Monday, May 19, 2008
Pierced and Riveted
Ever want to challenge yourself? Commit to making something and then try doing it. Oh wait, forgot to add...make sure you have to use techniques you've never tried before. And give yourself an agressive deadline while you're at it.
Last Thursday, I recieved a call from the
Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging (ENOA) asking if I would donate an item for a silent auction. The auction is held during the annual Share the Table fundraising event for Meals on Wheels...an organization I actively support by delivering meals to older and disabled folks. (I love Meals on Wheels deliveries...my friend Linda and I have had the same route for about 4 years, and we've gotten to know many of the clients over that time. It's
very rewarding!!!)
I started thinking about what I had on hand to donate, and came up with the brilliant idea of making a pendant using the ENOA logo. My idea was to fashion the logo out of silver wire, solder it to a copper backing and be done with it...easy peasy! ENOA wanted the donation to be dropped off by Monday - no problem!!
Not so much. The logo
wasn't as easy to fashion out of wire as I'd imagined. Back to the drawing board...all I had to do was make a copper and silver pendant with the ENOA logo, as I'd cleverly described.
I'd never pierced and sawed out any kind of design, nor had I riveted before, but I decided those were the best methods of making my pendant. Off to do some research....
I shrunk down a picture of the ENOA logo, and using techniques from
Step By Step Jewelry Workshop, I pierced and sawed it out of a piece of 24g copper sheet. I then cut a piece of sterling silver sheet (28g) that would fit across the back of the copper, stamped my business name and the year on the back, and riveted the two pieces together. My good friend
Nancy's tutorial on riveting was, well,
riveting and served as my guide for learning that technique.
After completing the riveting and some additional filing, I soldered a bail on the back...I've done plenty of soldering, but nothing quite like that...another new technique learned!
I was very pleased with the end result - there are a couple of boo-boos on the piece, but hopefully they are apparent only to my eye. ;-) I'm dropping it off at the ENOA office this afternoon, and I hope they like it as well.
Piercing and riveting was fun...I think I'll try it again, but not with the pressure of a deadline!
Labels: charity, copper, ENOA, Meals on Wheels, new techniques, pendant, pierced, rivet, saw, solder
Monday, March 10, 2008
In a pickle....
I've been doing quite a bit of soldering lately, and I think I'm starting to figure out what I'm doing. A few things I've learned:
1. You can make your own pickle (what you soak the quenched pieces in to remove any oxidization that occurs during the heating process) from vinegar and table salt. Keep the pickle hot - I know some folks who get small potpourri crockpots for their pickle - I'm using a Mr. Coffee mug warmer with an old coffee cup on it.
2. Don't leave anything in the pickle when it's not heated or it will discolor. :-( (Now I get to re-clean a pendant!)
3. Less is better with solder and flux - I was using too much, but just a tiny little pallion (square) of easy solder works perfectly well. You can always add more in subsequent spots. Flux - just paint on a little in the areas where you'll be joining, don't dip the whole piece in the flux.
4. Copper and silver heat at different temps, and it's definitely more challenging to solder them together! Heat up the copper first, then add the silver.
5. Overheating causes big blobs in the worst case scenario, and reticulation (bubbles and deformities) in the best.
6. I've been using the following process for small pieces (clasps, wire pendants): paint flux, place a tiny piece of solder, use the torch to warm the piece (just until the flux starts to bubble), then spot concentrate heat on the section to be soldered. When the solder flows, quench immediately in cold water, then drop in the pickle. It does seem to be working well...not perfect, but I'm getting the process down.
Soldering is definitely addictive - yesterday I made up about a dozen clasps (
S hooks, variations on
Swan clasps) and once they were soldered I couldn't wait to do another piece!
Labels: beginning jewelry making, clasps, pickle, solder, torch, wire working
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Soldering pictures
I was asked by a few people to post pictures of my first soldering attempts - here they are:
Three silver rings (I made one other, but I gave it to my daughter before taking a picture!) and another little silver ring with swirls on the top and bottom.
I know I'm no where near good at this yet, it's one of those things that's just going to take some practice! But I am really enjoying it - and even if I can't sell my first creations, they are good enough to give away or wear myself. :-)
The round rings turned out a little large after I got done hammering them to add some texture, so they will probably end up as earrings, or maybe a link in a pendant. Or I could use my saw to cut a chunk out and resize them!
