From Jennifer: The closest I ever came to making silver jewelry
was the time I decided to take a class in making sterling silver beads,
but had to back out at the last minute because I couldn't find a
baby-sitter. So when it comes to silver jewelry-making, I have to live
vicariously through my silversmith friends. If you've ever been curious
about the steps in making silver jewelry, Jewelry Making Daily's Tammy
Jones has a great overview of the five basic steps of making silver
jewelry. Enjoy!
If the word silversmithing
intimidates you, get ready to get excited!
I once had a discussion with Jewelry
Making Daily's Facebook friends
about what we wish someone had told us when we first started making silver
jewelry. What do I wish I had known years ago? Silversmithing is not that
hard. It's not an extremely difficult process for only the most advanced
jewelers, using scary jewelry-making tools. Thanks to a great teacher, I
learned to do it quickly, and soon you'll see that you can do it, too.
5 Steps of Silver
Jewelry Making
There are basically only five steps
from the design in your mind to the ring on your finger-or whatever piece of
jewelry you want to make. Many silver jewelry-making projects won't even
require all five steps. By breaking silversmithing down into manageable steps
and learning them one by one, I realized that creating custom silver jewelry is
an achievable (and extremely fun) process.
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Sawing: A good silversmithing teacher will tell you
that the keys to successful metal sawing are to have a good saw with the best
blades you can afford and to master an effective sawing technique. Start with a
2/0 saw blade for best all-around use, and move on to a 4/0 once you get the
hang of it. Later, a 6/0 saw blade is best for intricate silversmithing work.
Lube your saw blade with Burlife, beeswax, or Gemlube and strive for a steady
rhythm with a fluid sawing motion.
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Filing: The better you get at sawing, the less filing
you'll have to do. The hardest part about filing for me was remembering which
direction to move the file. Hint: It's not like filing your nails! File only in one direction: away from you. Files are generally flat or half-round,
and they are sized by number. The higher the number of the file, the finer the
cut it will make. Therefore, #0 and #1 files are large-tooth files that will
rapidly remove the most metal in the least amount of time. If your sawed piece
has a very irregular or flawed edge, these are the files you'll want to start
with to fix it. If you can only buy one file, buy a #2 file; it's a good,
almost-all-purpose, medium-tooth file. For finer work, move up to
smaller-tooth #4 and #6 files. Clean metal bits from files after use with
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Metalworking (Forging, Hammering,
Texturing, Dapping and Doming, etc.):
A rawhide or plastic mallet can bend and form metal into just about any shape
you like to make a ring, bracelet, or necklace. Silversmithing hammers are available with just
about any texture you can imagine, to create any effect you desire. Practice
the hammering, texturing, and other metal-forming aspects of silversmithing on
less expensive metals such as copper and then move onto silver when you're
familiar with what effect each hammer creates. Or use dapping blocks - these are like molds
that help you turn flat pieces of metal into domed pieces of metal. That's
simple enough, right?
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Soldering: The more you work with a torch, the more
comfortable you'll get with it. You'll learn to tell the difference between an
oxidizing, reducing and neutral flame;
how to move the flame at just the right speed and just the right height as you
pass over your silver jewelry piece to heat it; how much flux to use to
adequately protect your piece but not make a mess of your fire brick; just the
right spot to place your bits of solder and what it looks like when it melts
and when it flows; and how to determine the temperature of your metal by the
appearance of the flux. You'll also learn how to use pickle solution to clean silver jewelry before and after soldering.
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Finishing (Texturing, Burnishing,
Buffing, Polishing, Patinating):
After soldering, you'll probably have to file some more, sand a bit, and clean
off any firescale that the pickle left behind. Depending on what you're making,
you might add more texture to your silver jewelry designs at this point. The
next step in finishing your silver jewelry is to use rouge and a buffing wheel
to polish the silver to a smooth, perfect shine or to buff out small
imperfections. Adding patina to your silver jewelry designs with liver
of sulfur or through some other means can create an antiqued
look, enhance texture and details in your designs, and completely change the
look of shiny white silver to dark. (It can also highlight flaws, so you have to
make sure that any finishing techniques are done before you apply patina!) |
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Naturally, this is a simplified
version of silversmithing, but it makes sense, right? And now that you've seen
that making silver jewelry isn't a scary, impossible undertaking, you're ready
to make some silver jewelry of your own. If you've ever wanted to learn how to make your own silver jewelry, this is the book for you! Elizabeth Bone's Silversmithing for Jewelry Makers includes everything you ever wanted to know about making silver jewelry including basic silversmithing techniques as well as more advanced projects using metal clay and delicate filigrees. Pre-order your copy of Silversmithing for Jewelry Makers and add this valuable jewelry-making resource to your library.
Have you ever tried silversmithing techniques? Have you ever taken a class in silver jewelry making? What were your experiences? Did you love it or hate it? Leave a comment on the blog and share your thoughts with us!
Bead Happy,
Jennifer