wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm having a problem with wires breaking.

I am melting both ends of 1" lengths of 20ga sterling wire to form a
kind of "Q-Tip" form. I then hammer one balled end flat and drill a
hole in it to accommodate a jump ring made from 20ga. I put several of
these "Q-Tips" on the jump ring and solder all of them in place. I do
several of these and end up with a ring that looks like a sea anemone.

I do anneal between all of my processes, but for some reason my Q-Tips
keep breaking off at the base. The wire is breaking right at the point
where the shaft goes from round to hammered, but the point isn't
especially thin, and it is very frustrating.

Are you annealing the whole piece after the last work? The hammering might
be work-hardening the silver sufficiently that the soldering isn't
re-annealing it.

LLoyd