Hi, everyone.  This is my first post, so please forgive me if this question has come up before.  I've made a very long wirewrapped necklace (61").  I'm using gold filled 26 ga half hard wire.  The necklace is very heavy and it's stretching my wraps.  The circles now look like ovals!  I have to use 26ga because some of the beads have very small holes.  Will stretching the wire beforehand (the vise and the pliers method) work for this? Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 

 Hi Alison, Welocme to the forums!

Yes stretching the wire (and in the process work hardening it) will help a little. I'm not sure the problem is really stretching. A heavy pendant made from fine gauge wire will deform the circles into ovals no matter how hard the wire temper is if the circles are pulled from both sides. If there is a lot of weight that may be what is happening.

Are most beads made in China?
I have been waiting for about 5 days now but the shipping times are 10-19 days. As soon as I get them I will let you know. I have not seen you on that forum for a long time now and I was wondering where you are? How did it go with the collection that you got? Here is the link to the beads again http://www.liangdianup.com/beadscrafts_1.htm and here is the link to the Swarovski beads http://www.liangdianup.com/inventory/900020.htm if those links don't work then you can goto www.lducompany.com and click on the beads picture, that should take you right there. I hope you see this message and get back to me cause I miss talking to you :)

 Hi Alison,

I am a chain mailler, I do some wire work and wire wrapping, and yes the holes in some of the beads require you to use 24 to 26 gauge wire, and yes you should stretch the wire before you use it unless you are going to be manipulating the wire (like coiling it as I do, I stretch as I coil). I guess the long and the short of this is that 26 gauge wire will not hold up to the weight that you are suggesting that you have.

I don't know the design that you have in mind but maybe you should rethink the way that you want to assemble the project to achieve the same affect that you want, not the best news maybe but you are using gold fill wire and you would like make sure that what you make is a product that will hold up to normal wear. 

If you post a picture maybe the group can help you with the problem and offer some solutions that won't change the look of your project, but will give you a beautiful end result.

Good luck, I'll check back to see how it is going. :O)