It would depend on what kind of wire you want for your lampshades. What you need (and I assume you know this) is a really thick gauge wire (the smaller the gauge number the thicker the metal). Copper wire or steel? I'm not sure as far as steel goes, but copper wire is relatively cheap and is easily manipulated into sturdy wire frames. Rio Grande (
www.riogrande.com), a jewelry materials provider, has gauge 10 wire (about 2.60 mm in diameter) for $10.75 per 32 feet. While it may sound steep, the quality is great and if you buy in bulk (6-11 packages of 32 feet), the price is dropped to only $9.80 per package). The wire is already annealed (softened) for immediate use.
Then there's also brass, which is much harder than copper, but a little more expensive. For 6-11 packages of 32 feet and gauge 10, one must pay $13.20. Again, the quality is great and it is already annealed.
One annoying thing about Rio Grande though is that you have to go through this intensive application process in order to get a catalog, which allows you to get a run-of-the-mill username (a bunch of numbers) and password (another bunch of numbers). After you go through this stupid process, though, it is well worth the trouble. You might also be able to find an equal product at your local hardware store [same goes for copper]. The quality is up to the hardware store, but the price may be cheaper depending on the taxes in your state/province/whatever.
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