Odds ‘n’ Ends

July 5, 2009 2q2btrue

Working with lengths of wire means cutting the wire, you cut the wire initially to the length you need for a project, and then at the end you end up trimming some off.  In the middle of a project, you might end up cutting more wire, either to get rid of a ‘bad’ bit, or to augment a design that needs a little more.

With all this cutting, there can be a lot of little bits that at first glance can appear to be scrap, and the first thing I tell people in my classes is to never throw these out.  There are a number of reasons for this.

The first, and most obvious reason is that if you are working in precious metal (silver, gold, goldfilled) over time the amount of scrap you generate is going to be worth some money – I probably have a good 1/2 pound of goldfilled, and twice that in silver stuck in baggies on my workbench.  Every so often, I’ll bring them to either my supplier, or to someone who melts down metal and get reimbursed for it.  That’s money that I”ve saved, and it can go toward more supplies, a couple of cool stones, or just a treat of the non-jewelry kind.

The second reason is that unless those scraps are basically dust, they can be reused. A piece of round or square wire a half inch long can make a jump ring, or a small decoration to attach to earrings and pendants and bracelets.  A piece of wire an inch long can be used to make a hook for a clasp, and if it’s an inch of binding wire it can be used to strengthen a small component (like a clasp) or can be used to decorate a bead.  Longer pieces can be used to make interesting chains, bend them into different shapes, hammer them down to anneal them, and then link them using the jump rings you made from shorter bits. 

For slim wire (eg, 26 gauge) use pieces instead of headpins – make a small coil at one end, slide on your bead or pearl, and finish as you would a jump ring.  Saves money, and saves a trip to the supplier if you’re a couple short.

To save wire, I tend to slip the bits back into the bag the original wire is being stored in.  That way, I know the gauge, hardness, and shape and can always find what I’m looking for.  When wire scraps get down to where I can’t use them anymore, they go into a ‘silver’ bag, or a ‘gold’ bag to be recycled by someone else.  And if I ever get into soldering or pouring metal into molds, I’ll have a nice little supply too.

These uses can also apply to other metals, in today’s economy everything has value and should if possible be reused, recycled, or saved.  So if you don’t use silver, and don’t use goldfilled, but instead like brass, aluminum, copper, etc, save those too – if nothing else, you should be able to make an amazing collection of jump rings and turn out some spectacular pieces of chainmail.

Thanks for reading, and I’d love any comments on how you recycle or reuse your materials.

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One Comment Add your own

• 1. Shalini  |  July 6, 2009 at 6:55 am

  Sound tips from Wyvern.

  As a child I was always taught “waste not want not” and its something I try to follow in everything I do. With jewellery wire it is particularly useful because there are always bits left over which can be re-used in some way or another. I am sure I have saved some money already by saving every bit of stray wire left after a project.

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