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What are Cold Connections
by Dale Armstrong
Question:

What are cold connections, and how do I make them?

-Marilyn in Westcliffe, Colorado
Instructions
Answer:

Hello Marilyn, in the jewelry making industry, the term "cold connection" refers to any procedure that does not include the use of heat or flame. As a reader of our tips on WireJewelry, you are probably a wire artist, and therefore you already make cold connections! It doesn't matter what your skill level is: if you make a simple wrapped loop on a piece of wire or a headpin, or if you create elaborate collars with multiple wires and wire bindings (wraps): as long as there is no heat or flame involved, these are all cold connections. Of course, cold connections can be enhanced by hammering, which has been recently termed by others in this industry as "forging" (this makes no sense to me, because true forging involves heat, and the basic process of hammering to stretch, temper, and/or texture wire or metal doesn't need the addition of heat).

As most of us already know, the use of wire to make personal ornamentation is the oldest known form of "organized" jewelry making. One of the theories for this fact is because ancient craftsmen found it easy to roll soft copper, silver and gold sheets into a product with no edges that was easy to manipulate without the use of heat: wire!

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

Materials

Wire
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Sheet
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12mm Copper Rivet - Pack of 25
A5-512
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Tools

Stone Setting with Cold Connections featuring Kim St. Jean - 3 DVD Set
DVD-STONECOLD
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Deluxe 3-Hole Punch
PUN-420.03
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DELUXE 4 HOLE METAL PUNCH
PUN-420.04
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Chasing Hammer with Wooden Handle, 1 1/8 Inch Face
G3-27
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Bench Block Helper with Steel and Nylon Blocks
DAP-500.30
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Entire Beginner Series with Bonus DVDs
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Entire Intermediate Series with Bonus DVD
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Entire Advanced Series with Bonus DVD
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Ultimate wire-pliers Set
G15-20
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  • Category: General Education
  • Technique(s): Dapping, Forging, Hole Punching, Riveting, Sawing, Design, Drilling, Tools, General Education

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