How To Hammer Wire

Hi there. In this video I'm going to talk to you about hammering wire. I'll give you some tips about which hammers to use to accomplish what you want to. So when we're wire working, sometimes there's going to come a time when we need to hammer it. The thing that we love about wire is that we can shape it. We can make spirals. We can make swirls and loops. We can make hooks and S shapes. We can even take a heavy piece of wire and make a bangle bracelet. So we like wire because we can bend it and shape it, but that also can be a problem is that once we have the shape completed, we want to make sure that it keeps its shape and doesn't continue to bend when we don't want it to and that's where hammering comes in.
Now there are two different reasons why we hammer wire. One is for strength. When you hammer a piece of wire, you actually change the molecular structure and make it more rigid, make it harder and also when we hammer a piece of wire we do it for decorative reasons. Here are two clasps and you can see one I've left the wire in the round and one I've flattened and it has a different look and then you can also use the ball end and make that traditional hammered look. So it's decorative and structural and of course when you hammer you can flatten things. So if I've taken the time to shape this and it's not all perhaps on the same plain, once I've hammered it a bit I can make it so it's all nice and flat and level.
So when you hammer wire you have a choice of hammers to use. If you're using a metal hammer on a metal block, you're going to get flattening. So I would use this hammer or might add some hammer marks with the round end of this chasing hammer and you can see you get that design on there now. Now notice I'm not pounding when I hammer. You can do it with very light taps, especially small gauge wire. We're not doing anything heavy metal work here. Just light taps will do the job. So whenever you make a wire component, the first thing you'll want to consider is that you should use the heaviest gauge wire and the hardest hardness you can to do the job. So I couldn't use a really hard wire to begin with to make these because it would be too hard to make the shapes, but I did use a 16 gauge wire to make these. So it's pretty heavy. Obviously a very fine wire like this, no matter how much you hammer it, it's not ever going to be able to do anything structural. So you want to be careful about that and make sure you use the heaviest wire you can especially if you're making something that's going to hold things together like a hook or a clasp and then once you have that done, then you can hammer it to add rigidness. Here is a piece that I made and you can see I can bend that pretty well and that might not be desirable in a clasp. I may want to make it a little bit more rigid. So if you want to leave this round and not flatten it, you need to use something other than metal because the metal tool on the metal block will flatten it. So instead you could use a rawhide mallet or a nylon mallet or a rubber mallet. Any of these, not metal, will do the job of flattening your piece, bringing it all to the same plain and at the same time making it much more rigid because see how much harder it is now to change that shape and even these bangle bracelets, which were made with a 14 or 12 gauge wire, quite heavy wire to begin with, we want them to keep their round shape. So you can see these were hammered a bit and it gave them first of all it gave the wire instead of being round it gave it a square shape in the cross section, but it also made them quite rigid so that they stay round and don't turn oval and funky shapes. So those are just a few things to consider when you're thinking about hammering wire.

[@saraharnold2056]

Such an informative but quick video! Thank you!!

[@moonsauce_5159]

Incredibly helpful!

[@dickebk]

Excellent overview. Thank you for taking the time to create this.

[@kaylaroche1759]

Amazing thankyou !! What a great video !

[@mattie_cakes]

Such an informative video!!

[@StaarGaazingJPEG]

exactly what i wanted to learn. i'm looking for hammers today.

[@adinastewart4636]

Very helpful, thank you for sharing this!

[@pamgabriel335]

Great video! Thanks

[@LyThongArt]

Thanks for your sharing. :D i really need thís skill.

[@hkreations5108]

Would it be advisable to hammer jump rings to reduce their flexibility? Also, could I hammer flat, aluminum wire to increase its strength?

[@fredjohnson9856]

Thank you.

[@wendyknoxleet]

Excellent

[@davidsteinfeld9123]

Such kool stuff to do with wire it's wonderful
I am new to the world of chain mail and wire arts and still wonder upon a question in the process of wire being hardened is still possible to soften it again as I hear about aneleiling and wonder is it the same and if so how to use it and if you have some info to share
Thank you
In advance

[@Hadrada.]

How do you make those clasps?

[@humanwithaplaylist]

What kind of hammer are you using?

[@mxt4907]

I imagine a rubber block can also work with a metal hammer

[@viridian4388]

The only thing I clicked on this video for was to learn more about the block you hammer on. Obviously that was the only thing you didn't talk about.