Material
(alloying formula) |
aka notations |
hardness,
ductility |
corrosion
resistance |
color |
already used
wire diameters [mm] |
notes |
Note: Not only wires obtained as welding wire
(while they might been originally such as well) are shown here; these wire
types are marked with a star (*) |
|
Aluminium |
|
* Al |
Aluminium
fence wire |
very
soft |
high,
but see notes |
silver,
grayish hue |
~2.0 |
'dirty' wire, gives blackish
rub-off |
Al99.5Ti |
3.0805,
AL1450 |
very
soft |
high |
silver,
grayish hue |
1.2,
1.6 |
polishable,
but quick redulling - and gives ruboff |
SG-AlMg3 |
ER-5154,
3.3536 |
inbetween
Al and ALMg5 |
high |
silver,
shiny |
1.6 |
fairly
ok, better than pure Al or AlSi anyway |
SG-AlMg4,5Mn |
ER-5183,
3.3548 |
springy,
half-hard to hard |
high |
silver,
very shiny |
0.8,
1.0, 1.2, 1.6 |
my
currently favourite Al-wire, a bit higher hardness, and higher toughness than
standard BA, even tends to break if bent over edges |
SG-AlMg4,5MnZr |
ER-5087 |
springy,
half-hard to hard |
high |
silver,
very shiny |
1.0,
1.2, 1.6 |
similar,
if not a bit harder than my top favorite. Tumbles to the highest shine of all
BA alloys. |
SG-AlMg5 |
ER-5356,
3.3556 |
springy,
half-hard |
high |
silver,
shiny |
1.0 |
another
of my favorites, this alloy is the usual "standard BA" |
SG-AlSi5 |
ER-4043,
3.2245 |
relatively
soft compared to AlMg* alloys |
medium,
darkens a bit with aging |
silver,
shiny with a bit grayish hue |
1.6 |
not
very good for anodizing, and imho also too soft for maille. |
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Copper |
|
* Cu |
Electrical
wire (salvaged) |
very
soft |
principally
high, but not corrosion resistant |
copper-typical,
reddish, tarnishes quickly, on some people up to near-black |
~1.4,
~1.7, ~3.6 |
nearly
no springback |
SG-CuAl8 |
"Aluminium
Bronze" 2.0921, ERCuAl-A1, CastoMag 45751 |
hard,
spring temper, but very ductile and tough as well - somewhat beasty |
high;
sea-water resistant, but tarnishes as well |
golden,
brass-like, tarnishes slowly to light
bronze-tone, sometimes slightly greenish when aged |
0.8,
1.0, 1.2, 1.6 |
HIGH
springback; alloy is very similar to 'nordic gold' as used in e.g. 10, 20, 50
Eurocent, or 2AUD coins; see http://www.predecimal.com/euroarticle.htm |
CuSn1 |
S
ERCu |
relatively
soft for Bronze, very ductile, hard enough for maille |
high;
tarnishes like pure Copper does |
Copper-like;
tarnishes slightly more brownish than pure Copper |
1.0,
1.2, 1.6 |
As
springback and hardness are very similar to good Bright Alu, same nominal
wire/mandrel data lead to similar resulting rings. My personal favorite
Bronze |
CuSn6 / CuSn5P |
S
ErCuSn |
half-hard
and tough |
high;
tarnishes to a deeper brown, compared to Copper |
Copper-like;
tarnishes brownish |
0.8,
1.2 |
Good
universal Bronze |
CuSi3 |
|
half-hard
and tough |
tarnishes
to a deep brown |
golden,
but tarnishes to a deep brown hue |
0.8,
1.0 |
Not
my favorite, except extra-dark tarnishing rings are asked for |
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Iron/Steel |
|
SG-2 |
ER-70,
1.5125, G3Si1, "common MIG
wire" |
medium |
low |
copper-like |
0.6,
0.8 |
Copper
plated mild steel, plating rubs off quick, remaining wire rusts "as
hell" |
SG-X10CrNiMn19-9 |
ER-307(mod.),
1.4370, Thyssen Thermanit X |
not
really hard, but very tough |
excellent |
iron,
a bit darker than 1.4316 |
1.0,
1.2, 1.6, 2.4 |
My
favourite Stainless wire, used also as WIG-rods (1.6, 2.4) - a bit softer
temper as same diameter MIG-wire |
spring temper and tough |
slightly
matte |
1.2,
1.6 |
newer
MIG wire batches I recently got - need a thorough tumble to become shiny |
SG-X5CrNi19-9 |
"18-8",
ER-308L, 1.4316, "V2A" |
tough,
smaller diameters springy half-hard |
excellent |
iron,
shiny |
0.6,
0.8, 1.0 |
good
stuff, 1mm VERY springy |
SG-X10CrNi22-12 |
ER-309(mod.),
1.4829, Thyssen Thermanit D |
relatively
soft, compared to other Stainless |
excellent |
extremely
shiny |
1.2 |
soft' is meant as 'not springy' |
SG-X2CrNiMo19-12 |
ER-316L,
1.4430, "V4A" |
springy,
like ER-308 |
excellent |
iron,
very shiny |
1.0,
1.2 |
similar
to "surgical steel" |
SG-X10CrW9-2 |
T92,
P92, Thyssen Thermanit MTS616 |
springy,
a bit harder than 1.4316/1.4370 |
good,
but not 100% rust free |
silver, very shiny |
0.8 |
nearly
nickel-free (may be anti-allergen); got it by chance, but like it |
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Titanium |
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* Ti6Al4V |
Ti
Grade 5 |
springy
and tough |
excellent |
gray,
usually slightly matte - in anodized state a wide palette of achievable
'pastel' colors, as the material stays matte |
0.65,
0.9, 1.2 |
Titanium
is hypo-allergic, and can be anodized for dye-less coloring |
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Else |
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* Niobium |
formerly
known as Columbium |
tough,
but not really hard |
excellent |
grayish,
but shiny; very similar to stainless steel - in anodized state a wide palette
of vibrant colors achievable |
0.5,
0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 |
Niobium
is hypo-allergic, and can be anodized for dye-less coloring, colors very
vibrant compared to Ti |
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