.

Charts

Annealing Sterling Silver

We recommend annealing sterling silver at 1200°F (649°C) to give it the best ductility and grain structure; this applies to both quenched and air-cooled annealing.
Annealing Temperature	Quenched		Air-Cooled
Annealing Temperature	Scleroscope	Rockwell Hardness	Scleroscope	Rockwell Hardness
700°F/371°C	23	47	22.5	47
1000°F/538°C	16	42	16	28
1200°F/649°C	14	21	15	24
1300°F/704°C	13*	19*	18	33
1400°F/760°C	12*	18*	20	48
*Quenching is not recommended when annealing at temperatures of 1300°F and above; at such temperatures thermal shock might crack the metal.

Comparing Silver Hardnesses


	Vickers Hardness (dph)
Common Term	Fine	Sterling	Argentium
Soft (annealed)	54	66-76	50-70
1/4-hard	62-71	78-88	90-105
1/2-hard	77-89	90-100	106-120
3/4-hard	84-94	102-114	121-135
Hard	89-103	116-130	136-148
Spring	103-108	132-148	150-160
Age-hardened	-	100-120	100-120

Measure Hardness

	Hardness (dph)	Rockwell (15T)	Tensile (PSI)
Annealed	50–90	65–71	40,000
1/4-hard	91–100	72–78	40,000
1/2-hard	101–115	79–82	60,000
3/4-hard	116–130	83–85	70,000
Full-hard	131–150	86–88	75,000
Spring hard	175–195	89–93	90,000

Brown & Sharpe Gauge Thicknesses

Use this handy guide to quickly, easily and accurately convert gauge sizes into inches or millimeters—or vice versa.
Gauge	Inches	Millimeters
0	.325	8.26
2	.257	6.54
4	.204	5.19
6	.162	4.12
8	.128	3.26
10	.102	2.59
12	.081	2.05
13	.072	1.83
14	.064	1.63
15	.057	1.45
16	.051	1.29
18	.040	1.02
19	.036	.912
20	.032	.812
21	.028	.723
22	.025	.644
23	.023	.573
24	.020	.511
25	.018	.455
26	.016	.405
27	.014	.360
28	.013	.321
29	.011	.286
30	.010	.255
32	.0080	.2019
34	.0063	.1600

Recommended Metal Thickness

These recommendation are based on gold materials; we recommend increasing thickness 20%–25% for sterling silver materials to achieve comparable strength characteristics.
For	Use
Rings and wedding bands	.051"/1.29mm (women’s) .064"/1.63mm (men’s)
Bezel material	.008"–.013"/.2019–.3210mm
Ear wires	.025"–.032"/.644–.812mm
Bracelets	.040"–.064"/1.02–1.63mm
Repoussé	.020"–.025"/.511–.644mm
Jump rings	.025"–.050"/.644–1.02mm

Ring Size Comparison Chart Please Note: All equivalents are approximate.
U.S. & Canadian Standard	Inside Diameter mm/inches	Inside Circumference mm / inches	British	French	German	Swiss
1-1/2	12.78 / .503	40.2 / 1.580	C	40-1/2	12-3/4	—
2	13.21 / .520	41.5 / 1.634	D	41-1/2	13-1/4	2
2-1/2	13.61 / .536	42.7 / 1.684	E	42-3/4	13-3/4	3
3	14.05 / .553	44.0 / 1.739	F	44	14	4
3-1/2	14.45 / .569	45.2 / 1.788	G	45-1/4	14-1/2	—
4	14.86 / .585	46.5 / 1.836	H-1/2	46-1/2	15	7
4-1/2	15.27 / .601	47.8 / 1.888	I-1/2	47-3/4	15-1/4	8
5	15.70 / .618	49.0 / 1.941	J-1/2	49	15-3/4	9
5-1/2	16.10 / .634	50.2 / 1.992	L	50-1/4	16	—
6	16.51 / .650	51.5 / 2.042	M	51-1/2	16-1/2	12
6-1/2	16.92 / .666	52.8 / 2.092	N	52-3/4	17	13
7	17.35 / .683	54.0 / 2.146	N-1/2	54	17-1/4	14
7-1/2	17.63 / .699	55.3 / 2.196	O-1/2	55-1/2	17-1/2	15
8	18.19 / .716	56.6 / 2.249	P-1/2	56-3/4	18	16
8-1/2	18.59 / .732	57.8 / 2.300	Q-1/2	58	18-1/2	17
9	18.99 / .748	59.1 / 2.350	R-1/2	59-1/4	19	18
9-1/2	19.41 / .764	60.3 / 2.400	S-1/2	60-1/2	19-1/2	19
10	19.84 / .781	61.6 / 2.463	T-1/2	61-3/4	20	20
10-1/2	20.24 / .797	62.8 / 2.504	U-1/2	62-3/4	20-1/4	22
11	20.68 / .814	64.1 / 2.567	V-1/2	64-1/2	20-3/4	23
11-1/2	21.01 / .830	66.0 / 2.608	W-1/2	66	21	24
12	21.41 / .846	67.3 / 2.658	Y	67-1/4	21-1/2	25

