Thynk, welcome to the wonderful world of metal smashing, it's an art, ya know? Wire work has inherent problem, you've discovered it. What do I do with these ends? Best approach might be to solve the design problem before beginning the smashing. Here's a way. It's an on line thing, you'll love it. Suppose that your braiding was done with only one wire? and then further imagine that this wire came back to itself, end meets end? Ok I know you are in like with copper and iron. Mentally lay them beside each other and treat them conceptually as one line. Do a search on Turks Heads and Spanish knots. These line workers have solved your ends problem. There are people doing this kind of work in metal.
Hope this helps. I'm not a blacksmith But I'm pretty sure sometimes those guys are quenching the metal just to cool it off, cause last time they didn't and well. Or they are thinking about the iron from a molecular level and trying to control the spacing of the molecules.. enough for now
good luck BJ
Welcome aboard
Thynk, welcome to the wonderful world of metal smashing, it's an art, ya know? Wire work has inherent problem, you've discovered it. What do I do with these ends? Best approach might be to solve the design problem before beginning the smashing. Here's a way. It's an on line thing, you'll love it. Suppose that your braiding was done with only one wire? and then further imagine that this wire came back to itself, end meets end? Ok I know you are in like with copper and iron. Mentally lay them beside each other and treat them conceptually as one line. Do a search on Turks Heads and Spanish knots. These line workers have solved your ends problem. There are people doing this kind of work in metal.
Hope this helps. I'm not a blacksmith But I'm pretty sure sometimes those guys are quenching the metal just to cool it off, cause last time they didn't and well. Or they are thinking about the iron from a molecular level and trying to control the spacing of the molecules.. enough for now
good luck BJ