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I’ve been making some various wire braceletts and necklaces. It has improved my solder control a lot. What I really enjoy though is making the findings..catches and latches and hinges..really a blast when all goes well! Here are a few pics. I hope you like them. I wish I could say they were my own designs but alass…
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Well it’s been a while since i’ve updated anything, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been lazy! I had to be off work for the last month for some kidney stone problems. I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy. However it has provided much time for reflection and metalwork. I’ve learned how to pour decent ingots without overheating the metal finally. I was really surprised though at how little hammering one can do before the silver work hardens. Also that I don’t have to beat the tar out of the metal. It seems a little finesse and a lot of annealling goes a long way. Speaking of annealling…..I’ve been overheating my silver. Thanks to the many helpfull folks at Orchid I won’t be torturing the silver any more! I do still have some issues with small cracks appearing at the edges of the bowl though. I’m using an engot 5/16 x 1/8 x 3 1/4 . I’m probably going to cast the next ones a little bit wider at the bowl end. That should help until my skill and finesse improve. I don’t have a picture tonight but I’ll put one up tomorrow.
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Well, after my last experience I took a break and did a little research. I made another ingot that came out pretty good. Most of the problem was the stuff I used for the mold. Also not heating the steel mold enough when pouring. From what I hear others say sometimes the pour doesn’t alwayys work all of the time. Many variables can affect the ultimate success or failure . This time I was much more patient with the annealing process and it did make a big difference. I started to get some small cracks while I was thinning the bowl. I think with practice I can avoid that problem. Anyway I’m happy with the result…for now! I realize it isn’t tradional in shape but it is what it is. Right now I just happy I got a spoon out of it! If there are any smiths out there that have any suggestions i’d love to hear it. It works great though for eating ice cream! My 8year old gave it her seal of approval and claimed it for her own! Well that’s all for now. I will be making some more utensils soon.
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Yesterday I wanted to make a forged spoon so I needed to cast an ingot. After looking at some molds at the jewelry supply($99.00+), I thought ” I can make one of those..a couple pieces of plate and a clamp”. I already have a crucible for melting. Well, I’ve never done any casting but I’ve read about it a lot. So I made a very nice ingot mold! Only problem is I can’t seem to keep the metal from solidifying in the mouth when I pour! Three tries and still no ingot. So I found some soft fire brick from an old kiln and carved a cavity in it the right size and shape. And I could even heat it up. One thing about molten silver. It has about the consistency of mercury. Once it starts to flow it is somewhat hard to control. Especially if you aren’t used to it. Anyway, I got a very good pour and a very nice ingot, a little bit thicker than I wanted but I was happy! So I tried another, this time complete failure! ARGH! Full of inclusions and air! When I poured the first ingot I just let it solidify and on the second I thought if I heat it up again while still in the mold perhaps it will flow into all the little crevices of the mold. Well apparently it did! Quite well indeed! Still, after a little hammering to flatten it out I had a very nice little ingot all solid and shiny! How very satisfied I felt with myself, overcoming ignorance, lack of experience and bad luck. Now I was ready to simply forge it into a spoon that everyone else would think had been made by an experienced silversmith! Ha!! After much hammering and annealing I worked it a little too long and it got hard and cracked right in the middle where I was trying to narrow it! I began this process about 9am and now it is noon and I have the same silver I started with ready to melt again in the crucible! I think it’s time to take a break then I’ll try again tomorrow. I have learned a lot the hard way. With some luck and and a little humility I may yet attain success! First , I think I’ll build my confidence back up by making some more earrings. I’ll try to remember to take photo’s as the work progresses this time, warts and all Se ya later.
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Bali style earrings. I used ground and hammered nails for my punches. Low tech in the extreme!
Hello again!
I got a new toy the other day. I’ve always wanted to try a drawplate, so I broke down and bought one. Not real expensive but it has carbide inserts. I was like a kid with a new toy. Stayed up late and made a bunch of different guages from just one large size! It’s sure to be a handy tool!