Common Conversions

WEIGHT (MASS) COMPARISON	LINEAR MEASURE COMPARISON	VOLUME (MEASURE) COMPARISON
Troy to Metric	Metric to English	Metric to English
1 grain = 0.0648 grams	1 millimeter = 0.03937 inches	1 cubic centimeter = 0.06102 cubic inches
1 pennyweight = 1.5552 grams	1 centimeter = 0.3937 inches	1 cubic meter = 35.315 cubic feet
1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams	1 meter = 39.37 inches	English to Metric
1 troy pound = 373.24 grams	1 kilometer = 0.621 miles	1 cubic inch = 16.387 cubic centimeters
Carat to Metric	English to Metric	1 cubic foot = 0.0283 cubic meters
1 grain = 0.0648 grams	1 mil = 0.0254 millimeters	1 cubic yard = 0.7646 cubic meters
1 carat = 200 milligrams	1 inch = 2.54 centimeters	1 cord foot = 0.453 cubic meters
1 point = 2 milligrams	1 foot = 0.3048 meters	1 cord = 3.625 cubic meters
Avoirdupois to Troy	1 yard = 0.9144 meters	CAPACITY MEASURE COMPARISON
1 grain= 1 grain	1 rod = 5.029 meters	Metric to English
1 ounce Avoir. = 0.91145 troy ounces	1 mile = 1.6093 kilometers	1 milliliter = 0.338 fluid ounces
1 pound Avoir. = 14.5833 troy ounces	SURFACE AREA COMPARISON	1 liter = 1.057 liquid quarts or 0.9081 dry quarts
Avoirdupois to Metric	Metric to English	1 kiloliter = 264.17 gallons or 28.38 bushels
1 grain = 0.0648 grams	1 sq. centimeter = 0.15499 sq. inches	English to Metric (Liquid)
1 ounce Avoir = 28.3495 grams	1 sq. meter = 1.196 sq. yards	1 fluid ounce = 0.0296 liter
1 pound Avoir = 453.59 grams	1 sq. kilometer = 0.386 sq. miles	1 gill = 0.1183 liters
22 pounds Avoir = 1 kilogram	English to Metric	1 cup = 0.2366 liters
1 short ton = 907.18 kilograms	1 sq. inch = 6.452 sq. centimeters	1 pint = 0.4732 liters
1 short ton = 0.90718 metric tons	1 sq. foot = 929.03 sq. centimeters	1 quart = 0.9464 liters 1 gallon = 3.7854 liters
Carat to Avoirdupois	1 sq. yard = 0.8361 sq. meters	English to Metric (Dry)
1 carat = 0.007 ounces Avoirdupois	1 sq. rod = 25.293 meters	1 pint = 0.5506 liters
		1 quart = 1.1012 liters
		1 peck = 8.8098 liters
		1 bushel = 35.2390 liters

Heat-Hardening Sterling Silver

To harden sterling silver, heat it to 600°F (316°C) for 30–50 minutes in a kiln or furnace. Air-cool the sterling silver before pickling. The hardness will be equal to the hardness achieved by cold-working it to a 50% reduction (or ¾-hard). If you want to make your sterling silver harder than ¾-hard, you must physically reduce the cross-sectional area using the chart below.

Rockwell Hardness		Common Term	Reduction in Cross-Sectional Area
Fine Silver	Sterling Silver	Common Term	Wire	Sheet
43	70	Soft (annealed)	0%	0%
65	80	¼-hard	21%	11%
72	82	½-hard	37%	21%
74	83	¾-hard	50%	29%
76	85	Hard	60%	37%
80	87	Spring	84%	60%

Example: If you start with a dead-soft wire and reduce the cross-sectional area by drawing it down 50%, your material will become ¾-hard.

Guide to Wire Hardness

This chart is a relative measure for the workability of different alloys for wire-wrapping.

Approximate Ultimate Tensile Strength (psi)								Silver-Filled	Argentium	Reduction in Area of Wire
Common Term	Brown & Sharpe # Hard	14K Yellow Gold	Yellow Gold-Filled*	Sterling Silver	Fine Silver	Rich Low Brass	Pure Copper	Silver-Filled	Argentium	Reduction in Area of Wire
Soft (annealed)	0	69,000	40,000	40,500	26,000	37,000	33,000	40,000	39,000 to 45,000	0%
¼-hard	1	88,000	50,000	48,500	33,000	49,000	40,000	50,000	51,000 to 57,000	21%
½-hard	2	98,000	60,000	54,000	41,000	56,000	45,000	60,000	60,000 to 66,000	37%
¾-hard	3	110,000	70,000	60,000	43,000	62,000	50,000	70,000	66,000 to 72,000	50%
Full hard	4	124,000	75,000	66,500	45,000	68,000	55,000	75,000	71,000 to 77,000	60%
Spring Hard	8	145,000	90,000	89,000	51,000	82,000	66,000	90,000	84,000 to 90,000	84%

*Yellow Gold-Filled (¹²⁄₂₀,¹⁴⁄₂₀)

2012-12-03