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Post by DawninCal on Apr 13, 2017 21:49:54 GMT -6
Did you know that if you have a gas stove, you can make balled headpins by holding the wire over the flame of one of the stove burners?  Dawn |
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Post by Michele on Apr 13, 2017 22:02:15 GMT -6
Did you do that? As hot as my stove gets, I might be able to solder. |
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Post by DawninCal on Apr 13, 2017 22:11:58 GMT -6
Ha, ha, Michele! I did! Honestly, I didn't think the flame would be hot enough, but apparently it is. I should qualify that by saying my stove is propane and I don't know if that burns hotter than gas or not. Pics coming up! Dawn |
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Post by DawninCal on Apr 13, 2017 22:29:32 GMT -6
They need to be cleaned up, but here they are. The first couple were more oblong than round but the more I made the rounder they became.  Plus, it was fun too! Dawn |
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Post by caeterle on Apr 14, 2017 0:35:27 GMT -6
Cool!! I'm gonna have to try if it works on mine, but it's not propane, so ...
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Post by DawninCal on Apr 14, 2017 1:12:09 GMT -6
Cat, I read that propane and gas burn at about the same heat, so it's worth a try and safer than a torch! Let us know how it goes. Dawn |
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Post by caeterle on Apr 14, 2017 1:46:40 GMT -6
My pal laughs at me because I keep saying I'm a little scared of open fire, but have gas in the house and insisted on a gas stove!  |
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Post by DawninCal on Apr 14, 2017 2:13:56 GMT -6
Well, a gas stove is a totally controlled flame, but a torch that we can carry around the house with us has the potential for so many things going wrong. What could go wrong when using the stove? I remember you saying that you're not comfortable using a torch... Dawn |
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Post by caeterle on Apr 14, 2017 7:09:47 GMT -6
What wire gauge did you use, by the way? And how do you clean them up? I know we've had posts on that over the years, but as I never used any fire, I don't really remember anything. And - voilà  |
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Post by caeterle on Apr 14, 2017 7:11:17 GMT -6
At least now I can say I made one headpin in my life.
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Post by Michele on Apr 14, 2017 7:12:42 GMT -6
The headpins look great. Maybe Dawn will do a tutorial.
We have propane too.
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Post by caeterle on Apr 14, 2017 7:32:29 GMT -6
I just found two helpful links to a blog (among the thousands). I remember when I was new on SJA, I always heard about pickling, but was too shy to ask what exactly that meant. I only have two gauges of copper wire at the moment, and I know that the other one is 20 or 21 gauge, so the stove won't work for that one, but now that I have come back to pure copper, I'll get more gauges eventually.
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Post by gbobmi on Apr 14, 2017 8:17:20 GMT -6
I was just going to ask you how you pickled them and Cat beat me to it! You can usually buy pickling solution at your LBS or online. You can also use a swimming pool "PH Reducer" or alum. Here's a link to an article on pickling: Ganoksin |
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Post by DawninCal on Apr 14, 2017 10:01:39 GMT -6
Cat, that's awesome! I think we've discovered a new way to make headpins for those who are torch challenged! I used 20 gauge pure copper. I tried 18, but so far it hasn't worked as I think the wire is too thick. I believe I once read that anything over 20g is too much for the small torches to handle so it makes sense that 18 didn't work because I doubt the stove burner gets much hotter than a small torch. Pickling is something I haven't done yet. I clean up my copper using the wire brush attachment on my dremel. But, I'm planning to make 100 of these and putting them in the tumbler to harden them. Once that's done, pickling will be a lot faster than using the wire brush on 100 head pins. How exciting! Dawn |
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Post by DawninCal on Apr 14, 2017 10:04:46 GMT -6
Cat, I don't see a link to the blogs you mentioned. Gayle, thanks for that article. Michele, good idea. When I'm making these headpins later, I'll try to take photos and put a short tutorial together. Dawn |
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