melting a silver bar into grain for making sterling silver wire. 

Thanks for that Luke, to save a few quid by making a tool can be very satisfying sometimes … N

Thanks Alice, a very gratifying process. Not something I get to do every day … N

Hi Jim, drawing down wire is time consuming however being a hobbyist time spent in the workshop is pure pleasure. not sure what to make next with my abundance of wire may be a graduated chain … cheers … Nick

Hi Liz, it’s nice to try new processes that can be shared … cheers … Nick

thanks Joanne, thrilling process growing metres of wire from a blob of silver … N

oh yes, lots of silver to play with … N

Thanks Josh, it was a very satisfying process of melting such a big lump at silver … N

cheers Scarlet, very satisfying process to reshape silver when it works well … N

Thanks Chris … N

thanks guideline, very satisfying drawing down silver to 1mm wire when it works … N

thanks for that Robert … N

Thanks Kera, After melting my precious bar, I now have potentially an endless amount of cheaper wire to play with … N

thanks Tammie, making my own wire has been a very satisfying process to learn especially with the bit of money that can be saved. glad you like the music, hope it’s not too noticeable that I’ve used it a few times now … N

@Nicks creative stuff the music is inspiring and kinda haunting, love it. How much wire, say 16ga, could you make make with that bar? Just curious 🤔 And again another thought provoking video!!!

hi Tammie, I use the Cooksongold website for cross referencing wire weight diameter and length, a great built in calculating tool. 100g of 1.3mm wire works out to be just over 7m in length and 1mm wire would be nearly 12.5m … N

thanks Lovein, very satisfying it melted like butter with a big torch … N

Thanks for that Tomasz … N

Thanks Aa … N

oh yes, I don’t think I will be running out again any time soon … N

👍😎👍 … N

Hi S Mac, it’s a surprisingly quick process If you have a rolling mill that can reduce it most of the way to start with. Drawing it down from 3mm by pulling through 20 holes may take an hour or so with annealing every two or three pulls. i’m lucky enough to have a long garden outside my workshop door so I can pull six meters easily in one go … N

Thanks for that karim, it’s a surprisingly quick process. I could easily produce say 10m of 1mm wire in a couple of hours … N

Hi Kirt, I had this lump of silver to admire for many years … finally bit the bullet and melted it when I was in need of more wire. Mills are expensive but I was pleasantly surprised with this budget one when I bought it nearly 10 years ago for about £160. Copper is difficult to melt but having oxygen and propane mixed torches makes it much more easily achieved. I think it should be possible with your Mapp gas torch. I would suggest starting with small amounts in small crucibles to see what’s possible. As the whole crucible needs to come up to temperature the smaller it is the quicker the melting process will happen … N

@Nickscreativestuff Hi there yes I was thinking if I cut it up onto tiny little bits then with blowy flame in a small crucible ti get hottest quicker. And yes for rolling Mills. I have seen one for about same price as yours £120-160 . Seams and looks good not sure I'd even have the room for it tbh. But having a mill would definitely set me on my way wouldn't it. I already own about 3kg of silver half of that atleast could be scrapped and renewed. I love watch how a tiny bit can stretch into miles of it. Realistically it would be the final piece to the puzzle if you like. I'd be all set. Thisnis thing I'm all set now really. It's my blooming health all this week and last i have been stuck to my bed almost. I truly and utterly hope my surgeon tomorrow can offer some help I'm hoping she can mayne numb the area for me or something its a area thst I am aware of 24-7 due to the pain level and discomfort its my previous bum site. So think aboit every single time you sit. I can't sit at all at the moment as I have a internal collection thst should of been drained in September last year. So im sure you can imagine. Fingers crossed tomorrow she can offer some advice. I'm truly fed up I can't do anything at all. Just getting out of bed hurts me to a point I shake during and after. It's ridiculous a man of my age in this century 5 years later I am still not healed and there all scratching there head. I had a panproctocolectomy if you want to Google it. But they left the final very last bit open to allow to drain and heal on its own. Suffice to say never healed and the collection has done jsut that. Anyhow I talk too much . Good luck with your partner. I shall update you if I have any updates tomorrow. Take care , kirt