Making the rings gave me some practice not only in soldering, but in sawing as well. Even though I could have used a flush cutters and then filed the ends of the rings, I think it's a lot more accurate to use a saw and get a really tight join on the rings.
More to come!!
Labels: ring, solder, sterling silver, wire working
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Whee! I soldered tonight!!!
Whee!!!
After reading
SBS Jewelry Workshop the other night, I had decided I really HAD to try out some of the techniques...and why not try something that involves toxic chemicals, fire, and
sterling silver (currently hovering over $16/oz yeeks) for starters???
So after working out, spending an hour finishing up the book Sybil at the dojo, and cleaning up the house after I got home, I decided to make a ring.
The results weren't perfect, but I'm pleased. I purposely made it big, for my pointer finger or thumb, and I love it.
I used 12g sterling silver wire, silver solder (purchased from my Local Rock Shop today), and hammered the wire for a nice texture. Before the flux (also purchased from the LRS) was painted on the ring and solder chip, I made sure I had my jeweler's tweezers, a small container of cold water (for quenching the ring) and pickle (made from a bit of vinegar and salt and heated in the microwave), and a wooden popsicle stick to pull the ring out of the pickle.
After three tries (I had to work at where to place the solder, what point of the flame to use, and how long to leave it on the solder before I did get it to work), I had a very good solder...there is a slight line where the ends of the ring meet, but the ring is solid and it's not going anywhere!
If you haven't guessed, I had fun doing this, and I plan to do more soldering in the near future. I'm really excited that I have finally tried it out!!!
Labels: ring, solder, sterling silver, torch, wire working
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
GREAT new book for novice jewelry makers!!!
I am sooo excited. I have not been this excited about a book since I got my copy of
Bead on a Wire, which introduced me to the fantastic world of wire working.
Oh, yeah. What am I'm so excited about?
Step-By-Step Jewelry Workshop: Simple Techniques for Soldering, Wirework, and Metal Jewelry. I just had about an hour to browse through the book while my son was in his karate class, but I was wishing I was in my studio to start trying out the techniques right then and there!!!
Pictures (350 of them!!) are GREAT. Really excellent step by step instructions. The wire working section was meh, I already know that, and there was a section on bead stringing that really seemed out of place, but there are detailed instructions on soldering, cutting, piercing, doming, riveting, forging and more more more.
SBS Jewelry Workshop will be available April 2008 from Interweave Press. At $24.95 US, it's well worth the price. Put it on your "wish list"
now. :-)
Labels: book review, Interweave Press, solder, wire working
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Looking back at 2007
Time for a fresh start!
New Year's Day is a great time to think about the past year and reflect on what I've learned, as well as looking forward to plans for the new year!
In 2007, I set the following goals for myself:
- Expand knowledge of chainmaille making techniques
- Learn to solder (without burning my fingers, hopefully!)
- Participate in the Year of Jewelry challenge
- Increase business by 20%
So how'd I do?
Looking back, I definitely expanded my chainmaille-making techniques and knowledge, including cutting my own jump rings, and incorporating some unique style into my chainmaille jewelry.
My jewelry business increased dramatically - I still have to put a few numbers to paper, but I definitely surpassed the 20% increase mark. I made some wonderful connections with some fabulous people who have become friends and mentors, and I consider that growth in my business as well as the financial aspect.
Learning to solder didn't happen. I didn't have the right tools, nor the instruction, and found that "cold connections" were still fun and challenging to do. I did expand my knowledge with stamping, metal-working, and texturing...finding those techniques were both fun and challenging. Plus I got to use some pretty cool tools that Dad had given me.
And while I did participate in the Year of Jewelry challenge for the first quarter of 2007, I found life sort of got in the way of a weekly challenge. I do regret giving that up, but the stress of deadlines was not conducive to my creativity. I did participate in
Katie Hacker's Ornament Thursday project, making different holiday ornaments and blogging them weekly during December, and found it to be fun and challenging.
Beading Help Web's readership expanded by leaps and bounds in 2007. Additional free
project instructions were published (there are now over 110 original designs available!), two contests were held, and the Beading Help Web blog was updated on a regular basis with tips, techniques, and sometimes just "stuff" that was happening in my personal world of jewelry.
So overall, I'm counting 2007 as a year of growth, even though I didn't exactly meet two of my goals. I found growth in other aspects, and had a lot of fun getting from January 1 to December 31.
Tomorrow: What's in store for 2008?
Labels: 2007 goals, 2008 goals, chainmaille, free instructions, jewelry making, solder
