AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: RedRiverII on July 23, 2021, 08:41:12 AM
-
Where is a good place to purchase sterling silver wire? How about sheet brass? What gage wire is 0.016? Which type of sterling silver wire for inlays. What is half dead wire, or is it half soft, and at 1:40 am I half dead? Thank you in advance.
-
Hi RedRiver,
Sheet brass is easy to buy from Track of the Wolf, Muzzleloader Builder Supply (MBS), or any jewelry suppliers like Rio Grande. They all have websites. For small brass inlays 1/16" (0.0625") or slightly thinner (0.005") is suitable. You can get brass and sterling wire ribbon from MBS that is 0.014" and 0.008" thick, which is OK for most wire work but on the thick side. I prefer to buy brass and silver sheet and cut wire ribbons with shears. I show how to do this in my thread on building a decorated Kibler. I prefer 0.005-0.006" thick sheet for wire ribbon. Unfortunately, it is getting harder to find from the major jewelry suppliers but companies like Surepure Chemetals sells it (up to 50' lengths in fact!). It is best if the ribbon is dead soft for most wire work, which means it is completely annealed and has little springiness. However, when I do long straight borders, I prefer half hard wire, which has some resistance to bending because it keeps straight. Finally, I don't always choose sterlng silver and often use fine silver ribbon because it tarnishes much more slowly. The higher content of copper in sterling is the reason. I am not sure what was used mostly on original guns although most British work was likely sterling.
dave
-
I id hope you would sho up Dave, thank you. I have a difficult time at surepure because of the #'$. i.e. 0.016- 26 gage- or some fraction. I'll go and try to figure it out once more.
-
Hi,
I would look for 34-36 gauge sheet. Cloisonne and bezel strip can also be used. Here is a link.
https://www.amazon.com/Bezel-Cloisonne-Silver-005-Inches/dp/B005G05UG8/ref=asc_df_B005G05UG8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198079747122&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7622348393789563964&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002917&hvtargid=pla-320034293921&psc=1
dave
-
Everybody has their preference, but I much prefer un-annealed sterling sheet. I like the strength and rigidity when installing wire. Works for me.
(https://i.ibb.co/xGX8pkK/3588239-orig.jpg) (https://ibb.co/tcQP7Gw)
-
An aside from this thread. My 7 yr. old laptop is having weak W issues since the tab fell off, sorry for the gibbered posts.
-
Redriver, I'm in Jim Kibler's camp with sterling. It takes absolutely no time to anneal sterling ribbon if needed.
Dave
-
Hi,
I prefer mostly annealed wire and I also like using fine silver as well as sterling. There is no hard and fast rule here. Best thing to do is buy the thinnest you can find regardless of hardness and give it a go. The key Redriver, is not the wire but how well you can draw a design and incise it. What the wire is is secondary.
(https://i.ibb.co/3y0Bp0C/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HDrntrH)
(https://i.ibb.co/Lx4GhkJ/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Cbxrs1M)
(https://i.ibb.co/p4Bk2S9/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3S9P1nL)
(https://i.ibb.co/kXy6wTT/earlyfowlerbuttsideplateview.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
(https://i.ibb.co/Tt86QBK/earlyfowlerputti.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
(https://i.ibb.co/BZSCPCY/earlyfowlersideplate.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
(https://i.ibb.co/WHvBvN7/earlyfowlertopview2.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
I find that it is always best if folks make recommendations that they show their work. Thanks Jim for showing that great fowler of yours. I love to see that gun.
dave
-
Greetings,
This is all Sterling. Sorry about the photos. I'm not very good at that. Hank
(https://i.ibb.co/0JtkY83/20210723-163159.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Svr2VWp)
upload image (https://imgbb.com/)
(https://i.ibb.co/Wprg5RH/20210723-163315.jpg) (https://ibb.co/6JKgwqy)
(https://i.ibb.co/g7vnWcm/20210723-163215.jpg) (https://ibb.co/GJshMrn)
-
Well, thanks boys, let's just answer my inquiry please. Will someone recommend a supply house? I'm dazzled by the artistic phenoms here, however I'm thinking of merely beginning and playing with incised silver. The unicorns must come later. If you want to start a @#$$%&* contest do it elsewhere. Hey Dave, the key here is the silver. If I wait until I can do the beautiful work displayed above I won't begin. Please refer to the OP's original post.
-
Rio Grande is my go to supplier. I have purchased .999, Sterling, Cloisonne from them. Their Technicians are knowledgeable and helpful. The trick is practice. In addition you mentioned Brass just buy sheet brass and cut it yourself. You can buy pre cut stuff but you're better off doing it yourself. Again Rio Grande.
-
Thank you helwood, I have some stuff in the basket at Rio Grande.
-
RedRiver,
I will shoot you a pm in the morning with some suppliers I have used in the past. Also I will shoot you a chart that should help. Will discuss more but do not want to hijack your post. Good luck.
elkhorne
-
Thanks elk but before you could hijack the thread you'd have to ransom it first. Great stuff, at least everyone is passionate, that's a relief.
-
I buy 6" X 6" dead soft sheet and cut my own 'wire" with a pair of scissors. It gets pretty hard just by cutting.
-
Which gage or thickness. Thank you in advance!
-
Which gage or thickness. Thank you in advance!
Depends. Sometimes as thin as .010 on up to .020. Maybe .015 would be a good place to start. look at some pics of American wire work. (not English) American wire work can be quite thick....and crude, but nearly always pleasing in a folksy sort of way. You don't see extensive wire work on America stuff untill you get into the New England area, then it's quite thin.
-
Thank you Mike. I needed to know that, because of too many choices. I'm not thinking fancy in any regard, but would enjoy not buying the wrong stuff from the get go.