*Priced per troy ounce

Argentium Silver Half-Round Wire, 21-Ga., 1/2-Hard

Item Number: 103972

Containing more germanium than traditional alloys, Argentium® Silver is highly tarnish-resistant. Jewelry-makers and customers alike appreciate the value and convenience of beautifully sparkling jewelry that requires almost no polishing. This wire is packaged in spools but can be coiled on request (10-ozt. maximum per coil); it can be cut to any length you require (orders must weigh at least 0.01 ozt., which is 6" of this wire).

Metal type: Argentium silver
Hardness: 1/2-hard
Gauge/thickness: 21 ga.
Form: Wire
Dimensions: .028" x .014" (.71 x .35mm)
Length per weight: 50 ft./ozt.
Weight per length: .02 ozt./ft.
Catalog page: 2013 Gems and Findings & Display and Packaging Catalog p.794
Country of origin: USA

please note: • If you order this wire coiled, be aware that its maximum coil size is 10 ozt.; we will distribute orders larger than 10 ozt. onto as many 10-ozt. coils as necessary plus a smaller coil with any remainder (for example, if you order 24 ozts. of wire, you will receive two 10-ozt. coils and one 4-ozt. coil). • Be aware that fine-gauge wire that is normally spooled may simply be wrapped and bagged when ordered in quantities too small to spool.

---

DEAD SOFT:
Metal that is dead soft is in a relaxed state at the molecular level, so it is easy to bend, shape and hammer. The act of bending shaping will gradually work-harden the metal--right up to the breaking point. Dead soft metal will not hold its shape if put under stress in structures such as hinges or clasps.

1/2-HARD:
Metal that is half-hard has been worked a bit, tightening the grain at the molecular level. This metal is harder to bend and hammer, but it is still possible in some cases to shape the metal--it just takes more force. While still malleable, it will also hold its shape under a certain amount of stress; it is ideal for wire wrapped structures that will support other components. If you are fabricating an item that needs both strength and a thinner gauge, you would probably choose half-hard.

FULL-HARD:
Metal that is tempered (or significantly work-hardened) will be difficult to bend but will hold whatever bend you put into it pretty stubbornly. This hardness is ideal for clasps or hinges.

SPRING-HARD:
Metal thoroughly hardened will lose pretty much all of its malleability and will actually spring back into its original shape when bent by hand. This hardness is ideal for ear wires, jump rings and head pins.

The main thing to remember, too, is that metal hardness is changeable. If you start with dead soft and work it or stress it, you will harden it. If you start with hard metal and heat it (either by soldering on it or by deliberately annealing it) you will soften the metal--all the way back to dead soft, if that's what you want.