I love the look of the cakes (usually tiered ones) that have balls or something attached to wires. I am wondering if anyone can tell me what gauge of wire you would use to do that....Thanks for your help

It would depend on how big and heavy the pieces are that will be attached to the wire. I play around and see how they look with 18-22 gauge wires.

How heavy are the objects you want to attach? I usually start with a 24-guage and see if it has the bend to it I like; if not I use a stronger wire. as you probably are aware...the higher the guage the thinner and more flexible the wire is.

I've used wires a few times and just did a cake a few weeks ago where the wire was shaped into a swirl. I agree with miriel, the size of the gage depends on the size and weight of the wire.

Also, the different gage sizes come in differnt colors (I get mine from Walmart). White cloth wrapped, green and silver wire. I've noticed that the white cloth wrapped ones are very thing and the decorations must be very light so the wire will hold up.

The good thing is that the wires are fairly inexpensive -- so buy a variety and play around with them.

I just used wires for the first time on a bumblebee cake that I posted yesterday. The bumblebees were on a 18 gauge wire. The lower the number, the sturdier the wire.

I was actually going to post a comment about this subject....when you twirl your wires how do you get them to be so smooth....when I twirl them like circles (not Spirals) they bend easily. I use a dowel to make spirals but how can I avoid bending them??

I think I understand your question... I was advised to hold on to the two ends as I bend, rather than holding in the middle. This does keep the kinks to a minimum. Try that!

How do you get the items to stick on the end of the wire? I tried and the wire just slipped out.

I have ball drying on 18 gauge wire right now. The balls are about 1 in in diameter and the wire is holding them perfectly. To keep the balls on I made a small hook at the end them pushed the hook into the ball.
I will post a pic of the cake tomorrow when I finish it.

Val

Thank you all for your help. I will try it and see if it works.

I'm working on a wedding cake that will have balls on wires on the top. here is a link to a picture of a cake my customer brought me and asked me to make. I also attached one of the pics. I thought the smaller balls will be light enough but I'm worried that the larger ones will be to heavy and cause the wire to tear the cake and fall out. If you look at the picture, do you think they used fondant/gumpaste for the balls or do you think they may have used something else like styrofoam?

http://www.brides.com/search/image/detail/8222/?search_string=champagne+wishes&offset=3

The larger balls look like they will be too heavy if made from pure fondant/gumpaste.

I suggest using styrofoam balls or wadded up pieces of foil for the larger ball centers to make them weigh less.