It's a little bit of trial and error when figuring out exactly the right length for each design. Also- it kind of depends on how deeply you incorporate the design and the gauge of the wire. Thicker wire will lose more diameter inside when putting a deeper texture into it. Since I make jewelry to sell, having bangles of different sizes is a benefit for me as they will fit a larger range of people, and oval bangles are also popular with my customers. You can always make the bangle larger than you think you need, shape the wire, and trim it down at the solder seam to size it down also. I base my starting points off the following wire lengths for bangle sizing - 6.5-7.00 inches for an extra small, 7.00-7.5 for a small, 7.5-8 for medium, 8-8.5 for large, 8.5-9 for xl. If you have a bangle that fits how you want, measure the diameter and calculate the circumference needed. Add an extra 0.5-1" for the pattern and see how that works out.
Possibly. If you purchase 'dead soft' wire, it is annealed. You may see descriptors like half-hard, full-hard, or spring-hard. These wires will need to be annealed before using one of these presses. However, if you're soldering the ends of your wire together with a torch, the metal will be annealed in the process.
Thank you
That is really helpful ❤
How do you know how big to make the bangle as it must shrink when you form it?
It's a little bit of trial and error when figuring out exactly the right length for each design. Also- it kind of depends on how deeply you incorporate the design and the gauge of the wire. Thicker wire will lose more diameter inside when putting a deeper texture into it.
Since I make jewelry to sell, having bangles of different sizes is a benefit for me as they will fit a larger range of people, and oval bangles are also popular with my customers. You can always make the bangle larger than you think you need, shape the wire, and trim it down at the solder seam to size it down also.
I base my starting points off the following wire lengths for bangle sizing - 6.5-7.00 inches for an extra small, 7.00-7.5 for a small, 7.5-8 for medium, 8-8.5 for large, 8.5-9 for xl. If you have a bangle that fits how you want, measure the diameter and calculate the circumference needed. Add an extra 0.5-1" for the pattern and see how that works out.
Thank you
That was really helpful
Where can we get these?
Is the wire i buy at jewelry supply annealed?
Possibly. If you purchase 'dead soft' wire, it is annealed. You may see descriptors like half-hard, full-hard, or spring-hard. These wires will need to be annealed before using one of these presses. However, if you're soldering the ends of your wire together with a torch, the metal will be annealed in the process.