How to make silver wire - An overview

OK folks, Here is a little something I wrote up a while back and thought it might be useful to you. It is a VERY general overview, so if there is enough interest in the in depth process I will write up a complete hub for it.

A while back I started to make my own precious metal wire. It is very rewarding to make something from scratch. It takes a long time, but what good thing doesn't.

You can purchase the casting grain from www.riogrande.com like I do, or use scrap silver you have laying around. Rio Grande also has all the tools I used in this hub. They are my #1 supplier.

Step 1: Start with casting grain or scrap silver. In this picture, you can see that I used casting grain.

Step 2: Melt the casting grain with a torch and pour the silver into a wire ingot mold.

Step 3: Roll the wire on a rolling mill. The wire will have to be annealed every so often to make it softer.

Step 4: Draw the wire through a drawplate. Again, the wire will have to be annealed often so it does not become to brittle and break.

A carbide drawplate is used for this wire. Take a look at the last portion in the picture I sure can't tell the difference between my wire and some I bought.

This wire is probably between 1/2 and 3/4 hard and depending on when you anneal it you can make it any hardness you like.