I do love making my own wire, although I found it very frustrating to start with. However much I annealed regularly and reduced slowly my wire would soon develop cracks making it pointless to proceed with it any further. Eventually I learned it had to be a very clean and non-contaminated material, by mixing in scrap that I had saved up I was introducing a lot of solder that I find hinders the drawing down process. That’s one hell of a procedure you’ve been through and it must be very challenging to stay positive in life especially with all the complications it’s brought. I find creativity a very powerful energy to play with and without it in life I would really struggle. So I can imagine your health issues holding you back must be very frustrating. I find the small snippets of creativity I can achieve add up to the satisfaction i’m always yearning for. I don’t need to spend hours and hours in my workshop anymore to get my creative juices flowing, a few quality moments every day can be just as gratifying … I hope you can get into your studio soon … N

@Nickscreativestuff Hello nick. Yes I agree for me just a hour of designing something can satisfy me. And yes now you understand I have a studio crammed wirh goodies and I can't get out there to enjoy it. Met with surgeon today they are taking me in tomorrow!!! I cried with overjoyed I have suffered way too long and my symtoms are endless my brain cant cope with it all. Apparently 4hr surgery time apparently so fingers crossed. If it relieves me slightly I will be overjoyed truly. Ps cracking ah OK so lots of borax during melting to ensure good clean silver and scooping of any crud that floats before pouring. I definitely have to try this.

Well good luck with that. I hope your procedure goes well and you can start to get back to some sort of stable normality soon. I’m sure there must be a way of refining silver to be able to get all the solder out of it probably lots of chemical so well above my station … all the best for tomorrow … N

hi, William, you could make a ring with a few basic tools like a saw, a pair of half round pliers and solder plus flux … good luck with it … Nick

Hi JSL, i’m sure there would be some loss. I tried this process after running out of sterling silver wire and seeing it would cost £1.20 a gram to buy more. My fine silver bar cost 0.77p per gram so it made sense to have a go … N

Hi Mryeadon i used a large metal workers mixed propane and oxygen heating torch for melting the silver … N

hi Kenneth, a roller makes quick easy work of reducing it down in size but won’t make perfect wire. A draw plate turns it into perfectly round wire for a nice finish … N

Hi Laith, in this video I added 7.5 g of copper to 92.5 g of fine silver making sterling silver … N

hi Michelle, I was surprised how well this worked. The 15 foot length of 1mm wire weighed 37g. so I used a bit less than this because there was 7.5% copper mixed in. I estimated if I had turned the whole bar into 1mm wire it would be about 430 feet long … N

@@Nickscreativestuff this is definitely the way forward. Can't wait to own a budget rolling Mill:-)great video

i’ve been very happy with my budget Rolling Mill, a big expensive Durston would be nice but a bit out of my league so it eventually came down to “a cheap tool is better than no tool” … N

@@Nickscreativestuff yes indeed, every now and then they send me an email of stuff I can't afford LOL

there must be a lot of money to be made in jewellery production if you get it right … N

hi Philip by adding 7.5% copper to pure silver you make sterling silver that is a lot harder and more wear resistant when making jewellery … N

@@Nickscreativestuff Thanks Nick

I make my own sterling silver because I bought a silver bar many years ago at a bargain price compared to now. it’s always worth keep an eye on the price for silver from somebody like Rio Grande or Cooksongold for a base price of a high standard sterling silver grain. A lot of money can be saved if you can find authentic silverware that can be melted down and recycled. The only problem being it needs to be weighed before purchase to make sure you’re getting a bargain from places like secondhand and antique shops … good luck with it … Nick

@@Nickscreativestuff yeah, I’ve got a reputable coin shop nearby that has a scale which is periodically certified by the state. I sometimes buy silverware and Olympic commemorative sterling silver coins and odd medallions from him. I like the coins and medallions because I can easily roll them out into sheet without melting them into ingots. Thanks for the info!

It sounds like you’ve got it well sorted. I struggle to recycle anything I’ve collected, it ends up staying in the bottom drawer and being admired for its hallmarks … N

sorry to hear that Malika I know how you feel I was badly burnt as a kid due to a gas explosion. There are a few different options for gas torches but they all have their own quirks and inherent dangers. I would guess the most popular used by jewellers are the small refillable butane type torches that are sometimes used in kitchens. These torches are refilled from a small disposable gas canister, the sort used for refilling cigarette lighters. If you’re nervous of such a tool find a friendly handy person to help show you how they work and to get you started using one … N

@@Nickscreativestuff thanks... that was helpful

👁️❤️🔥 … 👍😎👍 … N

@Nickscreativestuff sorry to hear that you were once inflamed... not a good habit... I was unrecognizable... I was changed into a mummy and the only thing they could recognize me was because of my handbag 😂

bandaged from head to toe, but still stylish enough to carry a handbag … N