Bracelet Workshop - Materials Needed
Sterling Silver Round Wire – 12 gauge dead soft ** - 16 inches
This gauge wire makes for a nice weight bracelet that is heavy enough to be strong and hold a great hammer texture, but still allows for easy shaping.
Sterling Silver Round Wire – 14 gauge dead soft ** - 24 inches
This gauge wire makes beautiful bangles that are lightweight and work well together when stacked.
Sterling Silver Round Wire – 16 gauge dead soft - 24 inches
This gauge wire will make very thin bangles that work well together when stacked. This is the thinnest gauge I would recommend using for bangles as anything thinner just will not hold it’s shape, and even this gauge is very easily manipulated. This gauge also works well for larger jump rings, rivets, and forged components.
Sterling Silver Round Wire, 18-Ga., Dead-Soft - 3 feet
This gauge wire is excellent for use in making jump rings, rivets, and small forged connection elements.
Sterling Silver 2.4mm Full-Bead Wire, Dead Soft - 8 inches
This round bead wire makes a gorgeous bangle on its own, can be flattened, or adorned with small charms and dangles to make a striking bracelet.
Sterling Silver 3 x 1.5mm Rectangle Wire, Dead-Soft - 8 inches
Rectangle wire is one of my favorite materials to use for bracelets. It is versatile with use for either cuffs or bangles. It comes in a variety of widths and thicknesses for all types of uses, and is more affordable than purchasing larger pieces of sheet metal. This gauge of rectangle wire makes a slender bracelet but is thick enough to be strong and ideal for texturing with hammers or stamps.
Silver Wire Solder, 20-Ga., Hard - 2 feet
I prefer wire solder, but sheet solder will also work fine for our purposes. I do not recommend paste solder for this class. Hard solder is ideal for silver work as it has the highest silver content of the different solders and will be the closest color match and strongest bond.
Silver Wire Solder, 20-Ga., Medium - 2 feet
Medium solder has slightly less silver content than hard solder, but it is often necessary to have solders that melt at different temperatures in order to assemble complex pieces without prior seams opening up.
.999 Fine Silver Casting Grain- .25 ozt
Fine silver casting grain comes in the form of small balls of silver. These balls make excellent adornments that can be soldered to bracelets, or can be used in shot plate dies to create small charms.
Sterling Silver Half-Round Wire, 12-Ga., Dead-Soft ** - 12 inches
This half round wire is excellent for making jump rings or dainty bangles.
Sterling Silver Half-Round Wire, 8-Ga., Dead-Soft ** - 8 inches
This heavier gauge half round wire is a beautiful thickness for bangles.
Sterling Silver Square Wire, 12-Ga., Dead-Soft **- 15 inches
This square wire is heavy enough to hold its shape when used for either cuffs or bangles. It is beautiful left in its simple form, or makes an excellent starting point for carved designs.
Sterling Silver 6.4mm Disc, 20-Ga., Soft - 10 pack
These precut discs are little circles of silver that can be used to embellish bracelets. They are the perfect size for stamping small designs or letters and adding as charms to bangles. If you have a disc cutter you can cut your own discs in different sizes and gauges.
Sterling Silver 4mm Spacer Bead - 10 pack
These small beads have a large hole and look great when added to bangles. The provide a fun sense of movement. They can also be used to attach small stone settings or other embellishments to bracelets.
Sterling Silver 2.03mm Seamless Heavy-Wall Tubing, Hard, 12" Length - 1 piece
This size of tubing works well for small hinges.
Sterling Silver 3mm Tube Crimp Bead - 100 pack
These can be used instead of cutting tiny sections of tubing. They can be soldered to bracelets as connection points for small charms or other embellishments.
Sterling Silver 2mm Tube Crimp Bead - 100 pack
These can be used instead of cutting tiny sections of tubing. They can be soldered to bracelets as connection points for small charms or other embellishments.
Sterling Silver 6mm Round Jump Ring *** - 50 pack
These are open jump rings and work well for adding charms or other embellishments to thicker gauge bangles.
Sterling Silver 4mm Round Jump Ring *** - 50 pack
These slightly smaller open jump rings work well for adding embellishments to smaller bangles.
Sterling Silver 3mm Round Jump Ring *** - 100 pack
These open jump rings are the smallest size I use for adding embellishments to bangles.
Sterling Silver 1.5mm Round Closed Ring *** - 50 pack
These jump rings are fully closed and work well when soldered to small charms or stone settings when adding as embellishments to bracelets.
**can use copper, brass or bronze in place of silver
***only a small selection of these jump rings are needed, not the full packs. Reall any size jump rings you desire can be used for your bracelets, the above are just convenient sizes to have on hand.
Optional Materials
These items are not necessary but may be things you might like to use in the workshop.
Patterned Strip from PotterUSA