Started a new project yesterday. A set of Bali earrings. They consist of a semicircular piece of sheet, decorated with various punches and three tubes decorated with round and twisted wire around the circumferance hanging from the other part. I’m not very good at describing them but they’re real dangley!They look pretty simple but looks are decieving! One thing I still lack skill in is chasing. I bought a new book by Marcie Lewis. Supposed to be a real good text on chasing. I find a lot of discussion on chasing tool but nowhere can I find good close up pictures of some of the basic shapes. If anyone knows of any I sure would like to see them! Anyway the hardest part was making the little squiggley wire decoration. Man what a pain! I intended to post some photos tonight but it got dark on me. So i’ll take some tomorrow morning and get them posted. I have to decide what kind of earwires to make for them. Not having worn earrings before I’m clueless. My wife says some women can wear silver, some can wear stainless steel and some can wear only hypoallergenic earwires. So what do I do? Is it possible to make earrings that can use any of these options? I wonder…… If anyone has any ideas I’m listening! Does anyone have any experience with a Whale propane/air torch? I’ve been using one for about a month and it works great for jewelry scale work. I had been using a Meco Midget but It’s pretty hot for my tastes. I think I get better control with the propane. Well It’s time to look at bills and do some home stuff. (laundry..yuck!) I’ll get some pics up tomorrow.
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I have always loved little one of a kind things. And I have a special affinity for boxes and containers of all sorts. I have made many beaded leather bags and exotic wood boxes so I wanted to try to improve my skills by making a small box. First I looked at a lot of boxes! And I have to admit that I copied the design of this one from a master silversmiths video on Youtube. I changed the decoration some but it is truely his design. The biggest problem was of course soldering skills. Silver must be clean, clean,clean! If I can remember that one thing the soldering goes much better. Then holding the pieces together with just the right amount of force. Too little, the silver moves when I heat it. Too much and it deforms! ARG…..! I still haven’t been able to make a perfect ball on the end of a piece of wire yet. One thing I’m trying to do is use hard solder for anything that will show so it will tarnish at about the same rate. That makes for a few problems. I have been using wire solder but I wondered if paste solder might work better in places where I don’t want the solder to spread too much. I intend to make my hinge differently next time too. I think they could be smaller and made from a piece of drilled solid wire or maybe a small coiled wire hinge. I would love to find a hidden hinge in which I could incorporate a spring opener. Oh well, back 
to the drawing board! Here is a pic of the first box. It’s about 1.5in dia.
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Yes Vera, I will post some pics when I get home from my trip. I work for an airline and so I travel every week for 2-3 days. I’m in Gulfport, MS right now. I have to keep up with my daughters stuff that I make for her because she’s only 8 and if I want it to be around for her to wear I have to keep an eye on it!
After I finished her bracelet I thought …well a nice bezel mounted silver dollar would be pretty easy. So I looked for some channel shaped wire . Couldn’t find any so I cut a strip of .3mm sheet and decorated it with a punch or two. Then I cut a couple of different width slots in a piece of hardwood with a saw and using a punch began to form the square channel of the bezel. It actually worked pretty good. I wanted to have a screw together fastner so I began looking for a tap for a small screw. Soooo simple. I learned that there are different threads for watchmakers vs jewelers screws. I finally used a screw from an old pair of glasses. I cut a couple of flutes in it and soldered it to a larger shaft and used my new ‘tap’ to tap the hole. 1.2mm screw. Since I have purchased some tiny taps but at the time I was quite at a loss. When I get home I plan on putting som photos together. One thing I found was that there are
Making the bezel and screw fixture was fun!
so many video how to’s on the web. I found a great many silversmithing and jewelry videos that helped a great deal. Having a visual reference is a great asset. Well it’s time to go to work now, play later!
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This is my first bracelet
Well… I feel like I’m really in the fast lane now! But what can I possibly say that anyone would want to read?
My intent is to share some of my experiences from the point of view of a passionate, but very inexperienced beginner in metalsmithing and jewelry. I got into this adventure because I love to make things. I have a background in welding and steel construction and have worked in wood for several years. One day my 8yr old wanted a bracelet so I promptly said I’ll make you one! Hurray for Daddy! I thought, this can’t be that hard. I’ll get some silver , hammer it into a bracelet shape , what could be simpler…right? Well I did make her bracelet but it took about 200.00 bucks for tools, silver and several misteps due to inexperience, lack of basic knowledge and undeveloped skills. This is how I came to metalsmithing.
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