about niobium - niobium jewelry wire

niobium jewelry wire

niobium jewelry wire

Niobium (Nb) is named after Niobe, daughter of Tantalus. Ore reserves are found in Canada, Brazil, Nigeria, Zaire and Russia. Nb is used in pure and alloyed form in superconductors, sodium vapor lamps (street lights), rocket boosters and other aerospace applications.

Niobium is so slow to work harden annealing is not necessary for most applications. (Annealing requires a high vacuum or an inert atmosphere furnace.) The reactive metals cannot be soldered and must be joined with cold techniques, i.e. rivets, nuts & bolts, or special settings. Findings can be fusion welded with Sparkie welders. Highly formable, very colorable via anodizing, this is the most popular of the reactive metals.

niobium jewelry wire
source: http://www.reactivemetals.com/Pages/rmsmetal_nb.htm

about niobium - niobium jewelry wire

(niobium jewelry wire)


Niobium (pronounced /naɪˈoʊbiəm/), or columbium (/kəˈlʌmbiəm/) is a chemical element that has the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. A rare, soft, gray, ductile transition metal, niobium is found in pyrochlore and columbite. It was first discovered in the latter mineral and so was initially named columbium; now that mineral is also called "niobite". Niobium is used in special steel alloys as well as in welding, nuclear industries, electronics, optics and jewelry.

Characteristics

Niobium is a shiny grey, ductile metal that takes on a bluish tinge when exposed to air at room temperature for extended periods. Niobium's chemical properties are almost identical to the chemical properties of tantalum, which appears below niobium in the periodic table.

When it is processed at even moderate temperatures niobium must be placed in a protective atmosphere. The metal begins to oxidize in air at 200 ° C; its most common oxidation states are +3, and +5, although others are also known.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobium

(niobium jewelry wire)

niobium jewelry wire

niobium jewelry wire

niobium jewelry wire

Joan Dulla of Chandler, Arizona
First Place
Reactive Metals Distinction

Hand crocheted and anodized niobium-wire necklace with Swarovski crystals.

niobium jewelry wire

source: http://www.mjsa.org/about/ava/ava2005.php

willy wires - niobium jewelry wire

niobium jewelry wire


Willy Wires jewelry is designed and handmade by artist Willy Reddick. She achieves a fun, colorful and contemporary look by combining sterling silver and anodized niobium wire in 5 colors (pink, purple, teal, yellow, and blue), matte glass abacus beads, seed beads and East Indian glass lustre beads. All earrings have sterling silver ear wires. Please note, colors may vary from examples shown in catalogue

Ornaments

Drawing in air with brass wire and pliers, without the use of a jig, Willy creates unique ornaments in a variety of images ranging in size from about 4" to 5.5". Each one is hammered to create texture and to catch light, and most are finished off with colorful seed beads.

niobium jewelry wire

source: http://www.willyreddick.com/WillyWires/index.html

niobium jewelry wire

niobium jewelry wire

Dulla crochets niobium wire into airy beads and necklaces studded with Swarovski crystals. The result is jewelry that is bright, colorful, and exuberantly joyful.

The sheer brightness of her work is even more surprising if you know her personal history. An incest survivor, Dulla has used niobium wire to make sculptures that vividly express the pain of that formative experience, as well as to create bright jewelry that represents her triumph over the past. "The jewelry is joyful for me, and very meditative, especially the crocheting," she says. "The first niobium piece I made is called, 'I Can Wear A Rainbow,' when I was coming out of the depths...[In another piece] there's barbed wire surrounding me and holding me in, and then there's me popping through with my colors."

Those bright colors caught the eyes of the judges at MJSA's American Vision Award design competition this spring, and earned Dulla first place in the Reactive Metals Distinction category. It also routinely catches the eyes of consumers at craft shows and art fairs. "It stops people in their tracks," says Dulla. "People walk by jewelry booths and expect to see gold and silver. They don't expect to see the hot colors, especially in something as airy and light as what I'm doing."

That fascination hasn't been shared by everyone in the jewelry world, though. "I've been surprised how many people don't know what [niobium] is, or who think it's cheap. They're surprised [when I tell them] that it costs five times as much as silver," Dulla says. "I was talking to some people who promote [designer jewelry], and they told me they would be delighted to promote my gold and silver, but they wouldn't touch the niobium."

Dulla is hoping to change that attitude. Although she also works in fine silver and 18k gold, and has won awards for that work, it is niobium that really captures her imagination. "It's really different, and it makes my work stand out," she says, noting that niobium offers colors she would find difficult to incorporate any other way. "My work is very flexible, so it moves a lot, and enamel would break and chip. I do patina silver a lot, but you can't control [the colors] the way you can with niobium.

"I've seen fabulous things [in niobium] by other artists, and I don't understand why it's not out in the general public," she concludes. "People are using it for more and more wonderful things. It's just as good as silver and gold."

niobium jewelry wire

source: http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/joan-dulla.htm